Contenu du sommaire : Innovating for Responsible and Sustainable Finance

Behaving responsibly is a priority for all businesses including, of course, the banking sector. The United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), launched in 2019, pursue six internal and external objectives. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the PRB and to investigate how an innovation such as the blockchain could contribute to achieving the UN objectives. Our research uses a qualitative method, based on the Knowledge Café as a data collection tool, enabling us to draw on the experience of ten experts in the banking and/or blockchain domains. Our data analysis identifies a series of nine key concepts that cut across the six PRB. The main findings of our study shed light on the importance of transparency, trust, and the involvement of all stakeholders in the implementation of blockchain solutions within banks. However, there are some barriers to implementation, such as the energy consumption of blockchain, misunderstanding and a need for education on this disruptive technology, and the quality of data. We conclude by presenting the theoretical and managerial implications of our study, including their impact on the funding of SMEs. JEL Codes: G21, M48, N20, O33

Green bonds are one of the most significant financial innovations to address the impacts of climate change and to help companies and governments to finance their ecological transition. The green bond market has been growing rapidly worldwide since its debut in 2007. In this paper, we present the first empirical study on the effects of ownership structure on green bond issuance by firms in France from 2013 to 2019. After compiling a comprehensive green bond dataset, we used legitimacy, stakeholders, and slack resources theories to investigate institutional investors and public authority ownership impact on green bond issuance. Our results confirm the heterogeneity of institutional investors and highlight a positive relation between insurance company and public authority ownership and green bond issuance. JEL Codes: G39, H1, C13

This paper examines whether the ESG reporting transparency of listed firms in the UK can play a role in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate 350 UK firms in the FTSE350 index from 2016 to 2021 with daily data on stock performance and annual data on financial performance. The empirical results show that firms with a high ESG disclosure score have a lower volatility of stock performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. For these firms, the negative relationship between stock performance, as well as financial performance, and their main driving factors, is lower during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these factors, we identify the lockdown announcement, quantitative easing announcement, and the intensity of news media coverage of the company. These results tend to indicate that the quantity of ESG data reported by firms can contribute to mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stock performance volatility and financial performance.JEL Code: G3

Investment in green innovation has become a vital driver in many industries today. How green innovation contributes to a firm's environmental and financial performance remains uncertain and there is debate about this relationship. Using data gathered from 243 firms between 2013 and 2020, our study aims to provide new evidence on this topic. Our results indicate that green innovation has a clear, positive effect on environmental and financial performance in corporations striving to achieve sustainability and environmental protection. We also find that green innovation mediates the relationship between environmental and financial performances. Based on our findings, we suggest that green innovation is a profitable strategy in the long run with a positive influence on the environmental and financial performances of a firm. Our findings are robust when tested by alternative econometric and variable specifications and offer insights to policymakers and business managers.JEL Codes: G24, O31, O34, Q51

The surge of interest in servitization in the strategic management literature focuses mainly on intra-firm issues. This study complements work on servitization by positing that servitization represents a radical shift in how ecosystems are renewed and how ecosystem leadership is developed. Servitization changes the way the focal firm creates, delivers, and captures value for its consumers, consequently impacting the entire multi-actor “chain” of value creation. We argue that during the ecosystem renewal stage, adopting different types of servitization strategies has different effects on ecosystem leadership development. We develop a conceptual framework to analyze the impact that different servitization strategies have on ecosystem leadership development. We use a real-world case to illustrate and support our conceptual framework. We discuss different implications of our framework for ecosystem alignment, ecosystem business models, and collaborations. The study contributes to the growing research on the interplay between servitization and ecosystems.JEL Codes: M1

Some managerial innovations (MIs) spread widely, and others do not. To gain a better understanding of why, the current empirical study offers a rare qualitative exploration of the interplay of two approaches to MI diffusion: rational and institutional. Using a case study of the emergent MI of mindfulness-based interventions at work, the authors show that, of the many attributes traditionally cited to explain MI diffusion, those pertaining to compatibility and a capacity to be adapted are key. “Fashion setters” (in an institutional approach) and “change agents” such as consultants and gurus (in a rational approach) are often identified as key players in MI diffusion. However, the current study challenges this assessment by offering more nuanced insights. In particular, the influence of such agents decreases if they do not find relays within companies that have adopted MIs early. Furthermore, other actors can emerge as opinion leaders in the shadows.JEL CODES: I31, M10, O30, O31

This paper aims to explore the taxonomies of EU-funded R&D consortia. Detailed taxonomies are needed to fully understand sponsored consortia features in order to better address their governance challenges. This study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by highlighting the implications of public sponsorship and involving a large set of features related to several aspects of the consortium. Adopting an exploratory approach, we use the cluster analysis method for data analysis. Based on a sample of 207 observations of firms engaged in R&D consortia formed under the EU framework program (Horizon 2020 & Eureka), the results identify four groups of EU-sponsored R&D consortia. The findings show the influence of public sponsorship on the consortium taxonomy as well as the organizational pitfalls and solutions related to each consortium type. This research provides public policy-makers with key features of recent EU-funded R&D consortia and important elements to understand how they influence, through bureaucratic and institutional mechanisms, the consortium governance.JEL Code: O320