Barriers to the investment in the Concentrated Solar Power sector in Morocco: A foresight approach using the Cross Impact Analysis for a large number of events

The Scenario Analysis methods have often been used by policy makers as an instrument to manage uncertainty and to support the shaping of long-term economy policies. In this research, we apply Scenario Analysis in order to identify the barriers affecting the decision to invest in the Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) sector in Morocco. Our results aim at facilitating the process of defining different paths in strategic political and policy actions. Using data from a survey on a panel of experts, the Cross Impact Analysis (CIA) and the Cross Impact Matrix System (SMIC) techniques are applied. The advantage of these techniques is that they allow including in the analysis the interlinkages between the events that will define the future scenarios. However, their limitation is that the number of events analyzed cannot be too high since the information collected from the experts increases exponentially according to the number of events introduced. We thus expand our analysis with a new methodological approach, combining the use of prospective and statistics techniques. This approach allows addressing the mentioned limitation and applying these techniques, initially restricted to 6 events in its common application, to a large number of events. The results show that uncertainty and informality would be key factors in promoting the arrival of companies in this sector. Additionally, regarding companies that already have a presence in Morocco’s renewable energy sector, an increase in activity would be achieved through improvements in the easing of financial and legal barriers.     

美国生态修复政策及其对我国林业重点工程的借鉴

美国自20世纪30年代以来,为遏制由于大规模土地开发导致的土壤表层侵蚀等生态退化,实施了一系列政策保护生态,防止水土流失,其中影响较大的包括土地休耕保护计划(CRP)、环境质量激励计划(EQIP)和保护支持计划(CSP)。通过分析三个计划的具体运作和实施成效,并结合我国林业重点工程的实施现状,提出一些政策建议。     

连续型抽样方案在企业内部审计中的适用性

随着生产管理方式的不断发展,人们对质量的要求越来越高,审计抽样技术基本停留在标准型抽样阶段,且不能做到实时监控,导致许多企业管理上的漏洞不能及时发现,造成不同程度的损失。将连续型抽样方案的特点和实施的具体要求,与企业内部审计的特征、职能相对比,发现连续型抽样方案在企业内部审计中的应用是具备可行性的。结合审计案例,对其原有内部审计工作进行对比,发现运用连续型抽样,不仅可以对企业的运营实现实时监控,而且在一定程度上降低了企业工作人员犯错的几率。对企业内部审计抽样理论进行了大胆的创新,将连续型抽样引入企业内部审计,对扩大连续型抽样的应用范围,提高企业内部审计人员的工作效率都起到了积极的作用。     

Revising the Corporate Social Performance Model – Towards Knowledge Creation for Sustainable Development

The objective of this paper is to offer a revision of the corporate social performance (CSP) model. CSP exemplifies how corporate social responsibility translates into an organization's practice by focusing on three key features of performance: principles, processes and outcomes. However, the development of the model has not kept pace with the literature on social and environmental responsibility. This study builds on an argument that if corporate social responsibility in general – in which CSP plays an important role – is to respond to the challenges of sustainable development, the CSP of businesses could be more profoundly planned in order to design knowledge outcomes that contribute to meeting those challenges. The paper thus answers the recent call for the development of a CSP model by revising some of the key elements in the existing model and also by adding a knowledge creation dimension. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Socially responsible investment portfolios: Does the optimization process matter?

This study investigates the impact of the choice of optimization technique when constructing Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) portfolios. Corporate Social Performance (CSP) scores are price sensitive information that is subject to considerable estimation risk. Therefore, uncertainty in the input parameters is greater for SRI portfolios than conventional portfolios, and this affects the selection of the appropriate optimization method. We form SRI portfolios based on six different approaches and compare their performance along the dimensions of risk, risk-return trade-off, diversification and stability. Our results for SRI portfolios contradict those of the conventional portfolio optimization literature. We find that the more “formal” optimization approaches (Black-Litterman, Markowitz and robust estimation) lead to SRI portfolios that are both less risky and have superior risk-return trade-offs than do more simplistic approaches; although they also have more unstable asset allocations and lower diversification. Our conclusions are robust to a series of tests, including the use of different estimation windows and stricter screening criteria.     

The Effects of Corporate Social Performance on the Cost of Corporate Debt and Credit Ratings

This study investigates the differential impact that various dimensions of corporate social performance have on the pricing of corporate debt as well as the assessment of the credit quality of specific bond issues. The empirical analysis, based on an extensive longitudinal data set, suggests that overall, good performance is rewarded and corporate social transgressions are penalized through lower and higher corporate bond yield spreads, respectively. Similar conclusions can be drawn when focusing on either the bond rating assigned to a specific debt issue or the probability of it being considered to be an asset of speculative grade.     

一种基于胰蛋白酶酶解BSA获得小多肽库的新型手性固定相制备(英文)

介绍了一种基于小多肽库的高效液相色谱手性固定相(CSP)的制备.胰蛋白酶酶解牛血清白蛋白(BSA)的优化条件为:在pH8.2,37℃下,酶解6 h,所得到的小多肽库以最大截留分子量(MWCO)为6 000的超滤膜过滤,滤液为含分子量小于6000的多肽分子库,以羰基咪唑法将该小多肽库键合至氨基化硅胶上。与完整蛋白-CSP相比,该多肽-CSP拥有更高的多肽键合密度以及更好的稳定性。对流动相组成以及pH对保留和立体选择性的影响也进行了考察,在优化的条件下,D,L-色氨酸、D,L-酪氨酸以及手性药物R,S-盐酸苯海索在该新型多肽-CSP上均得到了很好的分离。     

Can socially irresponsible firms benefit from corporate advertising?

Abstract

Can corporate advertising improve firm performance following a brand crisis borne out of corporate social irresponsibility (CSI)? This article investigates socially irresponsible firms and their corporate advertising expenditures, which can be used to counter negative opinions. First, we examine whether firms experiencing a negative brand image due to socially irresponsible behavior alter their corporate advertising expenditures. Next, we assess the resulting impact of corporate advertising spending by CSI firms on overall performance. Using a sample of firms engaging in socially irresponsible behavior between 1995 and 2011, we find that such firms tend to increase their corporate advertising. Such changes in corporate advertising expenditures ultimately impact firm performance. Specifically, an increase in corporate advertising helps to reduce the negative effect of CSI on firm performance.     

The impact of formal and informal institutional distances on MNE corporate social performance

Can host country selection affect the corporate social performance (CSP) of multinational enterprises (MNEs)? Using institutional distance as our theoretical lens, we propose and empirically examine the notion that greater institutional diversity can have disparate influences on the social performance of different types of MNEs. We conceptualize each MNE as a unique portfolio of locations and use that “footprint” to examine the impact of formal and informal institutional distances on CSP. We hypothesize and find (1) a moderating influence of greater formal institutional distance in the MNE portfolio that slows the rate of increased benefits associated with greater international scope; and (2) a direct influence of greater informal institutional distance that lowers the overall levels of CSP independent of the international scope of the MNE. Managerial implications for international location selection are discussed.     

The Effects of Corporate and Country Sustainability Characteristics on The Cost of Debt: An International Investigation

We investigate the relationship between corporate and country sustainability on the cost of bank loans. We look into 470 loan agreements signed between 2005 and 2012 with borrowers based in 28 different countries across the world and operating in all major industries. Our principal findings reveal that country sustainability, relating to both social and environmental frameworks, has a statistically and economically impactful effect on direct financing of economic activity. An increase of one unit in a country's sustainability score is associated with an average decrease in the cost of debt by 64 basis points. Our international analysis shows that the environmental dimension of a country's institutional framework is approximately twice as impactful as the social dimension, when it comes to determining the cost of corporate loans. On the other hand, we find no conclusive evidence that firm‐level sustainability influences the interest rates charged to borrowing firms by banks. Our main findings survive a battery of robustness tests and additional analyses concerning subsamples, alternative sustainability metrics and the effects of financial crisis.