Renneboog et al (2008) argue that it remains to be seen whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be priced. In light of this, this thesis tests the performance and market valuation of CSR indicators by using a comprehensive set of KLD indicators. Chapter Three of this thesis examines the effect of CSR on financial performance by incorporating CSR into the investment process. As no clear break point is found for the normalised KLD score, the net KLD score is used as an alternative portfolio metric. In addition, most KLD indicators are found to have insignificant alphas for the high-scoring, low-scoring, and long-short portfolios—meaning that investors do not earn abnormal returns through a long-short strategy. Moreover, insignificant alphas are recorded for most of the indicators under the best-in-class approach—meaning that the application of industry classification does not affect results. Finally, both the conditional Ferson and Schadt (1996) model and conditional three-factor model are used as robustness checks, with most indicators having insignificant alphas for these conditional models. As such, the results imply that there is neither outperformance nor underperformance when using portfolios formed with CSR scores; however, there are significant differences in factor loadings between high-scoring and low-scoring CSR portfolios. Chapter Four uses a framework consistent with the Peasnell (1982) and Ohlson (1995) model to examine whether CSR is reflected in share prices. The CSR indicator is treated as the “other information” variable, and the association between CSR and market price is estimated by controlling for book value of equity, net income and dividends. Although the market is found to value different KLD indicators differently, most of the indicators are found to have positive impact on market value (except for corporate governance and human rights). R&D and advertising expenditure are both added to the valuation model for robustness checking purposes. Some of the CSR indicators—and especially for the case of environment—are not valued during the earlier stages, but become increasingly valued over time. The ten industries are also found to have varying effects on market valuation. In summary, high-scoring CSR firms display higher valuations than low-scoring CSR firms, and thus it can be concluded that a socially responsible agenda does not conflict with maximising shareholder value. Since most of the CSR indicators in Chapter Four lead to positive market price valuations, Chapter Five aims to disaggregate the value effect into the separate components of ROE ratio, the implied cost of capital (ICC) and growth rate. Three different methodologies are used to test the relationship between CSR, ICC and the long-run growth rate. The relationship between CSR and growth rate is positive with all of the methodologies. However, the different methodologies return differing results for the relationship between CSR and ICC, which may be due to the different assumptions made by each approach. Furthermore, it suggests that long-run growth rate differences in general may be more important than ICC differences. Finally, most KLD indicators are found to have significantly higher P/V and ROE1 ratios for the high-scoring CSR portfolios than for the low-scoring CSR portfolios.

Daniel Butt develops an account of corrective responsibilities borne by beneficiaries of injustice. He defends the consistency model. I criticize the vagueness in this model and present two interpretations of benefit from injustice (BFI) responsibilities: obligation and natural duty. The obligation model falls prey to the involuntariness objection. I defend a natural duties model, discussing how natural duties can be circumstantially perfected into directed duties and showing how the natural duties model avoids the involuntariness objection. I also address objections from structural injustice and demandingness.

Uppsatsen handlar om hur två hotell arbetar med CSR, hur CSR-arbetet kommuniceras mot kund och följaktligen hur kunderna uppfattar CSR-arbetet utifrån hur hotellen kommunicerar CSR-arbetet. Intresset för CSR väcktes första gången när jag började studera på universitetet. Under en kurs där begreppet introducerades deltog jag i ett projekt där studier gjordes på hotell utomlands och läraren nämnde att de bör börja arbeta med CSR tänkande. Där uppmärksammades att hotellbranschen anses vara en bransch med stor överexploatering av miljön och kundernas omedvetenhet om denna överexploatering på miljön. Syftet med studien är att genom en fallstudie studera hur Scandic Kalmar Väst och Best Western Kalmarsund hotell arbetar med Corporate Social Responsibility samt hur det implementeras i de två hotellens olika marknadskommunikation och på vilket sätt deras respektive kunder uppfattar detta arbete. De två centrala forskningsfrågorna är: Hur arbetar de två hotellen i fallstudien med CSR och på vilket sätt kommuniceras CSR-arbetet till hotellens respektive kunder? Hur uppfattar de två hotellens respektive kunder hotellens CSR-arbete utifrån hur detta kommuniceras? Metoden i uppsatsen har utgått från en kvalitativ undersökning med kvantitativa inslag genom att utifrån en induktiv forskningsansats genomföra en fallstudie av två hotell genom dels intervjuer av hotellens representanter och dels genom enkätundersökning bland hotellens kunder. Resultat- och analysavsnittet är indelat i en del där resultaten av datainsamlingen presenteras och löpande tolkas för att sedan analyseras. Uppsatsen avslutas med en slutsats av studiens viktigaste resultat, metodkritik och förslag på vidare forskning. De viktigaste resultaten från fallstudien visar att Scandic Kalmar Väst och Best Western Kalmarsund arbetar med CSR genom att arbeta med att mäta och försöka minska förbrukningen av energikällor, vatten och kemikalier. De fokuserar även på ekologisk och närodlad mat i restaurangen, källsortering på hotellet samt hållbara inköp. Scandic Kalmar Väst kommunicerar sitt CSR-arbete via internet såsom Scandic hemsida och genom olika annonser på internet. De har även information och riktlinjer på hotellet om arbetet. Scandic Kalmar Väst har också personlig försäljning direkt på plats, exempelvis när de berättar direkt till kunderna på hotellet om deras hållbarhetsarbete och vad detta innebär. Vidare arbetar de med intern marknadsföring på hotellet för att förmedla hållbarhetsarbetet till sina anställda. Best Western Kalmarsund kommunicerar sitt CSR-arbete genom skyltning av miljömärkning lite överallt på hotellet, uppmaningar och riktlinjer för hållbararbete för kunderna. Bägge hotellen kommunicerar via ”PR” en tredje part genom Svanenmärkningen. Miljömärkning av verksamheten framstår som en viktig faktor i de två hotellens CSR-arbete samt på vilket sätt detta kommuniceras ut till deras respektive kunder. Kunderna uppfattar Best Western Kalmarsunds CSR-arbete genom de riktlinjer och information på hemsidan och på hotellet såsom information om miljöarbete och Svanenmärkning som marknadsförs mot kunderna. Scandic Kalmar Västs kunder uppfattar hotellets CSR-arbete genom kommunikationen såsom internet, reklam, hemsidan samt riktlinjer, skyltning och miljömärkning på hotellet såsom av maten i restaurangen och av produkter på rummet samt utifrån information på hotellet om deras miljöarbete.

One of the purposes of this thesis is to try to examine the concepts of mental sickness and responsibility (and some other related concepts) and see whether or not they can be defended against some of the criticisms that have been made against them. It has, for instance, been argued that the concept mental sickness is culture relative in a bad sense. If this criticism is valid, then we cannot be justified in saying that mental sickness has impaired a person's responsibility. Another criticism that has been made is that arguments that use mental sickness to explain and excuse criminal behaviour are circular. Most of the criticisms that I have discussed are intended to be general, i.e. they are criticisms of the concept of mental disorder im general, not just of a particular kind of mental disorder. Thus though Lady Wootton says that arguments that try to explain the psychopath's anti-social behaviour are circular, she thinks (at least in her more radical moments) that the circular process prevails in other mental disorders as well (e.g. with mental defectives. See <u>Social Science and Social Pathology</u>, page 256 ff.). Similarly, the argument that different standards of mental defect prevail in different cultures, and that therefore there is something wrong with the concept of mental defect, is intended to be (at least in her more radical moments) a general one, i.e. it is intended to apply, <u>mutatis mutandis</u> against other kinds of mental disorders also.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a global phenomenon receiving increased interest from scholars and professionals, resulting in a significant body of literature on and for its use. However, the literature generated around CSR is often criticized for being biased towards the Western countries and their contextual specifications. This study suggests that the contextual dynamics associated with developing countries require careful examination of the phenomenon within the realm of its implementation, especially when executed in a region with strong religious dominance. Using a constructive grounded theory strategy, sixty-three intensive interviews were conducted with directors of for-profit, governmental and non-governmental organisations. Data from secondary sources were utilised as well. The information was rigorously analysed through a systematic process of coding, categorisation and theoretical construction to identify results grounded in respondents’ voice and experience with the phenomenon of investigation. These results indicate that the specification of the Middle Eastern region exerts significant pressure on the CSR activities of the organisations by resulting in the implementation of four distinct approaches to CSR. Largely, organisations are driven by coercive pressures to become involved in CSR, as their forms of CSR activity are used to mitigate contextual dynamics associated with the local environment. As result of these dynamics, stakeholder power obtains different dimensions that translate to community-focused forms of CSR activity. The findings also suggest that contrary to the Western CSR approach closely aligned with traditional corporate practice, the Middle Eastern practice of CSR is largely shaped by religious postulates identified in Islam. That translates to individual level motivations to become involved in CSR that consequently shape organisational behaviour and CSR conduct. This study contributes to expanding the theoretical scope of Western CSR literature, literature on CSR in developing and Middle Eastern countries, as well as in relation to stakeholder theory. Also, the study makes a significant contribution to the practice of CSR in the examined region by identifying potential areas of improvement and development for practitioners.

Devant l'accroissement des problèmes environnementaux menaçant la vie humaine, la question de l'implication de toute l'humanité dans la protection de l'environnement est aujourd'hui fortement mise en avant. Sur le plan managérial, les recherches académiques insistent, ces dernières années, sur la nécessité du changement des visions, des valeurs, des attitudes, des intentions et des comportements menant vers une organisation écologique. En positionnant notre recherche dans le champ de la psychologie du développement durable, l'objet de cette thèse est de développer un modèle expliquant les antécédents de l'intention environnementale des dirigeants des PME industrielles. Ainsi, en se basant sur la théorie du comportement planifiée et sur l'orientation entrepreneuriale, nous proposons un modèle conceptuel présentant l'influence des variables contextuelles (politiques, socioculturels et économiques) et individuelles (caractéristiques personnelles) sur la formation de l'intention environnementale des dirigeants des PME. La démarche empirique s'apparente à une démarche de triangulation méthodologique. Elle consiste en une étude qualitative exploratoire au prés de vingt dirigeants de PME, suivie d'une deuxième étude qualitative au prés de dix experts en développement durable et en RSE. Enfin, une étude quantitative au prés de 226 dirigeants est destinée à valider le modèle de recherche. Les résultats obtenus sont très intéressants et originaux. Ils montrent que les intentions environnementales des dirigeants ne résultent pas des pressions des parties prenantes. Par contre, l'intention est le résultat des perceptions de la disponibilité des ressources financières et de l'accompagnement, des résultats espérés du comportement souhaité vis-à-vis du pouvoir public et des institutions financières et aussi des caractéristiques personnelles du dirigeant (son degré d'innovation et de prise de risque). / In front of the increasing environmental problems that threaten human life, the question of the involvement of all mankind in the protection of the environment is strongly emphasized. At the managerial level and in the recent years, academic researchers have emphasized the need to change perceptions, values, attitudes, intentions and behavior leading to an environmental organization.By placing our research in the field of psychology of sustainable development, the subject of this thesis is to develop a model explaining the history of environmental leadership for industrial SMEs. Thus, based on the theory of planned behavior and entrepreneurial orientation, we propose a conceptual model showing the impact of contextual (political, cultural and economic) and individual variables (personal characteristics) on the formation of the environmental intention of SMEs managers.The empirical approach is similar to a process of methodological triangulation. It consists in a qualitative exploratory study nearly twenty SME, followed by a second qualitative study almost ten experts in sustainable development and CSR. Finally, a quantitative study in nearly 226 leaders is used to validate the research model. The results are very interesting and original. They show that environmental intentions of leaders are not the result of pressure from stakeholders. By contrast, the intention is the result of perceptions of the availability of financial resources and support, the expected results of the desired behavior concerning the public and financial institutions as well as personal characteristics of the leader (his degree of innovation and risk-taking).

The aim of this thesis is to focus on the position of judge as it is established in the law system of the Czech Republic. The author is pursuing the genesis of judge's function, rights and duties of a judge and considerable part of this work is dealing with the principle of judicial independence and impartiality which ensures right to a fair trial. This thesis also marginally summarizes the history of judiciary in Czech Republic.

Summary: Responsibility for the United Nations peacekeeping operations The purpose of this thesis is to analyze an issue whether the United Nations (UN) or troop contributing countries are responsible for the conduct of military contingents in the UN peacekeeping operations. The thesis focuses solely on UN-led operations and on peacekeeping forces - military troops contributed by member states in whole contingents, rather than as individuals. The reason for focusing on peacekeeping forces is their unique hybrid legal status. While they remain in the service of their states, they become for the period of their assignment international personnel under the authority of the UN. This thesis is composed of four chapters. Chapter one describes the meaning and the legal basis of peacekeeping operations and defines which types of operation are subject of the thesis. Second chapter deals with general rules governing international responsibility of states. Chapter three examines legal personality and responsibility of international organizations, in particular the UN. These two issues are closely related because for an entity to bear international obligations, it must first be established that the entity is a legal person. The fourth and crucial chapter addresses the specific issue of responsibility for a conduct of...

This paper deals with the operators responsibility for damage caused by a motor vehicle in the current Civil Code and the new Civil Code, which will be effective from 1. 1. 2014. According to the always-study of the topic immediately point out the specific changes that occur due to the new regulation. The first chapter deals with the importance of explaining the issue of damages in a social context. Furthermore, I point out its functions. The second chapter deals with the definition of basic concepts related to this problem. Define who or what is motor vehicle damage and operator. Interpret different kinds of operators of vehicles, when their resolution is critical consequences for the operator is obliged to pay damages. The third chapter explains the general provisions on liability for damage. It also deals with the inclusion of liability in the Code civil law. The fourth chapter deals with a thorough explanation then specific responsibility for damage caused by vehicles. Interprets the scope of this responsibility, the possibilities of the operator himself from the obligation to pay compensation and liability insurance for damage caused by the operation of motor vehicles. The fifth chapter is intended to familiarize the reader with the possibilities of compensation methods, the content of...

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