000168351 001__ 168351 000168351 005__ 20260204153543.0 000168351 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1016/j.bir.2025.10.008 000168351 0248_ $$2sideral$$a147841 000168351 037__ $$aART-2025-147841 000168351 041__ $$aeng 000168351 100__ $$0(orcid)0000-0002-2525-9049$$aAlda, Mercedes$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000168351 245__ $$aThe monitoring role of pension fund ownership in ESG firm controversies 000168351 260__ $$c2025 000168351 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted 000168351 5203_ $$aThis study examines the role of pension fund ownership as a control mechanism of ESG firm controversies. Institutional investors are traditionally considered passive owners; however, the role of pension funds is not clear because, in theory, they may be effective monitors as pressure-resistant investors. This work analyses the impact of UK equity pension funds on their investee firms’ ESG controversies. The results indicate that a larger pension fund shareholding reduces controversies related to environmental and product responsibility areas. However, pension funds are passive monitors in other areas, such as workforce, to avoid conflicts of interest with company management. Moreover, we first consider the impact of social investment networks on ESG firm controversies, and the findings reveal that pension funds have diverse interests, especially conventional funds, which produces conflicts of interest in the networks. In addition, ambiguous information flows across the networks, leading to different interpretations of the information and thus diverse monitoring decisions regarding ESG firm controversies. Finally, pension fund shareholding encourages some substantive CSR engagement practices in the corporate citizenship area. 000168351 536__ $$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-FEDER/S38-20R-CIBER$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN PID2022-136818NB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 000168351 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby-nc-nd$$uhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.es 000168351 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 000168351 7102_ $$14002$$2230$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Contabilidad y Finanzas$$cÁrea Economía Finan. y Contab. 000168351 773__ $$g25, 6 (2025), 1585-1625$$tBorsa Istanbul Review$$x2214-8450 000168351 8564_ $$s7379986$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/168351/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada 000168351 8564_ $$s2708068$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/168351/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada 000168351 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:168351$$particulos$$pdriver 000168351 951__ $$a2026-02-04-13:14:18 000168351 980__ $$aARTICLE