Corporate social responsibility and institutional investment: A content analysis based portfolio screening model for socially responsible mutual funds

This study has combined the traditionally disparate research areas of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Socially Responsible Investing with the use of content analysis, resulting in a better understanding of the portfolio screening decisions made by managers or other persons responsible for implementing social screens for socially responsible mutual funds. The results attained should enhance the credibility of the social screening process in general, and assist in maintaining and/or improving the competitiveness of all socially responsible mutual funds. In divergence from the extant accounting literature which has focused primarily on quantitative data, this dissertation highlights the need for accounting researchers to take a deeper look at the broader issues surrounding the use of qualitative data in accounting.; Employing a multi-method approach, five distinct research questions have been addressed. Regarding our understanding of the prevailing sources of corporate social responsibility information, we have learned that there is no one particular source, or even a handful of sources, that can be viewed as “the” source(s) of socially responsible information used by managers or other persons responsible for implementing social screens for socially responsible mutual funds. Further, we have teamed that these users of social responsibility information about firms ordinarily require access to such information as frequently as daily or weekly when considering new firms for inclusion in their portfolios. The first iteration in the ultimate formulation of a non-static “special purpose” taxonomy of corporate social responsibility concepts has also been completed. Although it is currently specific to managers or other persons responsible for implementing social screens for socially responsible mutual funds, the taxonomy can provide an empirically derived basis for making future specific suggestions regarding the possible makeup of corporate social responsibility reporting standards. model derived herein, although limited in its application due to the constraints imposed by the study's research design (primarily sample size and sampling methods employed), has supplied us with a number of interesting observations regarding the environmental screening decision processes of managers or other persons responsible for implementing social screens for socially responsible mutual funds.