Bücher der Reihe Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance

The innovative nature of research is expressed through the study of new phenomena in finance including sustainable financial systems, sustainable finance, ESG risk and individual and institutional motivations of financial managers in the sustainability concept.

This book showcases cutting-edge research on a variety of themes related to sustainable and impact investments. It sheds light, theoretically and empirically, on three particular contemporary challenges for sustainable finance: shifts in banking towards prioritizing sustainable growth, the rapid evolution of sustainable bonds, and the growing role of women in sustainable finance.The first section of the book explores the benefits for banks and the financial industry from integrating sustainable finance into their business processes, as well as the role banks play in allocating resources towards a decarbonized economy. Chapters discuss risk reduction and the reputational boost for banks, as well as assessing the impact of new regulation frameworks targeted at sustainable growth. The second part examines sustainable financial products, with a focus on green bonds, and discusses how they can be used for long-term financing for sustainable projects, encourage accountability andtransparency, stimulate market growth, manage risk, and benefit the environment and society more broadly. The final section of the book takes an internal look at sustainable finance and addresses the significant role that women play, helping to develop more creative and practical solutions, serving as role models, and increasing involvement in the financial sector. Combining academic analysis with practical examples from the industry, this book will be useful to students and researchers working in sustainable finance, banking, and financial regulation.

Ethical discourse is commonly not a priority in a conventional finance syllabus. Moral sentiments often take a back seat to market sentiments, even in shaping the direction of ethical finance business. This anomaly persists despite growing interest in ethical finance. Taking an interdisciplinary and diverse perspective, this book enriches the evolving definition and scope of ethical finance literature by focusing on actors, products and regulation that shape markets. Considering the gap between theory and practice, this book bridges academic and professional knowledge in unpacking ethical and governance issues in the financial industry. In an effort to include as many viewpoints as possible, regardless of popularity or who holds them, the book editors gathered thoughts from diverse fields, including accounting, economics, ethics, finance, governance, law, management, philosophy and religion. Appealing to academic and non-academic stakeholders with an interest in ethics and finance, this book is the result of and a testament to a distinct educational and public engagement project that included different generations and communities, for future reference.

The role of big finance and technology in social change is rapidly evolving. This book examines why large financial players are entering the social sector through social finance.

This book presents new research on innovative financial instruments and approaches available to implement nature-based solutions (NBS) at various scales and in different contexts.

This book investigates sustainability, CSR, climate change adaptation, the relevance of ESG scores and their impact on firm value and growth.

This book addresses the increasingly urgent question: How can governments be made more accountable for the quality of their environmental stewardship?It explores:Enhanced national State of the Environment reporting and integration of environmental outcomes in key national indicators.Mainstreaming environmental goals, targets, and risks by integrating them in fiscal policy and the annual budget¿a government¿s most important policy instrument.Promoting sustainability by progressively exposing and eliminating harmful tax and expenditure policies, putting a price on pollution, and providing environmental public goods.Civil society environmental monitoring.The book combines in-depth assessment of the latest climate/green budgeting literature and country practices with discussion of how to implement green fiscal policies. The framework is deliberately ambitious given the severity, scale, and urgency of climate changeand biodiversity loss. The book will be of interest to ministry of finance, budget, and planning officials, to environment sector agencies, oversight institutions, international organizations, civil society organizations, and to academics and students in the fields of environmental studies, development studies, economics, public finance, and public policy.

To bridge the gap, humanitarian organizations are increasingly utilizing innovative financing tools such as impact bonds, faith-based finance and other innovative financial products and services to mobilize greater funding to address humanitarian needs.

This book sheds light on current issues in sustainable finance through an in-depth analysis and discussion of relevant sustainable products and sustainable initiatives of several financial institutions.

This includes the potential role of digitalisation and blockchain in fostering green finance, the crucial role of the effective financing of the agriculture to reach climate and environmental targets and the possible relationship between sustainable finance and other forms of "alternative" finance.

In an effort to include as many viewpoints as possible, regardless of popularity or who holds them, the book editors gathered thoughts from diverse fields, including accounting, economics, ethics, finance, governance, law, management, philosophy and religion.

Accountancy encompasses much more than is normally considered, especially from a social responsibility point of view. This book brings fresh ideas and an innovative approach to accountancy theory and practice as well as critical views about professional thinking in accountancy.

Despite growing discussions on the relationship between sustainability and finance, so far little attention has been given to the relation linking sustainability-related risks and financial risks.

This includes the potential role of digitalisation and blockchain in fostering green finance, the crucial role of the effective financing of the agriculture to reach climate and environmental targets and the possible relationship between sustainable finance and other forms of "alternative" finance.

This book provides an in-depth overview of the most salient aspects of development finance. It critically reviews the current state of relevant literature on this topic and assesses both the challenges and the opportunities presented by the various forms of finance for development.Chapters from expert contributors examine a range of topics from the link between finance and growth and finance and misallocation, the relationship between financial illiteracy and lack of legal titles on access to finance, to the role of governments in the financial system and the role of overseas development assistance, remittances, microfinance, foreign direct investment (FDI) and stock exchanges on development.This book offers a good point of reference for postgraduate and PhD students and will appeal to researchers in this field.

This book introduces and explains how to conduct a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis. It discusses the various advantages and disadvantages of different research strategies and designs, and explores the different ways in which SROI analysis results can be used for communication, outreach, and strategic decision-making. It provides insights into how and to what extent SROI analyses can help to meet different expectations, and presents different social impact research designs and methods. It presents an analytical framework for the identification of a proper SROI analysis, and shows readers how to establish an impact model, introducing a stakeholder-based approach.

This Palgrave Pivot aims to examine the bourgeoning relationship between the Principles for Responsible Investment and the Credit Rating Industry. Since May of 2016, when the partnership was initially publicised, the PRI have endeavoured to incorporate Credit Rating Agencies into its initiative via its 'ESG in Credit Ratings Initiative', and have been working diligently to find, and create common ground between Credit Rating Agencies and Institutional Investors seeking to be more forward-looking in their investment approaches. However, in recent years the 'Big Two' Credit Rating Agencies - Standard & Poor's and Moody's - have finally received record fines for their conduct in the run-up to the Financial Crisis. There is a need, then, to examine the incorporation of the Credit Rating Agencies into such a progressive initiative. To achieve this objective, this book examines the field of 'responsible investing', the credit rating industry, and the power dynamic that exists between the rating industry, investors, and the PRI (via its 'Initiative').

This Palgrave Pivot aims to build a bridge between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable finance in financial markets. It investigates whether thematic social responsible funds obtain different risk-return than traditional funds, and finally, assesses whether equity crowdfunding could foster social innovation.

In particular, chapters focus on: The contextualization of social impact funds within the social impact investment market;The exploration of features, investment strategy and classification of funds;An in-depth analysis of the emergent literature;

This book brings together a set of analytical and empirical essays aimed at understanding inclusive finance in emerging markets focusing on Asia.

The first section offers an introduction to the role of finance in achieving sustainability, and includes an overview of the six areas-sustainable investing, impact investing, decentralized finance, conservation finance, and cleantech finance.

The innovative nature of research is expressed through the study of new phenomena in finance including sustainable financial systems, sustainable finance, ESG risk and individual and institutional motivations of financial managers in the sustainability concept.

Research on MFI performance is still in its infancy. MFIs are hybrid organizations with dual objectives. Performance studies in microfinance are therefore less straightforward compared to performance studies in traditional banking research. This book contains new MFI performance research by top scholars from across the globe.

This book analyzes the whole path to justice: from the decision to enter the path to justice until justice is achieved and applies a mixed-methods approach using quantitative and qualitative data.

This book provides a preliminary attempt to understand the impact investors' preferences and characteristics. It offers an empirical insight of the main features characterizing social risk of Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) and explores the correlation existing between social risk and financial return.

This book introduces and explains how to conduct a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis. It discusses the various advantages and disadvantages of different research strategies and designs, and explores the different ways in which SROI analysis results can be used for communication, outreach, and strategic decision-making. It provides insights into how and to what extent SROI analyses can help to meet different expectations, and presents different social impact research designs and methods. It presents an analytical framework for the identification of a proper SROI analysis, and shows readers how to establish an impact model, introducing a stakeholder-based approach.

This book analyzes the whole path to justice: from the decision to enter the path to justice until justice is achieved and applies a mixed-methods approach using quantitative and qualitative data.