Sustainable investment in Turkey 2010

The main objectives of this report are as follows: 1 To understand and provide a review of the current state of the Sustainable Investment (SI) market in Turkey, 2 To identify the drivers and obstacles for sustainable investments, and assess the commercial feasibility of different approaches and initiatives that may stimulate the SI market in Turkey, 3 To analyze the institutional prerequisites and interventions that will fuel the development of investments, which would, in turn, encourage a betterallocation of local and international capital to sustainable enterprises and hence support sustainable development of the Turkish economy. This study forms part of a series of assessments of Sustainable Investment (SI) in Brazil (2009), India (2009) and China (2009), and draws upon earlier reports published by IFC jointly with the Economist Intelligence Unit: Sustainable Invest ing in Emerging Markets: Unscathed by the Financial Crises (2010) and with Mercer; Gaining Ground, Integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Factors into Investment Processes in Emerging Markets (2009)

Venture capital internationalization : synthesis and future research directions

Research on venture capital internationalization (VC) has expanded rapidly over the last decade. This paper reviews the extant literature on VC internationalization and highlights gaps in our knowledge. We identify three major research streams within this literature, which revolve around the following questions: (1) which VC firms invest across borders and what countries do they target, with a macro-economic or a micro-economic focus; (2) how do VC firms address the liabilities of non-domestic investing; and (3) what are the real effects of international VC investments? We provide an overview of the contributions in these research streams, discuss the role of public policy, and suggest avenues for future research. Specifically, we call for a deeper understanding of: (1) the functioning and impact of VC firms’ modes of internationalization; (2) micro level processes such as the functioning and decision making of international investment committees, the interaction between headquarters and local offices, or the development of international human and social capital; (3) the role of country institutions in VC internationalization and its real effects; and (4) the interplay of international VC with alternative financing sources

A conceptual framework for changes in Fund Management and Accountability relative to ESG issues

Major developments in socially responsible investment (SRI) and in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues for fund managers (FMs) have occurred in the past decade. Much positive change has occurred but problems of disclosure, transparency and accountability remain. This article argues that trustees, FM investors and investee companies all require shared knowledge to overcome, in part, these problems. This involves clear concepts of accountability, and knowledge of fund management and of the associated ‘chain of accountability’ to enhance visibility and transparency. Dealing with the problems also requires development of an analytic framework based on relevant literature and theory. These empirical and analytic constructs combine to form a novel conceptual framework that is used to identify a clear set of areas to change FM investment decision making in a coherent way relative to ESG issues. The constructs and the change strategy are also used together to analyse how one can create favourable conditions for enhanced accountability. Ethical problems and climate change issues will be used as the main examples of ESG issues. The article has policy implications for the UK ‘Stewardship Code’ (2010), the legal responsibilities of key players and for the ‘Carbon Disclosure Project’

Water and Development: An Evaluation of World Bank Support, 1997-2007, Volume 1

The Independent Evaluation Group at the World Bank has evaluated a decade of the Bank's water lending and grants in terms of overall shifts in the water portfolio and project performance, as well as successes and failures in addressing water resource management, environment, water use and service delivery, and institutions and water. The Bank increased its lending for water during the period and has generally seen improvements in project performance; however, IWRM has made limited progress in client countries, environmental restoration has been underemphasized by the Bank, sanitation needs much greater attention, and support for institutional reform and capacity building has had limited success

2009 Annual Performance Report

Analyzes 2009 program impact in terms of grantmaking; outcomes; and results, learning, and refinement; as well as institutional effectiveness in terms of leadership, constituent feedback, and finance and organization. Includes selected indicators