Suchergebnisse

AbstractResearch Question/IssueThis paper provides novel evidence on the dynamics of board meetings and the economic value of their decisions. We exploit a unique regulatory requirement of the Italian Stock Exchange that mandates the publication of board meeting minutes when the board votes on "price sensitive" matters to analyze detailed data about directors' participation, discussions, voting, and the dissemination of their decisions to the market.Research Findings/InsightsIn a large, multiyear sample of board meeting minutes, we show previously unavailable patterns of board meetings participation and discussion and highlight the moderating role of key governance mechanisms that shed novel light on the effectiveness of boards. Looking at the economic value of board meetings, we document significant delays in the diffusion of information in the market that may be indicative of information leakage.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsWe contribute to the theoretical discussion about the role of boards. Our results are consistent with a supervisory approach model of boards where consensus is high and dissent is costly. However, they cast doubt on the efficacy of boards as a counterbalancing mechanism to the power of executives.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsBoards have grown in size and become increasingly complex. This study documents the actual discussion, participation, and voting dynamics of board meetings and provides evidence on the diffusion of information to market participants, which is valuable in the design of efficient corporate governance mechanisms.

Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between banks' board structure and sustainability performance.


Design/methodology/approach
The empirical quantitative paper covers a sample of 35 European banks that are listed at the EUROSTOXX 600. Regression analysis techniques were used in the analyses.


Findings
Results indicate that board size, women ratio and independent directors ratio on board are positively and significantly related to environmental social governance (ESG), E and S disclosure scores. Also, we find that ESG disclosure is related to bank profitability.


Practical implications
Findings have implications for both policymakers and practitioners (bankers and investors). Large bank boards, which have women and independent members, could perform better in terms of ESG disclosure. The results also show that large banks and banks with high borrowing care more about sustainability. For banks to reach resources, they should perform well in terms of sustainability disclosure to their stakeholders.


Social implications
Banks should observe academic findings on corporate governance (CG) practices, which lead to a better ESG disclosure to structure their CG to improve at the best their disclosure policies: they should prefer larger boards with a high level of women and independence. In addition, we attach importance to the ESG performance of the banking sector due to its fund transfer functions. Banks transfer the deposits they collect to those in need of funds as loans. For this reason, it is important to which sector and which business they give credit. The importance of banks on ESG and their adoption of sustainability dimensions also affect their credit decisions.


Originality/value
This study examines the relationship between banks' board structure variables and their effect on ESG, E and S scores separately. This study thinks that the G score can be a handicap for ESG-CG relations. Because chosen CG variables (women ratio, independent ratio, board size) affect G scores positively and can reason for positive ESG-CG relation. The environmental and social impact of women ratio, independent ratio and board size can be seen in this study.

AbstractThis paper provides, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first meta‐analysis of evidence about the influence of the corporate governance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure, in a setting where the disclosure of information is voluntary but not discretionary. We apply meta‐analysis to a sample of 24 empirical studies to clarify the relationship of board size, board independence, women on board, number of board meeting, CEO duality, and company ownership with ESG disclosure. Our results show that board independence, board size, and women directorship visibly enhance ESG voluntary disclosure; board ownership and CEO duality do not improve the level of ESG disclosure; and some hesitations remain in respect of the number of board meetings and institutional and family ownership. The paper contributes to the ongoing debate on the corporate governance mechanisms that lead to more ESG disclosure and highlight the need of new approach on these issues.

AbstractThis paper investigates the association between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure and company profitability, as measured by return on assets (ROA). We first assess a method to indexing the ESG score of a large sample of U.S. listed companies based on MSCI ESG KLD STATS data from 2000 to 2016. The statistical model is run on 17,358 observations and studies the association of ROA and the three different dimensions of ESG score. Significant differences between industrial firms and financial intermediaries emerge. We find a significant and positive association between ESG and that the environmental awareness in banks is strongly related to profitability, providing implications for policy makers and policy takers.

AbstractFor all firms, it is imperative to identify and understand the factors that influence consumers purchasing behaviors and, specifically, identify how customer demographics relate to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. However, limited research exists on banking consumer's preferences and responses towards different CSR initiatives. Therefore, using an exploratory survey consisting of 250 received responses of attitudes and perceptions from customers of Italian savings banks, we investigate the interactions between three types of CSR initiatives (ethical behavior towards the environment, social inclusion initiatives, and financing eco‐sustainable projects) and respondents' demographic characteristics. We predict that different types of CSR initiatives influence the choice of banking institution among customers with diverse demographic characteristics (age, geographic origin, and type of employment). This research helps in making several important contributions to CSR research which can assist banks in developing effective CSR strategies.

AbstractEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are increasingly important in all fields of economics. However, despite increasing interest from policy makers and financial regulators, literature relating to the insurance industry is still scarce. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the interaction between a set of financial ratios and environmental social governance scores of 107 large, listed US insurance companies for the period 2010–2018 for the purpose of identifying the determinants of ESG awareness. Larger, more profitable, and more solvent insurance companies show the highest level of ESG awareness. Our model contributes to shed light on the unfolding of ESG practices in the insurance industry.