1,721,003 research outputs found
Intellectual Capital Disclosure: Evidence from the Italian Systemically Important Banks
No full textThe need to overcome the limitations connected with the traditional financial reporting has driven the development of intellectual capital (IC) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure. Such need has also highlighted the relevance of an integrated reporting, recently supported by the Directive 2014/95/EU, which makes mandatory the disclosure of non-financial information for large-sized enterprises. The chapter focusses on the disclosure of the IC issues provided by the Italian systemically important banks. To conduct our analysis, we defined a disclosure model for the IC issues and collected data from the reports available on the banks’ websites; we used a deductive content analysis, integrated by the Scott’s pi test in order to evaluate the intercoder reliability. Our findings, accordingly to prior literature, point out an incomplete IC disclosure, meaning that banks should extend the level of reporting on IC issues, and particularly they should improve the presence of forward-looking information and the quantified terms of IC elements
Fund managers acting as impact investors: Strategies, practices, and tensions
Full text linkUsing a multi case-study analysis, we shed light on the strategies, practices, and tensions of fund managers acting as impact investors. Results show that while some fund managers experience tension between the social and financial aspects of specific, although relevant, components of the business model, other fund managers experience challenges throughout the business model. The governance component emerges as the most relevant issue and this may help explain why impact washing is a key topic in the impact investing discussion. Relevant implications for practitioners and policy makers are also discussed
Socially Responsible Investments. The Crossroads Between Institutional and Retail Investors
No full textThis Palgrave Pivot aims to build a bridge between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable finance in financial markets. It investigates classic CSR topics in the light of a modern conception of sustainability. The first part emphasizes four relevant topics in the CSR panorama of financial institutions: banks remuneration practices; human capital disclosure; the impact of environmental performance on banks, and finally, the institutional investors’ attitude towards socially responsible investments (SRIs). The second part explores CSR practices within the financial markets and discusses risk-return profiles of SRI and non-SRI indexes in different time frames. It investigates whether thematic social responsible funds obtain different risk-return than traditional funds, and finally, assesses whether equity crowdfunding could foster social innovation. This book is aimed at scholars and students who are interested in social impact investing and practitioners involved in the social impact market
Assessing the relationship between environmental performance and banks' performance: preliminary evidence
No full textThe question of whether it pays to be green has been addressed by many studies, but despite the growing number of works, the debate about the relationship between environmental performance, environmental disclosure, and banks’ performance is still unresolved, and mixed results have been found. This work explored the relationship between environmental disclosure, environmental performance,
and fnancial performance by using a sample of 57 EU15 listed banks. Moreover, by applying the value relevance methodology, we analyzed the relationship between market values, environmental disclosure, and environmental performance. Our fndings reveal strong evidence of the value relevance of environmental disclosure
Are ESG indexes a safe-haven or hedging asset? Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in China
Full text linkPurpose The aim of the paper is to investigate the risk-hedging and/or safe haven properties of environmental, social and governance (ESG) index during the COVID-19 in China. Design/methodology/approach This paper employs the DCC, VCC, CCC as well as Newey-West estimator regression. Findings The findings provide empirical evidence of the risk hedging properties of ESG indexes as well as of the environmental, social and governance thematic indexes during the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis. The results also support the superior risk hedging properties of ESG indexes over cryptocurrency. However, the authors do not find any safe haven properties of ESG, Bitcoin, gold and West Texas Intermediate (WTI). Practical implications The paper offers therefore, practical policy implications for asset managers, central bankers and investors suggesting the pandemic risk-hedging opportunities of ESG investments. Originality/value The study represents one of the first empirical contributions examining safe-haven and hedging properties of ESG indexes compared to traditional and innovative safe haven assets, during the eruption of the COVID-19 crisis
Enhancing Efficiency in Sustainable Markets
No full textInterest in sustainable finance—and any other investment supporting the creation of positive social and environmental effects—has grown over the last ten years. Following the global financial crisis, investors and policy makers reconsidered common financial schemes, business models and products through the lens of sustainability issues. Policy makers intercepted the growing trend and moved on with a set of new regulatory proposals. This was particularly true in the European Union where several regulations were proposed by the European Commission. Many of these issues are still open on both the theoretical and practical side.
This chapter aims to summarize some of the main trends, opportunities and risks linked with sustainability and, in turn, with sustainable finance. The chapter is structured as follows. Section 11.2 outlines recent trends in sustainable finance. Section 11.3 discusses some of the main opportuni- ties and risks linked with sustainable finance
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Fighting poverty and inequalities through social impact bonds: Learning from case studies to support the Covid-19 response
No full textThis chapter focuses on critical case studies involving SIBs—launched to address poverty (also in advanced economies) and socio-economic inequality issues—with the aims of understanding (1) the links and gaps between the contests and the structures of different SIB models and the ways to achieve their goals and (2) the key elements for scaling up these practices. Our analysis examines the main implications for research and practice by providing a framework for an ecosystem in which SIBs are developed. The work contributes to the international debate and introduces interesting stimuli for developing SIBs in the post-COVID-19 era, especially in some European Union countries, such as Italy, that are characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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