Background:           This thesis was written in context of the debate concerning gender equality and female representation on company boards. Gender quota legislation have been implemented by various countries on a national level, and a similar regulation was proposed by the European Commission. Legislation regarding board gender diversity have given rise to the discussion on the actual effects of female director’s on board effectiveness and firm financial performance.   Purpose:                  The aim of the study is to evaluate the relationship between gender diversity on boards and firm financial results. A sample of 100 Swedish companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm for the time period 2013-2016 is analysed.    Method:                    The study had a quantitative approach and used a panel data methodology. The data analysis was conducted using Ordinary Least Square Regression. Board gender diversity was measured by four variables including the diversity measurements Blau and Shannon indices, and Tobin’s Q was deployed as the market-based measurement of financial performance.   Conclusion: The results of the data analysis indicate that the presence of one or more women has a positive effect on financial performance, which contradicts previous findings. Also, it is found that higher gender diversity on boards influenced firm performance positively, which conformed to the majority of the previous findings.

As environmental responsibility (ER) gains momentum in the corporate and stakeholder world, it is imperative to understand the relationship between ER and financial performance. While there is prior research looking at this relationship, this study provides further insight into the specific effects of negative and positive ER. In addition, it looks over the years 2008-2011 having implications for companies about the effects of their ER even through financial hardships. This study uses a widely respected corporate social responsibility database, in which ER scores were separated from. In this study, 287 firms in the S&P 500 are examined through times-series regression analyses. The results reveal that positive ER had a negative relationship with financial performance indicators Tobin’s q and ROA. However, negative ER had such strong positive relationship with financial performance in both measures, that when looking at the effect of net ER, the relationship was tipped back to positive. This indicates that negative ER worsens a company’s financial position more than spending on positive ER initiatives.

Europa-Univ., Diss.--Frankfurt (Oder), 2005.

Bakgrund: Samhällsintresset bland konsumenter har ökat, vilket har bidragit till att både svenska och internationella företag måste agera och ta sitt sociala ansvar.  Hållbarhet berör alla företag runt om i världen och i takt med detta skapas en angelägenhet för företag att arbeta i linje med CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). Hur mycket ansvar ska företagen ta? Är målet att endast uppnå vinstmaximering eller ska CSR-perspektivet tas i beaktning? Syfte: Syftet i denna studie är att undersöka hur CSR-arbete påverkar svenska företags finansiella prestanda, med avseende på lönsamhet (CFP). Metod: Denna studie har använt en deduktiv kvantitativ metod, för att kunna besvara studiens frågeställning samt uppfylla syftet. Folksams rapport “Index för ansvarsfullt företagande” användes för att operationalisera CSR-variabeln och Tobin’s Q, ROE, ROA samt vinstmarginal användes för att operationalisera lönsamhet. För att undersöka vilket samband som råder genomfördes multipel regressionsanalys. Slutsats: Studiens resultat påvisar att det råder ett negativt samband mellan CSR och lönsamhetsmåttet ROE. Resterande lönsamhetsmått Tobin’s Q, ROA och vinstmarginal råder det inget samband, då det inte går att statistiskt påvisa. / Background: Consumer interest in the community has increased, which has helped both Swedish and international companies to act and take their social responsibility. Sustainability affects all companies around the world and, such as, creates an issue for companies to work with CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). How much responsibility should companies take? Is the goal to only maximize profits, or should the CSR-perspective be considered? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how CSR affects Swedish company’s financial performance, in terms of profitability (CFP). Methodology: This study has used a deductive quantitative method to be able to make a statistical generalization, to answer the question of the study as well as fulfillment the purpose. Folksam’s report “index för ansvarsfullt företagande” was chosen to operationalize the CSR-variable, and Tobin’s Q, ROE, ROA och profitmargin were used to operationalize profitability. To examine how CSR affects financial perfomance a multiple regression analysis was used. Conclusion: The studys results indicate that there is a negative correlation between CSR and ROE. Remaining profitability Tobin’s Q, ROA and profitmargin indicates that there is no significant correlation between CSR and profitability.

Au travers d'une étude empirique concernant 172 firmes industrielles de haute technologie domiciliées aux Etats Unis et imbriquées dans des réseaux de financement de l'innovation par capital risque nous montrons que le volume des dépenses de capital risque consenti par ces firmes impacte positivement et fortement leur Q de Tobin. De plus, notre étude éclaire la stratégie des firmes industrielles imbriquées dans les réseaux de financement de l'innovation. Il apparait que l'accès de celles-ci aux informations concernant les innovations commercialisables est fortement contraint par les rapports que ces firmes entretiennent avec les sociétés financières de capital risque. Ainsi, les firmes industrielles nouant des relations avec les sociétés financières occupant une place centrale dans le réseau tirent le meilleur profit de leur imbrication dans ce dernier. Ces firmes augmentent le volume de leur investissement de capital risque en direction des mêmes partenaires financiers et ceci impacte positivement leur Q de Tobin. Par conséquent, notre étude révèle ce qu'est un capital relationnel efficient dans les réseaux de financement de l'innovation / Through an empirical study involving 172 high-tech industrial firms domiciled in the U.S. and embedded in networks of innovation financing by venture capital we show that the amount of expenditures in venture capital made by these firms impacts strongly and positively their Tobin's Q. In addition, our study illuminates the strategy of industrial firms embedded in networks of innovation financing. It appears that access to information concerning marketable innovations is highly constrained by relationships these firms have with financial venture capital companies. Thus, industrial firms building relationships with financial firms occupying a central place in the network get the most out of their nesting in it. These firms increase the amount of venture capital investments towards the same financial partners and this positively impacts their Tobin's Q. Therefore, our study reveals what an efficient relational capital is in financing networks of innovation

Submitted by MFEE Mestrado Profissional em Finanças e Economia Empresarial da EPGE (mfee@fgv.br) on 2015-02-23T22:41:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Thomaz Freire - Versão Final.pdf: 1993009 bytes, checksum: f6dcfe8872f8ff8f6d9f063b1ebcb1fe (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-03-04T12:47:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Thomaz Freire - Versão Final.pdf: 1993009 bytes, checksum: f6dcfe8872f8ff8f6d9f063b1ebcb1fe (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-03-04T12:47:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Thomaz Freire - Versão Final.pdf: 1993009 bytes, checksum: f6dcfe8872f8ff8f6d9f063b1ebcb1fe (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-04T12:47:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Thomaz Freire - Versão Final.pdf: 1993009 bytes, checksum: f6dcfe8872f8ff8f6d9f063b1ebcb1fe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-06-01 / This thesis provides evidence on how negative correlated is diversification and enterprise value. This relation is observed for different measures o f diversification and holds even if we control the effect of other variables known to be value drivers. We couldn't finda very robust prove that the negative effect of diversification falls when it appears in more related segments. Despi te that, our results indicate that this hypothesis should be true. Another interesting result is that like the focused companies, the highly diversified ones have also a greater value then the others. We find evidence on a curvilinear relation between diversification and value. The minimum value is found with an intermediary levei of diversification. Finally, we show that the effect of diversification on the enterprise value begins to be positive ifwe consider only the years of2007 and 2008 in our sample. It suggests that the perception of value for diversitied companies grows in a significant way within periods o f tinancial crisis. / Nesta dissertação, mostramos evidências de que a diversificação e o valor das empresas aparentam ser negativamente correlacionados. Esta relação é observada para diferentes métricas de diversificação e se mantém mesmo quando controlamos o efeito de outras variáveis conhecidas por influenciar o valor das empresas. Nossa análise não conseguiu comprovar de forma robusta se o efeito negativo causado pela diversificação diminui na medida em que esta se dá em segmentos mais relacionados. No entanto há indícios de que esta hipótese seja de fato verdadeira Um resultado interessante observado foi que assim como empresas especializadas, as empresas altamente diversificadas também possuem uma alta percepção de valor. Mostramos que a relação entre valor e diversificação possui o perfil de uma curva côncava com um ponto de mínimo justamente no nível de diversificação intermediário. Por fim, observamos que o efeito da diversificação no valor das empresas nos anos de 2008 e 2007 passou a ser positivo. O que nos sugere que em tempos de crise econômica, a percepção do valor de empresas mais diversificadas aumenta de forma significativa.

Enterprise risk management (ERM) has emerged as a distinct model for managing a sophisticated portfolio of corporate risks. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of ERM on firm value for companies on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange. The sample comprised forty-five firms from different industries over the period 2000-2016. Most studies used five or ten-year periods, using data derived from only one industry. Tobin’s Q was used as a proxy for firm value. Multivariate regression analysis was employed to determine statistical relationships. The findings indicate a significant correlation between ERM and Tobin’s Q, indicating that ERM significantly contributes to firm value. These findings may be used to develop and shape ERM policy frameworks for firms and countries. The study provides new insights, from an African emerging market context on the value effects of ERM. Larger and international samples may improve future studies. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

The growing lack of confidence in public companies arises from the recent accounting scandals and corporate collapses, which have been attributed to the consequences of separation of ownership and control in modern firms. Agency theory predicts a conflict of interest between managers and shareholders that leads to agency costs and weak performance. This study used agency, stakeholders', and stewardship theories as the theoretical framework and multiple regression analysis to examine the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and organizational performance in nonfinancial firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The results of the study could help clarify understanding of corporate governance to managers, investors, and regulators who seek to understand how corporate governance impact firms' performance. In this study, corporate governance mechanisms included board independence, audit committee independence, board size, number of board meetings, and executive compensation. The data were collected from the firms' published accounts on their websites and on the archives of the Nigerian Stock Exchange for a period starting from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2015. The measures of financial performance in the study were return on assets, return on capital employed, and Tobin's Q. The study found a positive but not statistically significant relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and financial performance. This study has implications for positive social change by showing managers and other stakeholders of firms how a good corporate governance system assures investor confidence, employee loyalty and commitment, the reduction in conflict of interest and agency costs, and a strong financial performance.

This thesis investigates whether environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance impacts financial performance in the Swedish market. ESG performance is measured using the overall ESG score and the three individual pillar scores (environment, social, and governance). Financial performance is assessed using a market-based financial measure(Tobin's Q) and an accounting-based financial measure (Return on Assets, ROA). Further, we introduce a one-year lag between ESG performance and financial performance. We analyze a total of 858 firm-year observations from 266 firms listed on the NASDAQ Stockholm stock exchange over the five-year period from 2018 to 2022, with controls for firm size and leverage. Our findings reveal that none of the ESG performance measures have an impact on the financial performance measures (ROA or Tobin’s Q). This indicates a need for further research into the complexities of the ESG impact on firm financial performance within the Swedish context.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka huruvida det råder ett samband  mellan andelen kvinnor i styrelsen och bolagets finansiella prestation bland svenska och finska börsnoterade bolag.  Metod: För att besvara studiens syfte utförs en kvantitativ studie med paneldata under åren 2017-2021. Urvalet består av 102 bolag jämnt fördelat mellan Sverige och Finland. Dessa bolag hämtas från Nasdaq OMX Stockholm och Helsinki. Studien tillämpar hypoteser som besvaras med hjälp av multipla regressionsanalyser.  Teoretiskt perspektiv: Uppsatsens teoretiska referensram består av Agency Theory, Upper Echelon Theory och Critical Mass som tillsammans kompletterar varandra och skapar förståelse för könsdiversifierade styrelsegrupper.  Slutsats: Studien visar tendenser att styrelser med större andel kvinnor bidrar till bolagens finansiella prestation. Finland visar signifikanta positiva svar i båda regressionerna medan Sverige visar ett signifikant negativt resultat i regressionen utan Critical Mass. Dock visar regressionen med Critical Mass för Sverige ett positivt signifikant resultat. / Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate whether there is a connection between women on the board and the company's financial performance among Swedish and Finnish listed companies. Methodology: To answer the purpose of the study, a quantitative study is performed with panel data during the years 2017-2021. The sample consists of 102 companies evenly distributed between Sweden and Finland. These companies are retrieved from Nasdaq OMX Stockholm and Helsinki. The study's hypotheses are answered using multiple regression analyzes. Theoretical Framework: The thesis' theoretical frame of reference consists of Agency Theory, Upper Echelon Theory and Critical Mass, which together complement each other contributes to an understanding of gender-diversified board groups. Conclusions: The study shows that boards with a larger proportion of women contribute to the companies' financial performance. Finland shows significant positive responses in both regressions while Sweden shows a significant negative result in the regression that does not include Critical Mass. However, the regression that includes Critical Mass for Sweden shows a positive significant result.