The recent and well debated topic of sustainable investments together with the contradiction of the typical sustainable individual and the typical investor constitutes the purpose for the empirical research. Secondary shareholder data obtained from the Central Securities Depositary, Euroclear Sweden, together with corporate sustainable ratings from Thomson Reuters contributes to portraying the typical Swedish sustainable investor. Together with previous research we find that women tend to invest more in sustainable companies than men and that a lower income is related to a higher degree of sustainable investments. In conflict with presented theories we state that, based on our sample, investors over age 65 hold more sustainable companies than their younger counterpart. Regarding gender the results show that women invest more in sustainable companies than men. / Hållbara investeringar är ett ämne som fått ett allt större fokus vid investeringsbeslut och påverkan på miljö och social rättvisa är högaktuellt i den vardagliga debatten. Den grupp individer som beskrivs vara intresserade av hållbarhetsfrågor i allmänhet är unga kvinnor. Samtidigt visar tidigare undersökningar att i sammanhanget investerare är den typiske investeraren en man över 50 år. Uppsatsens problemformulering utgår från denna skillnad mellan den hållbara individen och den typiske investeraren för att undersöka vilka investerare som står för investeringar i hållbara företag. De demografiska faktorerna kön, ålder, årsinkomst, portföljvärde och bostadsort används i uppsatsen för att identifiera skillnader mellan hållbara och icke-hållbara investerare. Samt ifall demografiska faktorer har något samband med en investerares grad av hållbarhet. Ägardata för de demografiska faktorerna har baserats på Euroclear Swedens värdepapperscentral. Företagen i urvalet har hållbarhetsklassificerats utifrån Thomson Reuters ESG-score, en betygsättning av företag med hänsyn till deras arbete kring miljö, social och bolagsstyrningspåverkan.  Tidigare forskning presenterar demografisk utformning för investerare som tar hänsyn till hur deras placeringar påverkar omvärlden. Enhälligt för tidigare forskning är att det är kvinnor som bryr sig om hållbarhet och investerar socialt ansvarsfullt, samt att unga investerare väljer i större utsträckning hållbarhet jämfört med äldre. För inkomst pekar tidigare forskning inte på en gemensam inkomstklass utan beroende på i vilket land undersökningen är gjord samt på vilken investerartyp den är gjord skiljer sig resultatet åt. Storstadsbor investerar enligt tidigare forskning mer hållbart än övrig befolkning och portföljvärdet för hållbara investerare beskrivs i regel vara lägre än för de icke hållbara. Genom t-test undersöks skillnaden mellan hållbara samt icke-hållbara och genom regressionsanalyser undersöks hur demografiska variabler har en påverkan på graden av hållbarhet i svenska privata aktieportföljer.  Undersökningen finner vad gäller skillnaden mellan hållbara och icke-hållbara investerare att variabeln ålder utgör en statistiskt signifikant skillnad mellan de olika investerartyperna. Resultatet talar emot den teoretiska referensramen och visar att investerare över 65 år har högst koncentration i hållbara företag, jämfört med åldersklasserna 18-44 och 45-64. Skillnaden mellan könen tyder även på att kvinnor investerar mer hållbart än män och att hållbara investerare har en lägre genomsnittlig inkomst än de icke hållbara investerarna.

Den Europeiska Unionen vill med Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) standardisera hållbarhetsredovisning för företag som är verksamma inom unionen. Återigen kommer fler och fler företag omfattas av reglerna att behöva upprätta en obligatorisk hållbarhetsredovisning – vilket kan utgöra en utmaning för mindre erfarna små och medelstora företag. Denna studie undersökte små och medelstora företags syn på hållbarhetsredovisning samt deras uppfattning för dess kärnbegrepp; närmare bestämt ESG och materialitet. Studien utfördes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex företag och med hjälp av sju respondenter. Studien visade att det finns en överväldigande positiv inställning till hållbarhetsredovisning bland de studerade företagen. Hursomhelst framgick det tecken på att företagen var bristfällig i vissa aspekter. Till exempel upplevde samtliga företag svårigheter med att koppla delar av sin verksamhet till hållbarhet på en bolagsstyrningsnivå (eng. governance). Liknande resultat upptäcktes för materialitet. Alla företag upplevdes ha svårigheter att begripa innebörden av begreppet ’materialitet’. Studien visade, trots svårigheten att begripa innebörden av materialitet, att de studerade företagen visade tecken på att vara effektiva i identifieringen av materiella hållbarhetsaspekter. / The European Union wants to standardize sustainability reporting with the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Once again, more and more enterprises will be subject to the mandatory requirements to disclose sustainability information – which may pose a challenge for less experienced small and medium sized enterprises. This study examines the perception of small and medium sized enterprises on sustainability reporting and its foundational concepts; namely environmental, social and governance (ESG) and materiality. The study was conducted on six individual companies and seven interviewees in total. The study concludes that there exists an overwhelmingly positive perception of sustainability reporting amongst the studied enterprises. However, there were signs that the studied companies were deficient in certain aspects. For example, all enterprises experienced difficulties in identifying aspects of their business that could be linked with governance sustainability. Similar results were discovered on the materiality topic. All enterprises had difficulties in understanding the term ‘materiality’. The study concludes that, despite the difficulty understanding materiality, the studied enterprises showed signs of being efficient in identifying material sustainability topics.

Submitted by Alexandre Garcia (atgempresarial@uol.com.br) on 2017-05-16T23:01:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Alexandre Sanches Garcia com ficha catalografica.pdf: 1908550 bytes, checksum: f5e1873071e0854913a4ca08177a36bd (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Pamela Beltran Tonsa (pamela.tonsa@fgv.br) on 2017-05-17T14:16:49Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Alexandre Sanches Garcia com ficha catalografica.pdf: 1908550 bytes, checksum: f5e1873071e0854913a4ca08177a36bd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-17T18:35:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Alexandre Sanches Garcia com ficha catalografica.pdf: 1908550 bytes, checksum: f5e1873071e0854913a4ca08177a36bd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-20 / In the last two decades, a growing number of executives have allocated time and resources on business strategy issues that involve corporate social responsibility (LACY; COWER, HAYWARD; NEUBERGER, 2010). Porter and Van der Linde (1995) already affirmed that we are passing through a phase of transition of the industrial history, in which the executives begin to realize investments in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors like an economic and competitive opportunity, instead of cost or threat. But the question that remains nanswered is: when is it worth adopting these socio-environmental strategies? The central objective of this study is to measure the socio-environmental performance of companies and their relationship with economic and financial performance, investigating under what circumstances pays-to-be-green is worth. In this sense and based on the discussions in competitive socio-environmental strategies, such as the Porter Hypothesis and the Natural Resource Based View (NRBV), in addition to the literature on institutional and stakeholder theories, the present study sought to show performance in ESG of companies in various circumstances. Considering the institutional, cultural and regulatory differences between countries, the ESG performance and its relation to the financial performance of companies from emerging and developed countries were investigated. It also investigated whether the company's stock sustainability index results in better performance, ESG and financial, compared to companies not listed in these indexes. Through the ASSET4 database, the panel data methodology was used with 2,165 companies from developed and emerging countries. The results allow us not to reject the hypotheses raised that there is a prevalence of the institutional environment in relation to financial performance and ESG performance, indicating that there is a positive association in the economic-financial performance and ESG of companies only in developed countries. In companies in emerging countries, this relationship is negative. In addition, it has been found that being listed on a stock exchange sustainability index, while bringing better ESG performance to the company, does not cause a reflection on its economic-financial performance. Additionally, it was found that companies belonging to sectors of economic activities considered controversial have better ESG performance than companies from other sectors. These results contribute to the debate on the theme "pays-to-be-green", showing that possible methodological differences used in several academic works explain the contradictory results found so far. The results of this work show that corporate executives and public managers from emerging economies still have a long way to go in pursuing ESG best practices. / Nas últimas duas décadas, um número crescente de executivos tem alocado tempo e recursos em assuntos de estratégia empresarial que envolve a responsabilidade social das organizações (LACY; COOPER; HAYWARD; NEUBERGER, 2010). Porter e Van der Linde (1995) já afirmava que estamos passando uma fase de transição da história industrial, na qual os executivos começam a perceber investimentos em fatores Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) como uma oportunidade econômica e competitiva, ao invés de custo ou ameaça. Mas a pergunta que ainda fica sem resposta é: quando vale a pena adotar essas estratégias socioambientais? O objetivo central desse estudo é a mensuração do desempenho socioambiental das empresas e sua relação com o desempenho econômico-financeiro investigando em que circunstâncias vale a pena ser verde (pays-to-be-green). Nesse sentido e pautado pelas discussões em estratégias socioambientais competitivas, como a Hipótese de Porter e a Natural Resource Based View (NRBV), além da literatura das teorias institucional e do stakeholder, o presente estudo buscou mostrar o desempenho ESG das empresas em diversas circunstâncias. Considerando as diferenças institucional, cultural e regulamentar entre países, foram investigados os desempenhos ESG e sua relação com o desempenho financeiro das empresas pertencentes a países emergentes e de países desenvolvidos. Também investigou se o fato da empresa pertencer a índices de sustentabilidade de bolsas de valores resulta em melhores desempenhos, ESG e financeiro, comparados às empresas não listadas nesses índices. Por meio do banco de dados ASSET4, foi utilizada a metodologia de dados em painel com 2.165 empresas de países desenvolvidos e de países emergentes. Os resultados permitem não rejeitar as hipóteses levantadas de que há prevalência do ambiente institucional na relação desempenho financeiro e desempenho ESG, indicando que há associação positiva no desempenho econômico-financeiro e ESG das empresas somente dos países desenvolvidos. Já nas empresas de países emergentes essa relação é negativa. Além disso, verificou-se que estar listada em índice de sustentabilidade de bolsas de valores, embora gere melhor desempenho ESG para a empresa, não causa reflexo no seu desempenho econômico-financeiro. Adicionalmente, foi constatado que empresas pertencentes a setores de atividades econômicas consideradas polêmicas possuem melhor desempenho ESG do que empresas dos outros setores. Tais resultados contribuem para o debate do tema “pays-to-be-green”, mostrando que possíveis diferenças metodológicas utilizadas em diversos trabalhos acadêmicos explicam os resultados contraditórios até então encontrados. Os resultados desse trabalho mostram que os executivos das empresas e gestores públicos de países de economia emergente ainda tem um longo caminho a percorrer na buscar por melhores práticas ESG.

I dagsläget står vår omvärld inför flertal utmaningar utifrån ett miljö- och socialt perspektiv. En effekt av detta är att efterfrågan av hållbara investeringsalternativ har ökat hos privatpersoner. I takt med att medvetenheten om hur privatpersoners investeringar kan bidra till en förbättrad omvärld har andelen svenska människor som söker investeringar i hållbara fonder ökat. Genom att investera pengar i hållbara fonder kan privatpersoner påverka hur företag arbetar ur ett miljö- och socialt perspektiv. Hållbara fonder söker investeringsalternativ som leder till en positiv klimatpåverkan och social påverkan genom ett långsiktigt värdeskapande. Information om hur hållbara fondbolag går till väga för att identifiera och investera i hållbara alternativ är dock bristande vilket kan leda till att privatpersoner inte vet hur deras pengar hanteras utav fondbolagen vid val av investeringar. Denna studie har som syfte att beskriva och analysera vilka investeringsstrategier svenska fondbolag använder för att identifiera hållbara investeringar. Studien har anpassat en kvalitativ metod och, med hjälp av fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med svenska fondbolag, samlat in data avseende hur de går till väga innan, under och efter investeringsbeslut. Studiens slutsats är att fondbolagen använder negativ- och positiv screening baserat på ESG-kriterier för att identifiera hållbara investeringsalternativ. Efter det att fondbolagen har investerat i ett företag använder fondbolagen olika former av engagemang för att säkerställa att investeringen fortsatt förblir hållbar. / The global community is currently facing various environmental and social challenges, leading to an increased demand for sustainable investment options among private individuals. In response, the proportion of Swedish individuals seeking sustainable investment options has grown. This study describes and analyzes the investment strategies used by Swedish fund companies to identify sustainable investments. A qualitative method was applied and included four semi-structured interviews with Swedish fund companies. The results indicate that fund companies use negative and positive screening based on ESG criteria to identify sustainable investment opportunities and employ various forms of engagement to ensure the sustainability of the investment. This study contributes to the understanding of how fund companies identify sustainable investments and can inform private individuals on the processes used by such companies.

This thesis contributes to the currently still sprawling literature on the force of sustainable investing together with the “Big Five” personality structure (Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism). By investigating which personality trait, based on the Big Five personality taxonomy, that was willing to exchange revenue for a higher ESG rating in a hypothetical investment fund, we were able to determine when private investors were willing to pay more for a more sustainable investment. We use new data from our own questionnaire where the respondents are adult individuals residing in Sweden who has invested in the stock market. The data was analyzed with an econometric approach and for the regression ordinary least square and tobit was used. The results revealed that two personality traits (conscientiousness and agreeableness) tended to be less interested in sustainable investments, as they were not willing to pay for a fund with a higher ESG rating, unlike Openness to Experience, where the willingness to pay was high. The other two traits also showed a positive relationship and thus willingness to trade revenue for sustainability. This thesis contributes to the knowledge on how the personality of the private investors can motivate investment decisions and the preference of companies they invest in.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration in financial activities is a crucial topic that is gaining importance in financial markets. During the years, many studies have been conducted about Initial Public Offering (IPO) and underpricing since they are fundamental aspects of firms’ lifecycle. Nevertheless, none of these studies have appropriately related firms’ ESG characteristics to IPO underpricing. In order to fill this knowledge gap, this thesis’s purpose is to investigate whether the ESG factors of a firm have effects on its IPO underpricing in the U.S stock market. The U.S has been chosen as it is the biggest stock market in the world and because of the quality and reliability of the data available for this country.  A quantitative study is applied to investigate the relationship between ESG characteristics of the firms and the level of underpricing. First, to obtain the measurement of the ESG level of the pre-IPO firms, we have conducted two textual analysis of IPO prospectus, namely, term frequency and sentiment analysis. These indicators aim to show the disclosure level of ESG factors and whenever ESG is perceived negatively or positively by the market. Successively, the multiple regression is performed for each ESG indicator to find which measures have the analytical abilities to explain IPO underpricing. Based on the multiple regression results, we can conclude that the frequency of environmental & governance terms occurred in IPO prospectus, the negative tone, and the overall sentiment of the environmental context are significantly explaining IPO underpricing. These results have given meaningful answers for our research. The market does not perceive the social factors of a firm in the IPO context. On the other hand, environmental and governance aspects still attract the market’s attention in different ways. The market is concerned about the disclosure level of the governance activities and whether these activities are sufficiently mentioned in the prospectus. Meanwhile, the market takes into serious consideration the environmental activities of a firm by assessing the qualities of these activities. Moreover, the market is more sensitive to the negative information about environmental content than positive information in the IPO context. The textual analysis methods applied in this thesis have some limitations. However, this study has the reliability to confirm that some companies’ ESG factors affect IPO underpricing. As a consequence, it is possible to state that the market cares about  ESG issues.

Institutional Investors own a large share of publicly traded companies, controlling a significant amount of the economy‟s working capital. These investors currently use little or no sustainability-related information to make their decisions, reinforcing a loop of increasingly unsustainable growth. This paper puts forward a new investment strategy that recognizes true movement towards sustainability and its link with bottom line benefits for investors: Strategic Sustainable Investing (SSI). To achieve this desired future, Institutional Investors must be able to recognize corporations that are strategically leading the transition towards sustainability. An Analysis Tool was developed to help address this need by identifying sectoral Emerging Sustainability Issues (ESI) using a consensus-based scientific definition of sustainability. Once ESIs are identified, companies‟ strategies regarding each issue are assessed. This Tool was scrutinized by a panel of experts in the financial and sustainable development industries, and was tested on three companies within the Unconventional Oil & Gas Sector in Canada. Results confirmed the usefulness of a tool that can recognize which companies are leading the sustainable development agenda, and identified the need for future research on the financial materiality of sustainability-oriented actions.

With a growing risk of food insecurity in the face of extreme population growth, the world is in need of hands-on solutions that could combine a significant increase in food production while decreasing the effects of agriculture on the environment. Such a solution could be provided through cultivating staple crops in Indoor Vertical Farming facilities, however, due to its high expenses, these developments have stagnated, lacking financial support. As this financial support could be provided by Impact Investors, this thesis explores the relevance of non-financial factors and how they relate to the financial returns as well as how much it influences an Impact Investors decision to invest. The primary data was collected through a quantitative survey, including a fictional scenario based upon the cultivation of wheat in an Indoor Vertical Farming. The results were analyzed and interpreted through the lens of the Willingness to Pay concept and the Rational Choice Theory.The results showed that in the case of this study, the respondents were most willing to pay for the factors water, yield, and emissions. However, regardless of the positive impact of these factors, they lacked the influence to get them to commit to the presented scenario as they still prioritized financial returns as the base of decision. Lastly, another prominent driver behind the investors likelihood to invest was found to be age, where younger investors were much more likely to invest than the older respondents. / Med en ökande risk för livsmedelsosäkerhet parallellt med extrem befolkningstillväxt behöver världen praktiska lösningar som kan kombinera en betydande ökning av livsmedelsproduktionen utan ökad belastning på miljön från intensifierat jordbruk. En sådan lösning kan tillhandahållas genom odling av stapelgrödor i vertikala jordbruksanläggningar inomhus, men på grund av dess höga kostnader blir denna utveckling stagnerad på grund av saknat ekonomiskt stöd. I och med att en möjlig väg att säkra ekonomiska stöd kan tillhandahållas av Impact Investors undersöker denna avhandling relevansen av icke-finansiella faktorer och hur de relaterar till den finansiella avkastningen samt hur mycket det påverkar ett Impact Investors beslut att investera. De primära uppgifterna samlades in genom en kvantitativ enkätundersökning, baserat på ett fiktivt scenario om odling av vete i ett vertikalt jordbruk inomhus. Resultaten analyserades och tolkades genom perspektiven 'Willingness to Pay' och 'Rational Choice Theory'. Resultaten visade att respondenterna i den här studien var mest villiga att betala för faktorerna vatten, avkastning och utsläpp. Oavsett de positiva effekterna av dessa faktorer saknade de dock tillräckligt inflytande för att få investerarna att helt engagera sig i det presenterade scenariot eftersom de fortfarande prioriterade ekonomisk avkastning som främsta beslutsunderlag. Slutligen visade sig att en annan framstående drivkraft bakom investerarnas sannolikhet att investera var ålder, där yngre investerare var mycket mer benägna att investera än de äldre respondenterna.

Syfte: Ett växande intresse för CSR och dess betydelse lyfter fram rollen av bolagsstyrning. Bland annat ifrågasattes styrelsens roll i att utveckla strategier och uppfylla krav från diverse intressentgrupper. Frågan om finansiell prestation, eller tillgängligheten av finansiella resurser, kan påverka förhållandet mellan CSR och styrelseegenskaper har sällan undersökts tidigare. Syftet med denna studie är därmed uppdelat i två frågeställningar; den första delen undersöker hur styrelseegenskaperna påverkar CSR. Vidare behandlar den andra delen potentiella modererande effekter av finansiell prestation på förhållandet. Metod: Studien utgår från en positivistisk forskningsfilosofi och en tvärsnittsforskning som bygger på en kvantitativ strategi. Data inhämtades via Refinitiv Eikon om 433 börsnoterade nordiska bolag för året 2021. Behandling och analys av data genomfördes via SPSS; ett statistiskt mjukvaruprogram. Resultat & slutsats: Resultaten tyder på positiva och statistiskt signifikanta effekter av styrelsens storlek, andelen kvinnor i styrelsen respektive andelen oberoende styrelseledamöter på CSR. Likaså fanns ett positivt samband mellan CSR och finansiell prestation samt att påverkan av styrelsestorleken på CSR positivt stärks av finansiell prestation. Däremot indikeras att påverkan av andelen kvinnor i styrelsen respektive andelen oberoende styrelseledamöter på CSR försvagas av finansiell prestation.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens resultat har praktiska och teoretiska bidrag. Studiens teoretiska bidrag avser resultatens tillägg i den nuvarande forskningen om förhållandet mellan CSR och styrelsen. Studiens empiriska resultat kan därmed användas för att bättre förstå hur styrelsesammansättningen kan uppmuntra ansvarsfullt beteende. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Genom studiens resultat har vi kunnat föreslå tre ytterligare frågor för fortsatt undersökning. Den första frågan föreslår att VD:ns personlighet, engagemang och värderingar kan vara en närmare indikator på hur VD-dualitet kan påverka CSR. För det andra, föreslås vidare behandling av företagsbeteende mot CSR under olika ekonomiska förhållanden. Slutligen, har tidigare studier föreslagit vidare undersökning av interaktionseffekterna av styrelsens beståndsdelar för närmare indikation av en effektiv styrelsesammansättning. Syftet är att undersöka den gemensamma effekten av styrelsesammansättningen på CSR, till skillnad från att se hur enskilda egenskaper påverkar CSR. / Aim: The growing interest in corporate social responsibility and discussions of its importance inquired the role of corporate governance by numerous researchers. Specifically, the board has been highlighted as a pilar to developing strategies and maintaining the goals of diverse stakeholders. The role of financial performance, or the availability of slack financial resources, is a question rarely posed in its effects on the relation between the previously mentioned variables. The objective of this study is thereby divided into two inquiries; the first part investigates the effects of board characteristics on CSR, whereas the second part explores potential moderation effects of financial performance on the relationship.  Method: This study employs a positivistic research philosophy and cross-sectional research design based on a quantitative strategy. Data was collected through Refinitiv Eikon on 433 Nordic public firms for the year 2021. Processing and analysis of data was conducted through a statistical software program, SPSS.   Results & conclusions: Our findings suggest positive and statistically significant effects of board size, proportion of female board members and proportion of independent board members on CSR, respectively. Likewise, we find that financial performance has a positive effect on CSR and positively accentuates the effects of board size on CSR. Meaning that, higher financial performances positively influence firms’ level of CSP and accentuate the effects of board size on CSR. However, the effects of the proportion of female board members and proportion of independent board members are respectively weakened by firms’ financial performance. Contribution of the thesis: The findings of this study have practical and theoretical contributions. Theoretical contributions refer to our additions to the current research bank by providing more evidence on the effects of board characteristics on CSR. Practical contributions regard the empirical results given the limitations of the study, which can aid in understanding how specific board structures can encourage socially responsible behavior.  Suggestions for future research: Findings of the study inquired the role of three additional topics in relation to CSR. First, our insignificant results for CEO-duality is an additional indication to instead investigate the role of CEOs’ personalities and their engagement toward CSR-related questions, especially in institutional settings with coercive standards for socially responsible behaviors. Second, differences between fostering and declining economical/market conditions may result in re-prioritizations of goals and reformulations of CSR-strategies. Thereby inquiring if economic conditions may be a moderating factor in the relationship between CSR and financial performance. Third, researchers have suggested further investigation on the interaction effects between board characteristics due to their influence on one-and-another.

Examensarbete, Civilekonomprogrammet, Ekonomihögskolan vid Linnéuniversitetet Författare: Gustav Johannesson och Martin Westport Handledare: Andreas Stephan Medbedömare: Anna Stafsudd Titel: Sambandet mellan Corporate Social Performance och finansiell risk - En kvantitativ studie som undersöker nordiska företag Bakgrund: Företags sociala ansvar har ständigt funnits på företagsagendan under senaste åren efter ökade globala utmaningar och större påtryckningar från intressenter. Man kan se allt större risker som är kopplade till företags hållbarhetsarbete. Med bakgrund till detta finns det ett stort intresse och en uppåtgående trend kring hållbara investeringar där Norden är ledande inom området. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att förklara sambandet mellan Corporate Social Performance, både på en sammanslagen och individuell nivå, och finansiell risk. Metod: Genom den deduktiva forskningsansatsen och den kvantitativa forskningsstrategin som är baserad på paneldata testar författarna sina hypoteser. Författarna bygger sina hypoteser på intressentteorin och riskhanteringsteorin som testas med ett nordiskt urval på 144 företag under tidsperioden 2002-2016. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att det finns ett negativt samband mellan Corporate Social Performance och finansiell risk. Det finns även ett negativt samband mellan företags sociala prestationer och finansiell risk. Detta är i linje med författarnas förväntningar. Däremot visar resultatet inga samband mellan företags miljömässiga och styrningsmässiga prestationer och deras finansiella risk. / Degree Project, The Business Administration and Economics Programme, School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University Authors: Gustav Johannesson and Martin Westport Supervisor: Andreas Stephan Co-assessor: Anna Stafsudd Title: The relationship between Corporate Social Performance and Financial Risk - A quantitative study that examines Nordic companies Background: Corporate Social Responsibility has been on the corporate agenda in recent years following increased global challenges and greater pressure from stakeholders. One can see more risks associated with corporate sustainability. This has led to a great interest globally and an upward trend in Socially Responsible Investing where the Nordic region is at the leading edge. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explain the relationship between Corporate Social Performance, both at a combined and an individual level, and financial risk. Method: Through the deductive research approach and the quantitative research strategy that is based on panel data, the authors test their hypotheses. The authors base their hypotheses on stakeholder theory and risk management theory and test them with a Nordic sample of 144 companies over the period 2002-2016. Conclusion: The study results show that there is a negative relationship between Corporate Social Performance and financial risk. There is also a negative relationship between social performance and financial risk. This is in line with the authors’ expectations. However, the results show no relationship between companies’ environmental and governance performance and their financial risk.