Rating the Raters: Evaluating how ESG Rating Agencies Integrate Sustainability Principles

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rating agencies, acting as relevant financial market actors, should take a stand on working towards achieving a more sustainable development. In this context, the objective of this paper is, on the one hand, to understand how criteria used by ESG rating agencies in their assessment processes have evolved over the last ten years and, on the other hand, to analyze whether ESG rating agencies are contributing to fostering sustainable development by the inclusion of sustainability principles into their assessment processes and practices according to the ESG criteria. This research is based on a comparative descriptive analysis of the public information provided by the most representative ESG rating and information provider agencies in the financial market in two periods: 2008 and 2018. The findings show that ESG rating agencies have integrated new criteria into their assessment models to measure corporate performance more accurately and robustly in order to respond to new global challenges. However, a deep analysis of the criteria also shows that ESG rating agencies do not fully integrate sustainability principles into the corporate sustainability assessment process

Top executive pay in Spanish banking system

This study examines consistency between compensation systems and corporate performance. The main purpose is to analyse how the performance has affected the short-term executive pay in Spanish banking system during the period 2004–2008. The main results reveal that pay-performance sensitivity is asymmetrical regarding the sign of the variation of the performance, since the pay-performance sensitivity is greater when the variation of the results is positive than when the variation of the results is negative. This finding is consistent with the managerial power theory and calls into question the role of the pay-performance incentives to align interest of executives and shareholders

Age Diversity: An Empirical Study in the Board of Directors

This study aims to explore how board age diversity affects corporate performance. This study develops three hypotheses built on the perspective of the upper echelons and Harrison and Klein's (2007 Harrison, D. and K. Klein. “What's the Difference? Diversity Constructs as Separation, Variety, or Disparity in Organizations.” Academy of Management Review 32, no. 4 (2007): 1199–1228.[CrossRef], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]) diversity typology. Focusing on age diversity and using a board of directors as a unit of analysis, this study empirically tests the effects of each type of age diversity on corporate performance in a sample of European listed firms for the year 2009. This study advances the understanding of board behavior and its relationships with corporate results, and presents a new approach to study age diversity from an integrated point of view.The authors wish acknowledge the financial support received from projects P1•1B2010-13 and P1•1B2010- 04 through the Universitat Jaume I and Master’s Degree in Sustainability and Social Corporate Responsibility

Benthic meiofauna as indicator of ecological changes in estuarine ecosystems: The use of nematodes in ecological quality assessment

a b s t r a c t Estuarine meiofauna communities have been only recently considered to be good indicators of ecological quality, exhibiting several advantages over macrofauna, such as their small size, high abundance, rapid generation times and absence of a planktonic phase. In estuaries we must account not only for a great natural variability along the estuarine gradient (e.g. sediment type and dynamics, oxygen availability, temperature and flow speed) but also for the existence of anthropogenic pressures (e.g. high local population density, presence of harbors and dredging activities). Spatial and temporal biodiversity patterns of meiofauna and freeliving marine nematodes were studied in the Mondego estuary (Portugal). Both taxonomic and functional approaches were applied to nematode communities in order to describe the community structure and to relate it with the environmental parameters along the estuary. At all sampling events, nematode assemblages reflected the estuarine gradient, and salinity and grain size composition were confirmed to be the main abiotic factors controlling the distribution of the assemblages. Moreover, the low temporal variability may indicate that natural variability is superimposed by the anthropogenic pressures present in some areas of the estuary. The characterization of both meiofauna and nematode assemblages highlighted the usefulness of the integration of both taxonomic and functional attributes, which must be taken into consideration when assessing the ecological status of estuaries

Interannual and long-term precipitation variability along the subtropical mountains and adjacent Chaco (22–29° S) in Argentina

Recent studies documenting climate variability in South America have provided valuable information for understanding current and past dynamics of the climate system. Long meteorological records represent an essential tool to properly characterize climate fluctuations from decadal to multi-decadal scales. Unfortunately, the scarcity of continuous and homogeneous instrumental records is a major constraint to determine long-term variations in South America. Our knowledge of the forcings modulating the hydrological variability in mountains is still limited, despite their importance as freshwater sources for people living in the adjacent piedmonts and lowlands. The objective of this work is to determine the spatial–temporal variability of precipitation in the humid subtropical Andes and the Chaco region in North Western Argentina (NWA). Thirty-four rainfall records covering the common period 1934–1990, partially updated to 2016, were used to extend and identify the dominant patterns of seasonal to annual hydroclimatic variability based on principal components analysis. Intensity and frequency of droughts and pluvials (95th percentiles, respectively) were determined for the dominant patterns of variability. Our results show a positive trend in precipitation since 1970s in all temporal patterns and sub-regions. In addition, precipitation variability (both positive and negative extremes) increases during these last decades. Correlation analysis with sea-surface temperatures and wind anomalies during summer, reveal Amazon moisture sources and large-scale oceanic controls on NWA precipitation. The extended precipitation series shows that the frequency of pluvials has increased since the 1970s interrupted by few extreme droughts. This record can be considered representative of precipitation variations across NWA, including different environments in the Chaco, sub-Andes, and Puna.Fil: Ferrero, Maria Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Villalba, Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentin

The Effect of Environmental, Social and Governance Consistency on Economic Results

This study aims to explore how environmental, social and governance (ESG) consistency impacts the firm performance, specifically, the relationship between ESG performance and economic performance (EP). This study posits that the company’s commitment and effectiveness towards the creation of consistent competitive advantage in environmental, social and governance dimensions constitutes an intangible value that leads improvements in corporate performance. This work uses a panel dataset for listed firms of the EU-15 countries during the period 2002 to 2011 and applies Generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator system in order to address the potential unobserved heterogeneity and dynamic endogeneity. The main results reveal that the global effect of ESG performance on EP for those firms that present interdimensional consistency is greater than the rest, except for higher levels of ESG performance.The authors wish acknowledge the financial support received from P1•1B2013-31 and P1•1B2013-48 projects through the Universitat Jaume I, and the Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility Master Degree (UJI–UNED). The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions

Unexpected Perinatal Loss versus Sids-a Common Neuropathologic Entity

Objective: To evaluate the involvement of alterations of the central autonomic nervous system, particularly of the brainstem and cerebellum, in a wide set of victims of sudden and unexplained perinatal and infant death

From Exploratory Tunnel to Base Tunnel: Hard Rock {TBM} Performance Prediction by Means of a Stochastic Approach

Tunnel boring machine (TBM) performance prediction is often a critical issue in the early stage of a tunnelling project, mainly due to the unpredictable nature of some important factors affecting the machine performance. In this regard, deterministic approaches are normally employed, providing results in terms of average values expected for the TBM performance. Stochastic approaches would offer improvement over deterministic methods, taking into account the parameter variability; however, their use is limited, since the level of information required is often not available. In this study, the data provided by the excavation of the Maddalena exploratory tunnel were used to predict the net and overall TBM performance for a 2.96 km section of the Mont Cenis base tunnel by using a stochastic approach. The preliminary design of the TBM cutterhead was carried out. A prediction model based on field penetration index, machine operating level and utilization factor was adopted. The variability of the parameters involved was analysed. A procedure to take into account the correlation between the input variables was described. The probability of occurrence of the outcomes was evaluated, and the total excavation time expected for the tunnel section analysed was calculated