Due to widespread bank scandals and failures around the world, there has been renewed interest in the effect of corporate governance on bank performance. The majority of research concerning corporate governance and its effect on bank performance has been undertaken in developed countries and markets, particularly the USA and European Union but relatively little evidence is provided in Sub Saharan Africa, specifically, Ghana. This study investigates the effects of corporate governance on financial performance of Ghanaian universal banking companies during the period 2006- 2014. This study primarily employs relevant governance theories to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and bank performance. Multiple regression panel data analysis and other appropriate methods are the main tools of analysis in this study. The empirical investigation revealed a mixed set of results. The findings showed that board size, board composition, bank size and foreign ownership are positively but insignificantly related to profitability in terms of return on asset and return on equity, while board committees have a positive and statistically significant impact on financial performance which is consistent with the monitoring hypothesis of agency theory which argues that board committees are an important mechanism of corporate governance in Ghana which impact on bank performance. This study contributes to the increasing number of research studies on the link between bank performance and corporate governance. The lacked of clarity, mixed and permanent relationships provided, show that the association the association between bank performance and different corporate governance mechanisms is complex and dynamic optimal governance arrangements may differ from bank to bank in relation to governance characteristics.

O objetivo deste trabalho é verificar a existência de uma ligação empírica entre a dimensão ambiental e a dimensão econômica da firma. A revisão da literatura apontou para lacunas nos modelos de relação existentes, com seus resultados não sendo considerados consistentes. Assim, este trabalho busca identificar a relação entre o Desempenho Ambiental – medido pelo Desempenho Ambiental Operacional, pelo Sistema de Gestão Ambiental e pela Regulamentação Ambiental – com a Inovatividade e do Desempenho Financeiro da firma. Uma pesquisa com o setor de terceira geração petroquímica, a industria de transformação de plásticos, foi realizada em Agosto de 2008. Testes estatísticos foram realizados para identificar padrões de resposta, testar as hipóteses do modelo proposto. Ao final, este modelo comprova empiricamente que por meio da dimensão ambientais e da inovatividade se pode explicar aproximadamente 34% da variância do desempenho financeiro das empresas em uma análise de regressão linear. Pontos relevantes foram encontrados na descrição ambiental do setor pesquisado, fornecendo informações aos gerentes para a tomada de decisões ambientais. / The main purpose of this study is to verify a connection between environment dimension and economic dimension in firms. The review of literature show gaps in existing models and their results did not be consistent. Therefore, this study look for a relationship among the Environment Performance – measured by Operational Environment Performance, by Environment Management Systems and by Environmental Regulations – and the Innovativeness and Financial Performance. A research in third generation petrochemical chain sector, the industry of plastics transformation, was done in August 2008. Statistical analysis was performed to identify patters and to verify hypothesis in proposed model. In the final, this model prove empirically 34% of financial performance variation by environment performance and innovativeness in a linear regression. Relevant knowledge was found in sector environment description, being important to managers taking decisions.

Em sua essência, o capital de giro corresponde aos recursos aplicados no ativo circulante das empresas, o qual é formado basicamente pelos estoques, contas a receber e disponibilidades. Em uma abordagem mais ampla, pode-se contemplar também os passivos circulantes, de forma que a administração do capital de giro estará sempre relacionada diretamente com os problemas de gestão dos ativos e passivos circulantes e com as inter-relações entre esses grupos patrimoniais. Um dos grandes desafios da gestão financeira das empresas está exatamente na projeção e correto dimensionamento do capital de giro necessário para viabilizar suas operações, assim como o estabelecimento das fontes equilibradas em termos de prazo e custos para o seu financiamento. Os recursos aplicados nos ativos cíclicos encontram-se em constante movimentação ao longo dos processos operacionais da firma, e a sua administração torna-se ainda mais complexa para as empresas do ramo industrial, em função do ciclo de produção e do ciclo financeiro, que normalmente demandam ainda mais recursos e seus efeitos são mais rápidos, o que exige constante atenção e monitoramento por parte dos gestores financeiros. Dada a relevância do tema, este trabalho busca quantificar de forma objetiva (através da aplicação de um modelo de avaliação de empresas), o quanto a gestão eficiente do capital de giro de uma empresa pode efetivamente trazer mais valor ao negócio e, por conseqüência, ao acionista. A proposta deste estudo, portanto, consiste em avaliar o comportamento do capital de giro de uma empresa industrial fabricante de utilidades domésticas ao longo de um determinado período e aplicar os números das demonstrações financeiras da empresa a um modelo de gestão deste capital, visando demonstrar que uma utilização mais adequada dos ativos e passivos operacionais é capaz de trazer melhor desempenho financeiro para a firma ao longo do tempo, gerando maior valor para a empresa e acionistas. / In essence, the working capital corresponds to the funds invested in assets of companies, which is basically formed by inventories, accounts receivable and cash. In a broader approach, one can also consider the liabilities, so that management of working capital is always directly related to the problems of management of current assets and current liabilities and the interrelationships between these asset groups. One of the great challenges of corporate financial management is exactly the projection and correct sizing of the working capital needed to support its operations, as well as the establishment of balanced sources in terms of time and costs to financing. The funds invested in cyclical assets are in constant movement along the operational processes of the firm and its management becomes even more complex for companies in the industrial sector, in terms of the production cycle and the financial cycle, which normally require further resources and their effects are faster, requiring constant attention and monitoring by financial managers. Given the relevance of the topic, this work seeks to quantify objectively (by applying a valuation model of firms), as the efficient management of working capital of a company can effectively bring more value to the business and, consequently, shareholder. The purpose of this study therefore is to assess the behavior of the working capital of a manufacturer of industrial enterprise house wares over a specified period and submit the numbers of the financial statements of the company to a management model of this capital, seeking to establish that better use of operating assets and liabilities is able to bring better financial performance for the firm over time, generating greater value to the firm and its shareholders.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Young Soo Shim, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Accountancy, presented on 03/10/2017, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: INVESTIGATING THE DETERMINANTS AND ENDOGENOUS INFLUENES OF ENVIRONMENTAL REPUTATION MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Royce D. Burnett This study investigates (1) the determinants of a firm’s environmental reputation and (2) the impact of this reputation on employee productivity and financial performance. I extend existing work in this area by focusing on both the endogenous and exogenous benefits of the reputation. The endogenous benefits refer to positive impacts of the reputation on employee morale and employee productivity, which have generally been ignored by prior research. In developing my research hypotheses, I draw on the following five well-established theories: the costly signaling theory, the resource-based view of firm, the Porter’s eco-efficiency perspective, the social identity theory, and the third-person effect theory. A sample of 271 companies was drawn from the 500 largest U.S. public companies listed in the 2010 Newsweek’s green report. The corporate environmental data for this study were gathered from this report. Meanwhile, the corporate financial data were obtained from the Mergent database. Via multiple regression analyses, I find (1) environmental reputation is significantly and positively predicted by environmental management when firm environmental reputation is high; (2) environmental reputation is significantly and positively related to environmental performance when firm environmental reputation is low; (3) across the board, environmental reputation does not predict employee productivity; (4) environmental reputation is a significant and positive predictor of financial performance only for firms with high environmental reputation; and (5) employee productivity positively and significantly predicts financial performance only for firms with a high environmental reputation.

In the last decades there was an evolving theoretical and practical discussion about the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR), partially provoked due to the occurrence of incidents which were caused by negligently companies. Furthermore, there is a disagreement of financial outcomes of the implementation of CSR strategies in prior research. The thesis contributes to the limited established empirical research on the impact of social incidents on company’s CSR transparency and social performance of companies listed in European Union Member States. Furthermore, the thesis examines the impact of social performance on financial performance based on 308 observations in a time range of 2012 to 2014. The author finds no significant relationship between incidents and an improved CSR transparency or social performance for the overall sample at any conventional level. However, the author finds a positive significant relationship between social performance and financial performance, measured by the logarithm of Tobin’s q, which indicates that social performance has a positive impact on financial performance.

O objetivo deste trabalho é verificar a existência de uma ligação empírica entre a dimensão ambiental e a dimensão econômica da firma. A revisão da literatura apontou para lacunas nos modelos de relação existentes, com seus resultados não sendo considerados consistentes. Assim, este trabalho busca identificar a relação entre o Desempenho Ambiental – medido pelo Desempenho Ambiental Operacional, pelo Sistema de Gestão Ambiental e pela Regulamentação Ambiental – com a Inovatividade e do Desempenho Financeiro da firma. Uma pesquisa com o setor de terceira geração petroquímica, a industria de transformação de plásticos, foi realizada em Agosto de 2008. Testes estatísticos foram realizados para identificar padrões de resposta, testar as hipóteses do modelo proposto. Ao final, este modelo comprova empiricamente que por meio da dimensão ambientais e da inovatividade se pode explicar aproximadamente 34% da variância do desempenho financeiro das empresas em uma análise de regressão linear. Pontos relevantes foram encontrados na descrição ambiental do setor pesquisado, fornecendo informações aos gerentes para a tomada de decisões ambientais. / The main purpose of this study is to verify a connection between environment dimension and economic dimension in firms. The review of literature show gaps in existing models and their results did not be consistent. Therefore, this study look for a relationship among the Environment Performance – measured by Operational Environment Performance, by Environment Management Systems and by Environmental Regulations – and the Innovativeness and Financial Performance. A research in third generation petrochemical chain sector, the industry of plastics transformation, was done in August 2008. Statistical analysis was performed to identify patters and to verify hypothesis in proposed model. In the final, this model prove empirically 34% of financial performance variation by environment performance and innovativeness in a linear regression. Relevant knowledge was found in sector environment description, being important to managers taking decisions.

abstract: Chinese commercial banks have experienced a period of fast and stable development since 2007. The adoption of a comprehensive enterprise risk management (ERM) system based on the Basel Accords was a significant event for the banking supervisory authority and the commercial banks during this period. This study investigates the impact of ERM adoption on the financial performance of the commercial banks as well as the underlying mechanisms using longitudinal data of 96 commercial banks from 2007 to 2016. Results from quantitative analyses suggest the following findings. First, ERM adoption had a positive impact on commercial banks’ financial performance after controlling for the negative impacts of factors such as macro economic conditions and fiscal and monetary policies. Second, although this positive impact was partially attributed to increased risk appetite after the adoption of ERM, results show that ERM adoption also increased risk-adjusted financial performance. Lastly, ERM adoption improved commercial banks’ competence in risk management, as indicated by their sensitivity of financial returns to risk exposures. The above findings also received support from interviews and surveys of senior executives of commercial banks and officials of the banking supervisory authorities. This study contributes to the understanding of how the adoption of ERM influences the financial performance of Chinese commercial banks, and has important practical implications. Based on the empirical findings, I recommend all commercial banks in China to adopt and implement ERM so that they can better cope with the challenges presented by macroeconomic uncertainty, marketization, and internationalization. In the process, it is critical for them to understand the mechanisms through which ERM influences their performance. Meanwhile, they shall be aware of the operational costs associated with the initial adoption of ERM, learn from the experiences of those that have already adopted ERM, and have a long-term orientation about performance effect of ERM adoption. Supervisory authorities can also play a key role in guiding commercial banks to be more effective and efficient in the adoption of ERM. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2018

Titel: Corporate Social Irresponsibility och Finansiell Prestation - En kvantitativ studie om relationen mellan Corporate Social Irresponsibility och finansiell prestation   Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi   Författare: Malin Månsberg   Handledare: Catherine Lions   Datum: 2018 – maj   Syfte: Många forskare har undersökt hur företags sociala ansvarstagande (CSR) påverkar den finansiella prestationen (FP). Denna studie riktar istället fokus på den negativa motsvarigheten, Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSI), som länge varit i skuggan av de positiva effekter som CSR påstås ha på företagens lönsamhet. Studiens syfte är att undersöka om socialt oansvariga handlingar påverkar företags finansiella prestation, ur både intressentteorin och den neoklassiska teorins perspektiv. Frågeställningar som tas upp är: Är det viktigt att undvika kontroverser? Får CSI ekonomiska konsekvenser? I så fall, vilka?   Metod: Som följd av en positivistisk tradition har en hypotetisk-deduktiv ansats med kvantitativ metod baserat på sekundärdata och en tvärsnittsdesign använts för att undersöka sambandet mellan CSI och FP. Hypotesen prövas genom multivariatanalys och förväntas kunna besvara frågan om det existerar ett samband och om så, vilken riktning sambandet har.   Resultat & slutsats: Resultatet bekräftar att CSI leder till en högre finansiell prestation. Således gynnas företag som är inblandade i kontroverser på ett ekonomiskt plan. Resultatet indikerar att den neoklassiska teorin är mer användbar för att förklara relationen än vad intressentteorin är. Av det kan slutsatsen dras att omgivningen inte är benägen att ”straffa” företag som beter sig illa, eftersom resultatet indikerar att CSI leder till en högre finansiell prestation.   Examensarbetets bidrag: Resultatet utmanar den rådande trenden att undersöka CSI utifrån intressentteorin. Den positiva korrelationen bekräftar även att CSI är ett eget fenomen vars effekter inte är analoga med CSR, vilket vidgar den tidigare forskningen om socialt ansvar.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Studien begränsning finns främst i att CSI ofta hålls dolt. Effekten av CSI som inte uppmärksammas i media kan därför ha en annan relation till FP.   Nyckelord: Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSI), Financial Performance (FP), Intressentteorin, Neoklassisk teori

ESG ratings have become a recognised sustainability performance measurement throughout the world. The Nordic countries Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway are ranked top four in the world when it comes to ESG ratings. However, do investors in these countries recognise the sustainability performance of the firms in their investment decisions? The purpose of this study was to see if Nordic investors value ESG factors, by testing for a relationship between high ESG ratings and corporate financial performance. To be able to fulfil this purpose, several multiple regression models were conducted on data for a time-span between 2007-2017 on 108 firm observations and 995 firm-year observations. Corporate financial performance was represented by the dependent variables Tobin’s Q and Return on Assets as measurements for market and accounting performance respectively. The results showed a significant positive relationship between several ESG ratings and market performance, while no significantly positive, nor negative, relationship could be found between accounting performance and ESG ratings. Based on the results from the tests, conclusions were drawn that Nordic investors do value ESG ratings when choosing their investments, indicating that companies can benefit from having good sustainability policies. This thesis challenges the classical view of profit maximisation being the ultimate interest of shareholders, as it shows a positive relationship between ESG and financial market performance. The results indicate that investors take more factors into consideration in their investment decisions than only financial accounting returns. Therefore, conclusions have been made that the Stakeholder theory better explains value creation than the Shareholder theory does. This because the Stakeholder theory emphasises that firms maximise value by taking all stakeholders affected by their business cycle into account, not only the shareholders. Furthermore, based on the results, this thesis concludes that Nordic investors’ interests are in line with the society’s interests as they do value ESG ratings when investing. No previous study on the topic has been conducted on the Nordic market, thus this study fills a research gap on the relationship between financial performance and corporate sustainability.

A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo identificar a relação entre a riqueza criada e o desempenho econômico-financeiro das cooperativas agropecuárias no Brasil. As cooperativas são organizações econômicas intermediárias, que prestam serviços aos associados, satisfazendo suas necessidades econômicas particulares. O fato é que além das sobras, que pode ser uma estratégia das cooperativas a partir dos interesses dos associados, as cooperativas também prestam serviços, como assistência técnica, orientação, compra de insumos/produtos, comercialização, agregando valor e gerando riqueza aos associados. Assim, avaliar os resultados de uma cooperativa e o seu desempenho da mesma forma com que uma empresa, cuja finalidade é a maximização do lucro, é avaliada pode não ser o mais adequado. Identificou-se, então, a necessidade de buscar outra maneira que possa contribuir na mensuração dos resultados das cooperativas. A riqueza criada é uma maneira de avaliar o desempenho econômico e social de uma organização e, é evidenciada na Demonstração do Valor Adicionado. Para tanto, identificou-se a relação entre o valor adicionado produzido pela cooperativa e os índices econômico-financeiros relevantes na avaliação de desempenho das cooperativas agropecuárias, por meio do método estatístico de regressão de dados em painel, considerando 34 cooperativas agropecuárias brasileiras durante 5 anos consecutivos e, realizou-se um estudo de caso em uma cooperativa agropecuária da amostra a fim de identificar qual é o valor agregado produzido pela cooperativa e qual a sua estratégia de distribuição do valor adicionado ao produtor rural associado. Os resultados evidenciam que há variáveis de tamanho, rentabilidade e network inseridas no modelo que contribuem para explicar a riqueza gerada pelas cooperativas da amostra. A variável venda líquida, utilizada como proxy para tamanho, a margem de vendas, utilizada como proxy para rentabilidade e o fato da cooperativa participar de uma cooperativa central, proxy para network são significativas e estão relacionadas positivamente com a riqueza criada. / This research aims to identify the relationship between the value added and the financial performance of agricultural cooperatives in Brazil. Cooperatives are economic intermediary organizations that provide services to members, satisfying their particular economic needs. The fact is that besides the leftovers, which can be a strategy of cooperatives based on the interests of the members, the cooperatives also provide services such as technical assistance, guidance, purchase of inputs/products, marketing, adding value and generating value to members. Thus, evaluating the results of a cooperative and its performance in the same way that a company whose purpose is profit maximization, is valued may not be the most appropriate. Then, we identified the need to find another way to contribute to the measurement of the results of cooperatives. The value added is a way to evaluate the economic and social performance of an organization and is shown in the Value Added Statement. For this, we identified the relationship between the added value produced by the cooperative and the relevant economic and financial indicators in assessing the performance of agricultural cooperatives, using the statistical method of panel data regression considering 34 Brazilian agricultural cooperatives during five years consecutive and performed a case study in an agricultural cooperative of the sample in order to identify what is the value added produced by the cooperative and what is its distribution strategy of value added to the associated farmers. The results show that there are varying size, profitability and inserted into the network model that can contribute to the value added by the cooperatives of the sample. Net sales variable, used as a proxy for size, sales margin, used as a proxy for profitability and the fact that the cooperative part of a central cooperative proxy for network are significant and are positively related to value added.