Cette thèse examine les relations, et particulièrement les interactions, entre la responsabilité sociale des entreprises et leur risque financier. Elle propose un schéma conceptuel de ces relations et 4 études empiriques. La première examine les relations entre la performance sociétale, mesurée par les scores Vigeo, et le risque financier de 544 entreprises de l'indice Stoxx Europe 600, de 2004-2011. Elle montre que les entreprises les plus performantes du point de vue sociétal ont un risque spécifique et total faible, et une volatilité du taux de rentabilité (Roa) moindre, notamment pour les ressources humaines. La relation est positive et fortement significative si l'on considère le bêta du titre et la dispersion des prévisions des analystes. La deuxième étude porte sur la réaction des marchés financiers européens à l'émission d'alertes sociétales. Elle analyse l'apport informationnel de ces alertes par rapport à l'annonce publique des évènements qui les ont déclenchées. L'analyse de 480 alertes émises par Vigeo de 2004 à 2011 montre que les investisseurs réagissent positivement à la première alerte pour une entreprise donnée. L'alerte réduit l'asymétrie d'information entre managers et investisseurs ; en limitant le risque d'estimation des investisseurs, elle diminue leur incertitude. Les alertes relatives à l'environnement constituent un cas particulier, dans la mesure où elles ont un impact négatif sur les cours. La troisième étude teste et valide la théorie du management du risque : en cas d'occurrence d'un risque RSE (référencé par Vigeo) les entreprises les plus performantes du point de vue sociétal enregistrent des rentabilités anormales moins importantes et leur volume anormal est plus faible. La quatrième étude examine l'interaction entre risque financier et engagement RSE. Elle dépasse l'échelle européenne en considérant 23 194 observations d'Asset4 au sujet de 3 787 entreprises dans 67 pays. Elle montre que de bonnes performances ESG réduisent significativement le risque financier, spécifique et total, ainsi que la volatilité du Roa, et que les performances ESG sont positivement associées au risque si l'on considère le bêta du titre et la dispersion des prévisions des analystes. Elle met en évidence un cercle vertueux entre performance ESG et risque financier. Les pratiques sociales et de gouvernance réduisent le plus fortement ce risque. Un faible risque financier incite l'entreprise à investir en priorité dans des mesures environnementales et de gouvernance, puis dans le social.Mots clés: Risque financier de l'entreprise, responsabilité sociale de l'entreprise (RSE), Risque RSE, performance sociétale, interaction. / This dissertation examines the relations between Corporate Social Responsibility and financial risk, with a particular focus on their interactions. It proposes a conceptual scheme of these relations and 4 empirical studies. The first study examines the relation between the corporate social performance, measured by Vigeo scores, and the financial risk of 554 companies pertaining to the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, from 2004-2011. It shows that companies with higher corporate responsibility have lower specific and total risks, and lower volatility of return on assets (Roa), particularly in human resources. The relation is positive and strong when we consider the investments' beta and the analysts' forecasts dispersion. The second study examines the reaction of the European stock market to CSR alerts. It examines the alerts' informational contribution compared to the public announce¬ments of the triggering events. Based on a sample of 480 alerts released by Vigeo over the period 2004-2011, we find a positive stock market reaction to the first alert for the affected company. The alert reduces the information asymmetry between managers and investors. It limits the investors' estimation risk and thus their uncertainty. Environmental alerts are a specific case, as they affect negatively the stock prices. The third study tests and confirms the risk management theory: when a CSR risk occurs (referenced by Vigeo), higher CSR performers have lower abnormal returns and lower abnormal trading volumes. The fourth study examines the interaction between financial risk and CSR commitment. It goes beyond Europe by considering 23,194 Asset4 scores related to 3,787 companies in 67 countries. It shows that prior aggregate ESG scores are associated with reduced subsequent specific and total risks and Roa volatility, thus confirming that high ESG performers have lower financial risk. CSR performances are positively associated with the risk if we consider the investments' beta and the analysts' forecasts dispersion. The study evidences a virtuous cycle between financial risk and ESG performance. Social and governance performances contribute more significantly to reduce this risk. Prior low financial risks incite firms to invest in CSR, first in environmental and governance, then in social policies or activities.Keywords: Financial risk, corporate social responsibility, corporate social performance, corporate social responsibility risk, interaction.

Denna studies syfte är att undersöka huruvida det finns ett samband mellan andel kvinnliga styrelseledamöter och total risk i svenska onoterade aktiebolag. Tidigare forskning har riktats mot noterade aktiebolag och då huruvida det finns ett samband mellan andel kvinnliga styrelseledamöter och företags finansiella- respektive rörelserisk. Dessa två komponenter utgör tillsammans total risk varför det ter sig intressant att undersöka hur denna påverkas av andel kvinnliga styrelseledamöter. Utifrån detta formas studiens tre hypoteser, vilka är att det finns ett samband mellan andel kvinnliga styrelseledamöter och total risk, respektive finansiell risk samt rörelserisk i ett svenskt onoterat aktiebolag. Studien genomförs i positivistisk tradition, och därmed utförs statistiska tester utifrån kvantitativ data. Detta för att kunna urskilja ett eventuellt samband mellan den beroende variabeln, total risk, och den oberoende variabeln andel kvinnliga styrelseledamöter. Den empiriska datan samlas in via databasen Retriever, där information från onoterade aktiebolags årsredovisningar samlas in för bokslutsåret 2015.   Studiens resultat visar ett mycket svagt positivt samband mellan andel kvinnliga styrelseledamöter och total risk- respektive finansiell risk samt rörelserisk. Följaktligen förkastas studiens samtliga nollhypoteser. Sambanden mellan beroende och oberoende variabel är dock mycket svaga, vilket gör att resultaten skiljer sig från en svensk studie på svenska noterade aktiebolag av Adams och Funk (2012). Studien lämnar bidraget att andel kvinnliga styrelseledamöter inte har någon betydande inverkan på total risk i svenska onoterade aktiebolag.   Denna studie undersöker endast ett bokslutsår. Förslag till vidare forskning är därmed att undersöka en längre tidsperiod för att således jämföra flera bokslutsår med varandra. Studien finner att kontrollvariabeln, bolagets ålder, har störst inverkan i samtliga regressioner och ytterligare förslag till vidare forskning inom området är därmed att undersöka sambandet mellan bolagets ålder med de olika riskmåtten. / The aim of this study is to examine a possible correlation between the proportion of women on corporate boards and firm risk in an unlisted Swedish corporation. Recent studies have focused on listed companies, and whether there is a correlation between the proportion of women on corporate boards and financial risk respectively business risk. These two measures of risk together defines as firm risk. How women effect firm risk is therefore by interest to investigate further. This study is computed with a positivistic approach through statistical tests and analysis to discover an eventual correlation between the proportion of women on corporate boards and firm risk in an unlisted Swedish corporation. All empirical data is collected from the database Retriever The results of this study show that the proportion of women on corporate boards correlates with the firm, financial- and business risk correlates in Swedish unlisted corporations. Whether the results actually show a greater impact in practice can be further discussed. The contribution of this study is therefore that the gender diversification does not impact the firm risk in Swedish unlisted corporations. For future studies we suggest to do more research on how the time aspect impact the relation between women on corporate boards and firm risk. As a suggestion, the age of the corporations can be examined, since this factor had the greatest impact on the risk measures.

Operational risk has become an increasingly important topic within financial institutions of late, resulting in an increased spend by financial service organisations on operational risk management solutions. While this move is positive, evidence has shown that information technology implementations have tended to have low rates of success. Research highlighted that a series of defined critical success factors could reduce the risk of implementation failure. Investigations into the literature revealed that no critical success factors had been defined for the implementation of an operational risk management system. Through a literature study, a list of 29 critical success factors was identified. To confirm these factors, a questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was distributed to an identified target audience within the South African financial services community. Reponses to the questionnaire revealed that 27 of the 29 critical success factors were deemed important and critical to the implementation of an operational risk management system. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om införandet av lag (SFS 2016:947) påverkat omfattningen av företags hållbarhetsredovisning och om faktorerna finansiell risk, lönsamhet, storlek och bransch kan förklara frivillig hållbarhetsredovisning. Metod: Studien utgår från den positivistiska forskningsfilosfin och med ett deduktivt angreppssätt. En innehållsanalys genomförs på 142 årsredovisningar från 2018 respektive 2015 för att undersöka mängden redovisad hållbarhetsinformation. En multipel regressionsanalys görs för att fastställa vilka faktorer som påverkar mängden hållbarhetsredovisning. Resultat & slutsats: Studien kom fram till att företagen redovisade mer hållbarhetsinformation 2018 jämfört med 2015 och att lagen haft en påverkan, samt att det finns ett samband mellan mängden hållbarhetsredovisning och faktorerna storlek och bransch. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens teoretiska bidrag är en ökad kunskap om vad som förklarar frivillig hållbarhetsredovisning, men även kunskap om regleringens påverkan. Det praktiska bidraget är kunskap om hur mängden hållbarhetsredovisning i svenska företag påverkas när det regleras. Det ger därmed en indikation på hur effekten av reglering skulle se ut i länder med liknande redovisningstradition som Sverige. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: I vidare forskning föreslås att göra en liknande studie med företag verkande i andra länder, men även icke-noterade eller statligt ägda företag. Denna studie har undersökt hållbarhetsredovisningens kvantitet och det skulle därmed vara intressant att undersöka hur kvaliteten påverkas av reglering. Ytterligare förslag till fortsatt forskning är att arbeta mer med innehållsanalysen för att uppnå ett mer trovärdigt resultat av redovisningsmängd. / Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate whether law (SFS 2016: 947) has affected the extent of sustainability reporting and whether the factors financial risk, profitability, size and industry can explain voluntary sustainability reporting. Method: The study is based on the positivist research philosophy and with a deductive approach. A content analysis is conducted on 142 annual reports from 2018 respectively 2015, to investigate the amount of sustainability information reported. A multiple regression analysis is conducted to determine which factors affect the amount of sustainability reporting. Result & Conclusions: The study found that the companies reported more sustainability information in 2018 compared to 2015 and that the law had an impact, and that there is a connection between the amount of sustainability reporting and the factors size and industry. Contribution of the thesis: The study's theoretical contribution is an increased knowledge of what explains voluntary sustainability reporting, but also knowledge about the impact of regulation. The practical contribution is knowledge of how the amount of sustainability reporting in Swedish companies is affected when regulated. It thus gives an indication of what the effect of regulation would look like in countries with a similar accounting tradition as Sweden. Suggestions for future research: In further research, it is suggested to do a similar study with companies operating in other countries, but also unlisted or state-owned companies. This study has examined the quantity of sustainability reporting and it would therefore be interesting to investigate how the quality is affected by regulation. Further proposals for continued research are to work more with the content analysis to achieve a more credible result of the accounting.

Las pyme desempeñan un gran papel en la economía de cada país, por lo conocer los factores que determinan su éxito o fracaso son importantes para el desarrollo de un país próspero y una economía saludable. El propósito de la presente investigación es describir aquellos factores de éxito y fracaso en las pyme con el propósito de brindar información que permita evitar el incremento de la cartera morosa y mejorar e incentivar aquellos aspectos que permitan obtener el ansiado éxito. En un primer momento, se busca definir qué se entiende por pequeña y mediana empresa a partir de las políticas públicas, las regulaciones que existen, la cantidad de empleados o el nivel de ventas. En un segundo momento, se aborda cómo se entiende el éxito y el fracaso desde la perspectiva de diferentes autores. En el tercer capítulo, se determina cómo la gestión financiera y la RSE, la edad, la gestión del recuso y las carácterísticas de quien maneja la empresa son factores que pueden dirigir al éxito o el fracaso de la pyme. Por último, se han articulado algunos factores externos que varían la productividad, como la calidad de la información, el comportamiento del cliente y las condiciones sociales. La principal conclusión a la que llega esta investigación es que una empresa depende del análisis de algunos factores para medir si tendrá éxito o fracaso, aunque estos no suelen ser fijos, sino que depende de la perspectiva con la que se termina abordando. / SMEs play a great role in the economy of each country, so knowing the factors that determine their success or failure is important for the development of a prosperous country and a healthy economy. The purpose of this research is to describe those factors of success and failure in SMEs in order to provide information to avoid the increase of the delinquent portfolio and to improve and encourage those aspects that allow to obtain the desired success. First, we seek to define what is meant by small and medium-sized enterprises based on public policies, existing regulations, the number of employees or the level of sales. Secondly, we discuss how success and failure are understood from the perspective of different authors. In the third chapter, it is determined how financial management and CSR, age, resource management and the characteristics of who manages the company are factors that can lead to the success or failure of the SME. Finally, some external factors that vary productivity have been articulated, such as the quality of information, customer behavior and social conditions. The main conclusion reached by this research is that a company depends on the analysis of some factors to measure whether it will succeed or fail, although these are not usually fixed, but depend on the perspective with which it ends up being approached. / Trabajo de Suficiencia Profesional

Cette thèse apporte une contribution à la définition d’un nouveau risque bancaire lié aux impacts économiques du changement climatique. Le changement climatique impactera les clients d’une Banque de Financement et d’Investissement (BFI) et aura des conséquences sur sa stratégie et la composition de son portefeuille d’activités. En revanche, des incertitudes demeurent sur les impacts économiques du changement climatique et créent un risque bancaire : le risque carbone. La quantification des « émissions de Gaz à Effet de Serre (GES) induites » par les activités des clients de la banque est une première étape nécessaire pour la gestion de ce nouveau risque. Après avoir étudié les différents modèles existants de comptabilité carbone, cette thèse propose un outil d’analyse basé sur une nouvelle forme de comptabilité carbone allouant les émissions de GES aux agents économiques en fonction de leur capacité à les réduire : « la comptabilité par enjeu ». Cet outil permet la réalisation d’une cartographie sectorielle et géographique des « émissions de GES induites » par un portefeuille de financement et d’investissement (en dette et en capital). / The PhD thesis is a contribution to the definition of a new banking risk related to the economic impacts of climate change. The climate change will impact the clients of a corporate and investment bank and will have consequences on its strategy and the composition of its business portfolio. Nevertheless, uncertainties remain on the economic impacts of climate change and create a new risk for the banks: the carbon risk. The quantification of “GreenHouse Gases (GHG) emissions induced” by the businesses of the bank’s clients is a first step required for managing this new risk. After having studied the various models of carbon accounting, this PhD thesis proposes an analysis tool based on a new form of carbon accounting by allocating the GHG emissions to the economic agents in accordance with their ability to reduce it: “the accounting by issue”. This tool allows mapping sectorally and geographically of the “GHG emissions induced” by a financing and investment portfolio (in debt and equity capital).

In this doctoral thesis is suggested the methodics for determination the risk structure depending on the corporate life cycle with considering the sector sensitivity to the economic cycle. The share of the operational and financial risk is calculated using the beta coefficient, in which the selected measuring quantities are included. The phases of the corporate life cycle are identified according to the quadrants of the Boston matrix and the sector sensitivity to the economic cycle is determined using the Spearman´s rank correlation coefficient describing the relation between the gross domestic product and sales of the sector. The methodics is applicable for both managers and investors.

Counterparty risk calculations have gained importance after the latest financial crisis. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers showed that even large financial institutiones face a risk of default. Hence, it is important to measure the risk of default for all the contracts written between financial institutions. Credit Value Adjustment, CVA, is an industry standard method for such calculations. Nevertheless, the implementation of this method is contract dependent and the necessary computer simulations can be very intensive. Monte Carlo simulations have for a long time been known as a precise but slow technique to evaluate the cash flows for contracts of all kinds. Measuring the exposure of a contract written on structured products might require half a day of calculations if the implementation is written without significant optimization. Several ideas have been presented by researchers and applied in the industry, the idea explored and implemented in this thesis was based on using Artificial Neural Networks in Python. This procedure require a decomposition of the Expected Exposure calculation within the CVA and generating a large data set using a standard Monte Carlo simulation. Three network architectures have been tested and the final performance was compared with using standard techniques for the very same calculation. The performance gain was significant, a portfolio of 100 counterparties with 10 contracts each would take 20 minutes of calculations in total when using the best performing architecture whereas a parallel C++ implementation of the standard method would require 2.6 days.

In the years following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, corporations have heightened their efforts to comprehensively manage all aspect of business risk that could jeopardize their operations or potentially lead to business failure. This increase in efforts have motivated firms to adopt additional preventative measures to internally manage their unique portfolios of impeding enterprise risk. Due to legislative efforts by the U.S. Congress, both the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) were broadly developed to improve corporate governance while increasing transparency within financial reporting. Specifically, Dodd-Frank mandates that large financial firms with $50 billion in assets establish special committees dedicated to assessing their financial risks. Meanwhile, SOX requires all public firms to establish rigorous internal control systems to ensure the adequacy of financial reporting. However, these laws mainly target financial firms and fall short of requiring nonfinancial firms to establish a separate committee to manage corporate risk even though it would be in these companies own interest to enhance their safeguarding efforts against ambiguous financial uncertainties, reputation downshifts, and other inherent risk. This dissertation seeks to understand whether a separate voluntary risk management committee at the board level is related to the financial stability and creditworthiness of nonfinancial firms. Firstly, we investigated whether the existence of a separate risk management committee is associated with the firm’s leverage, solvency, financial health, and organizational soundness. Secondly, we examined whether the existence of a separate risk management committee is associated with the firm’s short- and long-term credit ratings. Using secondary data from Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS), we analyzed data from a wide range of financial ratios and credit ratings from companies listed on the S&P 1500 index to evaluate if these committees have an association with the firm’s ability to manage its risk effectively. Regression analysis was utilized to explore this relationship. Although the direction of the relationship cannot be determined, the results suggest that the establishment of a separate voluntary risk management committee was minimally related to the financial soundness of the firm and was not related to the firm's leverage, solvency, or overall organizational soundness. Inferences or causality cannot be made. Additionally, we found that firms with better short-term credit ratings were more likely to establish a voluntary risk management committee, while long-term credit ratings did not show a correlation with the presence of a voluntary risk management committee. Interestingly, the study also found that the presence of more men on the board and a larger board size increased the likelihood of firms adopting a risk management committee, but over time, the interest in forming these committees has declined within the timeframe reviewed, particularly in the healthcare, communication, and utilities sectors. The results of this study suggest that relying on traditional financial/accounting ratios might not be the most effective method for assessing a firm's risk. Further, these results underscore the need for a more comprehensive approach that includes both quantitative and qualitative risk assessments and approaches. This dissertation contributes to the benefits of establishing a voluntary risk management committee in nonfinancial firms, which is a topic that has not been extensively researched. The aim is to offer a deeper insight into the benefits of such committees and encourage more firms to improve their risk management practices where positive correlations were identified. / Business Administration/Interdisciplinary

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the attributes and information content of risk reporting in two different institutional and regulatory, namely, Canadian and German, settings during the period surrounding the financial crisis of 2008. Design/methodology/approach For a matched sample of manufacturing firms in the period 2006–2010, this study conducts a detailed content analysis of annual reports to assess and compare the volume and patterns of risk disclosures. Panel regressions are used to explore how risk disclosures related to corporate risk proxies and performance indicators. Findings Over the sample period, Canadian and German firms increase the volume but largely maintain the patterns of risk disclosures. Risk disclosures relate to corporate risk proxies but are not incrementally informative to assess firm performance. Originality/value The paper contributes to research on risk reporting by providing detailed cross-country evidence for a period particularly shaped by significant risk. The findings have implications for the regulation and usefulness of risk reporting.