This study investigates the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP)and corporate financial performance (CFP) within the context of a particular CSPelement: environmental investment. Two models of the determinants of companies’environmental investment are estimated in order to capture the difference betweenfirms’ actual and expected level of environmental investment. The regressionresiduals are used as our measure of corporate social performance. Both market-basedand accounting-based measures of financial performance are applied to representcorporate financial performance. With the analysis of a sample encompassing 223Chinese heavy-polluting companies, we have found that it is more likely to observe asignificantly positive relationship between firms’ environmental endeavors and theiraccounting-based financial performance among firms that are more active to disclosecorporate information. Besides, building on our empirical findings that corporatesocial performance is positively correlated with accounting-based financialperformance but has no correlation with market-based financial performance, wesuggest a priority for managers from Chinese heavy-polluting industries when theyfulfill social demands of various stakeholders.

Στην μελέτη αυτή εξετάζονται μία σειρά από συναφή ζητήματα τα οποία συνδέονται άρρηκτα μεταξύ τους: Α) Πως μετριούνται οι κοινωνικές επιδόσεις των εταιρειών; Β) Ποιες συνέπειες μπορεί να έχει μία καλή κοινωνικώς απόδοση; Γ) Ποιες σχέσεις τεκμηριώνονται εμπειρικώς ανάμεσα στην απόδοση σε κοινωνικούς όρους και στην απόδοση σε οικονομικούς όρους. Δ) Είναι εφικτό ένα κοινωνικό συμβόλαιο μεταξύ επιχειρήσεων και κοινωνίας; Ποια μορφή μπορεί αυτό να πάρει; Ε) Τι ρόλους καλείται να παίξει και πως η Κοινωνική Λογιστική των Εταιρειών; Ποια επιμέρους είδη Κοινωνικής Λογιστικής έχουν αναπτυχθεί και ποιες σκοπιμότητες-χρησιμότητες υπηρετούν; ΣΤ) Τι εννοείτε ως ηθική συμπεριφορά στον Τραπεζικό τομέα; Ζ) Case-Study: «Η Alpha Bank» / In this study i examine, throw desk research, a series of related issuew which are closely connected: A) How the Corporate Social Performance is measured? B) What consequences can have a socially good performance? C) Which relationships are empirically documented between corporate social performance and corporate financial performance? D) Is it feasible a social Contract between corporation and society? E) Which roles has been called the Micro-Social Accounting to play? What kinds of Micro-Social Accounting have been developed and which scope does each serve? F) What do we mean as ethical behaviour in banking sector? G) Case-Study: “Alpha Credit Bank”

While several studies examine the managerial structure of privately owned agribusinesses, few studies take a comprehensive look at publically traded agribusiness firms. Our study examines the historical position of agribusiness compared to the market, and then studies the impact of the global economic and financial crisis. The objective of this study is to pinpoint effects of corporate financial management strategies, commonly researched in financial literature on agribusiness firms’ performance. Through utilizing a quantile regression we find that agribusiness position in times of financial crisis is directly related to firm performance. As we examine internal factors, several interesting impacts of managerial factors emerge. These results are useful for agribusiness firms seeking to improve their performance, as we show which management strategies related to capital structure, and firm size are associated with an increase in profitability based on the performance record of the agribusiness. Additionally, we examine how these factors impact internal financial distress of the agribusiness firms. Our conclusions clarify the impact of traditional financial management techniques on agribusiness firms and lead to questions for further research. Ultimately, the presented research provides a foundational knowledge of corporate agribusinesses financial performance.

Critics argue that there has been a trend among Microfinance Institutions (MFI) to focus on profitability in order to stay financially sustainable. This made some institutions neglect the social mission of microfinancing. In this paper I intend to examine if empirical evidence supports this so called mission drift hypothesis as well as other claims in this context. Using the global panel data set of the MIX (Microfinance Information Exchange), which gathers from 1995 to 2010 and contains up to 1400 institutions with a high variety of organizational forms, I was able to identify a world-wide mission drift effect in their social goal of reaching out the poorest part of the population. Furthermore, I find that, on average, the outreach of an MFI has a significant negative influence on its short and long term financial performance. Despite that, I eventually proved that the probability that an MFI worsens its social performance substantially increases if its profitability has decreased in the previous years. / Das Konzept der Mikrofinanzierung wurde, insbesondere im Zuge der Mikrofinanzkrisen in Asien und Südamerika zunehmend kritisiert. Dabei stand vor allem die Kommerzialisierung der Branche im Zentrum der Kritik. In dieser Studie soll daher unter anderem die sogenannte „Mission Drifts”-These also dass das eigentliche Ziel des Mikrokreditwesen aus den Augen verloren wurde, empirisch überprüft werden. Mit Hilfe des Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Datensatzes, wurden Paneldaten von bis zu 1.400 Kreditinstitutionen, mit unterschiedlichen (Rechts-)formen, aus den Jahren 1995 bis 2010 ausgewertet. Die Regressionsanalyse hat gezeigt, dass Profitablität in der Tat einen negativen Einfluss auf das Ziel hat, möglichst arme Menschen zu erreichen. Auch der Trade-off zwischen der Reichweite von Mikrokrediten und kurzfristiger sowie langfristiger Profitabilität konnte nachgewiesen werden. Die Daten zeigten aber auch, dass Mikrofinanzinstitution dazu tendieren soziale Ziele zu vernachlässigen, wenn es im vergangenen Geschäftsjahr finanziell bergab ging.

This thesis draws on techniques from Management Science and Artificial Intelligence to explore organisational aspects of asset management in electricity transmission enterprises. In this research, factors that influence policies and practices of asset management within electricity transmission enterprises have been identified, in order to examine their interaction and how they impact the policies, practices and performance of transmission businesses. It has been found that, while there is extensive literature on the economics of transmission regulation and pricing, there is little published research linking the engineering and financial aspects of transmission asset management at a management policy level. To remedy this situation, this investigation has drawn on a wide range of literature, together with expert interviews and personal knowledge of the electricity industry, to construct a conceptual model of asset management with broad applicability across transmission enterprises in different parts of the world. A concise representation of the model has been formulated using a Causal Loop Diagram (CLD). To investigate the interactions between factors of influence it is necessary to implement the model and validate it against known outcomes. However, because of the nature of the data (a mix of numeric and non-numeric data, imprecise, incomplete and often approximate) and complexity and imprecision in the definition of relationships between elements, this problem is intractable to modelling by traditional engineering methodologies. The solution has been to utilise techniques from other disciplines. Two implementations have been explored: a multi-level fuzzy rule-based model and a system dynamics model; they offer different but complementary insights into transmission asset management. Each model shows potential for use by transmission businesses for strategic-level decision support. The research demonstrates the key impact of routine maintenance effectiveness on the condition and performance of transmission system assets. However, performance of the transmission network, is not only related to equipment performance, but is a function of system design and operational aspects, such as loading and load factor. Type and supportiveness of regulation, together with the objectives and corporate culture of the transmission organisation also play roles in promoting various strategies for asset management. The cumulative effect of all these drivers is to produce differences in asset management policies and practices, discernable between individual companies and at a regional level, where similar conditions have applied historically and today.

The object of this empirical study is to clarify, consolidate and build on various conflicting research findings on the relationships among ownership structure, corporate governance, and corporate performance using data from 149 Singapore public listed companies. This study contributes to our understanding of these relationships by examining the total continuum of ultimate ownership structures measured by control rights within a single economic and legal research context and various performance measures. Adapting the approach advocated by Agrawal and Knoeber (1996), the seven governance control variables used in this study are self monitoring by the inside manager-shareholder, monitorings by outside blockholders, institutional investors, government shareholders, independent directors, market for CEO, and bank and financial institutions. This study firstly shows an interesting pattern of interrelationships among the corporate governance mechanisms which evolve so as to minimise systemic agency costs if the corporation has in place an optimal mix of the governance control mechanisms. The more general pattern of the interrelationship is that of substitution while the two special cases of complementary interdependence exist.

p. 1 - 186 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-02-19T20:19:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 11.pdf: 692987 bytes, checksum: a194b083745765de86217d2dca9fe816 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Fatima Cleômenis Botelho Maria (botelho@ufba.br) on 2013-02-20T13:49:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 11.pdf: 692987 bytes, checksum: a194b083745765de86217d2dca9fe816 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-02-20T13:49:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 11.pdf: 692987 bytes, checksum: a194b083745765de86217d2dca9fe816 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / A presente dissertação tem por objetivo investigar a associação existente entre a adoção de práticas de sustentabilidade e o preço das ações de companhias brasileiras listadas no Índice de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (ISE). Demonstrou-se que, para se tornarem sustentáveis as companhias adotam duas práticas fundamentais: Governança Corporativa e Responsabilidade Socioambiental. Argumenta-se que, sob uma perspectiva estritamente financeira, a adoção de práticas de sustentabilidade empresarial pode estar relacionada ao aumento de gastos, porém estas também podem trazer benefícios, como a redução de eventuais passivos ambientais. Para verificar a existência de relação positiva entre um maior nível de sustentabilidade empresarial e a valoração do preço das ações de companhias brasileiras, aplicaram-se testes econométricos a séries históricas dos preços de ações que compõem o ISE, utilizando-se como referência comparativa o Ibovespa e o IBrX. Foram realizados testes de estudo de eventos e, de forma complementar, análises da relação entre retorno e risco, da evolução do ISE sobre os índices de mercado e de regressões. Os resultados dos testes demonstraram que: a) existe realmente um deslocamento positivo do ISE quando comparado aos demais índices de mercado; b) os retornos anormais positivos não são significativos; c) não foi identificada correlação negativa entre desempenho financeiro e adoção de práticas de sustentabilidade, indicando que não há perda de valor; d) o ISE é muito concentrado e influenciado por instituições financeiras e, ao se retirar as ações dos bancos da sua composição, os resultados obtidos não são superiores aos de mercado; e) as análises de regressão demonstraram que o “evento” de participação no ISE não foi percebido pelo mercado como um diferencial para as companhias. Com base nos resultados obtidos, não foi possível rejeitar a hipótese de que não existe relação positiva entre um maior nível de sustentabilidade empresarial e a valoração do preço das ações de companhias brasileiras. / Salvador

p. 1-143 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-03-06T17:38:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 3333.pdf: 1306063 bytes, checksum: ad5584da610c801776fb5a8e776ac414 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Tatiana Lima(tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2013-03-13T20:18:48Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 3333.pdf: 1306063 bytes, checksum: ad5584da610c801776fb5a8e776ac414 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-03-13T20:18:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3333.pdf: 1306063 bytes, checksum: ad5584da610c801776fb5a8e776ac414 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo avaliar o nível de Orientação Empreendedora das médias e grandes empresas com alta performance financeira, atuando no Estado da Bahia, no período de 1997 a 2001. A metodologia utilizada para avaliar a orientação empreendedora envolveu análises teóricas e empíricas, chegando-se a conclusão que os modelos analisados apresentavam muitas limitações. Foi construído, então, um novo modelo de análise que abordasse a natureza multifacetada desse fenômeno e atendesse às especificidades da pesquisa. O modelo utilizado define a Orientação Empreendedora sob à luz de três dimensões sínteses: inovação, proatividade e propensão a riscos. Essas dimensões foram desdobradas em indicadores compostos, que compõem as funções inovação f(INO), proatividade f(PRO) e propensão a riscos f(PRS), que, com seus pesos específicos, definem a função geral da Orientação Empreendedora e seus diversos níveis. A partir deste modelo, tendo como elementos de referência dados quantitativos de pesquisas nacionais sobre o tema, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa do tipo survey, com base em técnicas de pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa, envolvendo uma amostra probabilística de 16 empresas, selecionadas das 94 que obtiveram performance financeira diferenciadas no período. Este estudo concluiu que das empresas pesquisadas, ocorre uma tendência para inovação média-baixa, proatividade média-alta e propensão a riscos média-baixa. Do ponto de vista da Orientação Empreendedora, nenhuma empresa foi considerada com OE alta, 25,0% delas foram consideradas com OE média- alta, 68,7% obtiveram OE média- baixa e apenas 6,3% atingiu uma OE baixa. Nenhuma empresa foi considerada sem OE. Foi constatado, portanto, que empresas de alta performance financeira apresentam diferentes níveis de OE, na medida em que cada uma das dimensões apresente importância variada, esses níveis de OE devem-se às variações de combinações entre essas dimensões e que estas últimas oscilam por influência de muitas outras variáveis. Além do resultado apresentado, foram sinalizadas proposições de ações e uma agenda de pesquisa futura para o tema de Empreendedorismo Corporativo e Orientação Empreendedora no Estado da Bahia. / Salvador

Submitted by Ruben Kuijper (rubenkuijper@live.nl) on 2016-10-31T12:22:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 fgv_thesis_334875.pdf: 825817 bytes, checksum: b3a16060bbfc6e618b215abd550a5ed2 (MD5) / Rejected by Joana Martorini (joana.martorini@fgv.br), reason: Ruben, seu trabalho foi rejeitado devido a correção porém "GETULIO" não tem acento. Favor retirar e postar o seu trabalho novamente. on 2016-11-07T18:29:22Z (GMT) / Submitted by Ruben Kuijper (rubenkuijper@live.nl) on 2017-01-19T07:17:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 fgv_thesis_334875.pdf: 825817 bytes, checksum: b3a16060bbfc6e618b215abd550a5ed2 (MD5) / Rejected by Josineide da Silva Santos Locatelli (josineide.locatelli@fgv.br), reason: Dear Ruben, It’s necessary to do some corrections in your thesis, see: - Full name: RUBEN DANIËL KUIJPER; - At the page 2, must to be just your advisor name: PEDRO LUIZ VALLS PEREIRA; - Withdraw the little line above the professors name at the page 4; - It’s missing the third professor at the page 4: Xanthi Gkougkousi; Please, do the correction and post again. on 2017-01-19T10:50:32Z (GMT) / Submitted by Ruben Kuijper (rubenkuijper@live.nl) on 2017-01-19T11:13:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 fgv_thesis_334875.pdf: 825994 bytes, checksum: 4014aed39b5f71d04db719c1d6c64394 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Josineide da Silva Santos Locatelli (josineide.locatelli@fgv.br) on 2017-01-19T11:23:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 fgv_thesis_334875.pdf: 825994 bytes, checksum: 4014aed39b5f71d04db719c1d6c64394 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-19T12:21:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 fgv_thesis_334875.pdf: 825994 bytes, checksum: 4014aed39b5f71d04db719c1d6c64394 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-30 / This is a study on the share price effect of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) investment announcements. The study examines the short- and the long-term impact of SWF investments on publicly traded companies, performed with an event study methodology to estimate the abnormal returns of the stock prices of the acquired firms around the dates when the announcements become publicly available. The announcements included in this study were made between 1990 and 2015. First, the results are compared to the level of transparency, as measured by the LTMI Index, to examine how the changes in stock prices react to the event. Then, the study presents six extensions with portfolios for IFSWF membership, SWF funding source, open market transactions and privately negotiated deals, domestic and foreign targets, deal value and acquired target stake. The results of the study provide empirical evidence of short-term significant cumulative abnormal returns and that SWFs with high transparency tend to generate more and positive cumulative abnormal returns, while SWFs with low transparency generate negative cumulative abnormal returns. Moreover, the longterm results suggest negative cumulative abnormal returns, though mostly insignificant, and show a tendency to mean revert. / Esta dissertação centra-se na actividade de gestão de lucros por empresas anteriores aquisições. Esta pesquisa faz a distinção entre gerenciamento de resultados de exercício e actividades manipulação real. Usando dados dos Estados Unidos, esta dissertação compara os períodos antes e depois da implementação da Lei Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). Antes da implementação do SOX, adquirentes baseados em estoque parecia ter acumulações discricionárias mais elevadas do que os adquirentes baseadas em dinheiro, enquanto esta diferença não persistiu após a implementação deste ato. As diferenças são menos claras para a gestão de lucro real. Eu não encontrar suporte para uma relação robusta entre gerenciamento de resultados e desempenho do mercado de ações.

Syftet med denna studie är att analysera om, och i så fall hur, svenska börsnoterade företag använder impression management (IM) i VD-ord samt om företagens karaktäristika har ett samband med IM. Denna studie fokuserar på sambandet mellan företagets finansiella resultat och användandet av IM i form av läsbarhetspåverkan. Det vill säga, huruvida företag med förbättrade eller försämrade finansiella prestationer rapporterar positiva respektive negativa nyheter i VD-ord på olika sätt. VD-ord är ett populärt avsnitt i årsredovisningen eftersom företagets ledning där får möjlighet att översätta komplexa förhållanden, annars uttryckta i siffror och redovisningsposter, till en lättförståelig, användarvänlig och informativ text. VDord blir till skillnad från årsredovisningens övriga innehåll inte granskat av revisorer och kan därför utsättas för IM i syfte att influera eller förvirra intressenters perception om ett företag.IM i VD-ord utgör studiens beroende variabel och mäts med hjälp av ett läsbarhetstest utvecklat av Rudolf Flesch. Företagens karaktäristika är studiens oberoende variabler och uttrycks genom finansiell prestation och förändringen i finansiell prestation över tid. Företagsstorlek och företagsålder är studiens kontrollvariabler. Finansiell prestation mäts genom avkastning påtotala tillgångar (ROA). Förändringen i finansiell prestation över tid mäts genom den procentuella förändringen i nettovinsten år 2017 jämfört med år 2016. Företagsstorlek reflekteras av totala tillgångar och företagsålder reflekteras av antal börsnoterade år. För att analysera sambandet mellan studiens variabler har statistiska bearbetningar och tester utförts. Studien observerar svenska börsnoterade företag listade på Large-cap i alla branscher förutom finanssektorn.Resultaten visar att VD-ord i genomsnitt är svåra att läsa och därför begripliga endast för en begränsad publik. Det finns en signifikant, positiv relation mellan förändringen i finansiell prestation över tid och IM i VD-ord. Även om finansiell prestation och företagsstorlek har positiva samband med läsbarhet i VD-ord, så är dessa samband inte signifikanta. Företagsålder har ett negativt samband med läsbarhet, emellertid är sambandet inte signifikant. / This study aims to investigate the use of impression management (IM) in CEO-letters of companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Another intention is to analyze different company characteristics and their relation to IM. For instance, how the financial performance of companies affects their use of IM, in terms of readability manipulation of CEO-letters, i.e. whether companies report positive or negative news in CEO-letters differently depending on the company’s financial performance. CEO-letters are a popular section in annual reports because the company’s management is able to translate complex conditions, otherwise expressed in numbers and accounting records, into an easy-to-understand, user-friendly and informative text. However, CEO-letters are not audited and may therefore be exposed to IM inorder to influence or obfuscate stakeholders’ perception of the company.Using the Flesch reading ease formula and statistical analysis, this study explores how the readability of CEO-letters in annual reports tends to vary with several company characteristics and business cycles. The analysis controls for variables previously identified as relevant to the use of IM, such as company size, company age, company performance and companyperformance over time.The results show a significant positive relationship between readability and financial performance over time, measured as the percentage change of net profits compared to previous years. Furthermore, company performance measured as return on assets (ROA) and company size has an insignificant positive relationship with readability. Also, company age has a negative relationship with readability, however, not significant. In addition, this study finds that most companies’ CEO-letters are difficult to read and comprehensible to a limited population.