Call for papers for PRI Academic Network Conference 2022

The call for papers is now closed.

The UN‐supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions. The PRI acts in the long‐term interests of its signatories, of the financial markets and economies in which they operate and ultimately of the environment and society as a whole.

The PRI Academic Network is a vibrant and flourishing international community of over 11,000 academics and investment practitioners on ESG and investment. Academics are from RI-related disciplines, spanning accounting, economics, finance, law, management, sociology, and other subjects in the social and natural sciences.

The conference focuses on the latest research on responsible investment practices and as such it serves as an opportunity for academics and investors to engage with each other, learn and discuss the latest insights, and to network.

As in previous years, we will hold the PRI Academic Network Digital Conference in 2022. The conference will be held as a 5-day virtual event during 19 - 23 September (like last year).

Call for Papers

Aligning with key themes at PRI in Person, we invite submissions of papers that focus on responsible investment, including but not limited to the following topics:

The development of a sustainable financial system and the coming of age of responsible investment

Sustainability challenges and disruptive change
Greenwashing and the responsibility of the investment industry
ESG‐related regulatory developments (e.g., EU sustainable finance, fiduciary duty)
The role of financial regulators
Accelerating the S in ESG; double materiality and social issues
Human rights and stewardship
Data needs and communication with standard-setters
Corporate purpose

Climate – the global energy transition

Transition and emerging markets, challenges, actions and dependencies
Transition risks
Net zero climate commitments and multi-asset portfolios
Net zero implementation – where are we and where do we need to go?
The investor and financial system role in climate

ESG integration

ESG investing and investment horizons
Risk management in the context of RI
Fixed income and ESG investment performance
Behavioural finance and investment biases: implications for RI

Stewardship

System-level stewardship
Uses, successes and limits of escalation strategies
Incentives, corporate culture, and long-term value creation
Measuring stewardship inputs (staffing and resourcing) and outputs (activities and real-world outcomes)
Investor policy engagement – practices and objectives
Boards of directors, investor voting and ESG outcomes
Corporate reporting (e.g., TCFD) and ESG disclosure

We encourage both theoretical and empirical contributions from diverse disciplines.

Submission information

The call for papers is now closed.

Conference Committee

Caroline Flammer (conference chair)
Professor of International and Public Affairs
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Fabrizio Ferraro
Professor of Strategic Management
IESE Business School, University of Navarra
Pedro Matos
John G. Macfarlane Family Chair and Professor of Business Administration (Finance)
Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
Laura Starks
George Kozmetsky Centennial Distinguished University Chair
McCombs School of Business, University of Texas Austin

Timeline

Date	Activity
1 May 2022	Submission deadline for all papers
31 May 2022	Notification to applicants
16 September 2022	Presentation slides to be sent to the PRI ahead of the conference