"God Is Infinite, and the Paths to God Are Infinite": A Reconstruction and Defense of Sri Ramakrishna's Vijñana-Based Model of Religious Pluralism

This article argues that contemporary philosophers have unduly ignored Sri Ramakrishna’s pioneering views on religious pluralism. The Bengali mystic Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) taught the harmony of all religions on the basis of his own spiritual experiences and his diverse religious practices, both Hindu and non-Hindu. Part I reconstructs the main tenets of Sri Ramakrishna’s model of religious pluralism. Part II explores how Sri Ramakrishna addresses the problem of conflicting religious truth-claims. Part III addresses some of the major criticisms leveled against Sri Ramakrishna’s views on religious pluralism

The performance of socially responsible mutual funds: the role of fees and management companies

In this paper, we shed light on the debate about the financial performance of socially responsible investment (SRI) mutual funds by separately analyzing the contributions of before-fee performance and fees to SRI funds' performance and by investigating the role played by fund management companies in the determination of those variables. We apply the matching estimator methodology to obtain our results and find that in the period 1997-2005, US SRI funds had significantly higher fees and better before- and after-fee performance than conventional funds with similar characteristics. Differences, however, were driven exclusively by SRI funds run by management companies specialized in socially responsible investment

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENTS IN ROMANIA

Socially responsible investments (SRI) are one of the main instruments of corporate social responsibility (CSR) used by companies for complying with their economic, environmental, social and governance criteria. In general terms, SRI refers to an investments strategy which focuses on both maximizing financial returns and social goods. The aim of the present paper is to offer a general framework of the SRI process at the European level, but, especially, for the Romanian business environment, taking into account the corresponding opportunities and challenges associated with SRI and emphasizing the rising role of SRI for increasing competitiveness. The intended contribution of the research envisages the delineation of a set of strategic priorities for SRI in Romania, as part of CSR policies, in the context of the post-accession to the EU. In analysing the concept of SRI two main approaches should be taken into account: the corporate and the governmental one. For the corporate approach of SRI, an empirical analysis will be conducted by taking into account the business activities of the Romanian investment companies. Although CSR in Romania begins to come closer to the European requirements and to copy the social involvement models of the European companies, this is not available also for the SRI, that still are a less known and applied concept in the Romanian business environment. The aim of the paper is to identify the causes of the problem and to offer a set of strategic recommendations.competitive advantage, corporate social responsibility (CSR), socially responsible investments (SRI), strategic approach, sustainability.

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF SUSTAINABILITY OF TRADE DEFICIT: EVIDENCE FROM SRI LANKA

In this paper, the long-run relationship between Sri Lankan exports and imports during the period 1950 to 2006 is examined using unit root tests and cointegration techniques that allow for an endogenously determined structural break. The results failed to support the existence of a long-run equilibrium between exports and imports in Sri Lanka. This finding questions the effectiveness of Sri Lanka’s current long-term macroeconomic policies and suggests that Sri Lanka is in violation of its international budget constraint.Trade Deficit, Unit root, Structural Breaks, Cointegration, Sri Lanka

Studies in Trade and Investment: The Development Impact of Information Technology in Trade Facilitation

This chapter examines the extent of automation of trade facilitation in Sri Lanka and assesses the impact of automation on SMEs in Sri Lanka. The focus of the study was on the experiences of the garment industry, which has been an important driver in the Sri Lankan economy in recent years.Trade facilitation, automation, garment industry, IT, SMEs, export, customs, Sri Lanka

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and food security among the poor: opportunities and constraints

The Global Triple ‘F’ Crises (Fuel, Food and Financial) caused the escalation in food prices during last 2 years in the global food market. The crises created detrimental effects in developing countries, including Sri Lanka and her food market, in general, and her food security, in particular. The objective of this paper is to examine the opportunities and constraints in promoting System of Rice Intensification (SRI) to maintain food security among the poor at the household level in Sri Lanka. The economics of SRI, and its entailing opportunities and constraints in maintaining food security among the poor in Sri Lanka, were analyzed. The upward productivity shift and eco-friendliness of SRI and the attending saving of scarce water resources and reduction of cost of production, created opportunities for farmers to maintain food security among the poor. The constraints in promoting food security through SRI too, were analyzed. Furthermore, the strategic policy and operational options to promote SRI and maintain food security among the poor in Sri Lanka were proposed. It is absolutely necessary to promote SRI to enhance a sustainable and eco-friendly food production system and to maintain food security among the poor. It will be a new paradigm shift in the right direction to maintain increased food production and food security in the country.Length: pp.81-91RiceProduction costsFood security

An Empirical Analysis of Sustainability of Trade Deficit:Evidence from Sri Lanka

In this paper, the long-run relationship between Sri Lankan exports and imports during the period 1950 to 2006 is examined using unit root tests and cointegration techniques that allow for an endogenously determined structural break. The results failed to support the existence of a long-run equilibrium between exports and imports in Sri Lanka. This finding questions the effectiveness of Sri Lanka’s current long-term macroeconomic policies and suggests that Sri Lanka is in violation of its international budget constraint.Trade Deficit, Exports, Imports, Unit root, Structural Breaks,Cointegration, Sri Lanka

The Price of Ethics: Evidence from Socially Responsible Mutual Funds

This paper estimates the price of ethics by studying the risk-return relation in socially responsible investment (SRI) funds. Consistent with investors paying a price for ethics, SRI funds in many European and Asia-Pacific countries strongly underperform domestic benchmark portfolios by about 5% per annum, although UK and US SRI funds do not significantly underperform their benchmarks. The underperformance of SRI funds does not seem to be driven by the loadings on an ethical risk factor. SRI funds do not suffer a cost of reduced selectivity nor do SRI funds managers time the market. There is mixed evidence of a smart money effect: SRI investors are unable to identify the funds that will outperform in the future, whereas they show some fund-selection ability in identifying ethical funds that will perform poorly. The screening activities of SRI funds have a significant impact on funds’ riskadjusted returns and loadings on risk factors: corporate governance and social screens generate better risk-adjusted returns whereas other screens (e.g. environmental ones) yield significantly lower returns.ethics;mutual funds;socially responsible investing;investment screens;smart money;risk loadings

SRI analysis and asset management : independent or convergent ? : A field study on the French market

This article analyzes how the actual and expected future activities of French Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) analysts may reveal a convergence process between SRI decisions and traditional financial investment decisions, that is a form of "mainstreaming" of SRI processes, by asking the SRI analysts themselves how their work has evolved and how they perceive their positioning in the asset management sector. We present the results of a field survey on the composition and activities of French SRI analysts' teams of large institutional investors and asset managers in France in 2009. We show that the convergence towards the mainstream financial analysts seems to be clearly engaged. However, the SRI domain is still emerging and remains very fragmented leading to a wide heterogeneity of practices and positioning in the respective organizations. This is interpreted as a clear sign of a transition phase.Field survey ; French Asset Management industry ; Mainstreaming ; Socially Responsible Investments (SRI)