Das globale Klima verändert sich, die Energiepreise steigen und die demographische Zusammensetzung der Gesellschaft ist im Wandel begriffen. Diese Entwicklungen beeinflussen auch den Wert einer Immobilie beträchtlich. Gleichwohl spielt die Nachhaltigkeit in heutigen Bewertungen keine - oder kleine zu kleine Rolle. Das Center for Corporate
Responsibility and Sustainability (CCRS) an der Universität Zürich hat darum zusammen mit Vertretern von Novatlantis, der Schweizerischen Schätzexpertenkammer/SVIT, der Stadt Zürich, der Vorsorgeeinrichtung des ehemaligen Swissair Flugpersonals (VeF) und der Zürcher Kantonalbank ein Konzept zur Bewertung von Immobilien unter Berücksichtigung
der Nachhaltigkeit erstellt und gleichzeitig auch das dazugehörige Instrument zur Bewertung der Nachhaltigkeit entwickelt.
This paper provides new empirical evidence for the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate financial performance. In contrast to former studies, we examine two different regions, namely the USA and Europe. Our econometric analysis shows that envi-ronmental and social activities of a firm compared with other firms within the industry are valued by financial markets in both regions. However, the respective positive effects on av-erage monthly stock returns between 2003 and 2006 appear to be more robust in the USA and, in addition, to be nonlinear. Our analysis furthermore points to biased parameter esti-mations if incorrectly specified econometric models are applied: The seemingly significantly negative effect of environmental and social performance of the industry to which a firm be-longs vanishes if the explanation of stock performance is based on the Fama-French three-factor or the Carhart four-factor models instead of the simple Capital Asset Pricing Model.
We discuss self-serving uses of equity in international climate negotiations. Using unique data from a world-wide survey of agents involved in international climate policy, we show that the perceived support of different equity rules by countries can be explained by the ranking of their economic costs. Despite being self-serving, equity arguments may be perceived as being used for different reasons, e.g. out of fairness considerations or to facilitate of negotiations. Consistent with experimental and behavioral studies, we find empirical evidence for self-serving biases: individuals are more likely to state reasons with positive attributes if they evaluate countries that support the individual’s personally preferred equity rule. Negotiators perceive countries’ use of equity as less influenced by pressure from interest groups.
Der Energieeffizienz wird am Schweizer Immobilienmarkt bis anhin zu wenig Beachtung geschenkt. Dabei ist der Markt bereit, einen Aufpreis für Minergie zu bezahlen. Erforderlich sind aber Bewertungs-Instrumente, die Nachhaltigkeits-
Aspekte umfassend einbeziehen.
This book addresses the ability of market-based instruments to improve the sustainable provision of environmental services. The author combines field research and insights from the multi-stakeholder dialogue at the FAO to analyze the gap between the predictions provided by theory and the corresponding outcomes in practice. In particular, the author challenges the theory behind Payments for Environmental Services (PES), a concept derived from neoclassical welfare economics, by demonstrating that PES projects often lack financial sustainability unless local entrepreneurs make use of the resulting new networks to create innovative markets for environmental goods. The author calls for a shift of focus from regulation to innovation in projects and policies designed to improve the provision of environmental services. Its spotlight on the positive social impacts of companies that engage in hybrid PES schemes will make the book appealing to practitioners and policymakers alike.
The contemporary human rights debate is mostly concerned with the protection of people affected by change that is beyond their control. But what about those who make use of their basic economic rights to facilitate economic and social change? Do these agents of change need protection and, if so, how do their activities relate to the current debate on human rights?
In this book, the historical importance of innovative entrepreneurs as agents of change who indirectly contribute to a more humane world by enhancing access to basic human rights is illustrated. However, entrepreneurial rights tend to be neglected in economic and legal theory as well as in the global debate on human rights. Philipp Aerni argues that this neglect has its roots in the implicit assumption that entrepreneurs must surely know how to help themselves and therefore do not require special attention from a human rights perpective. The fact ist, however, that those most vulnerable to human rights offences, especially in the developing world, are those who have failed to obtain formal employment ard are therefore self-employed by default.
Empirical research shows that European governments and retailers are unlikely to be directly punished by taxpayers and consumers if they move away from their anti-GMO positions and policies. However, it is ultimately not the weak attitudes of taxpayers and consumers that matter to governments and retailers but the strong attitudes of the noisy anti-biotech movement.
This article addresses the democratic deficit that emerges when private corporations engage in public policy, either by providing citizenship rights and global public goods (corporate citizenship) or by influencing the political
system and lobbying for their economic interests (strategic corporate political activities). This democratic deficit is significant, especially when multinational corporations operate in locations where national governance
mechanisms are weak or even fail, where the rule of law is absent and there is a lack of democratic control. This deficit may lead to a decline in the social
acceptance of the business firm and its corporate political activities and, thus, to a loss of corporate legitimacy. Under these conditions corporations may compensate for the emerging democratic deficit and reestablish their
legitimacy by internalizing democratic mechanisms within their organizations, in particular in their corporate governance structures and procedures. Theauthors analyze the available corporate governance models with the help of
a typology and discuss the possible contributions of a new form of democratic corporate governance.
