Do Impact Investments Contribute to Portfolio Performance? A Preliminary Investigation

Social Impact Investments (SII) intentionally aims at generating social impact and financial return. Portfolio diversification is one of the under-investigated areas in SII literature. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap by conducting a preliminary investigation of social impact firms (SIF) contribution to portfolio risk and performance. For the purpose of this paper, we use a sample of SIF members of the London Social Stock Exchange who are publically listed and two contrast samples of traditional firms (non-SIF). To carry out the analysis, we employed methodology based on Markowitz (1952a, 1952b) and Sharpe (1963). The paper may provide useful insights for asset managers and investors involved in portfolio choice evaluation and policy makers interested in fostering development of the social impact market

Impact-Oriented Microfinance Investment Vehicles: A Preliminary Investigation on the Controversial Link between Performance and Stability

Social impact finance can foster economic and financial stability by promoting investments with social goals and non-speculative financial returns. The aim of this paper is to test whether Microfinance Investment Vehicles (MIVs) — labeled impact-oriented MIVs — contribute to economic and financial stability via their performance. Specifically, we test MIVs financial performance and risk-adjusted performance, assuming that: (i) financial returns below the market rate of return (MRR) are likely to contribute to economic stability via higher social and financial inclusion rates and via the promotion of microentrepreneurship; (ii) higher adjusted returns, characterized by low volatility, support financial stability. Results show that impact-oriented MIVs perform below the MRR only if we look at financial performance; when risk-adjusted performance is taken into consideration, impact-oriented MIVs outperform the market. We tested our results with a comparative sample of alternative MIVs aiming for social impact, but not labeled as impact-oriented. Results show that impact-oriented MIVs outperform the comparative sample, while their risk-adjusted performance is lower than that of alternative MIVs. The analysis shows that the market offers different investment options to investors, blending different level of financial return, risks and social goals, with different potential impact on economic and financial stability

SME Development Banks: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Analysis

In this paper we develop a conceptual framework to define small and medium-sized enterprise development banks (SMEDB). This conceptual effort is motivated by the lack of a clear definition of SMEDB. Once a consistent definition of SMEDB is provided, we compare a sample of banks that are SMEDB according to such definition with a sample of commercial banks. We conclude that it is possible to separate SMEDB from commercial banks in a statistically significant manner by taking into consideration a set of relevant financial indicators and we confirm the widespread idea that SMEDB play a crucial public/social role

The Conversion of the Parthenon into a Church: The Tübingen Theosophy

Μη διαθέσιμη περίληψηno abstrac

St. Michael and Attis

Μη διαθέσιμη περίληψηno abstrac

The conundrum of conservation agriculture and livelihoods in Southern Africa

Low crop productivity, food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition; inadequate farming knowledge and skills, implements and inputs are characteristic of smallholder agriculture in Southern Africa. Many researchers argue that conservation agriculture can guarantee higher crop productivity, food security, improved livelihoods and environmental protection, better than the unsustainable traditional systems of slash and burn practices. In this paper, we present the results of a meta-analysis of over 40 academic publications to review conservation agriculture’s role in influencing desired livelihood outcomes in Southern Africa. We conclude that the effectiveness of conservation agriculture towards better livelihood outcomes in Southern Africa remains debatable, especially when supportive government policies are lacking

Where at Constantinople was the Monastery of Christos Pantepoptes?

Στο άρθρο επανεξετάζεται η υπόθεση της ταύτισης του Eski Imaret τζαμί με τη μονή του Παντεπόπτη Χριστού στην Κωνσταντινούπολη, καθίδρυμα της Άννας Δαλασσηνής. Η ανασκευή των επιχειρημάτων που είχαν προταθεί για την ταύτιση και η παρουσιάση λανθανουσών πληροφοριών οδηγεί στη διατύπωση της υπόθεσης ότι η θέση της μονής του Παντεπόπτη θα πρέπει μάλλον να ταυτιστεί με αυτή που κατέχει σήμερα το τζαμί του σουλτάνου Σελίμ.In this article is discussed the proposed identification of the Eski Imaret Camii to the monastery of Christos Pantepoptes in Constantinople founded by Anna Dalassena. The weakness of the argumentation that led to this assumption, along with the discovery of latent information suggests otherwise. The monastery of Pantepoptes should roughly be located to the site occupied today by the Sultan Selim mosque