This dissertation is comprised of three essays on determinants and consequences of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Transparency. Transparency refers to high quantity of material and value relevant information about ESG issues. In the first essay, we explore the relationship between our two variables of interest (i.e., audit quality and public media exposure) and ESG transparency on a sample of publicly listed Canadian firms in in the S&P/TSX Index of the Toronto Stock Exchange. Results show that audit quality and public media exposure are two main drivers of ESG transparency, hence, commitment to high quality audits and exposure to high public media coverage drive firms to be more transparent about ESG issues. Finally, as a consequence of ESG transparency, we find a negative association between ESG transparency and firm-level investment inefficiency. The second essay examine whether the transparency of environmental and social (E&S) information affects financial analysts' forecast properties that reflect their information set. Focusing on a sample of non-financial and non-utility U.S. firms from the S&P 500 index, results suggest that the level of transparency vis-à-vis both E&S information is negatively related to analysts' forecast errors as well as forecast dispersion. These negative relationships become more pronounced for firms with low financial reporting quality, low media coverage, and for those with weak governance. Finally, we find that E&S transparency relates with investment efficiency essentially via analysts` information environment, which thus acts as a mediating variable. This finding is consistent with financial analysts also playing a monitoring role in capital markets. The third essay, we investigate how a firm's (E&S) transparency relates with its cash holdings. Focusing on a large sample of S&P 500 firms, results show that a higher level of E&S transparency implies lower firm-level cash holdings. The negative relationship is more pronounced for firms suffering from high information asymmetry, with low financial reporting quality, and for those with weak governance. Further analyses document that the two channels and mechanisms by which E&S transparency affect firm-level cash holdings are the cost of debt and financial constraints. Finally, our findings suggest that E&S transparency increases the market value relevance of an additional dollar in cash holdings.

Over recent years there has been rapid consumer-led growth in investing in socially responsible companies to the extent that it has had an influence on corporate policies. New regulations recognise the public interest by requiring all pension funds to declare their ethical policy. Investors can no longer just consider the financial aspects of a company before investing but also have to consider the complex world of ethical investments. Should the ethical policy take precedence over the financial aspects? Should policies be inclusive or exclusive? What percentage of a company's income has to come from unacceptable sources before the source is excluded? Should any exclusion policy also extend to those involved in selling or transporting goods deemed unacceptable? This is the first book to look at socially responsible investment from the perspective of the institutional investor, who will be led through the complex dilemmas of socially responsible investment with practical examples and advice.

The authors have done an excellent job explaining the development and practice of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI). Under the recent recognition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asia and its strong emphasis by US and European corporations, this book provides important guidance to students and professionals who are interested in the effects and implications of SRI. This book is truly informative and should be on the reading list of all fund managers and CFOs of international corporations which are serious about CSR. Louis T.W. Cheng, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Individual investors and corporate heads have the responsibility to keep abreast of major changes in the marketplace. Socially responsible investment is one of those changes. Fung, Law and Yau provide, in a single source, a great opportunity to get up to date on an area that will be a force for years to come. I encourage any thoughtful investor or manager to read this book. Thomas Schneeweis, University of Massachusetts Amherst, US Socially responsible investment (SRI) is becoming increasingly popular and can be potentially rewarding to all parties concerned. This book discusses the opportunities, challenges, and practices of SRI in a global financial environment in a consistent and integrated framework of risk management. It also covers a wide variety of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues related to various participants, such as values-based retail, institutional investors, corporations, banks, supranational agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Readers are provided with the perspectives of SRI from various players in the financial community from values-based investors to fiduciaries to supranational agencies. The authors analyse the incorporation of ESG issues into investment practices within a regulatory, legal, reputational, and operational risk management framework. Academics, corporate executives, government regulators and policymakers, bankers, and non-governmental organizations involved with sustainable development will find much of interest in this book.

This book integrates socially responsible investment into modern portfolio theory from a multi-criteria perspective. Socially responsible investment is a “new deal” championed by the institutional investment and bank sectors, agents that influence mutual funds and other collective investment schemes and which fear that financial strategies without ethical constraints can harm sustainable growth and prosperity. The book shows how to combine financial criteria such as profitability and risk with non-financial criteria such as the protection of the ecosystem, responsible consumption of energy, and healthcare campaigns. The book’s first part presents critical issues in ethical investment, while the second explains in detail the application of goal programming techniques for SRI funds, illustrating their use in actual cases. Part three demonstrates how compromise programming can be applied in the contexts of portfolio selection and risk management. Finally, in its fourth part the book examines the application of other decision-making support methods like the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework, the Reference Point Method, and soft computing techniques for portfolio selection.

Achieve competitive financial returns and make a difference at the same time by applying the information in Compelling Returns: A Practical Guide to Socially Responsible Investing, a well-rounded guide to socially responsible investing (SRI). Understand the basics of SRI and discover how you can align your values with your investments by choosing from three basic strategies. Learn to implement these strategies in your investment portfolios and combine your newfound knowledge with the basic principles of successful investing. An up-to-date directory of companies involved with SRI is included.

This Palgrave Pivot aims to build a bridge between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable finance in financial markets. It investigates classic CSR topics in the light of a modern conception of sustainability. The first part emphasizes four relevant topics in the CSR panorama of financial institutions: banks remuneration practices; human capital disclosure; the impact of environmental performance on banks, and finally, the institutional investors’ attitude towards socially responsible investments (SRIs). The second part explores CSR practices within the financial markets and discusses risk-return profiles of SRI and non-SRI indexes in different time frames. It investigates whether thematic social responsible funds obtain different risk-return than traditional funds, and finally, assesses whether equity crowdfunding could foster social innovation. This book is aimed at scholars and students who are interested in social impact investing and practitioners involved in the social impact market.