The ins and outs of ESG: a study on the spatialities of accounting change

Abstract: What to change, and how to do it, belong to the eternal concerns of life in organizations. Reflecting this, accounting research has a long history of interest in the role of calculations in change processes. “What counts” changes over time, inter-dependently with broader societal concerns such as sustainability. This thesis explores practical work to enable so-called integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in investment analysis and decision-making. Such integration is often described as a key mechanism in transforming the financial sector, in that changing established approaches of valuation is to change how financing is allocated. Through a two-year field study of the practice of ESG in the Nordics, the thesis traces ESG integration in the daily workings of asset management. We look over the shoulder of ESG analysts in meetings with financial analysts, portfolio managers and portfolio companies, and delve into the spreadsheets and rating tools that enable the realization of ESG and allow its trajectory towards various pivotal organizational positions.Based on this, the thesis argues that ‘ESG integration’ manages to uphold the very separation it is said to address, between ‘ESG’ and ‘the financial’. In some situations, however, it manages to gain momentum in itself. By engaging with these two findings, the thesis probes the common suggestion that change hinges on targeting purportedly pivotal organizational positions, where calculative and decision-making power is presumed to reside. Rather, we should be wary of characterizing certain forms of calculative practice as marginal and “merely” procedural, and acknowledge the transformative potential in distributed experimentation.