Dissertations / Theses: 'Financial performance and: Sustainability Report'

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Quinlivan, Michael Dale. "Local government accountability – financial, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability performance reports : stakeholder perspectives." Thesis, Curtin University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2025.

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The question posed in this study was whether local government is held accountable for their financial management, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability and if local government reports contribute to this. In this study perceptions of how residents form their views about the performance of their local government were gained by interviewing residents and senior managers. Three local governments differing in the size of the organisation, the demography of the residents, and their urban environment took part in the study. A qualitative methodology within the constructivist paradigm was used with the rigour of the study being judged in terms of its method and analysis, and the findings and recommendations assessed against quality criteria particularly its usefulness in the real world of local government.Using a grounded research approach, the study found that residents’ perceptions of local government are highly subjective and influenced by many factors including trust in the local government, personal experience, public perceptions and personal values. Using economics of information theory in which the cost of information is balanced against the benefits of the information, residents’ behaviour was classified into four categories: detached, vicarious, specific purpose and engaged. A tentative model of assurance emerged from the findings. The model provides a means of explaining the personal, institutional and exogenous conditions that affect the benefits and cost to residents of performance information. The emergent model was used to understand issues about the accountability of local government, and implications for community engagement, models of management and local government sustainability programmes.

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Geiser, Sofia, and Mirja Båtsman. "Quantity over Quality? : A study of a separate sustainability report's effect on financial performance for companies on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-73467.

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The corporate scandals in the beginning of the 21st century caused distrust in the market and a pressure for more disclosure to increase transparency. To broaden the traditional reporting, companies started to voluntarily disclose information regarding soft measures like Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Due to the fast development and popularity of CSR, more companies started to disclose a separate sustainability report to communicate information about these activities. The aim of the report is to provide stakeholders with accurate and transparent information regarding the companies CSR activities, but also to legitimize the business. The main purpose of this research is to investigate if the quantity of information disclosed in the sustainability report affects the financial performance of companies listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. We also aim to investigate whether the existence of a report affects the financial performance. With companies spending an increasing amount of resources on disclosing voluntary information it is important to extend the research regarding CSR and the benefits to financial performance. This research ontological and epistemological positions are objectivism and positivism with a deductive approach. A quantitative method was used to gather sufficient data from existing databases and reports. For the first research question our population is all companies listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm on April 12th 2013, and for the second research question our population is the companies with a separate sustainability report in English from the accounting year of 2011. The financial performance data was gathered from the period 2012-04-01-2013-03.31. To answer our research questions and sub- questions, six hypotheses were formulated based on relevant theories and previous studies. Several multiple linear regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between the existence of the reports, and the quantity of information in them, to the company’s financial performance. Other regressions were performed to establish if the quantity disclosed was affected by industry classification or market capitalization size. Our results show that the neither the existence of a separate sustainability report nor the quantity of information disclosed in it has an effect on stock return. However, both having a separate sustainability and the quantity of information disclosed have a positive effect on stock volatility. Conclusively, companies do not benefit financially from disclosing their CSR activities through a separate sustainability report.

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Zametica, Asim, and Julia Johansson. "GRI-quality and financial performance : A quantitative study on the impact of sustainability reports’ quality on firm performance and firm value in the Swedish manufacturing industry." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-74199.

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Westerlund, Daniela. "The Adherence Level of Sustainability Disclosures and Firm Value : Empirical Study on the Impact of GRI Report’s Adherence Level in regard to Firm Value in the Manufacturing Industry in Europe." Thesis, Jönköping University, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-52693.

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Background: Sustainability reporting has become increasingly important for firms that want to appease their stakeholders and the society, whilst possibly increasing the corporate financial performance (CFP) of the firm. This is because sustainability disclosures currently work as the main channel for firms to inform their stakeholders of the CSR practices and environmental management carried out by the company. However, there have been various previous studies that examine the relation between corporate social performance (CSP) or the reported CSP, and CFP but not a study that would focus on GRI’s adherence level and its effect on Firm value (FV). The adherence level in the context of a GRI Report refers to the extent to which the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework and GRI Standards have been applied to a company’s sustainability report (Global Reporting Initiative, n.d.). This study intends to examine if stakeholders can be affected by a sustainability report’s adherence ranking made by GRI, although there necessarily would not be a clear connection to a company’s actual environmental performance. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find out if the adherence level affects a firm’s value and how, although this classification of reports would not say anything about a company’s level of sustainability or a company’s sustainability performance. In short, the study wants to examine if stakeholders or the society surrounding a company are affected by the adherence level of a company’s GRI reporting and if this then can affect the value of the organization in any way. Aim: The aim of this research is to encourage organizations to become more transparent or elaborate regarding their sustainability practices if any significance between the adherence level and the FV can be found. Method: This study was conducted by examining 98 European manufacturing firms’ GRI adherence levels for the years 2017 to 2019 and comparing them to respective Firm Values (Tobin’s Q) by the usage of panel data regression analysis. Conclusion: The results show that no significant relationship between the GRI adherence level and FV can be found in the European manufacturing industry for the period 2017 to 2019.

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Simionato, Enrico <1990&gt. "Sustainability Reporting and its Impact on Corporate Financial Performance." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/5339.

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Sustainability has been assuming a key role into companies’ and society’s development as a consequence of worldwide economic and market situation: there is instability, caused by market vitality and dynamism, in particular after the recent financial crisis. This overall situation has increased the asymmetry between corporate disclosed information and stakeholders’ informational needs, which cannot be satisfied through the traditional financial statement. For these reasons, especially over the last decade, sustainability reporting has been adopting by more and more companies, also thanks to international organisation work such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) that provides guidelines and standards for a common format of sustainability reporting. The practise to report the economic, social, environmental, and governance information can have a relation or impact on the corporate financial performance and enterprise value, perceived by stakeholders. In this dissertation, there is an in-depth analysis of sustainability concept, sustainability reporting, in particular related to GRI Guidelines, and an empirical analysis about the relationship between GRI sustainability indices and corporate financial data, utilising a sample of about 45 companies listed in Fortune 500.

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Mustapha, Nazar S. "Banking and Microfinance Performance: Market Power, Efficiency, Performance, Outreach and Sustainability Perspectives." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2017. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2347.

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This dissertation consists of two empirical papers that explore recent phenomena in Banking and Microfinance Performance. Chapter 1, “Market Power and Bank Performance in MENA Countries,” examines the determinants of market power in 12 Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), specifically within six Gulf Cooperation Countries and six non-Gulf countries. We examine the dynamics of bank competition in MENA countries, provide an up-to-date assessment of market power, investigate the factors impacting bank competition, and explore the evolution of market power during the financial crisis. Our results show an overall increase in market power following the GFC for both regions. We find that bank size, capitalization, and diversification affect market power differently in the pre-crisis and post-crisis years. Larger banks enjoy cost advantages and the diversification impact on market power has decreased in the post-crisis years and the impact of capitalization on market power increased during the GFC. Overall, banks with higher capitalization can better weather the crisis. Chapter 2, “The impact of firm-level characteristic and county-specific attributes on the performance and efficiency of the Microfinance institutions,” estimates the impact of country-specific macro-variables and firm-specific attributes on the financial performance and the efficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs). We use a large international up-to-date database consisting of over 10,000 firm-years for MFIs over 89 countries during the period 2008-2015. Several interesting findings emerge: a) regulation and outreach are negatively correlated. b) There is a negative and highly statistically significant correlation between the percentage of female borrowers and loan size, which is evidence of “mission drift”. c) An increase in the percentage of female board member has positive and statistically significant effect on MFIs profitability and ROA; which emphasizes the importance of female participation in leading position in MFIs.

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Al-Halwachi, Jafar, and Maria Eklind. "Sustainability assurance : A qualitative study exploring the assurance process, team and report of sustainability assurance." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-172161.

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Sustainability assurance is on the uprising. Nowadays, more and more companies are thinking about sustainability which resulted in a growing market for sustainability assurance. The global reporting initiative (2013, p.6) defines sustainability assurance as “the use of external, independent reviews of sustainability management processes and final disclosures is intended to increase the robustness, accuracy and trustworthiness of disclosed information.”. Unlike financial auditing, sustainability assurance ismostly unregulated and there are various guidelines and frameworks issued to help the assurance provider. The lack of mandatory regulations has resulted in a fragmented assurance environment where different approaches is used by different assurance providers. This in turn has contributed to the sustainability assurance process being unknown. The uncertainty around sustainability assurance affect the usersof the assurance report, for example stakeholders’, which can find it difficult to identify, interpretand compare the results of the sustainability assurance.The purpose of this study is to contribute to the limited knowledge on sustainability assurance, by investigating the sustainability assurance from both auditors’ and non-auditors’ perspectives.To assist in fulfilling the purpose, four main themes were developed; assurance team, assurance process, assurance report and the future of sustainability assurance. To fulfill the purpose of this study, the research questions are;“What is the audit process of sustainability reports?”“What does the sustainability assurance team look like?”“What does the sustainability assurance report look like?”The result in this study suggests that the process of sustainability assurance looks different depending on the assurance provider. The findings also suggest that the assurance team almost looks the same, regardless who is the assurance provider. When it comes to the results regarding the assurance report, it is evident that there are many ways to improve theusefulness and informativeness of the report. Furthermore, the findings of this study contribute to the limited knowledge of sustainability assurance by thoroughly exploring the assurance process.

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Quinto, Daniele <1992&gt. "Empirical study on the relation between Sustainability and Financial performance." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/9051.

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In the past years, the interest on corporate sustainability has grown rapidly and it has become very important topic; many companies are making efforts to become more and more sustainable. However, the impact of corporate sustainability on firm’s financial performance has been widely debated. This study investigates the effects of sustainability performance on financial performance, in particular on firm value, measured with Tobin’s Q ratio. We have tried to identify the source of market value by disaggregating the effects on the different components of Gordon’s formula: expected dividends, WACC cost of equity and growth rate. The empirical evidence shows that environmental and social dimensions of sustainability are positively and significant related with company’s value. Additional evidence suggests that environmental sustainability negatively affects expected dividends and that sustainability performance has no significant influence on WACC cost of equity and growth rate.

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Stern, Felix. "Sustainability scores for portfolio performance." Thesis, KTH, Matematisk statistik, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-288502.

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In this thesis, the traditional methods of only using ESG scores to screen stocks for sustainable portfolios is broadened. The selection of securities for portfolios will instead depend on aggregation, weighting and normalization of a wider set of sustainability variables, in turn creating more all-encompassing sustainability scores. Using these scores, the aim is to implement them in index tracking portfolios. These portfolios combines a hybrid approach between active and passive investment, with the aim of creating sustainable enhanced index funds that can beat the index without adding significant risk. Additionally, this allows for comparison of how different combinations and levels of sustainability affects returns, risk and index tracking. The results that are obtained shows that in the scenario presented in the thesis, it is possible to create a sustainability score which both increases the average sustainability of portfolios, and yields risk adjusted returns. We also studied how a net increase in sustainability scores over a control portfolio results in higher active returns, and eventually a small drop off in information ratio as we apply too strong of a sustainability constraint to our portfolios. The combination of sustainability scores which showed the highest risk adjusted returns was created using equal parts z-scored ESG ratings, ESG risk ratings and ESG momentum. Detta examensarbete breddar de traditionella metoderna för att skapa hållbara portföljer. Genom att basera urvalet av aktier på aggregering, viktande och normalisering av ett större set av hållbarhetsvariabler, jämfört med traditionell screening baserad på endast ESG betyg, skapas mer omfattande hållbarhetsbetyg. Syftet med studien är att implementera dessa hållbarhetsbetyg vid skapandet av index-portföljer och analysera resultaten. Dessa portföljer kombinerar då både aktiva och passiva investeringsprinciper, med målet att skapa hållbara indexnära fonder som kan prestera bättre än indexet, utan signifikant höjd risk. Dessa hållbarhetsbetyg tillåter även jämförelse av hur olika kombinationer och nivåer av hållbarhet påverkar avkastning, risk och närhet till index. Resultaten visar tydligt att det, inom uppsatsens avgränsningar, är möjligt att skapa hållbarhetsbetyg som ökar både hållbarheten av portföljer i snitt, och skapar riskjusterad avkastning. Det visar även hur en relativ höjning av hållbarhetsbetygen resulterar i högra aktiv avkastning jämfört med en kontroll-portfölj. Vid en viss nivå av höjning sker dock en avtappning av den riskjusterade avkastningen. Den kombinationen av hållbarhetsvariabler som visar högst riskjusterad avkastning när de aggregeras till ett hållbarhetsbetyg är en kombination, i lika delar, av ESG betyg, ESG risk och ESG momentum.

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Faag, Daniel, and Vendela Sandstedt. "The Unpredictable Financial Environment of Sustainability : A Multiple Case Study Examining Risks Associated with Environmental Sustainability and Its Perceived Impact on Financial Performance." Thesis, Jönköping University, Internationella Handelshögskolan, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-53000.

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Global warming and environmental impact are topics that have received increased attention in recent years. Research suggests that companies should take more responsibility for this impact. Scholars have expressed contradicting opinions on whether these sustainability initiatives result in new risks and thereby lead to worse financial performance or will benefit the organization. This qualitative multiple case study uses an abductive approach to examine how risks associated with environmental sustainability initiatives are perceived to impact financial performance as well as how these risks can be managed in practice. Based on existing literature on environmental sustainability, risk management, and financial performance combined with interviews conducted with six representatives from three different companies in the Swedish manufacturing industry, a framework is developed. The framework presents a link from sustainability initiatives to risks, which can result in negative impacts on financial performance. The study further shows a positive relation between sustainability and financial performance, indicating that financial benefits can be gained from working with sustainability. Additionally, it is found that sustainability-related risks should be managed differently than business-related risks in organizations. The presented framework therefore indicates a necessity of establishing sustainability risk management strategies. The four main strategies identified were i) creating a shared mindset which allows for understanding of risks in the organization, ii) increasing communication and collaboration across departments, iii) actively working with risk identification to understand its behavior, and iv) establishing constant revision of risk management strategies.

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Daniel, Oluwakemi. "The Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Sustainability, and Corporate Financial Performance." ScholarWorks, 2018. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/5847.

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Some business executives are reluctant to engage in social responsibility and sustainability practices because of the assumption that these projects are costly and impair profitability. The purpose of this correlation study was to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility, sustainability (as proxied by the 2016 Best Corporate Citizens index), and corporate financial performance (as measured by ROA and Tobin's Q). Stakeholder theory was the theoretical framework for the study. The results of linear regression analyses indicated an insignificant positive relationship between corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and financial performance. The yield of the linear regression analyses was as follows: F(1, 12) = .023, p = .881, R2 = .002 for ROA and F(1, 12) = .060, p = .811, R2 = .006 for Tobin's Q. The findings from the study revealed that the relationship between social and sustainable activities and financial performance is indifferent regardless of whether financial performance is assessed using accounting or market measures. The presence of a direct, though insignificant, association calls for business managers' attention. The reason is that with the positive association, it is arguably useful to suggest that the more social and sustainable projects are embarked on by firms, the greater the probability of an increased financial outcome.

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Söderholm, Sebastian, and Frans-Waltteri Metsä-Tokila Metsä-Tokila. "CSR disclosure in Finland: Does comprehensive reporting enhance financial performance?" Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-185694.

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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability have been rising topics in the contemporary business environment over the recent years and disclosing on sustainability have become increasingly important. While some countries have legislation mandating companies to report CSR, other countries leave the decision of reporting to the companies themselves. There are numerous ways of reporting and communicating on sustainability activity and the quality of the reports can deviate heavily between companies. Theories such as stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory suggest that entities reporting comprehensive responsibility information can achieve better financial results than their non-reporting peers. There has been a myriad of studies conducted on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance. Despite the great number of research, there have been only a few studies that have investigated the true effect of CSR disclosure. The best way for a company to communicate their sustainable agenda is to disclose it for their stakeholders. Therefore, we took it upon ourselves to fill this research gap by investigating if level of CSR disclosure has a substantial impact on corporate financial performance. We approach CSR reporting from a stakeholder perspective, which to our knowledge have not been done before. This study examines 189 Finnish companies that are selected from a list of the 500 largest companies in Finland. These companies are divided into the subgroups GRI, CSR, and non-CSR, depending on their level of CSR disclosure. The financial information used in this study are comprised from the time period 2015-2019 and gathered from the database Orbis by Bureu van Dijk. This study investigates if there exists a relationship between level of sustainability reporting and the financial performance ratios ROA, ROE, Sales growth, and Profit margin. We find that there exists a strong positive relationship between the subgroup GRI and ROA and ROE, which implies that companies see a clear financial benefit from providing comprehensive CSR reports. Contrary, we find an increasingly negative relationship with sales growth as level of reporting increases, which suggest that CSR implementations stagnates growth. Profit margin showed a neutral behavior across all three groups. Overall, we conclude that there exists a relationship between the level of CSR reporting and financial performance, but that the results are mixed.

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Freeman, Charles Ellsworth. "Environmental Responsibility and Financial Performance| Implementing Alternative Fuels in Third-Party Logistics Companies." Thesis, Argosy University/San Francisco Bay Area, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10669619.

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This study involved the use of a quantitative, cross-sectional design to test the tenet of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) that connects a logistics organization’s ability to adapt to dwindling natural resources and economic sustainability. Through an examination of the correlation of alternative fuel use and the financial measurement of cost as percent of sales in U.S.-based, publicly traded third party logistics (3PL) companies using 2013 financial data, a statistically significant, strong, negative correlation was affirmed, indicating a correlation between alternative fuel use and improved financial performance. The statistical correlation of implementing alternative fuels and financial performance serves to remove the assumed financial barrier to implementing alternative fuels for logistics practitioners in the context of the impending apocalypse of a global $10.2 trillion transportation system that is fueled by oil that will eventually run out. As a field of study, sustainability in logistics has few theoretical frameworks and there is a clear need for quantitative research to evaluate those that do exist. This study addressed the need for research by adding directly to the body of logistics sustainability knowledge, establishing a template for future research, and reaffirming the need for the standardization of non-financial reporting.

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O’Neill, Dean. "A retrospective long-term financial assessment of sustainability at Cape Agulhas Municipality." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/4982.

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Magister Administrationis - MAdmin The future existence of municipalities is determined by their ability to remain financially sustainable. This study is significant as municipalities need to ensure that they are financially sustainable for the continued provision and maintenance of quality and affordable services to all the residents within their jurisdiction. The primary objective of the study was to assess the financial performance of the Cape Agulhas Municipality over a period of ten years. A secondary objective was to identify factors that constrain or facilitate improved financial management in municipalities and that may have an influence on their sustainability. The focus of the study was limited to financial management aspects of the Cape Agulhas Municipality from 2003 to 2014 and was conducted at a macro or strategic level. The research is a longitudinal qualitative study as this methodology was deemed as the best to undertake in a study of this nature. The data collection process comprised of open ended semi- structured interviews with senior politicians and officials in the municipality. Financial data from the annual financial statements and the Auditor General of South Africa over the period of study were evaluated and analysed so as to produce financial ratios and establish trends. The financial data was assessed against the financial health measures as identified by the National Treasury to determine the financial status of the municipality. Analysing the financial performance of the municipality produced information that can be used as an early warning system to mitigate further deterioration of the financial situation and inform future decisions in terms thereof. This study was useful as the findings may contribute towards effective municipal financial management and the financial sustainability of municipalities. The study makes the following findings and recommendations: The municipality experienced liquidity tensions from 2006. Although the payment ratio had been increasing over the last two years of the study, consumer debtors had been increasing and limited amounts were budgeted for the writing off of bad debt. Electricity tariff increases were significantly above the inflation rate, and salaries, wages and allowances were the largest expenditure item over the whole period of the study. In terms of provision for maintenance and repairs, these were less than half of the norm for most of the study period, and lastly the cash reserves were severely depleted from 2006 as they were used to fund long term capital projects. It is recommended that the municipality stabilises the decline in current assets and continues with the diligent implementation of its credit control policy, not only to maintain the positive collection rate but also to curb the increase in consumer debtors. In order to enhance the affordability of rates and tariffs the municipality must perform a cost analysis of all rates and tariffs to ensure that they are cost reflective. The organisational structure must be reviewed annually to verify that only critical and legislatively required posts are approved and budgeted for, as this is the largest expenditure item in the municipal budget. Furthermore, a comprehensive infrastructure maintenance plan must be developed to guide decisions when the budget for maintenance and repairs is considered, not only to ensure that this budget item is closer to the national norm but that it is spent on and tracked to infrastructure with the highest priority. The municipality needs to develop and approve a long term financial plan with its related policies to curb the further decline of its cash reserves and which includes a capital funding mix that is aligned to the useful life of the infrastructure to be financed.

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Touboul, Samuel. "The strategic value of sustainability and its disclosure : Three essays on the Impact of Sustainability Performance, Disclosure & Reputation on Firms’ Financial Performance." Thesis, Jouy-en Josas, HEC, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013EHEC0004/document.

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La théorie du signal soutient qu’une entreprise qui limite l'étendue de sa communication sociale et environnementale limite la capacité de ses parties prenantes à évaluer son degré réel de performance en termes de développement durable, lui permettant potentiellement d’atteindre une meilleure performance financière. Cependant la transparence est une norme institutionnalisée à laquelle ces parties prenantes sont attachées. Les entreprises peuvent donc ne pas être capables de limiter l’étendue de leur communication sans être pénalisées. Cette thèse soulève donc la question de savoir si les entreprises peuvent stratégiquement limiter leur communication sociale et environnementale afin d’atteindre des niveaux de profit plus élevés, ou si la pression de conformité à la norme de transparence affaiblit ces stratégies. Cette thèse démontre économétriquement que les agences de notation sociale et environnementale ne convergent pas dans leur évaluation des entreprises, soutenant l'hypothèse que les entreprises sont capables de limiter la capacité des parties prenantes à évaluer leur degré de performance sociale et environnementale. Cette thèse démontre également que les entreprises les moins durables, et les plus réputées, sont les plus susceptibles de limiter l’étendue de leur communication, que les entreprises les plus durables accèdent à de plus hauts retours financiers sur le court et long terme lorsqu'elles adoptent une communication exhaustive, et que les entreprises les moins durables au contraire sont plus rentables sur le court terme quand elles limitent l’étendue de leur communication. Cette thèse montre donc que, conformément à la théorie du signal, les entreprises peuvent à court terme stratégiquement ajuster l’étendue de leur communication sociale et environnementale afin d’atteindre de plus hauts retours financiers. Cependant, sur le long terme, la pression de conformité à la norme de transparence est trop élevée, et limite les bénéfices de telles stratégies The signaling perspective argues that when a firm limits the extent of its sustainability disclosure, it prevents stakeholders from evaluating its achieved degree of sustainability performance, and may thus reach higher financial returns. However, transparency is an institutionalized norm that stakeholders value, and firms may not be able to limit their disclosure without being penalized. This thesis therefore raises the question of whether firms can strategically limit their sustainability disclosure to reach higher profits, or if pressure for conformity to the norm of transparency exists and weakens such strategies. Using econometrical methods, this thesis empirically shows that sustainability raters do not converge in their assessment of firms’ sustainability performance, supporting the assumption that firmsmay prevent stakeholders from evaluating their actual degree of sustainability. It also shows that less sustainable and more reputed firms are more likely to limit their sustainability disclosure, that highly sustainable firms encounter higher short and long term financial returns when they adopt an extensive disclosure, and that less sustainable firms, on the contrary are more profitable in the short term when theylimit their disclosure. This thesis therefore shows that in line with the signaling perspective, firms may strategically adjust the extent on their disclosure to reach higher returns in the short term. However, in the long term, normative pressure for transparency is too high and weakens the benefits of such strategies

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Pålsson, Moa, and Patric Beijer. "Corporate Sustainability Performance and the Risk of Financial Distress : A Panel Data Analysis." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-185346.

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There are increased calls for corporations to act responsibly. Those responsibilities exceed the classical assumption that the only responsibility of the firm is its shareholders and ultimately to maximize their wealth. Any social issue participation has been described as charity or squandering of resources at the expense of the shareholders. According to the Stakeholder theory, firms should consider every stakeholder that is affected by the company and stakeholder management can be a source of value. The risk reduction hypothesis is especially interesting in the context of corporate sustainability. There have been multiple studies that have explored the relationship between corporate sustainability performance and the risk of financial distress. Like those studies, this study found that corporate sustainability performance is negatively associated with the risk of financial distress. Thereby answering the research question proposed by the authors: “Does corporate sustainability performance affect the risk of financial distress?”. Companies with higher sustainability performance will experience less risk and engagement in those activities works as a risk reduction tool. Different levels of sustainability performance have different effect on the risk, which should be considered by investors and management. It should inspire investors to incorporate sustainable companies in their investment portfolios. Furthermore, the thesis contributes to the field of knowledge by analyzing the empirical results using the Stakeholder Theory, the Shareholder Theory, the Legitimacy Theory, the Resource-based view, the Agency Theory and the Stewardship Theory. The study provides evidence of an increasing importance of sustainability performance and suggests that firms can use sustainability performance to mitigate risk. This is a panel data analysis including approximately 16,000 firm-year observations. The study takes a deductive approach, and the research is conducted under a positivist paradigm. The data is tested through conducting OLS regressions with fixed effects. The results of the statistical testing have been compared to previous studies and other relevant literature.

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Cigoj, Polona. "Eco-innovations and firms’ financial performance : A study of a relationship between eco-innovations and financial performance of firms who make them." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Företagsekonomi, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-34443.

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Much of the existing body of literature analyzes the relationship between eco-innovations and financial performance. Our study differentiates from this literature, by focusing on the scarcely investigated Nordic context, by providing a holistic view on eco-innovations and finally by analyzing also the effects eco-innovations have on marker performance. This research focuses on three types of eco-innovations (eco-product, eco-process, and eco-organizational), and additionally brings standard innovations into the perspective. To measure the impact eco-innovations in general and its categorized types have on financial performance, a sample of 50 Nordic listed firms, spread from the year 2003-2019, was employed. Financial performance was measured with profitability accounting measures (return on equity, return on assets, and operating margin), while market performance was measured with the change in firms’ market value. Our results indicate that eco-innovations were generally associated with lower profitability returns, except in the case of eco-process innovations. Moreover, our findings interestingly showed, that market performance is positively affected by standard innovations and eco-organizational innovations. The findings suggest, that even when these types of innovations have no significant effect on profitability, investors still believe these innovations will increase the long-term real value of firms. Overall this study extends the discussion of eco-innovations to their effects on firm performance, based from an investor/shareholder perspective.

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Chams, Nour. "A holistic approach toward sustainability performance: the role of the human and financial factors." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Ramon Llull, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/670476.

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Al llarg de les últimes dècades i degut a les seqüeles de la revolució industrial, l'exercici de la sostenibilitat ha estat una preocupació "comuna" entre els legisladors i reguladors, científics i acadèmics, professionals i líders empresarials. En conseqüència, s'ha estat produint una dràstica metamorfosi i un canvi estratègic en el món empresarial i en diverses organitzacions per tal d’adaptar-se a la necessitat emergent d'acompliment sostenible i assolir els Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible de les Nacions Unides. Aquesta tesi doctoral investiga l'impacte del factor humà i els indicadors financers en l'exercici de la sostenibilitat. El propòsit principal d'aquesta tesi és desvetllar els antecedents de les pràctiques ambientals i socials en les perspectives organitzacional i transnacional. Adoptant dissenys d'investigació tant qualitatius com quantitatius, examinem els prerequisits de l'acompliment de la sostenibilitat des de perspectives multidisciplinàries: gestió de recursos humans ecològics, govern corporatiu com a junta directiva, i acompliment financer com liquiditat i valoració de mercat ferma. A més, ens assegurem confiar en índexs validats, fiables i comunament aplicats a la literatura: l'índex de sostenibilitat Dow Jones (DJSI) i l'índex ambiental, social i de governança (ESG) de la base de dades Eikon de Thomson Reuters, com indicadors de les pràctiques de sostenibilitat. L'estructura d'aquesta tesi doctoral consta dels següents capítols: Els capítols 1 i 5 constitueixen la Introducció i Conclusió de la tesi; Els capítols 2, 3 i 4 representen els tres estudis d'investigació realitzats durant el programa de doctorat. El capítol 2 consisteix en una revisió sistemàtica de la literatura que identifica els antecedents, resultats i barreres de la gestió sostenible dels recursos humans (SHRM). El capítol 3 comprèn una anàlisi empírica que investiga els determinants de la junta directiva (BOD) que milloren les pràctiques de sostenibilitat i examina les discrepàncies de les característiques de BOD entre organitzacions europees i no europees. Finalment, el Capítol 4 investiga el nexe entre l'acompliment financer (flux de caixa lliure i Tobin´s Q) i les mesures ambientals, socials i de governabilitat i prova empíricament l'efecte moderador de la gestió de la qualitat total (TQM) en aquesta associació. En general, els resultats del Capítol 3 revelen una associació positiva i significativa entre les característiques de la junta directiva i l'acompliment en sostenibilitat. A nivell transnacional, l'anàlisi de regressió proporciona evidències estadístiques que donen suport a les diferències entre els indicadors de BOD entre empreses europees i no europees. Els determinants demogràfics de la BOD són els antecedents de les pràctiques de sostenibilitat en les empreses europees; l'estructura i composició de la BOD són els requisits previs de l'acompliment de la sostenibilitat en un context no europeu. Pel que fa al capítol 4, els resultats indiquen un efecte catalitzador entre la liquiditat de l'empresa i l'acompliment ESG. Mentre, la interacció entre la TQM i el factor de liquiditat té un efecte negatiu en l'ESG, la interacció entre la TQM i la Tobin´s Q revela una relació positiva i significativa amb l'ESG. A lo largo de las últimas décadas y debido a las secuelas de la revolución industrial, el desempeño de la sostenibilidad ha sido una preocupación "común" entre los legisladores y reguladores, científicos y académicos, profesionales y líderes empresariales. En consecuencia, se ha estado produciendo una drástica metamorfosis y un cambio estratégico en el mundo empresarial y en varias organizaciones para adaptarse a la necesidad emergente de desempeño sostenible y lograr los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible de las Naciones Unidas. Esta tesis doctoral investiga el impacto del factor humano y los indicadores financieros en el desempeño de la sostenibilidad. El propósito principal de esta tesis es develar los antecedentes de las prácticas ambientales y sociales en las perspectivas organizacional y transnacional. Adoptando diseños de investigación tanto cualitativos como cuantitativos, examinamos los prerrequisitos del desempeño de la sostenibilidad desde perspectivas multidisciplinarias: la gestión de recursos humanos ecológicos, el gobierno corporativo como junta directiva, y el desempeño financiero como liquidez y valoración de mercado firme. Además, nos aseguramos de confiar en índices validados, contrastables y comúnmente aplicados en la literatura: el índice de sostenibilidad Dow Jones (DJSI) y el índice ambiental, social y de gobernanza (ESG) de la base de datos Eikon de Thomson Reuters, como indicadores de las prácticas de sostenibilidad. La estructura de esta tesis doctoral consta de los siguientes capítulos: Los capítulos 1 y 5 constituyen la Introducción y Conclusión de la tesis; Los capítulos 2, 3 y 4 representan los tres estudios de investigación realizados durante el programa de doctorado. El Capítulo 2 consiste en una revisión sistemática de la literatura que identifica los antecedentes, resultados y barreras de la gestión sostenible de los recursos humanos (SHRM). El capítulo 3 comprende un análisis empírico que investiga los determinantes de la junta directiva (BOD) que mejoran las prácticas de sostenibilidad y examina las discrepancias de las características de BOD entre organizaciones europeas y no europeas. Por último, el Capítulo 4 investiga el nexo entre el desempeño financiero (flujo de caja libre y Tobin´s Q) y las medidas ambientales, sociales y de gobernabilidad y prueba empíricamente el efecto moderador de la gestión de la calidad total (TQM) en esta asociación. En general, los resultados del Capítulo 3 revelan una asociación positiva y significativa entre las características de la junta directiva y el desempeño en sostenibilidad. A nivel transnacional, el análisis de regresión proporciona evidencias estadísticas que respaldan las diferencias entre los indicadores de BOD entre empresas europeas y no europeas. Los determinantes demográficos de la BOD son los antecedentes de las prácticas de sostenibilidad en las empresas europeas; la estructura y composición de la BOD son los requisitos previos del desempeño de la sostenibilidad en un contexto no europeo. En cuanto al Capítulo 4, los hallazgos indican un efecto catalizador entre la liquidez de la empresa y el desempeño ESG. Mientras la interacción entre la TQM y el factor de liquidez tiene un efecto negativo en la ESG, la interacción entre la TQM y la Tobin´s Q revela una relación positiva y significativa con la ESG. During the last decades and the aftermath of the industrial revolution, sustainability performance has been a “common” concern among policy-makers and regulators, scientists and scholars, practitioners and business leaders. A drastic metamorphosis and strategic shifting have been occurring in the corporate world and in several organizations to accommodate the emergent need of sustainability performance and to accomplish the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Accordingly, this PhD thesis investigates the impact of the human factor and financial indicators on sustainability performance. The main purpose of this thesis is to unveil the antecedents of environmental and social practices at both organizational and cross-national perspectives. Embracing both qualitative and quantitative research designs, we examine the pre-requisites of sustainability performance from multi-disciplinary perspectives: from green human resources management, from corporate governance as board of directors, and from financial performance as liquidity and firm market valuation. Moreover, we make sure to rely on validated, reliable, and commonly applied indices in the literature i.e., Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and environmental, social, and governance index (ESG) of Thomson Reuters Eikon database, as proxies of sustainability practices. The structure of this doctoral thesis consists of the following chapters: Chapters 1and 5 constitute the Introduction and the Conclusion of the thesis; Chapters 2, 3, and 4 represents the three research studies conducted during the PhD program. Chapter 2 consists of a systematic literature review identifying the antecedents, outcomes, and barriers of sustainable human resources management (SHRM). Chapter 3 comprises an empirical analysis investigating the determinants of board of directors (BOD) that enhance sustainability practices and examines the discrepancies of the BOD characteristics between European and non-European organizations. Last but not least, Chapter 4 investigates the nexus between financial performance (free cash flow and Tobin´s Q) and environmental, social and governance scores and empirically tests the moderator effect of total quality management (TQM) on this association. Overall, the results of Chapter 3 reveal a positive and significant association between board of directors characteristics and sustainability performance. At cross-national level, the regression analysis provide statistical evidences supporting the differences among BOD indicators between European and non-European firms. While, the BOD demographic determinants are the antecedents of sustainability practices in European companies, structure and composition of the BOD are the pre-requisites of sustainability performance in non-European context. As for Chapter 4, the findings indicate a catalyst effect between firm´s liquidity and ESG performance. While the interaction between TQM and liquidity factor has a negative effect on ESG, the interaction between TQM and Tobin’s Q reveals a positive and significant relationship with ESG.

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Vincent, Olusegun Monsuru. "The impact of corporate environmental responsibility on financial performance : perspective from the multinational extractive sector." Thesis, Brunel University, 2012. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/7067.

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The research into the relationship between social-environmental responsibility and financial performance continues to draw the attention of both scholars and practitioners. This is because previous studies have not presented an unequivocal outcome as to the direction of causation between the two constructs. To address this obvious gap, this study explores the relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and financial performance with a focus on the extractive sector where previous studies least investigated empirically and one of the worst culprits in environmental degradation. The study explores the impact of corporate environmental responsibility on the financial performance in the extractive sector using a pooled secondary data of 101 multinational extractive companies for the period of 2008-2010 and primary data from a survey of 275 extractive sector managers. The results of this study show that there is no relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and financial performance while the environmental attitude of managers is positively related to the perceived corporate reputation of their companies. A further investigation shows that sector unique characteristics are responsible for the neutral relationship between corporate environmental responsibility and financial performance. However, some results show statistically insignificant positive relation and this points to the fact that in the long-term, poor sensitivity to the environment may not be sustainable.

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Håkansson, Caroline, and Kristin Salu. "Sustainability in the European Union : The Role of Financial Development in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Performance." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Nationalekonomi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-176781.

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This thesis addresses the relationship between financial development and CSR performance, based on countries within the EU. The main objective of this thesis is to critically analyse and discuss the impact of financial development on CSR performance, through using ESG performance as a proxy. Additionally, this study aims at analysing the inclusion of institutional factors when examining the relationship. While the issue of how financial development impacts individual sustainability dimensions is quite well-researched, only one study is found to examine the precise relationship between financial development and ESG performance, concluding a positive linkage in Asia. No similar study is found in the region of the EU. We find the relationship to be complex, where various channels of influence are identified when examining ESG dimensions separately. To examine this relationship, we used panel data regression analysis, based on country level data for EU’s individual member states. Our findings show a complex relationship, implying that financial development has various impacts on ESG performance and varies throughout the range of financial development. This is in contrast to previous empirical research regarding the relationship, concluding an overall positive impact. This study provides no evidence that institutional factors affect the relationship between financial development and ESG performance, but argues for the importance of institutional inclusion, due to the identified influence on ESG practices through channels such as governing laws, regulations, norms and culture. Finally, financial development is concluded as an important catalyst to promote ESG performance within the EU. When suggesting any policy implementation, it is important to keep in mind that different countries within the EU may have different needs regarding the most efficient approach to increase ESG.

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Mirzaei, Ali. "An international study of bank performance : from the perspective of sustainability and externality." Thesis, Brunel University, 2012. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/12737.

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The thesis assesses bank performance from two aspects: growth sustainability and the externality impact on the growth of non-financial industries. With regard to sustainability, the study considers two issues. One is financial performance with a focus on understanding what determines profitability and stability, particularly the role of market structure in generating profits. The second aspect is that of exploring what drives bank growth. Do banks grow through a competitive process or a noncompetitive one? In the context of externality, the thesis investigates whether bank competition and stability contribute to the growth of non-financial industries. The thesis starts by investigating the effects of market structure on profitability and stability using the sample data of 1929 banks from 40 countries including both emerging and advanced economies over 1999-2008. It attempts to examine which school of theories provide more explanatory power to profitability and stability in banks: the traditional structure-conduct-performance (SCP) or relative-market-power (RMP) hypotheses. The results show that a greater market share leads to higher bank profitability in favour of the RMP theory evidenced in advanced economies; however interestingly there is no evidence in support of these theories in emerging economies. Furthermore, the RMP effect appears more sustainable when compared with the SCP. This suggests that a more concentrated banking system may be more vulnerable to financial stability. Regarding the second aspect of banking sector performance, we look at an issue of competition by employing data from around 5850 banks across 49 economies during 2001-2010. We employ different industrial economics theories to estimate the degree of bank competition. The results show that bank competition varies across countries in terms of competition intensity and process. Some banks compete more intensity for efficiency and some compete less. Interestingly, all indicators show that emerging banking markets are less competitive than their counterparts in advanced economies. Furthermore, the thesis explores whether competition and stability in the banking sector can affect the growth and market structure of nonfinancial industries and hence economic growth. Empirical evidence from 23 industries for 48 emerging and advanced economies shows robustly that a more vigorously competitive and thus efficient banking sector allows financially dependent industries to grow faster through supporting small firms and new entrants that disconcentrate market structure. Policy implication is clear: competition, rather than market structure, is what we need for restructuring our banks that can help economic growth.

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Tchaikovsky, Zulfiya. "The Relationship Between Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Stakeholder Pressure, and Financial Performance." ScholarWorks, 2017. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/4024.

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Corporate sustainability confronts significant challenges when supply chain managers pursue short-term financial performance to meet stakeholders' expectations. To achieve sustainable economic success, organizational managers need to understand the relationship between corporate sustainability and long-term financial performance. Based on the resource dependence theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between sustainable supply chain management (SCM), stakeholder pressure, and corporate sustainability performance. The population consisted of worldwide public organizations from Newsweek Global Green Ranking 2016 list engaged in sustainable SCM. The secondary data for the study were collected from databases hosted by Sustainalytics and Standard & Poor's. The hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated statistically significant relationships between sustainable SCM and corporate sustainability performance, F(5, 158) = 3,981, p = .002, R2[.112], and between stakeholder pressure and corporate sustainability performance, F(5, 158) = 2,552 p = .030, R2[.075]. Analysis of the relationship between sustainable SCM and corporate sustainability performance with stakeholder pressure as a moderator showed non-significant interaction effect, F (5, 158) = 5.54, p < .001, R2 =.11. R2 -chng =.0007, p-int = .669. With stakeholder pressure as a mediator, the relationship showed non-significant indirect effect, b = .024, z = 0.97, p = .329. The findings of this study could contribute to the social change given that sustainable development of supply chains support the conservation of natural resources and living standards of stakeholders.

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Alkhalili, Shatha, and Victoria Namayanja. "The Impact Of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) On Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) In The Listed Swedish Financial Institutions." Thesis, Jönköping University, IHH, Företagsekonomi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-52742.

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Given that Sweden is one of the most sustainable countries in the world (RobecoSAM, 2018), with a big number of its companies as active participants in CSR, we investigate the impact that these CSR activities could have on CFP with a focus on the Financial sector, using in 26 listed Financial Institutions. As we will find out from the existing literature, the CSR-CFP relationship is neither strictly negative nor positive. If it is positive, then the firm will allocate more resources to CSR to achieve better financial performance, and the firm may fore-go or approach CSR initiatives with caution if they affect CFP negatively. Past researchers have studied this relationship before and found that the reason why financial institutions get involved in socially responsible activities is to gain public trust and justification usually after a public financial scandal. So, we explore this further expecting that if it is indeed a matter of fact that these institutions gain the justification from the public that they so desire when they choose to get involved in socially responsible activities, then it should be that the public trust and justification would translate into improved financial performance. Therefore, the research question that we seek to answer is “Does Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have an Impact on Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) in the Listed Swedish Financial Institutions” We examined the relationship between CSR and CFP using 26 Swedish financial institutions that are listed on Nasdaq Nordic stock exchange market (Stockholm) for the period between 2015 and 2019. The Fixed Effects Model regression analysis for panel data was used to test this relationship and we found that when Swedish financial institutions get involved in CSR, their financial performance is neither worsened or improved because of the insignificant ESG coefficients that we found. Swedish financial institutions' engagement in socially responsible activities does not guarantee an impact on their financial performance.

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Daruty, Matthew. "The Fall of the 10-K Report: Measuring the Impact of Accounting Ratios on Financial Performance." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2019. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2225.

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The annual 10-K report has historically been the most important aspect in assessing the position of a publicly held company. However, as the flow of information has increased with the dawn of new technologies, less and less attention has been paid to these audited financial statements. In order to assess if investors are still reacting to the information contained in the annual report, this paper examines the relationship between accounting ratios and stock price in banks traded on United States stock exchanges. By examining accounting ratios instead of simply looking at Earnings Per Share, new information was revealed regarding what aspects of the annual report investors react to. Ratios that incorporate information that is difficult to predict, such as leverage or allowance accounts were more likely to affect a stock’s performance, while those that contained information that is more readily available from other sources had less of an effect.

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Lundin, Frida, and Mattias Olandersson. "Sustainability and Profitability in Sweden : A Quantitative Study of Swedish Firms." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-160392.

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The public's interest and awareness in sustainable options is growing, resulting in a higher demand for high levels of sustainability in companies. Therefore, the question whether there is a profit to be made from being sustainable is becoming increasingly more relevant. Earlier research shows ambiguous results, with the majority indicating either positive or no connection between sustainability and profitability. Folksam’s index of responsible enterprise was used to get an assessment of the environmental and social performance of Swedish firms registered on the Swedish stock exchange between the years 2006 and 2013, where 303 individual firms were included in total. In order to measure the profitability of the included firms, two traditional financial ratios, ROA and ROE was used. A third financial ratio, Nissim & Penman’s RNOA was also used to include a more sophisticated and less researched measure. The differences between these measurements was analyzed to see whether they can explain the relationship between sustainability and profitability differently. Firstly, the reasoning behind the chosen topic of study is discussed, and the problems are formulated. Next, a literature review is conducted in order to better understand the state of research related to this study. Key concepts such as sustainability and measurements of profitability is explained in depth, and earlier research on the area is reviewed. The theoretical reference of this study is based on stakeholder and legitimacy theory. This leads up to research hypotheses to help answer whether there is a difference between RNOA and ROA, and if it is profitable to be sustainable. Our practical method discusses the data and leads to the usage of a fixed and random effects model for estimating the relationships previously mentioned. The result indicates that there is no relationship between sustainability and profitability. However, empirical evidence shows a difference in using RNOA instead of ROA, indicating that RNOA could possibly be a more accurate measure of profitability. Furthermore, our results indicate that a company can “greenwash” their organization by investing in sustainable options to legitimize their operations in the eyes of their stakeholders.

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Annim, Samuel Kobina. "Microfinance paradigm : institutional performance and outreach." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2010. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/microfinance-paradigm-institutional-performance-and-outreach(2b19d49b-ce81-49fe-b8ff-e65c20c7aa21).html.

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Microfinance research concerns addressed in this thesis relate to: (1) targeting of clients vis-à-vis financial sustainability; (2) loan size effect of interest rate and clients’ well-being status; (3) economic governance and the dual objectives of microfinance institutions; and (4) patterns, trends and drivers of microfinance institution’s efficiency. The thesis emphasises operational issues that affect institutional performance and outreach of microfinance institutions rather than impact of microfinance intervention on poverty reduction. The thesis revolves around four empirical chapters that seek to address the above research concerns. Both micro and macro-level analyses have been explored with the aim of identifying institutional and public policies that drive the success of microfinance interventions. Micro level data from households in Ghana and cross country data mainly from the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) market are used. Varied microeconometric techniques (ordinary least squares, instrumental variable estimation, quantile regression, pooled regression, fixed and random effects estimations, Hausman-Taylor, Fixed Effects Vector Decomposition, stochastic frontier analysis and non-parametric efficiency estimations) are used depending on the hypotheses being considered in each of the empirical chapters. The main findings are: observed trade-off between financial sustainability and reaching poorer clients; formal institutions dispensing their own funds target poorer clients; pronounced variations in responsiveness of loan size to interest rate changes; semi-elasticity of loan amount responsiveness to a unit change in interest rate is more than proportionate and very significant for the poorest group; lesser time in securing property and availability of credit information show positive effects in targeting poorer clients; both type (pure technical and scale) and scope (narrow and broad) of financial efficiency show varying trends; and lastly, negative effects of bureaucracies in property registration and lack of credit information on social efficiency are also observed. This thesis suggests the following recommendations both for management of microfinance institutions and other stakeholders including international microfinance investors and government: harmonizing microfinance programmes irrespective of the source of funds; segmenting microfinance outreach markets based on socio-economic well-being; curtailing bureaucracies in property registration; and providing credit related information. These are paramount to the success of the microfinance paradigm, especially in achieving its social objective.

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Danielsson, Pernilla, and Sandra Ek. "Non-financial reporting: What about the internal interest? : A quantitative study on commission in the private sector." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-172410.

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The topic of sustainability has never been as relevant as it is today. Most recently, we have been following climate activists strike worldwide, the U.S. withdraw from the Paris Agreement and we have seen the world elite leave climate meetings without agreements. In 2015, to cope with the sustainability issues, the UN adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), for global actions to protect the planet and assure a better future for humanity. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 SDGs are set to ensure social, economic, and environmental progress at a global level. For a worldwide advance in progress has the private sector a leading role, and to ensure an effective framework of goals and a balance between the three dimensions are the standards adopted in dialogue with the private sector. The adoption of agendas and regulations has stressed sustainability reporting to become an important business issue for the last two decades. Although sustainability reporting emerged quite recently, the topic has been well researched. Recent research has been focusing on shareholder value and sustainability reporting. However, there is a lack of research focusing on the other stakeholder groups. This study intends to investigate what internal stakeholders of an organization in the private sector consider as important reporting activities following the Global Reporting Standards (GRI). This study is written on commission, hence does the sample consist of the commissioner’s employees. To fulfill the purpose of the study, a survey was conducted and distributed among the internal stakeholders of the organization. The results of the study found the social sustainability activities to be the most important ones to report, followed by the environmental sustainability activities and the economic sustainability activities. Any possible differences between different subgroups of the population (gender, age, employment, and position at work) were tested by establishing two-sample t-tests and a one-way Analysis of Variance. The gender-, age- and position at work variable showed significance, rejecting the null hypothesis that the mean responses are equal.

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Tencati, Antonio. "Corporate social responsibility and firm performance : state of the art and perspectives in social, environmental and sustainability performance management." Thesis, De Montfort University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/11022.

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Over more than forty years many proposals have been drawn up to complement, integrate and overcome the traditional methodologies measuring the financial dimension of corporate performance. In parallel, thousands of companies, and especially the listed ones, have introduced, developed and implemented different practices of non-financial reporting. So, what is the state of the art with regard to the most important initiatives aimed at supporting companies in managing social, environmental and sustainability performance? And, what are the current corporate approaches to sustainability evaluation and reporting? In order to answer the two research questions, the study introduced a collaborative paradigm, based on a relational view of the firm, which recognizes the strategic value of stakeholder relationships. The stakeholder framework (that is, the multiple bottom line approach) is the lens adopted to conduct the study. With regard to the first question, a broad and up-to-date review of the most important standards and tools – aimed at managing, controlling, evaluating, and reporting the social, environmental and sustainability performance of companies – has been carried out. In reference to the second question, a qualitative content analysis, based on an interpretive perspective, of the current corporate practices has been conducted. The investigation mainly explored the social/CSR/sustainability reports of sixteen leading companies from four crucial industries (i.e., four firms per each of the four industries: banks, retailing, telecommunications, and utilities). In comparison with previous contributions in this area, the analysis is characterized by depth (that is, the number of items checked for every company), breadth (i.e., the number of stakeholders and documents/information sources covered), and complexity because of the interpretive nature. What emerged from the overall study is that, because of several and different reasons (essentially, complexity and the still prevailing focus on financial value for management tools; redundancy and incompleteness for corporate reports; and lack of innovation, that is, isomorphism, for both), the prevailing methodologies and the corporate evaluation and reporting activities are unable to fully assess the sustainability, that is, the quality, of the corporate relationships with the stakeholder groups. Therefore, in order to fill the gap new solutions are needed. As an attempt to address this point and reconnect theory and practice, a sustainability evaluation and reporting system, that is, the SERS2 methodology, characterized by an innovative, stakeholder-based scheme of integrated report, has been advanced.

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Batista, Catarina de Almeida. "Sustentabilidade empresarial e o seu impacto no desempenho financeiro das organizações." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/20844.

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Mestrado em Ciências Empresariais Sustentabilidade é um tema cada vez mais presente no mundo empresarial. Atualmente, clientes, fornecedores, parceiros e investidores exigem das empresas uma maior consciencialização para os impactos das suas atividades no ambiente e na sociedade. Investimentos por parte das empresas no sentido de reduzir o impacto ambiental negativo das suas atividades, deixaram de ser vistos apenas como um requisito ou uma obrigação legal (que poderia representar um custo adicional para as empresas), passando a integrar as estratégias de negócio das mesmas. Esta crescente integração das preocupações ambientais nas estratégias de negócio tem vindo a dar destaque ao conceito de Sustentabilidade empresarial que passa a ser visto, por muitas empresas, não só como uma forma de acesso a novas oportunidades de negócio, mas também como uma forma de criação de valor no longo prazo. Sendo o principal objetivo das empresas a maximização do lucro e a criação de valor para os seus shareholders, seria vantajoso para as mesmas conseguirem integrar no seu core business práticas responsáveis, gerando um impacto positivo no ambiente e na sociedade e, ainda assim, conseguirem gerar resultados positivos. Nesse sentido, a presente dissertação surge com o objetivo de verificar se a Sustentabilidade empresarial pode ou não contribuir de forma positiva no desempenho financeiro das organizações. Para tal, este estudo utiliza o Índice de Sustentabilidade de Dow Jones como forma de medição da performance sustentável das organizações em estudo e, complementarmente, utiliza alguns indicadores financeiros de forma a mensurar o desempenho financeiro das mesmas. Sustainability is a topic that has been arising in the business world. Currently, customers, suppliers, partners and investors are more aware of the negative impacts of their activities in the environment. Investments by companies, in order to reduce the negative environmental impact of their activities, were only seen as a requirement or a legal obligation (which could represent an additional cost for companies) and now they are a part of most business strategies. This integration of environmental concerns into business strategies has been emphasizing the concept of Corporate Sustainability, which is now seen by many companies, not only as a way of accessing new business opportunities, but also as a way of creating long-term value. Since the main purpose of companies is to maximize their profits and create value for their shareholders, it is extremely beneficial for them to be able to integrate responsible practices into their core business, causing a positive impact on the environment and society while having positive financial results. In this sense, this dissertation arises with the goal of proving whether Corporate sustainability can contribute positively to the financial performance of organizations. For that, this study uses the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as a way of assessing the sustainable performance of the organizations in study and, in addition, uses some indicators such as BVPS, EPS and ROE in order to measure their financial performance. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

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Demircioglu, Edessa, and Karoline Norheim. "Organizational façades and hypocrisy within sustainability reports : A qualitative content analysis of Royal Bank of Scotland’s sustainability reports between 2008-2013." Thesis, Högskolan i Jönköping, Internationella Handelshögskolan, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-43791.

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Abstract Background: Sustainability reporting is an important communication channel for corporations to increase legitimacy in the public eye and handle different stakeholder demands (Blanc et al., 2017). In order to manage different stakeholder demands scholars have developed different theories to detect any inconsistencies between a corporation’s communication and actions, namely organizational façades and organizational hypocrisy. Purpose: The purpose of this master thesis is to understand in which way RBS are misleading, in form of communication, their customers in their sustainability reports. This phenomenon is investigated between 2008-2013. It is under this period the FCA (2016) investigation concluded that the bank had misled their customers. Method: This thesis adopts the qualitative content analysis when conducting the research. This method aids to categorize the text data which helps to make a large sample of text more attainable and easier to analyse and find connections within the data. In this thesis the textual data is coded into one of the three following codes: (i.) Rational façades - the organization meet fundamental norms of rationality. (ii.) Progressive façades - the organization do not only show rationality but also progress. (iii.) Reputational façades - statements that are disclosed in order to meet demands of the most critical stakeholders (Abrahamson, & Baumard, 2008) Conclusion: The results show that the most frequently apparent façades in the sustainability reports are progressive façades, followed by reputational façades and lastly rational façades. Moreover, the findings of this thesis uncovered clear sub-categories fitting under each façade. The sub-categories discovered were eight folded. Lastly, the results show that RBS shows signs of organizational hypocrisy, since their sustainability report disclosures and their actions are not in line, during the investigation period.

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Phyu, Hla Thel, and ABM Fazle Rahi. "The impact of residual sustainability on stock behaviors– A quantitative study on Swedish listed companies." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-150581.

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Nowadays, the value creation and measurement of the economic performances have changed from traditional ways of maximizing shareholder’s wealth to maximizing stakeholder’s wealth. Companies are responsible for creating value not only for their organizationsbut also for the society as a whole because CSR issues attract a global attention and most countries are urging the companies to follow sustainable ways. In Nordic countries, Sweden is well known as a pioneer for sustainability and all the CSR activities aredisclosed in Sustainability or CSR reports. Although there are many researches related to the impacts of sustainability reporting and CSR performance on firm’s growth or financial performance, a research examining the relationship between CSR performance and stock price volatility of the companies cannot be found. Therefore, we aim to investigate the impact of the residual sustainability which is one of the dimensions to measure sustainability, on stock behaviorsand formulated the research question:What is the impact of Residual Sustainability on stock behaviors?The purpose of the thesis is to find out how residual sustainability is allocated in terms of monetary value, and whether this allocation of resources creates value for the shareholders or not. This leads to investigate the stock price volatility against the size of residual sustainability of the companies listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. In adopting research methodology, we followed functionalist paradigm through the assumptions: regulatory side undersociology, objectivism under ontology, positivism under epistemology, and positivism under axiologybecause we consider that companies are rational entities and aim to provide rational explanation of whether residual sustainability haspossible impacts to stock behaviors or not. We answered the research question by adopting deductive approach. Based on exploratory and explanatory research, we designed archival research method to perform quantitative analysis in a cross-sectional study. We developed our theoretical framework based on Sustainable Enterprise Theory, Legitimacy Theory, Shareholder Theory, Stakeholder Theory and Resource-based view Theory and the analysis was conducted and discussed by relating with those theories. We extracted the data from EikonDataStream for years 2015, 2016 and 2017. We used different statistical methods to test normality of our variables, and run the tests with multilinear regression model to address our research question. The result indicates that there is no statistically significant relationship between residual sustainability and stock behaviorswithin the specific time frame. The possible reason is that the stock price is well adjusted before creating stock volatility because the sustainability in Sweden is likely to be predicted for the future. Secondly, most of the Swedish companies are fully utilized the residual fund for innovation, talent retention, research and development and other purposes and thereby it may create delay adjustment on stock price until value creation for organizationis generated.

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Nguyen, Quynh Anh Mai. "Financial services for the poor in Vietnam : a comprehensive analysis on the performance and sustainability of microfinance sector." Thesis, https://doors.doshisha.ac.jp/opac/opac_link/bibid/BB13135797/?lang=0, 2020. https://doors.doshisha.ac.jp/opac/opac_link/bibid/BB13135797/?lang=0.

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The dissertation chooses Vietnam as a typical case to address the gap in microfinance studies. Instead of focusing on the beneficiaries of the microfinance system, as many studies have been done, the subjects of this study are microfinance institutions (MFIs). The objective is to suggest a balanced sustainability approach for MFIs in Vietnam that refers to governance practices, legal environmental, and social and financial objectives as equally important. Particularly, it identifies the constraints and the potential, and suggests workable approaches to support Vietnam microfinance providers in extending and developing services throughout the country in a financially sustainable manner. 博士(現代アジア研究) Doctor of Philosophy in Contemporary Asian Studies 同志社大学 Doshisha University

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Pacheco, Paredes Angel Arturo. "The Association of Real Earnings Management with: Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, Audit Effort, and Future Financial Performance." FIU Digital Commons, 2016. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2624.

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Emerging research on real earnings management [REM] has expressed the concern that firms deviating from normal business practices may endure a negative impact on future cash flows and performance. This dissertation (in three essays) investigates the phenomenon of real earnings management in its association with: 1) enterprise resource planning systems [ERPs]; 2) audit report lags [ARLs]; and 3) future firm performance. In the first investigation I hypothesize that the increased monitoring associated with the implementation of an ERP will result in a decline in REM. In the second investigation I hypothesize that higher levels of REM will evoke greater auditor scrutiny and be associated with longer ARLs. In the third investigation I hypothesize that managerial actions that would ordinarily be classified as REM: reductions in discretionary expenditures or overproduction, are not REM but indicative of enhanced efficiencies when found in concert with prior period restructurings or expected future sales growth respectively. In each of the three investigations, my hypotheses are confirmed.

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Hanekom, Barend Johannes. "An analysis of sustainable reporting rating levels as an indicator of financial performance for JSE listed companies." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/29740.

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The purpose of sustainability reports is to represent the progress of a company’s sustainability effort and status to stakeholders. There is a need for stakeholders to benchmark sustainability performance of companies. The objective of this research was to find evidence that the GRI Application Level used in the ranking GRI compliant sustainability reports, is an indicator of financial performance for companies trading on the JSE in South Africa.The results will show that there is no evidence to show that the GRI Applications Level is an indicator of financial performance. The consequence of this evidence is that the lack of adequate benchmark standards can de-motivate companies to strive for higher sustainability performance. Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) unrestricted

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Lu, Chenjie, and Iida Sällinen. "Socially responsible investing : The relationship between financial performance and SRI strategies of mutual funds." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-388077.

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Social responsibility has gained popularity during the past few years, and one aspect of it is what benefits and costs it brings to a socially responsible investor. The purpose of this study is to examine whether different SRI strategies used by mutual funds are related to financial performance. By using multiple regression analysis and a sample of 88 Swedish SRI mutual funds over the period from 2014 to 2018, we find that using SRI screens first reduces the financial performance, but then gains a slight rebound as the screening intensity increases, indicating a U-shaped relationship. Further, we find that environmental screens impact the financial performance positively, and engagement and voting in sustainability matters is also positively related to performance.

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Neff, John E. "Cultural Factors: Entrepreneurial Orientation or Not-Here Comes Innovation in Small to Medium Sized Enterprises." Case Western Reserve University Doctor of Management / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=casedm1568628518748942.

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Niswonger, Jennifer R. "Effective Revenue Diversification Strategies in Nonprofit Organizations." ScholarWorks, 2019. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/7318.

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Nonprofit organization leaders increasingly encounter social burdens and financial difficulties, jeopardizing ongoing success and organizational sustainability. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore revenue diversification strategies used by 3 leaders of a small nonprofit organization in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States through the conceptual lens of modern portfolio theory. Data were collected via in-depth semistructured interviews, and member checking was used to facilitate accuracy, consistency, and integrity. Methodological triangulation included a document review and analysis of financial statements, tax returns, strategy objectives, the organizational website, social media, and nonprofit data reports. Data from documents and interviews were manually coded, and themes were identified using thematic analysis. Six themes emerged related to process strengths and opportunities for improvement including capitalizing on a mission-driven workforce; using a systematic strategic planning process; building relationships with partners, suppliers, and collaborators; integrating performance measures to areas of importance; and developing and implanting systematic methods to assess customer satisfaction and workforce engagement. The findings from this study might contribute to positive social change by providing revenue diversification strategies and the supporting processes that leaders of small nonprofit organizations can use to enhance existing services, expand community programs, and create ongoing organizational success.

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Lennartsson, Sofia, and Lena Pettersson. "Corporate Social Responsibility och dess inverkan på lönsamhet i nordiska börsnoterade företag." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för handel och företagande, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-13943.

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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) är ett aktuellt ämne som syftar till att företag ska ta ett större samhällsansvar, både ur ett ekonomiskt, miljömässigt och socialt perspektiv. Den globalisering som råder i världen påverkar inte bara ett internt företagsklimat, det ger även effekter på omgivande samhälle och individer, vilket tillsammans med sociala påtryckningar skapar ett behov av CSR. Ansvaret till samhället innebär inte bara ekonomiska och lagliga aspekter, dock ska ett etiskt och filantropiskt perspektiv också antas. Idag är CSR ett frivilligt åtagande och för att kunna motivera företag till ett större ansvarstagande för sitt agerande ämnar denna studie att undersöka, ur ett nordiskt sammanhang, om ett företags hållbarhetsarbete genererar lönsamhet. Studien utgår från nordiska börsnoterade företag som ingår i Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). Indexet representeras av de bäst presterande hållbarhetsföretagen i världen som kvalificerat sig till att ingå. Genom en deduktiv kvantitativ metod studeras sambandet mellan CSR och lönsamhet för att förklara vilken effekt variabeln Corporate Social Performance (CSP) har på variabeln Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) under tidsperioden 2010-20162010–2016. Fortsättningsvis undersöks skillnaden i lönsamhet mellan företag som inkluderats i DJSI och matchade likartade nordiska företag som inte ingår i indexet. Undersökningen baseras på sekundärkällor ur ett naturvetenskapligt perspektiv. Studien erhåller ett resultat som påvisar att företag som ingår i hållbarhetsindexet tenderar att vara mer lönsamma än företag som inte ingår genom att redovisningsbaserade mått, bruttomarginal och avkastning på totalt kapital (ROA), har applicerats. Studiens slutsats blir att CSR-arbete kan öka lönsamheten i nordiska företag genom att bli inkluderade i DJSI, studien visar dock att placeringen i indexet inte har någon betydelse. Därav blir studiens bidrag att motivera företag till ett större åtagande av hållbarhetsarbete eftersom CSR kan generera högre lönsamhet. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a current topic which aims to encourage companies to be more responsible as an societal actor, both from an economic, environmental and social perspective. The consequences of the globalization may not only affect the internal business environment, it will also affect the surrounding society and individuals, which together creates a demand for CSR. As a societal actor, companies needs to include ethical and philanthropic responsibilities, and not only take economic and legal aspects into consideration. Currently, CSR is a voluntary commitment and to motivate companies to embrace the responsibility for the society, this study aims to investigate, from a Nordic context, whether companies’ sustainability work generates profitability. The study is based on Nordic listed companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World (DJSI), which is an index where the top performing sustainability companies can qualify for an inclusion. The correlation between CSR and profitability will be studied through a deductive quantitative method to explain what impact Corporate Social Performance (CSP) has on Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) during the years between 2010-2016. Furthermore, the differences in profitability between companies included in DJSI matched Nordic companies that are not included in the index will be investigated. From a scientific perspective, the survey is based on secondary sources. The results of the study indicates that companies included in the sustainability index tend to have an improved profitability than companies that are not included. This by applying the accounting-based measures gross margin and return on assets (ROA). The conclusion of the study is that CSR can improve profitability among the Nordic companies by an inclusion in DJSI, but the study shows that the placement in the index does not have an impact. Hence, the contribution of this study is to motivate companies to a greater commitment to sustainability because CSR can generate improved profitability.

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Guy, Tywon. "Strategies to Improve Small Business Sustainability." ScholarWorks, 2019. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/7386.

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Small businesses are considered the backbone of the U.S. economy with significant contributions in the areas of job creation and economic development. However, 79% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years. This multiple case study aimed to explore strategies and knowledge of resources that owners of small businesses used to sustain business operations for longer than the first 5 years. The population included 5 minority owners of small businesses in Texas. Chaos theory formed the conceptual framework. The data collection process included semistructured interviews, member checks, field notes, company artifacts, and archival documents. Data were analyzed using Yin's data analysis steps of compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding. Three themes emerged from the analysis: effective management of the business environment, effective planning, and business owners' skills and knowledge. The U.S. Small Business Administration, local chambers of commerce, and owners of small businesses may benefit from the findings of this study by gaining an understanding of successful minority owners of small businesses' implemented strategies that enable business success and profitability. The implications of this study for positive social change include identifying sustainable strategies minority owners of small businesses can use to advance business growth, increase financial security, achieve employee job sustainability, and potentially stimulate the local community with job creation.

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Coelho, Jose Flavio Guerra Machado, and f. coelho@bigpond com. "SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE EVALUATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS MODEL FOR INDIVIDUAL ORGANIZATIONS AND SUPPLY CHAINS." Central Queensland University, 2006. http://library-resources.cqu.edu.au./thesis/adt-QCQU/public/adt-QCQU20060720.094327.

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The title of the research is Sustainability Performance Evaluation Management Systems Model for Individual Organizations and Supply Chains. This research has achieved its aim to develop and demonstrate the practical implementation of a simple and objective sustainability performance evaluation management system model for individual organizations and supply chains. It has resulted in the recognition that a new concept Network of Interested Partners underpins the achievement of sustainability. The term acknowledges the interdependence and reflects the essential cooperation that must be achieved between business organisations, their commercially related entities and the local community if progress towards sustainability is to be achieved. It therefore encompasses and extends the concept of a supply chain as currently used. Sustainable Development is defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development as development, which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future societies to meet their own needs. Organizations, as part of human activities, also have to be sustainable. The sustainability of organizations is directly linked to the continual improvement of business performance. Many organizations have found a way to improve performance through the establishment of management systems. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards are recognized worldwide as reliable and efficient tools for the implementation of management systems. However, they do not always result in the desired improvement in outcomes. Therefore, if the required improvement of business performance is to be achieved, improved methodologies for development and implementation of performance evaluation (PE) processes are necessary. These methodologies must take into consideration sustainability principles. They also have to be applicable to individual entities and supply chains, with or without management systems in place. Supply chains are important because it is being increasingly recognized that overall supply chain performance is a means of adding value and competitive advantage to all businesses. In the first part of the research a performance evaluation model or PE (version 1 model) was developed. This was used as criteria to compare and evaluate existing performance evaluation processes and outcomes of individual organisations and their respective supply chain within the Gladstone region, Australia. Questionnaires have also been used to identify and evaluate the needs of the interested parties in relation to the organizations and supply chains business performance and processes of performance evaluation. All the information provided in the first part of the research was used by the researcher to develop the Sustainability Performance Evaluation Management Systems model or SPEMS (version 2 model). This incorporates the concepts of Network of Interested Parties/Partners. In particular, one of the outcomes is recognition that organizations need to establish partnerships if effective supply chain performance improvement is to be achieved. Therefore the establishment of partnerships has become a key requirement for the implementation of SPEMS. The establishment of partnership among participants of a supply chain of Gladstone and implementation of the eight first steps of the SPEMS (version 2 model) in this supply chain was commenced successfully through workshops. The supply chain was formed by commercial organizations, government entities and interested parties from the community. SPEMS requires that partners all have the same level of ownership and authority in the decisions of the supply chain. Some new terms and their definitions have been created within the research to support the new SPEMS model. They include: Network of Interested Partners, sustainability for organizations, sustainability KPI and sustainability friendly organizations. All of the above are encompassed within the final SPEMS (version 3 model).

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Levin, Matthew H. Levin. "The Role of an Ethos of Sustainability: The Hidden Value of Intangible Resources." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1497005512519097.

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Ahlrik, Alma, and Hertha Kamras. "Sambandet mellan aktiekurseroch hållbarhetsprestation : En eventstudie om Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-435487.

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Denna studie undersöker indexinkluderingar och indexexkluderingars påverkan på europeiska företags aktiekurser genom att studera bolag som inkluderats i eller exkluderats ur hållbarhetsindexet Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe under perioden 2017–2019. Vidare undersöks även specifikt svenska bolag som inkluderats, exkluderats eller bibehållit sin plats i indexet under samma tidsperiod. Detta till följd av det ökade intresset och utbudet av ESG- relaterade investeringar i världen, inte minst i Europa. En standardmässig eventstudiemetod baserad på marknadsmodellen används för att på kort sikt undersöka detta eventuella samband. Vi kan i resultatet inte finna några starka bevis på att en annonsering i sig har någon tydlig påverkan på företagens aktieavkastning för vare sig europeiska eller svenska bolag. Däremot finner vi att svenska bolag som behållit sin plats eller inkluderats i indexet visar en positiv genomsnittlig kumulativ avvikelseavkastning (CAR) mellan två och tio dagar efter annonseringsdagen. Det kan trots det inte bevisa indexets relevans för marknaden vilket stödjer tidigare studiers resultat. This paper examines the impact of index inclusions and index exclusions on the share prices of European companies by studying companies that are included or excluded from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe during the period 2017-2019. Furthermore, Swedish companies that have been included, excluded or retained their place in the index during the same time period are also specifically examined. This due to the increased interest and supply of ESG- related investments in the world, especially in Europe. A standard event study method based on the market model is used to investigate this possible connection in the short term. We cannot find strong evidence that an announcement has any evident impact on companies' return on investment for either European or Swedish companies. On the other hand, we find that Swedish companies that have retained their place or are included in the index show a positive average cumulative abnormal return (CAR) between two and ten days after the announcement date. Despite this, the results cannot prove the index's relevance to the market which supports previous studies.

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Meier, Florian. "Determinants and consequences of attribution statements on corporate financial performance outcomes in the annual report : an empirical analysis of UK listed firms." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5723.

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This thesis explores causal attribution statements on performance outcomes given in annual reports of UK listed rms. The objectives are three-fold. First, it analyses the nature and extent of attribution statements provided. Second, it explores corporate governance factors and rm-speci c characteristics that are related to the provision of attribution statements. Finally, it investigates the economic consequences of providing attribution statements by examining their association with the rm's cost of equity capital. Using data drawn from a sample of 142 UK rms listed on the London Stock Exchange, content analysis was used to measure the extent of attributions in the annual reports for the year 2006. The results show that the volume of attribution statement provision is generally low and variation across rms is low. Firms also show a strong tendency to explain performance with internal rather than with external reasons. The results from regression analysis show that the volume of attribution statements and the space given to internal and external attribution statements is associated with the proportion of non-executive directors, director share ownership, audit committee size, market value, gearing, pro tability and new share issues. With respect to the relationship between the attribution statements and the cost of capital, the PEG model was employed to estimate the cost of equity capital. The ndings indicate an association between attribution statement provision and the cost of equity capital, but only for rms with low analyst following. For these rms, more extensive performance explanations and more extensive internal explanations are associated with a higher cost of equity capital. However, attribution statements are unrelated to the cost of equity capital for rms with high analyst following. The thesis makes two contributions in the area of attribution determinants. First, it measures attribution provision with a measure that has not been previously applied in the literature to measure attribution statements. Second, it provides evidence on how rm-speci c characteristics and the rm's corporate governance mechanisms in uence the extent and the type of performance explanations provided by rms. The thesis makes four contributions regarding the e ect of attribution statements on the cost of capital. First, it uses a quantitative approach to directly estimate the cost of capital e ects of attribution statements. Second, it provides evidence that the association between attribution statements and the cost of equity capital is in uenced by an interaction between attribution statements and analyst following. Third, the thesis provides the rst evidence of the relationship between attribution statements and the cost of equity capital in a UK setting. Fourth, it provides evidence that the relationship between disclosure and the cost of equity capital is complex and is in uenced by interactions between disclosure and information intermediaries.

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Tol, Rick, Tuba Atabey, and Kerstin Antonsson. "Integrated Reporting <IR> Framework - a strategic move to sustainability?" Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för strategisk hållbar utveckling, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-18392.

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Global society is threatened by many social and ecological challenges, together they form a complex environment defined in this thesis as the sustainability challenge. Organizations have a major impact on this challenge, with business strategy being the leverage point. This thesis identifies the gaps and recommendations to address those gaps to strategically move organizations towards reaching a sustainable society. The <IR> Framework by the IIRC is a reporting structure and method that includes sustainability elements within a business orientated context. Through 20 interviews, report comparison and system analysis we have generated the results. These highlight gaps with regards to planetary limits and lack of directing organizations towards sustainability. Based on the findings we conclude that <IR>can be a steppingstone by introducing organizations to sustainability elements within business language. However, <IR> cannot be used as a standalone tool to reach a sustainable society. <IR> does assist and succeed in making organizations more strategic, which prepares them to move to sustainability. Overall, organizations acquire a broader perception and understanding regarding non-financials. Recommendations include integrating systems thinking, formulating ‘success’ and back casting from it to strategically prioritize actions; also referring to other tools and concepts that can assist in niche areas within <IR>.

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Johansson, Eva-Maria, and Ann-Louise Larsson. "Värdesätts företags rapporterade hållbarhetsinformation mer eller mindre av investerare, efter att den blivit lagstadgad?" Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Företagsekonomi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-34825.

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SAMMANFATTNING Titel: Värdesätts företags rapporterade hållbarhetsinformation mer eller mindre av investerare, efter att den blivit lagstadgad? Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Eva-Maria Johansson och Ann-Louise Larsson Handledare: Jan Svanberg Datum: 2021 – januari Syfte: Företags hållbarhetsredovisning och nyttan med den för investerare, har under många år varit ett aktuellt ämne inom företagsekonomisk forskning. Flertalet tidigare studier har undersökt hur företags hållbarhetsredovisning påverkar hur ett företag värderas av investerare på kapitalmarknaden. Få studier har dock gjorts på den svenska börsmarknaden, och framförallt studier som fokuserar på samtliga delar inom hållbarhetsredovisningen. Denna studie ser därför ett stort intresse i att undersöka om 2016 års lagstadgade hållbarhetsrapportering har påverkat värderelevansen för hållbarhetsprestanda för företagens marknadsvärden på den svenska börsmarknaden. Metod: I denna studie har en kvantitativ forskningsstrategi tillämpats, med en longitudinell forskningsdesign. Sekundär data inhämtades från Thomson Reuters databas för de 61 företag på Stockholmsbörsen med ESG-betyg för åren 2014-2019. Dataanalyser genomfördes via flertalet regressionsanalyser i statistikprogrammet SPSS. Resultat & slutsats: Resultaten visar att det finns värderelevans för hållbarhetsprestanda och att den är positivt relaterad till företagens marknadsvärden. Däremot har inga resultat kunnat påvisa att lagändringen givit effekt på hur företagens hållbarhetsrapporter värderas på aktiemarknaden. Examensarbetets bidrag: Denna studie är relevant för både forskningen och företagen med resultat om huruvida lagstadgat hållbarhetsarbete ger ekonomiska fördelar ur ett värderings- och kapitalmarknadsperspektiv. Den är även den första i sitt slag att undersöka om den lagstadgade hållbarhetsrapporteringen 2016 har värdemässig relevans för marknadsvärdet för företag på den svenska börsmarknaden. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Eventuella skillnader i värderelevans för ESG-betygets olika dimensioner och underkategorier skulle kunna undersökas genom en uppdelning av betygets olika delar för att utröna en eventuell utjämnande effekt. Ytterligare studier skulle också kunna göras med en annan proxy för hållbarhetsprestanda som inkluderar de företag som fallit utanför denna studies urval med anledning av förekomst av ESG-betyg. Nyckelord: Hållbarhet, hållbarhetsprestanda, ESG, ESG-betyg, värderelevans, lagstadgad hållbarhetsrapportering, hållbarhetsrapport. ABSTRACT Title: Is a company's reported sustainability information valued higher or lower by investors, after it has become statutory? Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Eva-Maria Johansson and Ann-Louise Larsson Supervisor: Jan Svanberg Date: 2021 – January Aim: Corporate sustainability reporting and the benefits of it for investors, has for many years been a current topic in business economics research. Several previous studies have examined how companies' sustainability reporting affects how a company is valued by investors in the capital market. However, few studies have been conducted regarding the Swedish stock market, especially studies that focus on the total spectrum of sustainability reporting. This study therefore sees great interest in examining whether the 2016 statutory sustainability reporting has affected the value relevance of sustainability performance for companies' market values in the Swedish stock market. Method: In this study, a quantitative research strategy has been applied, with a longitudinal research design. Secondary data were obtained from Thomson Reuters' database for the 61 companies on the Stockholm Stock Exchange with ESG ratings for the years 2014-2019. Data analyzes were performed through several regression analyzes in the statistical program SPSS. Result & Conclusions: The results show that there is value relevance for sustainability performance and that it is positively related to companies' market values. On the other hand, no results have been able to show that the law change has had an impact on how companies' sustainability reports are valued in the stock market. Contribution of the thesis: This study is relevant for both research and companies with results on whether statutory sustainability work provides economic benefits from a valuation and capital market perspective. It is also the first of its kind to examine whether the statutory sustainability reporting in 2016 has value relevance for the market value of companies on the Swedish stock market. Suggestions for future research: Possible differences in value relevance for the different dimensions and subcategories of the ESG grade could be investigated by dividing the different parts of the grade in order to ascertain a possible leveling effect. Additional studies could also be performed with another sustainability performance proxy that includes those companies that fell out of the scope of this study due to the presence of ESG ratings. Key words: Sustainability, sustainability performance, ESG, ESG rating, value relevance, statutory sustainability reporting, sustainability report.

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Lin, Juan Carlos. "A study of Brazilian green innovation and its impact on financial performance." reponame:Repositório Institucional do FGV, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10438/18349.

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Submitted by Juan Carlos Lin (jcarlos.lin@hotmail.com) on 2017-06-19T17:41:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JUAN-LIN-MPA 19-06 v12.pdf: 3537844 bytes, checksum: d59a937c6cd2ed31a167e57989188c40 (MD5) Approved for entry into archive by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br) on 2017-06-19T17:57:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 JUAN-LIN-MPA 19-06 v12.pdf: 3537844 bytes, checksum: d59a937c6cd2ed31a167e57989188c40 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-19T20:03:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JUAN-LIN-MPA 19-06 v12.pdf: 3537844 bytes, checksum: d59a937c6cd2ed31a167e57989188c40 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-30 The aim of this study is to examine the links between developed environmental innovations and its impact on the financial performance of Brazilian manufacturing industries. This affects how firms choose their technological resources in market competition, and slowly affects society’s sustainable development. It seeks answers to the question: Do Brazilian manufacturing firms that choose a green line of innovation perform financially different – compared to firms operating with conventional innovative strategies? Using multiple linear regression, from empirical data, it shows the impact of using innovative green technology on organizational financial results. The empirical evidence is based on the dataset gathered from 4545 Brazilian companies by Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE) from the Pesquisa de Inovação Tecnologica (PINTEC) and the Pesquisa industrial Anual (PIA) survey. Brazilian firms which have developed one or more environmental or traditional innovations, evidencing its impact over material reduction(MR), energy reduction(ER) water reduction(WR) and environmental impact(waste and pollution) reduction(EIR). The data cover 3 years from 2011 to 2014 and focus on firms which have developed one or more innovations, showing its impact on WR, MT, ER and EIR and the effect on the Superior Financial Performance (SFP) of the firms. SFP is a composition of Superior Sales Growth(SSG) and Superior profitability(SP). Descriptive statistic and regression were perform with the intent to determinate first, the prevalence of each type of Green Innovation (GI), in the Brazilian manufacturing industry and second, how each affects financial performance. Result shows that only innovation related to WR have a positive relation with SSG (foreign controlled companies) but not in all manufacturing industry. Showing that most GI implemented by Brazilian manufacturing firm are inefficient. Other type of GI do not affect financial performance, in the manufacturing industry or in foreign controlled manufacturing companies. This study hopes to provide three contributions to academic literature. First, to deepen the existing knowledge of how environmental innovations are associated with financial performance. Second, to demonstrate how financial performance can be enhanced along successful innovation processes. Furthermore, the aim is to propose a practical contribution by giving a clearer roadmap of the sustainable technology choices, as well as bringing forth an environmental discussion about strategical choices. And last but not least, to confirm the importance of environmental technology, enabling a public and private united effort to further a sustainable development. O objetivo deste estudo é examinar a relação entre inovações ambientais implementadas por empresas da indústria manufatureira brasileira e seus impactos em suas performances financeiras. Esse exame pode afetar a escolha de recursos tecnológicos durante a competição no mercado, impactando gradualmente o desenvolvimento sustentável da sociedade. Procura-se responder à pergunta: Empresas manufatureiras do Brasil que escolhem inovação verde performam de maneira diferente de empresas que operam com estratégias de inovação tradicional? Neste estudo é utilizada regressão linear múltipla com dados empíricos, para mostrar o impacto no resultado financeiro de uso de inovações tecnológicas verdes. A evidência empírica é baseada na análise de 4.545 empresas, cujos dados foram coletados pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), da Pesquisa de Inovação Tecnológica (PINTEC) e da Pesquisa Industrial Anual (PIA), bem como de empresas brasileiras que tenham desenvolvido uma ou mais inovações, evidenciando seu impacto em Redução de Material (MR), Redução de Energia (ER), Redução de Água (WR) e Redução de Impacto Ambiental (resíduo e poluição) (EIR). Os dados englobam os anos de 2011 a 2014, focando em empresas que tenham desenvolvido e implementado uma ou mais inovações, mostrando seu impacto em WR, MT, ER e EIR e seu efeito em sua Performance Financeira Superior (SFP). SFP é um construto do estudo, que é composto de Crescimento de Receita Superior (SSG) e Rentabilidade Superior (SP). Foi realizada a estatística descritiva e análise da regressão, com o intuito de determinar a predominância de cada tipo de Inovação Verde (GI) na indústria manufatureira brasileira e como isso afeta a performance financeira. O resultado mostra que apenas inovação relacionada a WR apresenta correlação positiva com SSG, mas apenas nas empresas de controle de capital estrangeiro, e não em toda a indústria manufatureira. Isso mostra que a maioria das GI implementadas na indústria manufatureira brasileira carecem de eficiência. Outros tipos de GI não afetam a performance financeira, seja na indústria manufatureira como todo ou apenas em empresas com controle de capital estrangeiro. Este estudo busca contribuir com a literatura acadêmica de três seguintes maneiras: Primeiro, aprofundar o conhecimento de como inovações ambientais são associadas com a performance financeira. Segundo, demonstrar como a performance financeira é melhorado por inovações sucedidas. Terceiro, buscar contribuir, de modo prático, com uma visão clara de escolha tecnológica sustentável, levando a discussão ambiental para um nível estratégico nas organizações. E, por último, confirmar a importância de tecnologias ambientais, permitindo o esforço único entre o público e privado, para aprofundar o desenvolvimento sustentável.

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Oliveira, Tatiana Filipa Pereira. "Capitalismo e sustentabilidade : podem ser faces da mesma moeda?" Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/22281.

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Mestrado Bolonha em Ciências Empresariais Hoje em dia o tema Sustentabilidade está muito presente no meio empresarial, e este estudo pretende avaliar se o sistema económico existente em Portugal – o Capitalismo – é compatível com o conceito de Sustentabilidade. Para além de investigar esta compatibilidade, este estudo pretende avaliar qual o efeito da adoção de medidas de Sustentabilidade no desempenho financeiro das empresas, assim como perceber se é possível existir um conceito denominado por “Capitalismo Sustentável” e se as empresas permitem a sua existência. Para averiguar estes temas, a metodologia utilizada foi a qualitativa e a quantitativa. Dentro do método qualitativo utilizou-se entrevistas semiestruturadas realizadas a 8 representantes de empresas de diferentes ramos de atuação, desde gestores e CEOs a diretores de departamentos de Sustentabilidade. O método quantitativo foi utilizado para dar resposta à questão que avalia o desempenho financeiro de uma empresa após adotar medidas de Sustentabilidade e este método foi utilizado através de relatório de Contas e de Sustentabilidade. Por fim, o estudo permitiu concluir que existe espaço na sociedade para o Capitalismo Sustentável sem afetar o desempenho financeiro de uma empresa – pelo contrário – os resultados mostraram que o desempenho financeiro é beneficiado, sendo ainda possível apresentar o conceito de Capitalismo Sustentável como um modelo económico que visa a obtenção de lucro sempre com a preocupação de preservar os recursos ambientais, inquietando-se com questões importantes para a sociedade sem nunca comprometer as necessidades das futuras gerações. Nowadays, “Sustainability” is a theme that is very present in the business environment and this study aims to assess whether the economic system existent in Portugal – Capitalism – is compatible with the concept of Sustainability. In addition to investigating this compatibility, this study also intends to assess the effect of adopting Sustainability measures on the financial performance of companies as well as to understand if it is possible to create a concept denominated “Sustainable Capitalism” and if companies allow its existence. To investigate these concepts, the methodology used was qualitative and quantitative. Within the qualitative method, semi-structured interviews were used with 8 representatives of companies from different fields of activity, from managers and CEOs to directors of Sustainability departments. The quantitative method was used to answer the question that assesses the financial performance of a company after adopting Sustainability measures and this method was used through accounting and sustainability reporting. Finally, this study has concluded that there is space in society for Sustainable Capitalism without affecting the financial performance of a company – contrariwise – the results showed that financial performance benefits from it and it is still possible to present the concept of Sustainable Capitalism as an economic model that seeks to obtain profit while trying to preserve environmental resources and concern about important societal issues without ever compromising the needs of the future society. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

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Aken, Andrew. "How an Organization's Environmental Orientation Impacts Environmental Performance and its Resultant Financial Performance through Green Computing Hiring Practices: An Empirical Investigation of the Natural Resource-Based View of the Firm." OpenSIUC, 2010. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/194.

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This dissertation uses the logic embodied in Strategic Fit Theory, the Natural Resource-Based View of the Firm (NRBV), strategic human resource management, and other relevant literature streams to empirically demonstrate how the environmental orientation of a firm's strategy impacts their environmental performance and resultant financial performance through the firm's Information Technology hiring practices. Specifically, it was hypothesized that firms with a strong relationship between the environmental orientation of their strategy and their green computing hiring practices will achieve higher environmental performance, and, as a result, higher levels of financial performance than firms lacking such fit. The organization's environmental orientation was measured via content analysis of the annual report texts (ARTs). Environmental performance was measured using KLD's award-winning environmental performance metrics. I triangulated across efficiency, effectiveness, and market-based metrics to capture a more holistic measure of the firm's financial performance using data from Compustat/Research Insight. The firm's green computing hiring practices were measured utilizing a web content data mining application that pulled job ads for computing graduates and then extracted the environmentally-oriented skills identified in such ads using content analytic techniques. Various control variables were employed to eliminate possible alternative explanations of my research findings. A number of statistical and analytical techniques were used to assess the nature and strength of the relationships in my theoretical model as are articulated in the proposed hypotheses. The sample size of firms is fairly large, thus increasing the statistical power of the empirical tests. Previous empirical testing of the relationship between environmental strategy and financial performance is still in the developmental stages and has produced mixed results, partly because important intervening mechanisms, such as green computing hiring practices, has not received adequate attention in the empirical literature. The combination of using a large sample of real world firms, a powerful combination of qualitative and quantitative methodological techniques to tap into key trace evidence not available through other methodological techniques, and leveraging an award-winning environmental data set has enhanced the robustness of the empirical findings in addressing this important gap in the literature. The results of the analyses show that there is a strong relationship between an organization's environmental posturing and its environmental performance. Additionally, this effect is mediated by the organization's environmental hiring practices, indicating that implementing the organization's environmental strategy through its hiring practices is important in achieving improved environmental performance. The current research also shows that there is a strong and positive relationship between an organization's environmental performance and financial performance. Surprisingly, these relationships are not significantly impacted by the organization's industry affiliation, which broadens the generalizability of the results of this study.

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Moberg, Victor, and Eriksson Karin Molin. "How does the European stock market react to sustainability? : An empirical analysis of the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Institutionen för industriell ekonomi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-21859.

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Background: The increase in development and welfare that has been achieved in recent decades has led to a deterioration of the planet. Increased awareness on this matter has led to a concern to become more sustainable, both on an individual level and firm level. The concept of sustainable development integrates consideration to economic growth, protection of the environment, and social justice. Firms have sustainability regulations they must follow to be allowed to operate, but when they go beyond their economic interests it is referred to as corporate social responsibility (CSR). Certain indexes select which firms to include based on their CSR performance. In this way, firms can use CSR to build a reputation. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate if inclusion in or exclusion from Dow Jones Sustainability Europe (DJSEUR) index has a significant effect on a firm’s stock price. The sub-purpose of this study is to investigate if different sector characteristics significantly impact the investors’ response to inclusion and exclusion. The study is conducted on firms in the European region. Methods: The event study methodology was used to examine abnormal returns associated with inclusion in and exclusion from a sustainability stock index. Further, a linear regression was developed to distinguish if sector affiliation affects the reactions of investors when firms are included or excluded from the index. This study uses stock data for firms over a period of time from 2014-2019. Results: The results suggest no significant increase in CAAR from being included in the index. However, exclusion from the index significantly affected CAAR negatively on the day of the announcement. Five sectors experienced a significantly different CAAR from the event of exclusion from the index. Only the result from one sector indicated to be significantly affected by the event of inclusion in the index. Conclusions: Our results provide evidence that being removed from the DJSEUR results in a decrease in a firm’s share price, suggesting that the European stock market penalizes firms for not obtaining a sufficiently high level of CSR. But investors do not financially reward firms for inclusion in the DJSEUR index. Implying that investors in the European stock market expect firms to implement CSR but do not reward them financially. Therefore, managers need to satisfy the pressure from various stakeholders, including shareholders, while trying to maximize stock value. Bakgrund: Ökningen av utveckling och välfärd som uppnåtts under det senaste decenniet har lett till nedbrytning av planeten. Medvetenhet om problemet har lett till ökad angelägenhet för att agera mer hållbart, både på individnivå och företagsnivå. Konceptet av hållbar utveckling integrerar ekonomisk tillväxt, skydd av planeten och sociala rättigheter. Företag måste uppfylla vissa krav inom hållbarhet för att vara verksamma. Om de gör mer än vad som krävs benämns det som företags sociala ansvar, eller corporate social responsibility (CSR) i engelska termer. Det finns speciella index som selekterar företag baserat på deras prestationer inom CSR. På det sättet kan företag använda sig av CSR för att påverka sitt rykte. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka huruvida inkludering i eller exkludering från Dow Jones Sustainability Europe (DJSEUR) index har en significant påverkan på företags aktiepriser. Det sekundära syftet är att undersöka om olika sektorer, samt karaktärsdrag, har en signifikant påverkan på investerares respons till inkludering och exkludering. Studien inkluderar företag inom Europaregionen. Metod: Metodiken för en eventstudie användes för att beräkna abnormala avkastningar associerade med inkludering i eller exkludering från ett hållbarhetsindex. En linjär regression tillämpades för att skilja på om sektortillhörighet påverkade investerarnas reaktioner på när företag inkluderades i eller exkluderades från indexet. Studien använder aktiedata för företag från tidsperioden 2014-2019. Resultat: Resultaten tyder på att inkluderingar från indexet inte signifikant ökar CAAR. Exkluderingar från indexet påverkade dock CAAR negativt på dagen för tillkännagivandet. För exkluderingar redovisade resultatet att fem sektorer har en signifikant skillnad i CAAR, men enbart en sektor för inkluderingar. Slutsatser: Våra resultat visar att exkludering från DJSEUR minskar företagets aktiekurs, vilket tyder på att den europeiska aktiemarknaden straffar företag för att de inte bibehåller en tillräckligt hög nivå av CSR. Men investerare belönar inte företag för att inkluderas i DJSEUR indexet. Vilket innebär att investerare på den europeiska aktiemarknaden förväntar sig att företag implementerar CSR men belönar dem inte finansiellt. Därför tvingas managers tillfredsställa trycket från olika intressenter, inklusive aktieägare, samtidigt som de försöker maximera aktiens värde.

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Dahlberg, Linnea, and Frida Wiklund. "ESG Investing In Nordic Countries : An analysis of the Shareholder view of creating value." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Företagsekonomi, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-149988.

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ESG ratings have become a recognised sustainability performance measurement throughout the world. The Nordic countries Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway are ranked top four in the world when it comes to ESG ratings. However, do investors in these countries recognise the sustainability performance of the firms in their investment decisions? The purpose of this study was to see if Nordic investors value ESG factors, by testing for a relationship between high ESG ratings and corporate financial performance. To be able to fulfil this purpose, several multiple regression models were conducted on data for a time-span between 2007-2017 on 108 firm observations and 995 firm-year observations. Corporate financial performance was represented by the dependent variables Tobin’s Q and Return on Assets as measurements for market and accounting performance respectively. The results showed a significant positive relationship between several ESG ratings and market performance, while no significantly positive, nor negative, relationship could be found between accounting performance and ESG ratings. Based on the results from the tests, conclusions were drawn that Nordic investors do value ESG ratings when choosing their investments, indicating that companies can benefit from having good sustainability policies. This thesis challenges the classical view of profit maximisation being the ultimate interest of shareholders, as it shows a positive relationship between ESG and financial market performance. The results indicate that investors take more factors into consideration in their investment decisions than only financial accounting returns. Therefore, conclusions have been made that the Stakeholder theory better explains value creation than the Shareholder theory does. This because the Stakeholder theory emphasises that firms maximise value by taking all stakeholders affected by their business cycle into account, not only the shareholders. Furthermore, based on the results, this thesis concludes that Nordic investors’ interests are in line with the society’s interests as they do value ESG ratings when investing. No previous study on the topic has been conducted on the Nordic market, thus this study fills a research gap on the relationship between financial performance and corporate sustainability.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Financial performance and: Sustainability Report'

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