Examining pension beneficiaries’ willingness to pay for a socially responsible and impact investment portfolio: A case study in the Dutch healthcare sector

The debate on the sustainability of the Dutch pension system and the required reforms has initiated a discussion about introducing more individual choices to collective pension schemes. The objective of this research is to examine pension beneficiaries’ willingness to accept a lower pension for investing in a socially responsible portfolio with impact investment characteristics together with socially responsible investment criteria. Our sample stems from a Dutch pension administrative organization related to the healthcare sector. Using regression models, we examine the relationship between attitudes toward impact and socially responsible investments and willingness to pay for socially responsible choices. Furthermore, we examine the influence of involvement on willingness to pay for such a portfolio. We underline the issue of inconsistent choices in the decision-making process, and we integrate the notion of psychological distance into our model. The results suggest that attitudes towards positive SRI screenings have a significantly positive influence on willingness to pay. Additionally, people with higher product involvement are more willing to pay the extra cost. Our paper contributes to the literature on responsible investments and provides implications for the design of pension policies in the collective pension schemes.