Socially Responsible Investment in 19th Century Greece: A Case Study of a Swiss Banker

Altruistically motivated investment has become the subject of economic, psychological and sociological research in recent years. The long tradition of ethical considerations concerning investment behavior has often been mentioned by historians but rarely investigated. This paper presents a case study of the 19th century philhellene banker Jean-Gabriel Eynard, who was philanthropically active in Greece, but also invested part of his capital on the emerging Greek market. Drawing on the methodological approach of the “sociology of morality”, this article examines how Eynard invested in Greece, which norms and values concerning investment behavior he articulated and how far they were comparable with the norms and values of today’s Socially Responsible Investment. What emerges is that the practices and the norms of Socially Responsible and Ethical Investment then and now are remarkably similar, while the “moral background” (G. Abend) has changed considerably in some, but not all points.