Corporate social responsibility and financial performance in GIIPS countries: a multifactor approach

Comunicação em CongressoThe present study investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance from a sample of all listed companies in European peripheric countries (Greece, Italy Ireland, Portugal and Spain) often referred as “GIIPS countries”. The portfolio formation considers the companies included in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) into a timeframe of more than one decade which comprises the sovereign debt crisis. The empirical results show that investing in companies that engage in these practices obtain a better performance when compared with conventional portfolio. The study also applies a multifactor model and found that the returns of the GRI portfolio can be explained by others risk factors when compared with German stock market, which have not been spared by the Eurozone debt crisis, but less affected.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The impact of socially sesponsible investing in European markets: evidence of the global financial crisis

Artigo em revista científica internacional com arbitragem científicaThe increasing global importance of the environmental, social and economic aspects and the high complexity of their implications at the corporate level is the reason for an intense and extensive research activity, leading Socially Responsible Investing to a current and prominent theme, namely in Europe. In this context, this study analyses the effects of Socially Responsible Investing on portfolio performance of all listed firms on the ten most important European stock markets over the period 2001-2013 rated by the Global Reporting Initiative. In order to measure the portfolios’ performance, a market model and a four-factor model are applied in which risk factors were constructed for the markets under study. A relevant finding of the present study is that investing in this type of firms before the financial crisis was less risky than investing afterwards, as it presented to be riskier. Nevertheless, investing in socially responsible firms which had a higher profitability in the past outperforms the market. However, the results show the existence of market singularities across European countries that must be considered, as well as the periods of pre and post global financial crisis that affected the European stock markets, triggered the sovereign debt crisis, especially in peripheral countries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sustainable development, sustainability leadership and firm valuation: differences across Europe

Artigo em revista científicaSustainable development is nowadays a high priority for firms all over the world. Consequently, numerous firms have increased their social responsibility initiatives, reinforcing the credibility and trust of their stakeholders. However, prior research about the relevance of sustainability leadership for the European investment community is scarce. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine whether sustainability leadership – proxied by membership of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe – is value relevant for investors on the 10 major European stock markets over the 2001–2013 period. Our overall results reveal that there exist significant differences across markets. These findings are relevant especially for investors, but also for the managers of listed firms, market regulators and policymakers. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environmentinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sustainability reporting in Europe: differences in terms of legislation and valuation

Artigo em revista científicaOver the past few years, the number of socially responsible companies has been increasing significantly throughout the world and predominantly in Europe. This trend has accelerated the need to provide credibility, and also to create legislation that supports the information provided. As a result, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was created with the aim of helping organisations to provide information about sustainability, as well as to assist stakeholders in interpreting it. However, the publication of social responsibility reports represents an additional cost and effort for the companies since it is necessary to provide extra resources and, for this reason, not all companies adopt this measure. Moreover, social responsibility can be a mandatory or voluntary requirement, depending on the country and the rules imposed by the government where the companies operate. In this context, the aim of this study is two-fold. Firstly, we provide a deep analysis about the evolution as well as the similarities and differences among European countries in terms of sustainability reporting over the 2001-2013 period following the GRI criteria. Secondly, we provide evidence about the value relevance of this practice for European firms.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Responsible Business in a changing World

Comunicação em ConferênciaThe banking sector since 2001 has seen an increasing evolution in the number of banks that engage in sustainability in Europe, however, this evolution has been slower when compared to the other sectors of activity. It should be noted that the number of empirical studies in this particular sector in this region covering a specific period of study, which includes the global financial crisis, is scarce. In this sense, the present study evaluates the value relevance of banks listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe using a sample of 66 European banks in the stock markets of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom. From 2001 to 2013, the period under review presented a major growth in sustainable investments, by taking into account the global financial crisis, it was studied in two subperiods, pre and post crisis. Therefore, by using a modified Ohlson model and applying a panel data methodology for the empirical research, consisting of a combination of time series and cross-sectional data in a joint test, it enabled to control individual unobservable heterogeneity as well as the endogenous nature of the explanatory variables. The study found that banks listed in this index are associated with higher market valuations and has a direct effect on stock prices by modifying the value-relevance of financial information. The global financial crisis has led investors to pay attention to sustainability in the banking sector in the European markets and began to include ethical principles in their investment strategies. These findings have important information for both investors and stakeholders, as well as market regulators and policymakers. I want to believe that this empirical study contributes to the existing literature and encourages investors to play an important role in the sustainable development of such an important sector of society.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Stage of Corporate Social Responsibility in EUCEE Countries

Artigo publicado em revista científica internacionalIn the European Union, the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility reporting is increasing, because 2017 is the year in which the CSR reporting of large companies passes from the voluntary to the mandatory stage according to the requirements of the European Directive 2014/95/EU. In this context, this paper aims to examine the stage of Corporate Social Responsibility in Central and Eastern European Countries members of European Union, in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative which is consistent with globally recognised criteria worldwide, in the period 2002-2018. A critical analysis of the quality of the reporting was performed, looking at whether it has improved over the previous year and whether it respects legal requirements, and whether the communicated information is useful to the stakeholders. Base on literature review it was found that there is a gap of Corporate Social Responsibility’s reporting research to Western European countries. The results show that the evolution of reporting practices has improved over the years for the all countries and the most reports are prepared by multinationals companies. Thus, we can see how companies react to regulatory requirements and other government demands.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Análisis de la inversión socialmente responsable en los mercados bursátiles europeos

La Inversión Socialmente Responsable ha experimentado un notable crecimiento en los últimos años dando lugar a numerosos estudios académicos en el ámbito no sólo de la inversión financiera sino también de las finanzas corporativas. En este contexto, el objetivo de la presente Tesis es profundizar en el estudio de la inversión socialmente responsable analizando su impacto en la inversión financiera y en la creación de valor para el accionista en los mercados bursátiles de Alemania, Dinamarca, España, Finlandia, Francia, Holanda, Italia, Noruega, Reino Unido y Suecia durante el periodo 2001-2013. Para ello, se han tomado como referencia las compañías cotizadas que publican memorias de sostenibilidad con los índices de calidad indicados por el Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), así como aquellas compañías que forman parte de la lista Global 100 que incluye a las 100 mejores empresas del mundo en términos de sostenibilidad o aquellas que pertenecen al índice bursátil Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe (DJSI Europe). El estudio empírico comienza con un análisis tradicional rentabilidad-riesgo para las carteras de inversión construidas. Por último, se analiza desde el punto de vista de las finanzas corporativas si estas políticas sociales generan valor para el accionista, realizando el estudio tanto para las empresas no financieras como para el caso concreto de los bancos.Socially Responsible Investment has grown enormously in recent years. This has been the source for the increasing of empirical research not only in the financial investment area but also in the corporate finance field. In this context, the aim of this Thesis is to analyze socially responsible investment and its influence on financial investment and Shareholders’ value creation for stocks markets of Denmark, Spain Finland, France, Holland, Italy and Norway during the 2001-2013 period. To that end, we consider those companies that elaborate social reports following the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) rules. Moreover, we consider those companies included in the Global 100 list which are the best companies all over the world in terms of sustainability. Finally, we also consider those firms that are included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe (DJSI Europe). The empirical analysis includes a classical return-risk test for socially responsible portfolios. Finally, we analyze, from a corporate finance perspective, whether these social rules create value for shareholders distinguishing between non-financial firms and the special case of banks

XVI Congresso Internacional de Contabilidade e Auditoria (CICA) - da academia à profissão

Comunicação em CongressoSocially Responsible Investment has grown enormously and the publication of reports has increased in developed economies in recent years. The fact that this type of reporting is on a voluntary basis in several countries raises questions about whether stock markets investors would take these reports into consideration. This study attempts to address this question, drawing on a sample of 46 firms listed on the Portuguese stock market over the 2005-2015 period. To that end, we construct a portfolio selecting the socially responsible firms rated by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) annual reports and consider the market portfolio as a benchmark. We analyse the risk-adjusted returns and systematic risk sensibilities of these firms applying the classical market model. For robustness, a spanning test is realized. Our results support that the investment in socially responsible firms in the Portuguese stock market leads to higher returns assuming less systematic risk. These results are important for investors as well as academics.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Are socially responsible firms an asset class

Capítulo do livro Asset pricing and investment strategies - In memoriam of Prof. José Luis Miralles-MarceloSocially Responsible Investment (SRI) has grown enormously in recent years. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine whether this kind of firms are "an asset class" in European markets. To that end, we analyze the risk-adjusted returns and risk sensibilities of these firms in ten markets over the 2001-2013 period considering three alternative criteria. Our overall results show that socially responsible firms are an asset class in all markets analyzed with all criteria. However, our results reveal the existence of market singularities that should be considered in future research, especially between the German and Nordic markets.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio