Enterprise risk management and firm performance: Role of the risk committee

In recent years, there have been increasing efforts in the corporate world to invest in risk management and governance processes. In this paper, we examine the impact of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) on firm performance by examining whether firm performance is strengthened or weakened by the establishment of a board-level risk committee (BLRC), an important governance mechanism that oversees ERM processes. Based on 260 observations from FTSE350 listed firms in the UK during 2012–2015, we find the effectiveness of ERM significantly and positively affects firm performance. We also find strong BLRC governance complements this relationship and increases the firm performance effects of ERM. Our findings suggest the mere formation of a BLRC is not a panacea for ERM oversight; however, existence of a structurally strong BLRC is crucial for effective ERM governance.     

Living in a foreign country: the meaning of place of origin and gender for risk perceptions,experiences, and behaviors

Abstract

Previous research has convincingly proven that perceptions, experience, and exposure to risks vary among certain groups in society. By drawing from a unique combination of Swedish survey data and interviews, this study aims to investigate perceptions and experiences of risks as well as in relation to behavior by analyzing the cleavages related to interactions between place of origin and gender. Theoretically, we see individual risk perception as part of situated hierarchical power relations where an individual’s position (which is an intersection of, for example, gender, race, age, and place of origin) structures action and thought. Findings verify that foreign-born men and women perceive risks to a greater extent than those born in Sweden. However, no direct pattern of ethnicity is apparent in exposure to risks, but since predictors measuring experience of discrimination are shown to be significant, the effect can be mediated by such circumstances. In terms of how risks have affected behavior, women, irrespective of their ethnicity, are affected. Exposure to tragic experiences among those who are foreign born can pose risks that are perceived to a greater extent. Furthermore, more vulnerable material conditions can also affect how risks are perceived, and uncertainty due to a lack of resources and as an inherent ingredient of living in a foreign country seem to enhance perceptions of risk and feelings of unsafety. Last, the sense of discrimination appears to influence exposure to certain risks, which might capture an interaction between racism and violence.     

The multi-layer network nature of systemic risk and its implications for the costs of financial crises

The inability to see and quantify systemic financial risk comes at an immense social cost. Systemic risk in the financial system arises to a large extent as a consequence of the interconnectedness of its institutions, which are linked through networks of different types of financial contracts, such as credit, derivatives, foreign exchange, and securities. The interplay of the various exposure networks can be represented as layers in a financial multi-layer network. In this work we quantify the daily contributions to systemic risk from four layers of the Mexican banking system from 2007 to 2013. We show that focusing on a single layer underestimates the total systemic risk by up to 90%. By assigning systemic risk levels to individual banks we study the systemic risk profile of the Mexican banking system on all market layers. This profile can be used to quantify systemic risk on a national level in terms of nation-wide expected systemic losses. We show that market-based systemic risk indicators systematically underestimate expected systemic losses. We find that expected systemic losses are up to a factor of four higher now than before the financial crisis of 2007–2008. We find that systemic risk contributions of individual transactions can be up to a factor of one thousand higher than the corresponding credit risk, which creates huge risks for the public. We find an intriguing non-linear effect whereby the sum of systemic risk of all layers underestimates the total risk. The method presented here is the first objective data-driven quantification of systemic risk on national scales that reveal its true levels.     

Risk assessment of option performance for new product and process development projects in the chemical industry: a case study

This paper presents as a case study, empirical research forming part of a large EPSRC‐funded project to decrease new product and process development times within the UK fine chemicals industry. The work aimed to design a decision support system to evaluate competing options in such development projects. Theoretical and practical contributions from academic and industrial collaborating groups were integrated using Action Research. High levels of risk when bringing new products to market or new processes on line means that risk assessment features significantly when evaluating different project options. A key research target, and the concern of this paper, is the design and use of a risk assessment tool (RAT) to fit the context of the overall decision support system. Collectively the tools enabled the options within individual projects to be evaluated on risk and other performance dimensions. Industrialists provided a number of comprehensive case studies to test the suite of tools. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.