An analysis of green investments in bond and equity markets

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Type and Duration

PhD-Thesis, September 2019 until July 2024 (finished)

Coordinator

Chair in Business Administration, Banking and Financial Management

Main Research

Wealth Management

Field of Research

Banking and Finance

Description

The dissertation project encompasses three papers that investigate the role of Corporate Social Responsibility in both investment strategies and corporate governance. In general, the project aims to contribute to the current literature by identifying research gaps in the field of Sustainable Finance and bridging the respective by applying state of the art methodologies. The first study adds to the debate on whether socially responsible investments perform better than their conventional counterparts in the fixed income markets. To do so, we take a sample of over 5000 green bonds and match them with a synthetic counterpart, analysing the yield delta. The second study shifts the focus to the perspective of corporate governance and investigates the impact of board collaboration on corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), focusing on the Canadian financial market. Finally, paper four links back to investment strategies and join the on-going discussion on Asset Pricing Bubble by investigating whether Corporate Social Responsibility has the function of mitigating the risk that companies' stocks are overpriced in the equity markets. In summary, the expected results from the planned dissertation will generate valuable insights for both academia and practitioners.

Keywords

Corporate Social Responsibility, Green Bonds, Board Effectiveness, Asset Pricing Bubble