Micro-strategies of Contextualization Cross-national Transfer of Socially Responsible Investment

fund market as a whole and Canadian SRI assets amounted to approximately CAD 50 billion
in 2002 (ibid) and CAD 65 billion in 2004 (Association Investissement Responsible 2005).
Quebec is just beginning to establish a formal SRI market. However, Quebec has a long
history of making socially responsible investment in its own economic development under
different labels, such as ‘social economy’ (Neamtam 2005). Different terminology may blur
the picture somewhat on the prevalence of SRI in different societies.

Selection of host societies

The host societies, France and Quebec, represent two cases of transfer between dissimilar
societies. The institutional structures of France and Quebec differ from the institutional
structure of United States. In terms of production regime, France represents a state-centered
variety of capitalism that differs from the liberal market economy of the United States
(Schmidt 2003). Quebec has developed its own economic model, locally known as the
‘Quebec model’ (Lévesque 2004). This model assigns an important role to civil society, local
entrepreneurs, and labour unions in the production regime, which reflects the features of a
coordinated market economy (Hall & Soskice 2001). The Quebec model was developed in the
1960s as a tool for gaining institutional autonomy within Canada. It still carries strong
symbolic value as an economic model that differs fundamentally from the liberal market
economy of the United States and federal Canada. In terms of ideas and symbols, France and
Quebec also construe themselves as dissimilar to the United States, sometimes in direct
opposition to American norms, beliefs, and values.

Case selection

Our research design relies on theory-building from multiple case studies (Eisenhardt 1989;

Yin, 2003). Two cases were selected for in-depth analysis, one in each host society. They are

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