Socially Responsible Investment

Abstract

As of today social responsibility has emerged into an en vogue topic for corporate executives, governmental officials, international public servants and stakeholder representatives. Due to globalization, worldwide business mergers, but also as for international deficiencies beyond the scope of nation states; the call for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) has reached unprecedented momentum. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, corporate social misconduct and financial fraud have steered consumers and investors to increasingly pay attention to democracy and social responsibility within market systems. Current stakeholder pressure addresses social responsibility of market actors and information disclosure of corporate and financial conduct. Legislative reforms enhance the accountability of financial market operations. With the era of liberalization being halted by the 2008 financial crisis, the reinterpretation of the public-private sector roles in providing social services has leveraged social responsibility into a pressing topic of debate. The renaissance of attention to responsibility as a prerequisite for the functioning of economic systems portrays CSR and SRI as windows of opportunity to re-establish trust in fallible market systems.