Social investment diffusion: the case of the Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative

Abstract

This paper provides sociological insights about the social construction of the Sustainable

Investment Market which were brought up by the launch of Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative. Aiming to get the reader familiar with the sociological approach, this paper sheds light on possible ways to undertake a sociological analysis to make sense of Sustainable Investment phenomenon. Three aspects are highlighted: (1) Stock Exchanges’ profiles created by a questionnaire that turns to be a classification system (2) the influence of northern countries in setting up sustainable indexes and the (3) the role of social actors considered as philanthropes and hybrids of globalization. The systematization of these three aspects leads to the conclusion that they should be considered important categories to the local and global understanding of markets.