Investment case behind living wage accreditation

Dr Krishanthi Vithana (Krish) has been successful with her recent research grant application to be jointly funded by the Economics and Social Research Council (ESRC) - Impact Acceleration Account, Aviva investors Plc. and the Living Wage Foundation to the tune of about £57,000.00. Professor Yehuda Baruch and Professor Collins Ntim will support Krish, as co-investigators.

Living wage movements have been experienced in many countries over several decades, with the implementation of the living wage having been legalised in some parts of the world, as a means of reducing inequality and poverty aside having implications for human resource practices. In the UK context, Living Wage Foundation (LWF) has taken a lead in promoting living wage among UK employers through living wage accreditation programmes.

The main objective of this knowledge exchange project is to work with Aviva Plc and the LWF to establish academia–industry collaboration with a view to sharing skills and experiences, and then extend this to build an investment case behind living wage accreditation within the UK context. As a part of the project Krish has been invited to undertake a secondment with the Global Responsible Investment Team of Aviva Investors plc. The project is multidisciplinary in focus drawing on and integrating the literature relating to human resource management (HRM) and accounting, sustainable investments and corporate governance. The project plans to extend the contract of the research fellow, Dr Peter Rejchrt.

The secondment with Global Responsible Investment Team of Aviva Investors plc. and working closely with the Living Wage Foundation – leads to gain practical and professional insights to the project.