ABSTRACT

Natural resources have been defined by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Polisario Front, and a number of non-governmental organisations not only as an essential part of the Western Sahara conflict, but also as a battlefield that has attracted the interest of the international community. This article explores how the ethical trade guidelines of two large institutional investors – the Norwegian and Swedish pension funds – have affected the behaviour of companies that export and exploit the natural resources of Western Sahara. The results of applying a triad-network model suggest that as pension funds have more instruments of influence, their strategy becomes more effective. Moreover, investments that follow ethical trade guidelines play a key role in pressuring companies to modify objectionable behaviours.

摘要

阿拉伯撒哈拉民主共和国、波利萨里奥阵线和一些非政府组织将自然资源不仅定义为西撒哈拉冲突的重要组成部分，而且成为引起国际社会关注的战场。本文探讨了挪威和瑞典养老基金这两个大型机构投资者的道德贸易准则如何影响出口和开发西撒哈拉自然资源的公司的行为。应用三合会网络模型的结果表明，随着养老基金拥有更多的影响工具，它们的策略变得更加有效。此外，遵循道德贸易准则的投资在迫使公司改变不良行为方面发挥着关键作用。