a b s t r a c tThis study analyzes the worldwide diffusion of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) from the viewpoint of both a macro-and a microanalysis using data from the first decade of this century. For the macroanalysis, logistic curves were used to demonstrate the different stages and patterns in the dissemination of GRI in the different regions of the world that were examined. For the microanalysis, two indicesdinstability and concentrationdwere used to analyze and assess GRI diffusion across different sectors of activity. The findings are thus of considerable importance to the understanding of sustainability reporting worldwide. Moreover, they point to probable trends in sustainability reporting over the next few years.

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The purpose of this paper is to examine whether changes in accounting standards improve value relevance of financial information on listed companies in Mexico. The research was conducted for the period 2000-2013 using a sample of 141 companies that report to the Mexican stock exchange using the methodology of panel data. Our findings show that changes in local regulations (generally accepted accounting principles) to internationally approved standards (financial reporting standards and international financial reporting standards) increase the value relevance and therefore the quality of information. The study shows that the accounting information with international financial reporting standards is more trustworthy for foreign and national investors.

In this paper, we compare the predictions on the market liquidity in crypto and fiat currencies between two traditional time series methods, the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) and the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH), and the machine learning algorithm called the k-nearest neighbor (KNN) approach. We measure market liquidity as the log rates of bid-ask spreads in a sample of three cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple) and 16 major fiat currencies from 9 February 2018 to 8 February 2019. We find that the KNN approach is better suited for capturing the market liquidity in a cryptocurrency in the short-term than the ARMA and GARCH models maybe due to the complexity of the microstructure of the market. Considering traditional time series models, we find that ARMA models perform well when estimating the liquidity of fiat currencies in developed markets, whereas GARCH models do the same for fiat currencies in emerging markets. Nevertheless, our results show that the KNN approach can better predict the log rates of the bid-ask spreads of crypto and fiat currencies than ARMA and GARCH models.

La responsabilidad social empresarial (RSE) está cobrando gran relevancia en las últimas dos décadas como una estrategia que puede contribuir al desempeño financiero de la empresa y a construir un futuro general más equitativo y sostenible; sin embargo, en lo que tiene que ver con el desempeño financiero, hasta ahora los resultados obtenidos por la doctrina han sido mixtos. <br /><br />Este trabajo analiza el impacto en el desempeño financiero de las empresas mexicanas cotizadas que han obtenido el distintivo de empresas socialmente responsables. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que existe una relación positiva entre el desempeño financiero y la obtención de dicho distintivo en las variables financieras ROE y ROA, en las utilidades por acción (UPA) y en el ratio de precio entre valor de libros (P/VL). La evidencia encontrada proporciona algunas recomendaciones para las empresas mexicanas y los legisladores en este ámbito.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether changes in accounting standards improve value relevance of financial information on listed companies in Mexico. The research was conducted for the period 2000-2013 using a sample of 141 companies that report to the Mexican stock exchange using the methodology of panel data. Our findings show that changes in local regulations (generally accepted accounting principles) to internationally approved standards (Financial Reporting Standards and International Financial Reporting Standards) increase the value relevance and therefore the quality of information. The study shows that the accounting information with international Financial Reporting Standards is more trustworthy for foreign and national investors.

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the differences in financial performance portfolios between sustainable and non-sustainable firms through the use of portfolio theory and OptQuest algorithms from 2007 to 2013. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of 1,078 firms from 15 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. A maximisation weighted ratio is estimated by applying OptQuest algorithms to measure the portfolio performance considering a fuzzy Jensen’s alpha and the percentage of the portfolio’s performance that exceeds the market. Findings The results show a similar financial performance in sustainable portfolios (SP) and non-SP, but considering the uncertainty, the performance in sustainable firms was better than that of non-sustainable ones. Uncertainty was reduced, as it passed the beginning of the crisis from 2008-2009 to 2012-2013. Research limitations/implications The main limitation is the different assessments of sustainability indexes in each of the countries. Practical implications The results help investors assess their decisions in an uncertain economic environment and allocate their investment in not only financial terms but also social character. Social implications Countries with higher financial performances in SP show the efficiency in their legal environmental regulations. On the other hand, the degree of uncertainty is lower in the SP than non-SP, suggesting that sustainable firms in financial crisis could be more responsible in social claims such as good working conditions. Originality/value This study contributes to existing research in two ways. First, the paper studies corporate social responsibility by different continents and countries in an uncertain economic timespan. For this, the legal, cultural and socioeconomic divergences and convergences were explored. Second, the research presented an analysis of the financial performance differences between sustainable and non-SP by applying a hybrid methodology with fuzzy regression and OptQuest algorithms.

<p align="LEFT">En este estudio, analizamos si las fusiones disminuyen el costo de capital en las empresas públicas de México. Para ello se parte de una muestra formada por empresas de diversos sectores que componen el Índice de Precios y Cotizaciones (IPC) que realizaron una operación de adquisición aprobada por las autoridades mexicanas en los años 2010 y 2011. Para estimar el costo de capital se utilizó el CAPM tradicional y el D-CAPM, el cual considera una métrica de riesgo a la baja. Ambas estimaciones se realizaron 3 años antes y 3 años después de la adquisición con dos métodos de medición: Mínimos Cuadrados Ordinarios y Regresión Borrosa. Los resultados muestran la ventaja del modelo de regresión borrosa sobre mínimos cuadrados ordinarios, principalmente en períodos con mayor incertidumbre. Además, considerando las estimaciones del modelo D-CAPM, podemos concluir para las empresas de la muestra que existe una posibilidad entre 0.62 y 0.65 de reducción del costo de capital después de la fusión.</p>