Determinants and Effects of Bank Social Responsibility

The thesis analyses the theme of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the banking industry. In particular, drawing from the theoretical foundations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and considering the peculiarities of the banking business model, the work provides empirical evidence on the determinants and effects of bank social responsibility (BSR). The work is organized in five chapters. The first chapter aims to frame the concept of CSR, providing an overview of its historical and theoretical evolution. In particular, the work discusses the conceptualizations and definitions that authors and institutions have proposed between the 1950s and the 2000s. Afterward, the chapter describes four of the most adopted theoretical foundations of CSR, namely agency theory, stakeholder theory, resource-based view, and social legitimacy theory. Moreover, chapter 1 discusses the potential benefits of CSR engagement. In particular, it analyses the positive effects that firm’s engagement in CSR has in terms of better relationships with customers and employees, eco-efficiency, risk reduction, lower cost of capital and better corporate reputation. Finally, the chapter refers to the concept of corporate social performance and its relation to financial performance. Chapter 2 focuses on the characteristics of the bank’s engagement in socially responsible initiatives. It describes the motives that make the investigation of bank social responsibility (BSR) a peculiar and relevant issue in the field of study on business sustainability. More in particular, in the first part the chapter discusses the role of BSR as a means to restore the bank’s reputation and stakeholder trust. In the second part, it analyses BSR in light of the role that banks assume for the socio-economic development of countries. Finally, in the last part, the chapter provides a review of the previous empirical investigations conducted in the field of study on CSR banking. Chapter 3, instead, describes the overall structure of the empirical analysis adopted in chapters 4 and 5. The chapter also describes the data collection method and the sample of 148 banks, adopted to perform the analysis. The purpose of Chapter 4 is to demonstrate the existence of a relationship between financial performance, bank’s corporate governance characteristics and BSR. In particular, drawing from slack of resource theory, the study argues that prior bank’s 5 financial performance positively affect the BSR. On the other hand, in light of the agency theory and stakeholder theory perspectives, the research aims to demonstrate that several characteristics of the bank’s board of directors affect the bank’s propensity to engage in CSR. The study adopts a panel data methodology for doubly censored variables to test the research hypotheses. The results show that the higher is the Net interest income and the Margin of interest, the higher is the bank’s propensity to engage in CSR. On the other hand, the study finds that the activity intensity, diversity, independence of the bank’s board of directors positively predict BSR. Finally, chapter 5 aims to verify the relationship between the banks' engagement in CSR activities and client loyalty (CL). The work considers several dimension of CSR engagement. In particular, in addition to an overall indicator of BSR, the empirical analysis evaluates the impact that the “community-related” dimension of CSR and the socially responsible profile of the bank’s product have on CL. In order to verify the research hypotheses, the chapter adopts a descriptive, univariate and multivariate analysis. With reference to this latter, the study applies a two-step Heckman model to treat the endogeneity bias. The results show the existence of a positive impact of CL on the overall measure of BSR and on the bank’s product responsibility, whilst no statistically significant relations are found with reference to the community dimension of CSR. The work also shows that the socially responsible profile of the bank’s products matters more for large banks rather than small banks

Contribution of Fermentation Technology to Building Blocks for Renewable Plastics

Large-scale worldwide production of plastics requires the use of large quantities of fossil fuels, leading to a negative impact on the environment. If the production of plastic continues to increase at the current rate, the industry will account for one fifth of global oil use by 2050. Bioplastics currently represent less than one percent of total plastic produced, but they are expected to increase in the coming years, due to rising demand. The usage of bioplastics would allow the dependence on fossil fuels to be reduced and could represent an opportunity to add some interesting functionalities to the materials. Moreover, the plastics derived from bio-based resources are more carbon-neutral and their manufacture generates a lower amount of greenhouse gasses. The substitution of conventional plastic with renewable plastic will therefore promote a more sustainable economy, society, and environment. Consequently, more and more studies have been focusing on the production of interesting bio-based building blocks for bioplastics. However, a coherent review of the contribution of fermentation technology to a more sustainable plastic production is yet to be carried out. Here, we present the recent advancement in bioplastic production and describe the possible integration of bio-based monomers as renewable precursors. Representative examples of both published and commercial fermentation processes are discussed

Molecular imaging of neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease

Neuroinflammatory changes are observed in the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Studies have shown the presence of activated microglia and astrocytes surrounding the amyloid plaques, along with the presence of cytokines and other mediators of inflammation. The role of inflammation in AD is not yet completely understood. More specifically, some inflammatory processes, such as the activation of microglia, may have detrimental or beneficial effects on the underlining neuropathology, by promoting inflammation and tissue damage or rather phagocytic activity and tissue repair. Imaging of neuroinflammation with positron emission tomography (PET) is the only technology that enables the visualization of microglia and astrocyte activation in the living human brain. PET studies with first- or second-generation radioligands binding to the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) ([11C]-R-PK11195, [11C]DAA1106, [11C]PBR28, [18F]FEMPA, [18F]FEPPA) have shown some conflicting results, demonstrating on average a ~30 % higher TSPO availability in AD patients compared with controls, with a few studies showing no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Similar conflicting evidences have been shown when comparing subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and control subjects. Therefore, whether TSPO is a good marker for detecting in vivo microglia activation in AD is still a matter of debate. Imaging of MAO-B as a marker for astrocyte activation in AD is a valid alternative to TSPO imaging in the context of neuroinflammation. Only limited MAO-B imaging studies with [11C]l-deprenyl-D2 are available so far in AD and MCI, showing increased MAO-B binding in MCI patients compared with controls with a degree higher than that observed in AD. There are two unmet questions that are still under discussion. The first question is which neuroinflammatory process, microglia or astrocyte activation, occurs earlier in the natural course of AD from prodromal to dementia stage? Comparative studies using these two markers in MCI and AD could be important to clarify which marker can be used for earliest detection of neuroinflammatory changes in vivo. The second question is whether imaging of microglia or astrocytes per se is a useful marker of neuroinflammation associated with neurodegeneration. The development of new radioligands for other targets that are more directly associated with the pro- or anti-inflammatory activity of microglia could help in understanding the relevance of neuroinflammation in the pathological processes leading to neurodegeneration in AD. Molecular imaging with PET can be a useful tool to determine the nature and temporal evolution of inflammation in early stages of AD in relation to other pathological markers, such as deposition of amyloid plaques and tau as well as clinical presentation of the disease

Assessing the Economic Viability of the Plastic Biorefinery Concept and Its Contribution to a More Circular Plastic Sector

It is widely accepted that plastic waste is one of the most urgent environmental concerns the world is currently facing. The emergence of bio-based plastics provides an opportunity to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and transition to a more circular plastics economy. For polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most prevalent plastics in packaging and textiles, two bio-based alternatives exist that are similar or superior in terms of material properties and recyclability. These are polyethylene furanoate (PEF) and polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT). The overarching aim of this study was to examine the transition from fossil-based to renewable plastics, through the lens of PET upcycling into PEF and PTT. The process for the production of PEF and PTT from three waste feed streams was developed in the SuperPro Designer software and the economic viability assessed via a discounted cumulative cash flow (DCCF) analysis. A techno-economic analysis of the designed process revealed that the minimum selling price (MSP) of second generation-derived PEF and PTT is 3.13 USD/kg, and that utilities and the feedstock used for the production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) needed in PEF synthesis contributed the most to the process operating costs. The effect of recycling PEF and PTT through the process at three recycling rates (42%, 50% and 55%) was investigated and it was revealed that increased recycling could reduce the MSP of the 2G bio-plastics (by 48.5%) to 1.61 USD/kg. This demonstrates that the plastic biorefinery, together with increasing recycling rates, would have a beneficial effect on the economic viability of upcycled plastics

Acervulinid macroid and rhodolith facies in the Eocene Nummulitic Limestone of the Dauphinois Domain (Maritime Alps, Liguria, Italy)

The Eocene Nummulitic Limestone of the Dauphinois domain in the Argentina Valley (Maritime Alps, Liguria, Italy) is characterized by the local presence of carbonate ramp facies rich in acervulinid macroids, rhodoliths and larger foraminifera. The development of these particular facies is mainly controlled by palaeomorphology of the substratum, tectonics, type and amount of terrigenous supply and global sea level changes