The effect of environmental and social performance on the stock performance of european corporations

This paper examines the effect of sustainability performance of European corporations on their stock performance, measured as the average monthly stock return from 1996 to 2001. The econometric analysis is based on common empirical asset pricing models, particularly on the multifactor model according to Fama and French (1993, Journal of Financial Economics, 33:3–56). The consideration of sustainability performance is two-fold: The average sustainability performance of the industry in which a corporation operates and the relative sustainability performance of a corporation within a given industry. The main result is that the average environmental performance of the industry has a significantly positive influence on the stock performance. In contrast, the average social performance of the industry has a significantly negative influence. The variables of the relative environmental or social performance of a corporation within a given industry have no significant effect on the stock performance. As a by-product, the econometric analysis implies that some results of Fama and French (1993, 1996, The Journal of Finance, LI (1):55–84) regarding the risk factors of the multifactor model need not hold true for different observation periods, for different stock markets, and for the use of single stocks (instead of portfolios). An erratum to this article can be found at     

Progress along the path: evolving issues in the measurement of genuine saving

More than 10 years since a practical linkage between sustainable development and a measure of national wealth—expanded to include natural and environmental resources—was first posited, the empirical estimation of adjusted net savings, dubbed ‘genuine’ saving, has evolved considerably. In this paper we take stock of both progress achieved and the challenges that remain. We begin by recalling the key points made in Pearce and Atkinson (1993, Ecol Econ 8, 103), which presented the first cross-country estimates of savings rates adjusted to reflect depletion and degradation of the environment. We then briefly summarise the evolution of the theoretical argument linking savings and sustainability. However, the main focus of this paper is an aspect that concerned David Pearce greatly, namely the evolution of the measurement of genuine savings. We identify and consider the empirical evidence with regard to two particular measurement issues: the valuation of exhaustible resources and environmental degradation. Common to the both issues are concerns about measuring changes in national wealth in real world economies.      

Sustainability of Austrian public debt: a political economy perspective

Sustainability of Austrian public debt is investigated in the context of political objectives such as stabilizing the business cycle, increasing chances for being re-elected and implementing the ideologies of political parties. Several tests indicate that Austrian fiscal policies were sustainable in the period 1960–1974, while from 1975 on, public debt grew much more rapidly. The development of public debt in Austria seems to be driven not primarily by ideology, but by structural causes and a shift in the budgetary policy paradigm. We find some empirical evidence that governments in Austria dominated by one party run higher deficits than coalition governments. There are no indications of a political business cycle.     

Sustainability accounting—a brief history and conceptual framework

Research linking accounting to the emerging concept of sustainability surfaced in the early 1990s and has received continuing attention in academic and professional accounting literature. This paper tracks this brief history through to the release of the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in August 2002, consolidating the various approaches into a sustainability accounting framework. The result is a comprehensive reporting model that presents an enormous challenge to business organisations, requiring a significant commitment of resources to achieve widespread implementation. Failure to meet this challenge enables business organisations to continue to avoid accountability for their continuing unsustainability. The paper concludes with a personal view as to how implementation of the sustainability accounting framework could proceed.     

Germany’s changing airport infrastructure: the prospects for ‘newcomer’ airports attempting market entry

Despite fluctuations for economic or political reasons, the number of passengers and volume of cargo carried by air is growing quickly, leading to a shortage of airport capacity in some European regions with few slots available at some hubs. This problem has accelerated the trend towards an increase in airport capacity for larger aircraft everywhere, a process which started in the UK and is now continuing throughout Europe, especially in Germany. Apart from development at the hubs, however, many small airports have also been enlarged, former military airbases have been converted to civilian use, and new runways are to be built in areas away from centres of population. These changes have occurred within a short period of time. In Germany, the number of available airports with runways over 1800 m will have doubled in a period of 10–15 years.     

Coercive,normative and mimetic isomorphism as determinants of the voluntary assurance of sustainability reports

This study offers an opportunity to understand how country- and industry-specific effects may affect the decision to assure sustainability reports by identifying institutional pressures. Based on neo-institutional theory, the aim of this research is to highlight whether assurance derives from the coercive, normative and mimetic forces related to legal and cultural strength and the industry pressure for assurance, respectively. The panel data analysis of an international sample of 696 companies for the period 2007–2014 shows that voluntary assurance acts as a legitimization tool implemented by companies in response to normative, coercive and mimetic pressures; that is, companies operating in countries that have a greater legal system and cultural development, especially in industries that are greatly concerned about sustainability, are more likely to issue an assurance statement. Moreover, through a two-stage logit model, we respond to the question of which is the relevant institutional factor that causes voluntary assurance to be adopted. Specifically, we evidence that the normative factor is the one that exerts the greatest explanatory power in the assurance demand, followed by coercive pressure.     

住宅小区可持续性及评价指标体系研究

本文借鉴了国内外可持续发展的研究成果并结合我国住宅建设的现状,在可持续发展基本理论的指导下,分析了住宅小区可持续性的内涵,在此基础上构建了住宅小区可持续性评价指标体系,并简要介绍了层次分析法和模糊评价理论的使用,提出了定量描述住宅小区可持续性的模型。     

A theoretical model for assessing the sustainability Of ecosystem services

The Value of the World＇s Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital by Costanza in 1997 is generally regarded as a monumem for the research of valuing ecosystem services. However, the classification of ecosystem services, the method of various services summation and the purpose for static global value had be confronted by many criticisms. Based on the summary of these criticisms, suggestions, related function assessment and further study direction, the sustainability of ecosystem Services is presented. The two basic indicators in ecology, productivity and biodiversity, respectively charactering the ability of producing and self-organizing, not only represent the internal function of ecosystem, but also are proportioned to its external function of supporting and providing for human life. On presenting the general.form of ecosystem services assessment, this paper improves the mathematical formula by giving a function adjusting coefficient composea of productivity and biodiversity. Theoretically, the integration of the two indicators reflects the changes of ecosystem services at spatial and temporal scales, can physically assess the sustainability of ecosystem services, and build a firm scientific fundament of value assessment for ecosystem services. Objectively, its application should be strictly tested in next step.     

Rural decline or restructuring? Implications for sustainability transitions in rural China

With the increase in climate change and increasing social concerns about environmental deterioration, sustainability has become a hot topic in both natural and social research. Nowadays, sustainable cities are one of the focal points, while rural areas have been disregarded. In fact, rural areas have been suffering from environmental degradation for decades. Thus, sustainability transitions in both urban and rural areas should be given commensurate emphasis. In this paper, we provide an overview of rural evolution worldwide and attempt to explore alternative approaches for enhancing rural sustainability. As depicted in the literature, rural evolution is multifaceted. For a long time, depopulation and demographic aging have been like chronic diseases torturing rural areas. Although there were some bright spots of rural repopulation and economic restructuring, they were not mainstream of rural development. Based on the existing research, we established a conceptual framework and analyzed the rural evolution paradigm from a geographic perspective. We found that rural composition determined rural architecture, while rural architecture affected rural functioning. Changes in rural functioning formed the rural evolution trend. Since rural development was also influenced by external factors, both self-organization and governmental intervention were found to be alternative approaches to guiding rural transitions. We took the case study of Tengtou village to exemplify the sustainable pathways of a rural transition. The case study indicated that national policies were the fundamental impetus for rural transformation, while self-organization played a more important role. We hope that our study will shed new light on policy orientations and rural transitions.