It is not an investment if it is destroying the planet: A literature review of socially responsible investments and proposed conceptual framework

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the existing literature on sustainable investments and propose an integrated conceptual framework for measuring socially responsible investment intention of investors.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the theory of planned behaviour, the study discusses an integrated conceptual framework by thoroughly analysing the empirical studies of last 18 years, from 2001 to 2018. Some of the important measures of these studies have been reviewed, such as country of study, research methodology applied, sample size and respondents selected, model/theory applied, variables selected and significant findings of the study.

Findings

The study posits that collectivism, knowledge about sustainable investment, pro-environmental attitude and perceived risk will have a positive impact on attitude (ATT) towards SRI. Moreover, attitude (ATT) and subjective norms (SN) will be positively related to intention (INT) along with the mediating effect of social investing efficacy (SIE) and moderating effects of religiosity beliefs.

Practical implications

Besides implications for financial managers, various government bodies, prospective investors and other stakeholders, the study will provide impetus to companies for designing more sustainable funds that can promulgate the values and beliefs of investors.

Originality/value

The study incrementally contributes to the literature by way of suggesting a conceptual framework that can be empirically tested by future researchers.

Citation

Mehta, P., Singh, M. and Mittal, M. (2020), "It is not an investment if it is destroying the planet: A literature review of socially responsible investments and proposed conceptual framework", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 307-329. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-08-2019-0176