Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Concluding Remarks

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
On Values in Finance and Ethics

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Finance ((BRIEFSFINANCE))

  • 433 Accesses

Abstract

Despite the aforementioned potentials of a convergence of ethics and finance, severe obstacles need to be acknowledged and will be discussed in this chapter. In the first part, the main findings of the previous elaborations are recapitulated and summarized. A critical review of common positions in the narrower as well as the wider understanding of sustainability and corporate social responsibility follows. The one-sided view of only negative external effects needs special attention, as free-riding problems can occur whenever the positive external effects of a firm’s conduct are overlooked. In addition the contributions of private households internalizing the negative external effects of their individual consumption require attention. Controversial areas of current discussions in sustainable finance are the shortcomings arising from the classification of “good” and “bad” investment targets, the still dominant role of financial performance within investment decisions, the role of financial intermediaries in their role as sustainability accountants and monitors as financial regulators stress it, the information overload of investors together with as yet the unspecific mental drivers of ethics in individual investment decisions, and the underestimated problem of money laundering for ethics in finance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    For instance, the Black/Scholes option pricing formula was inspired by the expectations of Fisher Black, employed in the consulting firm Arthur D. Little Inc., and the assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Myron Scholes, to develop a tool for the practical use in the daily business with derivatives (Heimer and Arend 2008, p. 11).

Bibliography

  • Beal DJ, Goyen M, Phillips P (2005) Why do we invest ethically? J Invest 14(3):66–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonini MJ, Hintz G, Mendonca LT (2008) Addressing consumer concerns about climate change. McKinsey Q:1–9. http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Strategy/Strategic_Thinking/Addressing_consumer_concerns_about_climate_change_2115. Accessed 25 Aug 2018

  • Cho CY (2016) Academic literature on ESG and financial performance. The Michael Lee-Chin Family Institute of Corporate Citizenship, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  • Ding S, Beaulieu P (2011) The role of financial incentives in balanced scorecard-based performance evaluations: correcting mood congruency biases. J Account Res 49(5):1223–1247. doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-679X.2011.00421.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dorfleitner G, Nguyen M (2017) A new approach for optimizing responsible investments dependently on the initial wealth. J Asset Manag 18(2):81–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eccles N (2011) New values in responsible investment. In: Vandekerckhove W, Leys J, Alm K, Scholtens B, Signore S, Schaefer H (eds) Responsible investments in times of turmoil. Springer, Amsterdam, pp 19–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckert S, Schäfer H (2014) Risk, return... and impact? Current attitudes of selected German investors towards social impact investing. Bertelsmann Foundation. https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/fileadmin/files/user_upload/German_Investor_Attitudes_towards_SII.pdf. Accessed 2 Sept 2018

  • European Commission (2018) Action plan: financing sustainable growth. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52018DC0097&from=EN. Accessed 4 Aug 2018

  • Friede G, Busch T, Bassen A (2015) ESG and financial performance: aggregated evidence from more than 2000 empirical studies. J Sustain Financ Invest 5(4):210–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Godeke S, Pomares R, Bruno AV, Guerra P, Kliessner C, Shefrin H (2009) Solutions for impact investors - from strategy to implementation. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Glimcher PW, Groswald L, Levinson A, Livermore MA, Macauley MK, Trtanj J (2016) Neuroeconomics: a new direction for valuing environmental public goods. Resources for the Future, Washington, DC. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/N_X9r8wWjFw

    Google Scholar 

  • Green Finance Task Force (2015) Establishing China’s green financial system. Final Report of the Green Finance Task Force. Beijing. https://www.cbd.int/financial/privatesector/chinaGreen%20Task%20Force%20Report.pdf. Accessed 14 Sept 2018

  • Greenhouse Gas Protocol (2013) Technical guidance for calculating scope 3 emissions – supplement to the corporate value chain (scope 3) accounting & reporting standard. https://www.ghgprotocol.org/sites/default/files/ghgp/standards/Scope3_Calculation_Guidance_0.pdf. Accessed 4 Aug 2018

  • Hafenstein A, Bassen A (2016) Influences for using sustainability information in the investment decision-making of non-professional investors. J Sustain Finance Invest 6(3):186–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/20430795.2016.1203598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallerbach W, Ning H, Soppe A, Spronk J (2004) A framework for managing a portfolio of socially responsible investments. Eur J Oper Res 153:517–529. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-2217(03)00172-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heimer T, Arend S (2008) The genesis of the Black-Scholes option pricing formula. Frankfurt School – Working Paper Series, No. 98, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Frankfurt am Main

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeucken M (2004) Sustainability in finance: banking on the planet. Eborn Publ, Delft

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson K, Lee H (2013) Impact investing: a framework for decision making. Cambridge Associates LLC, Boston, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Khaw MW, Grab DA, Livermore MA, Vossler CA, Glimcher PW (2015) The measurement of subjective value and its relation to contingent valuation and environmental public goods. PLoS ONE 10(7):1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lusardi, A./Tufano, P., (2009), Debt Literacy, Financial Experiences, and Overindebtedness, NBER Working Paper 14808. Auf den Seiten von: Natl Bur Econ Res (NBER). http://www.nber.org/papers/w14808. Accessed 12 Oct 2018

  • Mason, C. L./Wilson, R. M., (2000), Conceptualising financial literacy, Res Ser Pap 7. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspacejspui/ bitstream/2134/ 2016/3/2000-7.pdf, Accessed 25 July 2018

  • Moskowitz M (1972) Choosing socially responsible stocks. Bus Soc 1:71–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelsmacker P, Driese L, Rayp G (2005) Do consumers care about ethics? Willingness to pay for fair-trade coffee. J Consum Aff 39(2):363–385

    Google Scholar 

  • Reimsbach D, Hahn R, Gürtürk A (2017) Integrated Reporting and Assurance of Sustainability Information: an Experimental Study on Professional Investors’ Information Processing. Eur Account Rev:1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638180.2016.1273787

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Revelli C, Viviani J-L (2015) Financial performance of socially responsible investing (SRI): what have we learned? A meta-analysis. Bus Ethics Eur Rev 24(2):158–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Rost K, Ehrmann T (2015) Reporting biases in empirical management research: the example of win-win corporate social responsibility. Bus Soc 54(1):1–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandberg J, Juravle C, Hedesström TM, Hamilton I (2009) The heterogeneity of socially responsible investment. J Bus Ethics 87:519–533

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanford CS (1993) Financial markets in 2020. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City symposium. https://www.kansascityfed.org/publicat/sympos/1993/s93sanfo.pdf. Accessed 6 Sept 2018

  • Schäfer H (2018) Germany: the ‘greenhorn’ in the green finance revolution. Environ Sci Policy Sustain Dev 60(1):18–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.2018.1397472 Accessed 6 Sept 2018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schäfer H, Goldschmidt R (2010) Corporate social responsibility of large family owned firms in germany: conceptual outline and empirical results. Special issue “family firms”. Int J Entrep Small Bus 11(3):285–307

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider F (2002) The hidden financial flows of Islamic Terrorist Organisations: some preliminary results from an economic perspective. Discussion Paper, Department of Economics, University of Linz, Austria, presented at “The Economic Consequences of Global Terrorism”, DIW, Berlin, 14–15 June 2002

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider F (2013) The financial flows of transnational crime and tax fraud in OECD countries. What do we (not) know. Public Financ Rev 41(5):677–707

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, F, Caruso R (2011) The (hidden) financial flows of terrorist and transnational crime organizations: a literature review and some preliminary empirical results. Economics of Security Working Paper 52, Berlin: Economics of Security. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/6774806.pdf. Accessed 6 Sept 2018

  • Schröder M (2014) Financial effects of corporate social responsibility: a literature review. J Sustain Financ Invest 4(4):337–350

    Google Scholar 

  • Simnett R (1996) The effect of information selection, information processing and task complexity on predictive accuracy on auditors. Acc Organ Soc 21(7/8):699–719. doi.org/10.1016/0361-3682(96)00006-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon HA (1955) A behavioral model of rational choice. Quarterly Journal of Economics 69(1):99–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sparkes R, Cowton CJ (2004) The maturing of socially responsible investment: a review of the developing link with corporate social responsibility. J Bus Ethics 52(1):45–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Sturgess GL, Cumming LM, Dicker J, Sotiropoulos A, Sultan N (2011) Payment by outcome, a commissioner’s toolkit. The 2020 Public Services Trust at the RSA, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Swain MR, Haka SF (2000) Effects of information load on capital budgeting decisions. Behav Res Account 12:171–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) (2016) Recommendations of the task force on climate-related financial disclosures. https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/publications/recommendations-report/. Accessed 9 Sept 2018

  • UNEP FI (2013) PORTFOLIO CARBON – measuring, disclosing and managing the carbon intensity of investments and investment portfolios. Report der UNEP FI Climate Change Advisory Group und der UNEP FI Investment Commission. http://www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/climatechange/UNEP_FI_Investor_Briefing_Portfolio_Carbon.pdf. Accessed 9 Sept 2018

  • UNEP (2015) The financial system we need. The UNEP inquiry report. Aligning the financial system with sustainable development. http://apps.unep.org/publications/index.php?option=com_pub&task=download&file=011830_en. Accessed 20 Aug 2018

  • Unger B (2013) Can money laundering decrease? Public Financ Rev 41(5):658–676

    Google Scholar 

  • Vorrath J, Beisheim M (2015) Organised crime in the “2030 agenda for sustainable development”. Berlin: Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP). Deutsches Institut für Internationale Politik und Sicherheit. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-450382. Accessed 9 Sept 2018

  • Weber O, Scholz R, Michalik G (2010) Incorporating sustainability criteria into credit risk management. Bus Strateg Environ 19:39–50

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Business Administration, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Henry Schäfer

Authors
  1. Henry Schäfer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Schäfer, H. (2019). Concluding Remarks. In: On Values in Finance and Ethics. SpringerBriefs in Finance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04684-2_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation