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Socially Responsible Investing: the Green Attitudes and Grey Choices of Brazilian Students
Daniel Jos Cardoso da Silva,
Federal University of Alagoas - Faculty of Economics and Business Av Lourival Mota Melo, s / n, bl. 16, 1st Floor, Board of Martins - Maceio Alagoas Brasil danieljcsilva@gmail.com
1. Introduction
This article was inspired by research Vyvyan et al (2007) who tried to better understand the disparity between the positive attitudes towards socially responsible investment (SRI) and the level of investment in SRI, examining both the attitudes and SRI investment choices are made. Both studies worked with the
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hypothesis: those who are more committed to principles of environmental sustainability are more likely to invest in SRI. To test this 318 people from two large Queensland organisations are surveyed in relation to their investment attitudes and preferences, by Australians researchers. In this survey of Brazilian students surveyed were called sciences of business: administration, accounting and economics of various grade levels. Vyvyan et al (2007) thought that there are significant differences in investment attitudes with environmentalists placing more importance on SRI investment criteria. However, there was no significant difference between environmentalists and non-environmentalists in terms of utility scores from an investment selection experiment with the environmentalists placing higher importance on financial performance criteria than SRI criteria, making choices similar to those with the lowest level of environmental activism. Stayed the question: Will students have the same behavior of professional investors?
2. Methodology
We surveyed 351 students and teachers from various states and regions of Brazil, for example, Pernambuco, Paraiba, Alagoas, Minas Gerais. We used an electronic questionnaire tool "Google Docs", available at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHFfTlhUdFp2WHlvYWxFdjB2NFZLOWc6M A. The research took place in the period 19/03/2012 to 13/04/2012. Respondents were asked about their beliefs in the practice of corporate governance and sustainable development. They were then simulated three investment scenarios involving two fictitious companies, one adopting governance practices and sustainable development and the other with no commitment to these practices. The results are presented in the following sections of this research using descriptive statistics. For the analyzes we used the SPSS statistical software in its version number 20.
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Education Student in higher education Undergraduate qualification Postgraduate qualification Master Science Ph.D. / Doctor Total Main_Training_Area Administration Accounting Economy Other areas Total
Percent 68,4 13,4 9,4 6,8 2,0 100,0 Percent 33,3 51,6 6,6 8,5 100,0
Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 33,3 51,6 6,6 8,5 100,0 33,3 84,9 91,5 100,0
4. Conclusion
Based on the results observed, it can be concluded that education, nor gender were decisive in changing choices because the results end up being very similar. But the experience brought by the age seems to help maintain more consistent choices. Also, apparently made quite a difference was the main training area, and economists more sensitive with respect to the return on investment.
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Table 2 - Behavior of respondents on the scenarios First investment scenario Option 1 Age <25yrs >26-30yrs >30-40yrs >40-50yrs >50yrs Total Gender Total Education student in higher education Undergraduate qualification Postgraduate qualification Master Science Ph.D. / Doctor Total Main Training Area Accounting Economy Other areas Total 178 23 28 346 3 0 2 5 155 17 25 297 26 6 5 54 134 14 24 261 47 9 6 90 Administration 117 0 100 17 89 28 Male Female 202 57 53 27 7 346 160 186 346 237 47 31 24 7 346 Option 2 3 0 0 2 0 5 3 2 5 3 0 2 0 0 5 Second investment scenario Option 1 Option 2 169 51 45 25 7 297 129 168 297 204 44 26 18 5 297 36 6 8 4 0 54 34 20 54 36 3 7 6 2 54 Third investment scenario Option 1 144 46 42 22 7 261 113 148 261 178 35 26 16 6 261 Option 2 61 11 11 7 0 90 50 40 90 62 12 7 8 1 90
Although the majority of respondents to maintain their initial choice, the most important conclusion of this work is that there is still much to do in relation to environmental education, especially among the young students of business science. Furthermore, the observed lack of congruency between attitudes and choices in relation to environmental criteria may have implications for the growth of SRI funds, Vyvyan et al (2007) have also warned of this in his study.
References
Vyvyan, V., Ng, C and Brimble, M. (2007). Fluoride Socially Responsible Investing: the green attitudes and grey choices of Australian investors. Corporate governance, Volume 15 Number 2 March 2007., 370-381.
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