Annette Krauss, Gabriela Chmelikova, Ondrej Dvoulety, Performance of Microfinance Institutions in Europe - Does Social Capital Matter?, Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Vol. 68, 2019. (Journal Article)
This paper investigates performance drivers of microfinance suppliers in Europe. As such suppliers, in contrast to advanced microfinance suppliers in developing economies, typically focus on uncollateralized microcredit services to individuals at the margins of society and of labor markets, we draw on the theory of social capital and empirically investigate the role that social capital may play in the overall performance of European microfinance suppliers. We build a unique, unbalanced panel data set of 302 microfinance service providers in Europe covering the years 2008 to 2015, and measure their performance in terms of credit risk, financial and social performance, and efficiency. Pursuing an econometric approach, we test a series of hypotheses using various measures of conditions conducive to building social capital on both the institutional and the country level, such as the client base of a microfinance supplier and the level of cultural fractionalization in a society. Our findings confirm that a higher intensity of social capital is positively associated with all areas of the performance of microfinance suppliers in Europe. Our conclusions could help in the design and launch of microfinance institutions in those European countries in which microfinance markets are developed not at all or only to a very limited extent. Our paper thus contributes to the nascent literature on microfinance in developed economies by applying and extending the theoretical framework and empirical models on social capital and microfinance that were originally elaborated for developing economies. |
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Marc Chesney, Microtaxa como resposta à overdose fiscal, In: Folha de S. Paulo : um jornal a serviço do Brasil, p. n/a, 3 November 2019. (Newspaper Article)
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Judith Henke, Annette Krauss, Gut gemeintes Investieren, In: Handelsblatt, 2 October 2019. (Media Coverage)
Fonds, die Mikrokredite in Schwellenländern im Portfolio haben, zeigen ein relativ gutes Verhältnis von Rendite zu Risiko. Ob sie wie erhofft auch zur Linderung von Armut beitragen, ist bisher nicht klar erwiesen. |
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Redaktion, Marc Chesney, Credit Suisse espère avoir tourné la page du scandale qui a ébranlé son patron Tidjane Thiam, In: RTS.ch, 2 October 2019. (Media Coverage)
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Nicole Reichlin, Assessing the Coal Transition: The Consequences of the Paris Agreement on Coal Companies' Financial Risk, University of Zurich, Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics, 2019. (Master's Thesis)
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Raphael Pepe, Hindernisse für Impact Investing in der Schweiz, University of Zurich, Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics, 2019. (Bachelor's Thesis)
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Rahul Bhagwanani, Large shareholder effects in the German utility sector - influence of government shareholders on the energy transition, University of Zurich, Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics, 2019. (Master's Thesis)
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Raphael Schmid, The Impact of Scheduled and Unscheduled Announcements on Foreign Exchange Options, University of Zurich, Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics, 2019. (Bachelor's Thesis)
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Redaktion, Marc Chesney, Die Finanzkrise zwingt Ökonomie-Professoren, ihre bisherige Lehre zu überdenken, In: Radio SRF 1, 29 August 2019. (Media Coverage)
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Beat Metzler, Marc Chesney, Er plant eine Steuerrevolution, In: Tages Anzeiger, 7 August 2019. (Media Coverage)
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Redaktion, Marc Chesney, Investmentbanking: Vom Goldesel zur Problemzone?, In: Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen SRF, 11 July 2019. (Media Coverage)
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Fritz Muri, Falko Paetzold, Aktivisten blockieren Eingänge von grossen Schweizer Banken, In: Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen SRF, 8 July 2019. (Media Coverage)
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Nadine Wyss, Mutual Funds and Sustainable Investing, University of Zurich, Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics, 2019. (Master's Thesis)
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Melwin Parodi, Stock price effects and sustainability indices, University of Zurich, Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics, 2019. (Master's Thesis)
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Violeta Berisha, Time-Varying Inflation Risk and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns. An Analysis for Switzerland, University of Zurich, Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics, 2019. (Master's Thesis)
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Katrin Hummel, Ute Laun, Annette Krauss, Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Topics in the Banking Sector - an Empirical Investigation, In: SSRN, No. 3415580, 2019. (Working Paper)
This paper investigates how environmental and social (E&S) risks and topics are integrated in the banking sector. In the context of global financial stability, banks play a key role in steering financial flows towards sustainable development. Yet, little is currently known as to whether and how banks integrate E&S aspects into their management control systems and whether this integration translates into E&S performance. Building on prior studies in the environmental management control literature, we design a conceptual model in which we link contextual factors, a proactive strategy approach, E&S management controls, and E&S performance. Following common practice in the banking sector, we differentiate between two paths of E&S management controls: risk management (value protection) and topic management (value creation). Based on survey data of 50 European banks, we find evidence that contextual factors, reflected in the perceived power and legitimacy of clients, voluntary standard setters and NGOs, are positively related to a proactive strategy approach. This proactive strategy translates into both topic and risk management. Yet, in the next step, only topic management is positively related to the E&S performance of a bank, but not risk management. |
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Julia Meyer, Annette Krauss, Kremena Bachmann, Drivers of Investor Motivations for Impact Investments: The Case of Microfinance, In: SSRN, No. 3395275, 2019. (Working Paper)
Recent empirical research shows that both financial and value-related considerations prevail for an individual’s decision to invest in companies or products deemed sustainable or socially responsible. This paper investigates how different investor motivations vary across forms of sustainable investment strategies, in particular between broad sustainable investments and targeted impact investments. We use a unique dataset of retail investors engaged in a development oriented microfinance investment vehicle to analyze how different motives affect the demand for distinct sustainable investments. Our results show that different motives trigger different types of sustainable investments. While decisions to engage in general sustainable investments are mainly linked to return and risk expectations, the investment decision for the impact investment vehicle is connected more strongly to value attributes. In line with previous findings on general sustainable investments, we find that the decision to invest is driven more by value-related criteria while the amount invested is driven by financial motivations. Our analysis furthermore shows that distrust in the financial markets is a major driver for the share invested in general sustainable investments, but not in impact investments. |
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Julia Meyer, Outreach and performance of microfinance institutions: the importance of portfolio yield, Applied Economics, Vol. 51 (27), 2019. (Journal Article)
In this paper, we examine the interaction between social outreach and financial return in microfinance. Running multivariate regression models and using 1,805 observations of microfinance institutions between 2004 and 2013, we find strong evidence suggesting that institutions with more social engagement – in terms of outreach to the poor – earn higher portfolio yields. We also find that measures of outreach are associated with increased operating expenses. As return figures are influenced by both costs and yield, and because both increase to a similar degree with the depth of outreach, these two effects lead to a zero sum result on return measures. This finding could explain why existing studies assessing the interaction between social outreach and different measures of financial performance in microfinance (such as return on assets/equity, operating expenses, operational self-sufficiency) have not produced consistent results. |
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Redaktion, Marc Chesney, Impôts: une initiative propose de remplacer la TVA et l'impôt sur le revenu par une micro-taxe, In: RTS.ch, 8 June 2019. (Media Coverage)
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Sergey Keller, How does social performance affect financial performance in microfinance?, University of Zurich, Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics, 2019. (Master's Thesis)
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