Socially Responsible Investment and Sustainable Banking - Principles for reorienting a regional/local bank’s business towards sustainability

This thesis is constructed on an examination of the global principles and operational methods of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) and their linkage to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These phenomena have implications for the sustainable banking business, which aims to deliver banking products and services aligned with a triple-bottom-line corporate approach contributing to sustainable development in the financial sector. In detail, this research looks at how a regular banking business can be transformed into a sustainable bank, focussing on products, lending and investment standards, business drivers and barriers, as well as public value creation. The research builds on the theoretical context of CSR and financial performance (FP), as well as SRI techniques (exclusion and engagement) and, to a minor extent, the public value literature. The research was conducted through extensive literature research and in-depth case studies on both sustainability-focussed banks (SFBs) and international financial institutions (FIs), including a number of interviews with senior personnel. This study relies on a positive relation between CSR and FP, and finds that extending banking business into the sustainability niche does result in positive financial returns and even better performance than regular banks. This is linked to reputation and credibility, especially in the face of economic crises. Also, a large number of similar international methods and principles, such as transparency, pro-active risk management, active engagement and collaboration, and building of integrity filter down to the level of local sustainable banking and are vital ingredients for a stable operation within this market niche. Furthermore, the realities of bank-client interaction are not as clearly established as the theory and principles - trade-offs and imperfect solutions are the norm. This, however, enables SFBs to positively influence development on the local or even international level as financial facilitators and project stimulators, as opposed to merely excluding businesses based on their ethically insufficient performance. Through free advisory service, engagement of clients, as well as niche products, SFBs and screening companies can add public value that eventually might yield positive tangible and immaterial dividend for them

Is there a dominance of liberal environmentalism in international organizations? - The case of the WTO environmental agenda's development

Considering the growing importance of environmental issues on the international political scene, the question arises as to how these issues are incorporated into the agenda and procedures of international organizations (IOs) and institutions. The World Trade Organization (WTO) - one of the largest IOs – has to handle a strong mandatory connection to global trade as well as an increasing environmental workload, which in turn, displays the general environment-trade conflict. Based on the theory of environmental liberalism and the concept of legalization, five WTO dispute cases are analyzed to discover the change in the WTO's environmental agenda and the wider implications of this change. This study finds that there is a propensity towards less precise legal statements as well as a mounting number and significance of pro-environment outcomes. Yet, the fragmentation of international law (epitomizing institutional complexity) and the unresolved WTO-internal discordance amid trade and health/environment directives, display an inestimable development in progress upon which no final conclusion can yet be prepared

Wag the WeiWei - A US boot in the Asian door

The growing interdependence and interconnectedness of the global community set the pace and frame for the evolution of foreign policy. Diplomacy formerly being the reserve of international communication has consequently been forced to change and branch out. This essay attempts to view these changes and their context at the example of US foreign policy in Pacific Asia. Both hard power translating into traditional Realpolitik, as well as soft power expressed through public diplomacy (PD), play their part. The latter though, can only be observed in the historical and political context of the former. The recent US interest in the Pacific region has involved the deployment of carrier groups and "sweet-talking" of regional economic powers alike. Attempts to establish a foothold in what is generally considered to be the prime market and potential flashpoint of the future have also included the marketing of the Chinese dissident WeiWei as a symbol for democratic values and human rights. This example serves as the blueprint for what we are defining as Publicity Diplomacy (PyD), a hybrid state of state-public communication, situated between the extremes of propaganda and public diplomacy that can further develop in either direction or linger in its in-between state. We find that US involvement in the Asia Pacific still is much characterized by the usage of hard power, with military deployments and tactical alliances being at the core of the current overall strategy. However, we can glimpse signs of profound engagement in PD and a far stronger orientation towards communication and community-building (smart power) within the Obama administration compared to its predecessors. So far, many of these efforts still range within the sphere of PyD and it remains to be seen to which extent soft power and hard power will eventually shape the quickly developing US-Asia Pacific story

Item format statistics and readability of extended matching questions as an effective tool to assess medical students

Testing based on multiple choice questions (MCQ) is one of the most established forms of assessment, not only in the medical field. Extended matching questions (EMQ) represent a specific type of MCQ designed to require higher levels of cognition, such as problem-solving. The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the suitability and efficiency of EMQ as an assessment method. EMQ were incorporated into the end-of-semester examination in internal medicine, in which 154 students participated, and compared with three established MCQ types. Item and examination quality were investigated, as well as readability and processing time. EMQ were slightly more difficult to score; however, both item discrimination and discrimination index were higher when compared to other item types. EMQ were found to be significantly longer and required more processing time, but readability was improved. Students judged EMQ as clearly challenging, but attributed significantly higher clinical relevance when compared to established MCQ formats. Using the Spearman-Brown prediction, only ten EMQ items would be needed to reproduce the Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.75 attained for the overall examination. EMQ proved to be both efficient and suitable when assessing medical students, demonstrating powerful characteristics of reliability. Their expanded use in favor of common MCQ could save examination time without losing out on statistical quality