Responsible Investment and the Claim of Corporate Change: A Sensemaking Perspective on How Institutional Investors May Drive Corporate Social Responsibility: ebs-Forschung, Schriftenreihe der EUROPEAN BUSINESS SCHOOL Schloß Reichartshausen, cartea 79

Dr. Elisa M. Zarbafi earned her doctoral degree from EBS Business School, Oestrich-Winkel, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Grimm und Prof. Dr. Dirk Schiereck. She works as a strategic analyst in the insurance industry.

An increasing number of financial institutions have started to subscribe to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in their investment decisions and use their funds to promote responsible corporate behavior. The financial crisis and the widespread lack of trust in the private sector have added further momentum to this quest for social legitimacy. Elisa M. Zarbafi analyzes the role of financial stakeholders as a potential driver of CSR. She focuses her theoretical analysis on socio-psychological drivers such as mental models, cause maps, values, and expectations to understand the complex nature of responsible investment and to identify the critical underlying processes that allow institutional investors to have an impact on the social responsibility of their portfolio companies.