Presidential Address: Sustainable Finance and ESG Issues—<i>Value</i>versus<i>Values</i>

Starks, Laura T.

doi:10.1111/jofi.13255

Cited by 96 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 163 publications

(213 reference statements)

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“…Given the ongoing debates in regulatory and business circles on policies to develop a green economy (European Commission, 2021;Starks, 2023), our study reveals that board characteristics have heterogenous effects on the discrepancy between green communication and operational practices. Thus, our study cautions policymakers and potential investors to pay regard to the characteristics of the board when evaluating the degree of alignment between environmental actions and environmental communication, recognizing the different attitudes to implement different legitimacy-seeking strategies and therefore creating incentives for firms to improve environmental performance together with increased communication efforts.…”

Section: Theoretical and Managerial Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Talk or walk? The board of directors and firm environmental strategies

Taglialatela,

Miroshnychenko,

Barontini

et al. 2023

Bus Strat Env

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Drawing on legitimacy theory, we study the nexus between green communication and the implementation of green practices, and in particular, we focus on the determinants of their discrepancy. Based on a large sample of firms in 58 countries over a 19‐year period, we employ an index to measure the discrepancy between green operations and the communicated practices, mapped to each firm's board structure. The results provide the first empirical evidence that larger, more gender‐diverse, and more independent boards are associated with a preponderance of green communication over implementation. We interpret this imbalance as a strategy to participate in the public discourse to gain moral legitimacy. Conversely, CEO duality is associated with a discrepancy in the opposite direction, with firms focusing more on implementing green practices than talking about them, suggesting that these firms aim mainly at gaining pragmatic legitimacy from their stakeholders.

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Section: Theoretical and Managerial Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Talk or walk? The board of directors and firm environmental strategies

Taglialatela,

Miroshnychenko,

Barontini

et al. 2023

Bus Strat Env

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“…This predictive capability enables investors to identify companies that are not only performing well in terms of ESG criteria but are also on a trajectory to improve their sustainability practices over time. Moreover, AI algorithms can analyze the correlation between ESG performance and financial indicators, helping investors to identify sustainable investment opportunities that do not compromise on financial returns [4]. By leveraging AI in SRI, investors can thus align their investment portfolios with ethical values and sustainability goals, while also ensuring that their investments contribute positively to addressing global environmental and social challenges.…”

Section: Socially Responsible Investing (Sri)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Empowering Sustainable Finance: The Convergence of AI, Blockchain, and Big Data Analytics

Zhao

2024

AEMPS

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This paper explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain technology, and big data analytics on the sustainable finance sector. These technologies are driving significant advancements in decision-making, regulatory compliance, socially responsible investing (SRI), transparency, efficiency, risk management, financial inclusion, and the identification of sustainable growth opportunities. AI enhances predictive analysis and automates ESG compliance, fostering informed investment strategies and ensuring adherence to sustainability standards. Blockchain introduces unprecedented transparency and efficiency, particularly through smart contracts and decentralized finance (DeFi), facilitating direct funding of sustainable projects and transparent carbon credit trading. Big data analytics empower financial institutions with predictive risk management models and insights for enhancing financial inclusion and identifying sustainable investment opportunities. Through detailed examination, this study underscores how these technologies collectively support the alignment of financial investments with sustainability goals, contributing to the development of a sustainable global economy. This confluence not only streamlines operational processes and compliance but also opens new avenues for sustainable growth and investment, underpinning the financial sector's role in achieving a more sustainable and inclusive future.

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“…For the reader's convenience, Table A1 provides in its first two columns the objective of each SDG and its number. Sustainability per se is a broadly defined term (see [2]), and focusing on the SDGs provides guidelines on how to structure our research. In this research, we focus on a panel of European banks for various reasons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unfolding the Transitions in Sustainability Reporting

Li,

Rockinger

2024

Sustainability

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The sustainable development goals (SDGs) have been widely embraced by organizations as a sign of their commitment to sustainability. In this study, we develop a novel SDG-related bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) model, using the neural network methodology, to determine the thematic evolution of European banks’ sustainability reports. We train this model on the OSDG-CD corpus, which we extend by labeling approximately 10,000 sentences based on SDGs content. The classification capabilities of this model appear to be very effective. Analysts who use our methodology can make faster decisions about the sustainability claims of financial institutions. Our methodology can be extended to non-financial entities. By analyzing the sustainability reports of 98 listed banks covering the accounting periods ranging from 2010 to 2022, we can identify the temporal emphasis of the SDGs. By 2022, climate action had emerged as the most important focus theme. We further validate our classification methodology by establishing a strong correlation between the evolution of SDG prevalence and relevant macroeconomic indicators. We also reveal a difference in focus between various European regions. Finally, we use word counts and k-means cluster analysis to document changes in the objectives of banks by investigating their discussion content.

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Presidential Address: Sustainable Finance and ESG Issues—ValueversusValues

Cited by 96 publications

References 163 publications

Talk or walk? The board of directors and firm environmental strategies

Talk or walk? The board of directors and firm environmental strategies

Empowering Sustainable Finance: The Convergence of AI, Blockchain, and Big Data Analytics

Unfolding the Transitions in Sustainability Reporting

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