Contribution à l'étude de l'investissement socialement responsable : Les stratégies de légitimation des sociétés de gestion

This dissertation gives an account of a study of the emergence of socially responsible investment in France. We adopt an interpretative and qualitative approach. The research aims at understanding the process favouring the integration of socially responsible investment within financial market. We focus on the role of mutual funds. The interpretation is elaborated with legitimacy theory, more precisely with Suchman's (1995) typology. The methodological data collection is based on semi-structured interviews and complementary data. We analyse interviews with the qualitative content analysis software NVivo. The interpretation underscores legitimation strategies. Results underline the importance of creation strategy initiated by social rating agencies, regarded as experts. In particular, the diffusion of a new model to evaluating corporate social performance seems to be a vehicle for the integration of socially responsible investment within financial market.