A volatility-match approach to measure performance: the case of socially responsible exchange traded funds (ETFs)

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Lobato ◽  
Javier Rodríguez ◽  
Herminio Romero
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Result ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Exchange Traded Funds ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Performance Metric ◽  
Linear Framework ◽  
The Difference

PurposeThis study examines the risk-adjusted performance of socially responsible exchange traded funds (SR ETFs) in comparison to conventional ETFs.Design/methodology/approachThe main empirical result is based on a risk-adjusted performance metric that does not rely on a linear framework. It measures the difference between the returns of an ETF and the returns of a volatility-match and efficient portfolio. In addition, performance is measured using alpha based on single and multifactor formulations.FindingsResults show that the performance of SRI ETFs is not different from the performance of conventional ETFs.Originality/valueGiven the results of the study, socially aware investors can choose to invest in SRI ETFs without sacrificing performance.

The effects of materialism on consumer evaluation of sustainable synthetic (lab-grown) products

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 579-590
Author(s):  
Jessica Keech ◽  
Maureen Morrin ◽  
Jeffrey Steven Podoshen
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumer Evaluation ◽  
Positioning Strategy ◽  
Consumer Markets ◽  
The Future ◽  
Promotion Strategies ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The increasing desire of consumers for socially responsible luxury products combined with fluctuating supplies in consumer markets are leading various industries to seek alternative sources to be able to meet the needs of its customers. One possible solution that may meet the demands of the future is lab-grown products. Because these products confer multiple benefits, this study aims to investigate the most effective ways to appeal to consumers by aligning the benefits of the products with their values as marketers seek to find effective promotion for these items. Design/methodology/approach We examine the effectiveness of an ethical positioning strategy for two types of luxury lab-grown (synthetic) products among high versus low materialism consumers in three experiments. Findings Findings suggest that a positioning strategy stressing product ethicality is more effective for low materialism consumers, whereas the strategy is less effective, and may even backfire, for high materialism consumers. The impact on social status consumers perceive from a lab-grown product explains why this effect occurs among low materialism consumers. Therefore, marketers should take caution and use specific appeals for different segments based on values such as consumers’ materialism levels. Originality/value If lab-grown products represent the wave of the future, it is important to understand how consumers will respond to this emerging technology and how promotion strategies may enhance their evaluation.

scholarly journals Assessing the impact of libraries – the role of ISO 16439

2018 ◽  
Vol 119 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 87-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Creaser
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Standard ◽  
The World ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Library Impact ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Library impact and how to evaluate it has been debated for a number of years. While the activity – the busy-ness – of the library is now routinely measured and described, the difference the library makes is less tangible and harder to measure. Libraries in all sectors and worldwide are grappling with this issue, and the purpose of this paper is to summarise international standards available to support them. Design/methodology/approach The first international standard concerning library impact, ISO 16439 Information and documentation – methods and procedures for assessing the impact of libraries, was published in 2014 after several years in development. Findings The standard describes a range of methods for assessing library impact which have been used across the world in a variety of libraries in all sectors. Originality/value This paper summarises the key methods described in the standard, and gives references for further reading.

Intertwining CSR with strategy – the way ahead

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shital Jhunjhunwala
Keyword(s):  
Business Strategy ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Business Models ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance and means of making corporate social responsibility (CSR) an integral part of corporate strategy with the help of case studies. Design/methodology/approach – The article explores the transformation of business from being egocentric to socially responsible. With the use of examples it demonstrates how integrating CSR into strategy can create sustainable business models. Findings – Firms need to develop a framework for integrating CSR into their business strategy for long term successful survival. Social implications – Corporates and society are intertwined and mutually dependent. Business cannot survive without society's acquiescence nor succeed without its active support. Originality/value – The article explains the benefits of CSR and how to make it an integral part of business strategy to gain a competitive advantage.

Role of mall attractiveness in shaping fashion shopping orientation of apparel shoppers: a segmentation approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajay Kumar ◽  
Anil Kumar Kashyap
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Variety Seeking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Shopping Orientation ◽  
Intercept Survey ◽  
Segmentation Approach ◽  
The Difference

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify distinct segments of apparel shoppers based on their fashion shopping orientation. The difference among the segments based on mall attractive dimension is also examined. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected through mall intercept survey from the mall shoppers. Samples of 375 respondents are used for data analysis purpose. Exploratory factor analysis is used to extract the factors of fashion shopping orientation and mall attractive dimensions while K-means cluster analysis is applied to identify the segments. Findings This study resulted in three factors of fashion orientation of apparel shoppers, i.e. fashion involvement, variety seeking and economic value, and four factors of mall attractive dimensions: convenience, entertainment, atmosphere and architecture design. Based on these factors, this study came out with three distinct segments of fashion shoppers: pragmatic shoppers, variety seeking shoppers and highly fashioned shoppers. These three segments are attracted towards the mall dimension differently. Originality/value This paper presents the three distinct profiles of fashion shoppers based on their fashion shopping orientation and mall attractive dimensions. The findings of this study may help retailers and mall developers to target mall visitors appropriately.

The response of majority employee-owned firms during the pandemic compared to other firms

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Blasi ◽  
Douglas Kruse ◽  
Dan Weltmann
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Employee Ownership ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rutgers University ◽  
Employment Trends ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Industry Membership ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to understand how majority employee-owned firms responded to the pandemic compared to firms that were not majority employee-owned. The Employee Ownership Foundation partnered with Rutgers University and the SSRS survey firm to survey ESOP and non-ESOP firms about their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. A key purpose of the survey was to estimate firm-level changes in employment from mid-January to August (current employment figures were adjusted to August 5 using BLS industry employment trends). The survey also looked at other forms of adjustment and responses to the pandemic as reviewed below. The focus in this study is on the differences between firms that are majority owned by ESOPs and those that are not.Design/methodology/approachThe survey included 247 executives from ESOP Association member companies and 500 executives from an SSRS business panel constructed to be representative of US companies with 50 or more employees. The survey started on August 5 and ended on September 23, 2020.Findings(1) Majority ESOP firms had employment declines from January to August that were on average only one-fourth as large as for other firms. The difference is maintained when controlling for industry membership. (2) Majority ESOP firms were more likely to be declared “essential,” but the lower employment cutbacks among majority ESOP firms remain among essential and non-essential businesses. As essential businesses, majority ESOP firms were more likely receive Paycheck Protection Program or other government pandemic assistance, but both assistance recipients and non-recipients had lower employment cutbacks among majority ESOP firms. (3) The extent of employment cutbacks was higher for non-managers than for managers, but the manager/non-manager gap was higher among other firms than among majority ESOP firms.Research limitations/implicationsThis study supports empirical findings done previously.Practical implicationsThis study suggests to non-EO firms what they can do.Social implicationsThis study suggests strengths of EO firms.Originality/valueA very original and one-of-a-kind dataset.

Large-cap vs small-cap portfolio performance: new empirical evidence from ETFs

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-94
Author(s):  
Gerasimos Rompotis
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Portfolio Performance ◽  
Exchange Traded Funds ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Risk Characteristics ◽  
The Usa ◽  
First Time ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeA well-documented pattern in the literature concerns the outperformance of small-cap stocks relative to their larger-cap counterparts. This paper aims to address the “small-cap versus large-cap” issue using for the first time data from the exchange traded funds (ETFs) industry.Design/methodology/approachSeveral raw return and risk-adjusted return metrics are estimated over the period 2012-2016.FindingsResults are partially supportive of the “size effect”. In particular, small-cap ETFs outperform large-cap ETFs in overall raw return terms even though they fail the risk test. However, outperformance is not consistent on an annual basis. When risk-adjusted returns are taken into consideration, small-cap ETFs are inferior to their large-cap counterparts.Research limitations/implicationsThis research only covers the ETF market in the USA. However, given the tremendous growth of ETF markets worldwide, a similar examination of the “small vs large capitalization” issue could be conducted with data from other developed ETF markets in Europe and Asia. In such a case, useful comparisons could be made, so that we could conclude whether the findings of the current study are unique and US-specific or whether they could be generalized across the several international ETF markets.Practical implicationsA possible generalization of the findings would entail that profitable investment strategies could be based on the different performance and risk characteristics of small- and large-cap ETFs.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine the performance of ETFs investing in large-cap stock indicesvis-à-visthe performance of ETFs tracking indices comprised of small-cap stocks.

Profiling German-speaking socially responsible investors

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Dorfleitner ◽  
Sebastian Utz
Keyword(s):  
Categorical Data ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Investment Volume ◽  
German Speaking

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main motives of investors in allocating their money in a socially responsible (SR) way. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on primary data collected in a survey using an online questionnaire. This paper applies tests for continuous and categorical data and (ordered) logit models. Findings – In a multivariate analysis that investigates determinants of SR investing, this study finds little influence of the demographic factors of gender and investment volume and none of educational level. Furthermore, it shows that the regions investors allocate their money to are significant along with the preference toward the order of return, risk and liquidity. Moreover, there appears to be a gap between supply and demand of SR investments. Additionally, there are indications that a very important inducement for SR investing is the expectation of a high financial performance. Originality/value – There are very few international studies concerning the link between SR investments and the explanation of preferences with factors other than demographic ones. This study broadens the scope of the literature by providing novel empirical evidence for the German-speaking market.

Spirituality and social responsibility performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katelin Barron ◽  
Shih Yung Chou
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Core Values ◽  
Time Orientation ◽  
Spiritual Values ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Religiously Affiliated ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Higher Power

Purpose This paper aims to discuss how religiously and non-religiously affiliated individuals may view the three core workplace spiritual values: transcendence, existence of a higher power and interconnectedness. Additionally, this paper studies how the contrasts between the views of religiously and non-religiously affiliated individuals about the three core spiritual values affect their performance of social responsibility initiatives. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual analysis was used. Findings This paper suggests that religiously and non-religiously affiliated individuals view the three core spiritual values differently. Drawing upon the three core spiritual values viewed by religiously and non-religiously affiliated individuals, this paper proposes the following. First, religiously affiliated individuals will focus on implementing social responsibility initiatives for a longer time orientation compared to non-religiously affiliated individuals. Second, when engaging in social responsibility, religiously affiliated individuals will focus on implementing a smaller scope of social responsibility initiatives than non-religiously affiliated individuals. Finally, religiously affiliated individuals will focus on implementing a larger scale of social responsibility initiatives than non-religiously affiliated individuals. Originality/value This paper is one of the very first studies addressing how religiously and non-religiously affiliated individuals view core values of spirituality. Additionally, this paper advances the literature by contrasting how religiously and non-religiously affiliated individuals engage in socially responsible initiatives in accordance with how they view spirituality.

Understanding the difference of values-based motivation of managerial workers in spa businesses in Thailand

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pornlapas Suwannarat
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
Core Values ◽  
Operational Performance ◽  
Collection Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis study focuses on variations of the importance of core values through motivational domains of individuals by their cultural background. The effect of motivational domains on operational performance has also been investigated.Design/methodology/approachThe study used survey as the main data collection method to elicit data from managerial workers in spa businesses in four regions of Thailand. An unpublished database of spa businesses was provided to the study by the Thai Chamber of Commerce.FindingsSignificant variations of the importance of motivational domains of managerial workers can be found according to the subculture of each of the four regions of Thailand. In addition, the motivational domains have found their significant impact on worker operational performance.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the limitations of this study may be the distribution of samples because the study focuses on spa businesses, most of which in each region are located in big tourism provinces that may not be wholly representative of the characteristics of each region.Practical implicationsThis study will be of practical value for practitioners or managers of any firms since it is important to consider value variations when assessing the operational performance; workers, especially managerial workers, in each subculture may have different priorities in the motivational domains of their lives. This could affect their operational performance.Originality/valueThis is an original attempt to ascertain variations of core values through motivational domains by subculture. It fills a knowledge gap in under-researched area in the literature since so far a few studies have examined this issue in the ASEAN countries.

Cannabis and web marketing strategies-A study of Colorado cannabis vendors

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samer Forzley
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Profit Sharing ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
The State ◽  
Digital Marketing ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Age Verification ◽  
Marketing Methods ◽  
Responsible Manner

PurposeThis study aimed to investigate the level of adoption of digital marketing by cannabis vendors in the state of Colorado.Design/methodology/approachThe study surveyed a random sample of 30 cannabis vendors in the state of Colorado. The analysis of the vendors’ use of digital marketing methods was conducted using a rubric based on a modified 7C Framework.FindingsIn the state of Colorado, the cannabis industry is nascent and has made an initial investment in digital marketing. While most companies had deployed a website, these websites featured basic elements of digital marketing. Though limited, the industry has made initial attempts to engage customers in a socially responsible manner. The industry would also benefit from better age verification, educational programs and profit sharing.Originality/valueThe study furthers the application of 7C Framework used in evaluating e-commerce sites for cannabis marketing.

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