Most research questions and theory in quantitative peace and conflict research are fundamentally causal. However, a large gap exists in the extant literature between research question and research methodology. Not only does most existing methodology fail to achieve what most quantitative peace scholars attempt, but many researchers do not appear to be aware of these limitations. In this dissertation, I outline five key shortcomings within this literature that, left unaddressed, create results that are not informative of the questions quantitative peace researchers are interested in. This dissertation demonstrates solutions addressing these shortcomings with two applied chapters, conducting causal research designs on a study examining the economic impact of United Nations peacekeeping operations and the effect of human rights treaties on repression, respectively. I find that conventionally-established results in the literature change dramatically when exposed to methodological changes informed by the causal inference literature.

This study aims to provide insights into the interplay between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores and financial outcomes by investigating whether it leads to enhanced financial performance and firm value, partly during the economic crisis constituted by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses the theoretical frameworks stakeholder theory, resource-based view (RBV) theory, as well as customer and investor preference theory as an explanatory model for the results conducted by the panel data regression on a dataset of 248 companies derived from the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 index from 2006 to 2023. The study found that ESG performance significantly enhances both return on capital employed (ROCE) and Tobin's Q. A one-unit increase in ESG score leads to a 0.59860 percentage increase in ROCE and a 0.5329 percentage increase in Tobin's Q. It can be established that larger companies exhibit lower financial performance and market valuations, while companies in the lowest ESG score quartile benefit more from ESG improvements. The impact of ESG scores on firm value is more pronounced during the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. The empirical findings from this study provide robust evidence supporting the theoretical framework and the growing body of literature suggesting a positive relationship between ESG performance and corporate financial outcomes. The findings offer valuable insights for business leaders, policymakers, and investors on the strategic importance of sustainability initiatives in today's complex business environment.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地球環境学) / 甲第25473号 / 地環博第259号 / 新制||地環||53(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院地球環境学舎環境マネジメント専攻 / (主査)教授 竹内 憲司, 教授 西前 出, 准教授 TRENCHER Gregory, 教授 浅利 美鈴 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Global Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DFAM

According to the numerical data from the past three decades, income inequality remains a significant challenge on a global scale, irrespective of the countries’ development status. Even though the global economy has experienced growth, income inequalities have not decreased correspondingly. Global integration, international commerce, economic expansions, and changes in labor market dynamics all together participate in the process of shaping economic inequalities. The thesis investigates the impact of various macroeconomic indicators on income inequality and attempts to identify evidence for the bell-shaped Kuznets curve. Fixed- and random-effects models are utilized for the analysis, in which balanced panel data from 52 high- and middle-income countries covering the period 1998 through 2020 are considered. The results of our study identify a U-turned relationship between GDP per capita and income inequality, which does not support the Kuznets hypothesis. Furthermore, we also identified that higher average educational levels reduce income inequality, while international commerce and higher unemployment rates increase it.

Yes / The study examines the impact of liquidity risk on freight derivatives returns. The Amihud liquidity ratio and bid–ask spreads are utilized to assess the existence of liquidity risk in the freight derivatives market. Other macroeconomic variables are used to control for market risk. Results indicate that liquidity risk is priced and both liquidity measures have a significant role in determining freight derivatives returns. Consistent with expectations, both liquidity measures are found to have positive and significant effects on the returns of freight derivatives. The results have important implications for modeling freight derivatives, and consequently, for trading and risk management purposes.

Yes / This paper investigates whether bond, issuer, industry and macro-specific variables account for the observed variation of credit spreads’ changes of global shipping bond issues before and after the onset of the subprime financial crisis. Results show that conclusions as to the significant variables of spreads depend significantly on whether two-way clusteradjusted standard errors are utilized, thus rendering results in the extant literature ambigious. The main determinants of global cargo-carrying companies’ shipping bond spreads are found in this paper to be: the liquidity of the bond issue, the stock market’s volatility, the bond market’s cyclicality, freight earnings and the credit rating of the bond issue.

Yes / Bank branching plays a significant role in a wide range of economic activities. Existing studies on determinants of bank branching activities largely focus on developed countries, studies devoted to developing countries are scant. We present the first study that examines the determinants of bank branching activities in one of the largest developing country India. We employ a unique longitudinal data to study the determinants of bank branch location in India. This data is collected at the state level covering 25 Indian states for the period 2006 to 2017. We employ Poisson regression that are better suited for modelling counted dependent variable. First, region and bank specific factors such as size of population and bank deposits influence location of bank branches. Second, the relationship between these factors and branch locations is heterogeneous across different types of banks and across states with different business environments. First, from the view of banks, considering the factors of branch location are crucial in order to set out branching strategy. Irrespective of policy measures aimed at promoting financial inclusion in India, we show that banks consider economic activities in the region in locating their branches. Second, from the view of policy makers and regulators, such branching strategy could potentially contribute to financial exclusion. As a result, population in the less developed regions may be excluded from accessing financial services. Hence, policy makers and regulators should take into this account when formulating policies aimed at promoting financial inclusion. First, while existing studies largely focus on developed countries, studies devoted to developing countries are scant. To the best of our knowledge, we have not come across any study that investigates the determinants of bank branch location in India, so we reasonably believe that ours is a first-of-its-kind. Second, our study provides a new perspective concerning how regional and bank specific factors influence banks of different ownership in locating branches. Third, while traditional regression used to be a method of choice among early studies, we employ Poisson regression that are better suited for modelling counted dependent variable.

Yes / The paper presents a text analytics framework that analyses online reviews to explore how consumer-perceived negativity corresponding to the supply chain propagates over time and how it affects car sales. In particular, the framework integrates aspect-level sentiment analysis using SentiWordNet, time-series decomposition, and bias-corrected least square dummy variable (LSDVc) – a panel data estimator. The framework facilitates the business community by providing a list of consumers’ contemporary interests in the form of frequently discussed product attributes; quantifying consumer-perceived performance of supply chain (SC) partners and comparing the competitors; and a model assessing various firms’ sales performance. The proposed framework demonstrated to the automobile supply chain using a review dataset received from a renowned car-portal in India. Our findings suggest that consumer-voiced negativity is maximum for dealers and minimum for manufacturing and assembly related features. Firm age, GDP, and review volume significantly influence car sales whereas the sentiments corresponding to SC partners do not. The proposed research framework can help the manufacturers in inspecting their SC partners; realising consumer-cited critical car sales influencers; and accurately predicting the sales, which in turn can help them in better production planning, supply chain management, marketing, and consumer relationships.

Yes / This paper introduces a novel measure of the energy transition, i.e., the green quality of energy mix (GREENQ) across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Then, the paper examines the impact of the GREENQ on CO2 emissions in the panel dataset of 36 OECD countries from 1970 to 2021. The explanatory variables include per capita income, institutional quality and technology. Long-run panel data estimations indicate that per capita income, institutional quality and technology increase CO2 emissions. The novel evidence is that the GREENQ is negatively related to the level of CO2 emissions. These findings are robust to employ different panel data estimation techniques. Potential policy implications are also discussed. / The project was funded by the “Foreign Cultural and Educational Experts Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China” (Project Number: DL2022180001L).

The real estate market in Sweden has experienced a significant increase in prices since the late 1990s, with prices for building materials and labour increasing by almost 60% more than consumer prices. Interest rates and mortgage lending have also impacted the real estate market, with higher disposable income and lower real interest rates accounting for almost 90% of the price increase. Population growth and migration have also impacted the demand for housing in Sweden's metropolitan areas. Regulatory measures have also impacted the housing market, with macroprudential policies introduced to stabilize the market and prevent housing bubbles. This paper examines the macroeconomic factors that affect the average square meter price for tenant-owned apartments in Sweden's three metropolitan areas, Greater Stockholm, Greater Gothenburg, and Greater Malmo. The variables studied are disposable income, unemployment rate, OMXSPI index, mortgage interest rates, new developments, an amortization dummy, and a trend variable. Two regression models have been produced where the difference is that the trend variable is included in only one of them (model 2). The result of the study shows that all variables are statistically significant in model (1).