Diffusion or Confusion: Examining Heterogeneity in Socially Responsible Investing.
Sauve, Olivia
Sauve, Olivia
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Abstract
The lack of institutionalization for socially responsible investment practices has produced a fragmented landscape of overlapping terms, practices, and norms within the sector. This study examines the inconsistencies of the socially responsible investment sphere through the exploration of economically targeted and impact investments in the Vermont financial sphere to illustrate broader epistemic and terminological issues within the field. Drawing on behavioral finance, this study describes the impact of framing and herding behavior on the acceptance and participation of social investments. The study further analyzes the impact of micro-epistemic communities within social finance, and their impact on terminological fragmentation and ontological gerrymandering within the sector. Through the lens of Vermont's financial sector, this research integrates preliminary interviews with anonymous survey data to understand how practitioners, understand, differentiate and practice economically and impact investments. Results indicated a strong connection between organizations who practiced exclusively in Vermont, and increased interaction with economically targeted investments, suggesting a potential micro-epistemic community with the service demographic. As a whole, participants had varied definitions and practices for both impact and economically targeted investments, which illustrates how fragmentation, frame-working, and herding, can impact small financial communities. Overall, this study emphasizes the need for more comprehensive information ecosystems on socially responsible investing, and stresses the impact of micro-epistemic communities influence on norm-setting.
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Date
1/1/2026
Student Status
Senior (Graduating in 2026)
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Poster
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Community International Development and Community Entrepreneurship
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College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
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Social Science