Search results

The purpose of this paper is to explore and evaluate the main segments of existing empirical literature related to Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) and provide a thorough investigation of their research questions, theoretical frameworks, data selections and research methodologies.

The literature on SWFs has been split into three main streams: qualitative studies with theoretical contributions aiming to conceptualize the phenomenon of SWFs; normative assessments of the optimal asset allocations of SWFs; and empirical works that aim to investigate different perspectives of SWFs. The paper attempts to review the state of existing literature relating to these areas by answering specific questions.

Despite their significant size and potential impact, the literature on SWFs seems to be still in its infancy. The paper collects insights from previous literature, addresses its difficulties and challenges.

The characteristics of the previous empirical literature and the challenges facing this line of research offer an insightful thought for the future research works in this topic.

The paper offers a thorough assessment of the existing empirical research on SWFs and shade some light on the techniques and procedures used.

The purpose of this study is an assessment of the existing roughness models to simulate the flow in the narrow gap between corotating and rough disks. A specific configuration of the flow through the gap, which forms a minichannel with variable cross sections and rotating walls, makes it a complex problem and, therefore, worth discussing in more detail.

Two roughness models were examined, the first one was based on the wall function modification by application of the shift in the dimensionless velocity profile, and the second one was based on the correction of turbulence parameters at the wall, proposed by Aupoix. Due to the lack of data to validate that specific case, the approach to deal with was selected after a systematic study of reported test cases. It started with a zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer in the flow over a flat plate, continued with flow through minichannels with stationary walls, and finally, focused on the flow between corotating discs, pertaining each time to smooth and rough surfaces.

The limitations of the roughness models were highlighted, which make the models not reliable in the application to minichannel flows. It concerns turbulence models, near-wall discretization and roughness approaches. Aupoix’s method to account for roughness was selected, and the influence of minichannel height, mass flow rate, fluid properties and roughness height on the velocity profile between corotating discs in both smooth and rough cases was discussed.

The originality of this study is the evaluation and validation of different methods to account for the roughness in rotating mini channels, where the protrusions can cover a substantial part of the channel. Flow behavior and performance of different turbulence models were analyzed as well.

Behavioral economics poses a challenge for the welfare evaluation of choices, particularly those that involve risk. It demands that we recognize that the descriptive account of behavior toward those choices might not be the ones we were all taught, and still teach, and that subjective risk perceptions might not accord with expert assessments of probabilities. In addition to these challenges, we are faced with the need to jettison naive notions of revealed preferences, according to which every choice by a subject expresses her objective function, as behavioral evidence forces us to confront pervasive inconsistencies and noise in a typical individual’s choice data. A principled account of errant choice must be built into models used for identification and estimation. These challenges demand close attention to the methodological claims often used to justify policy interventions. They also require, we argue, closer attention by economists to relevant contributions from cognitive science. We propose that a quantitative application of the “intentional stance” of Dennett provides a coherent, attractive and general approach to behavioral welfare economics.

This study explores a hegemonic alliance and the role of relational forms of accounting and accountablity in the making of contemporary capitalism.

We use the WikiLeaks “Cablegate” documents to provide an account of the detailed machinations between interest groups (corporations and the state) that are constitutive of hegemonic activity.

Our analysis of the “Cablegate” documents shows that the US and Chevron were crafting a central role for Turkmenistan and its president on the global political stage as early as 2007, despite offical reporting beginning only in 2009. The documents exemplify how “accountability gaps” occlude the understanding of interdependence between capital and the state.

The study contributes to a growing idea that official accounts offer a fictionalized narrative of corporations as existing independently, and thus expands the boundaries associated with studying multinational corporate activities to include their interdependencies with the modern state.

The study traces how global capitalism extends into new territories through diplomatic channels, as a strategic initiative between powerful state and capital interests, arguing that the outcome is the empowerment of authoritarian states at the cost of democracy.

The study argues that previous accounting and accountability research has overlooked the larger picture of how capital and the state work together to secure a mutual hegemonic interest. We advocate for a more complete account of these activities that circumvents official, often restricted, views of global capitalism.

Current research suggests culture as a driving force of successful digital innovation (DI) that may not only built an organization's capability to digitally innovate but also reduce impeding factors within the organization. Only few empirical accounts support this hypothesis so far. Details of how culture supports DI are yet under-researched. This article aims to investigate the relationship between culture, organizational DI capabilities and DI barriers.

The authors address this issue by using survey data from German municipalities (n = 668), build a structural equation model (SEM) and analyze data using partial least squares SEM.

Results indicate that the business process management (BPM) culture dimensions continuous improvement and process innovation support DI capabilities. Barriers exist that partially mediate the impact of culture on capabilities.

The results of this study show that BPM culture is not a uniform construct and that its dimensions have both positive and negative impact on the building of organizational digitalization capabilities.

This study investigates the relation between ESG-driven investment strategies and the performance of infrastructure funds. More specifically, this study examines the impact of the different dimensions – environmental (E), social (S) and governance (G) – of the ESG profile of infrastructure funds on their performance.

To study the risk-return properties of infrastructure funds and the relationship with their ESG profiles, an econometric analysis is conducted, based on a sample of 180 listed, ESG-oriented infrastructure funds identified through Refinitiv Eikon.

The results show that infrastructure funds with more solid environmental investment policies experience a lower performance, while those with a stronger social orientation yield a superior performance. Governance-related investment policies seem trivial in determining the performance of these funds. Further analysis shows that ESG controversies have a negative impact on infrastructure funds' performance, whereas Emissions and Resource Use scores, both proxying for different elements under the environmental pillar, have opposite signs. Finally, the Community score has a positive impact on funds' performance consistent with the positive impact of the social pillar score. The study also provides a number of sub-sample analyses to shed light on the conditions under which each pillar has significant impact on funds’ performance.

First, infrastructure funds should choose the composition of their portfolio holdings in a way that the total return is not penalized by the prevalence of the tricky E aspects (compliance with environmental regulations) over the main benefits of the S dimension. Second, fund managers need to bet on infrastructures with an expected impact on the social pillar dimension such as those aimed at promoting the wealth of the local communities (e.g. hospitals, schools). Third, to strengthen the fund's social dimension, fund managers must increase the dollar amount of the assets under management to count on a higher firepower.

This study makes three contributions to literature. First, the ESG profiles of the infrastructure funds operating both at local and global level and their relationship with annual performance are studied. Second, the different dimensions of the ESG profile of infrastructure funds are investigated by measuring their impact on performance. Third, the study sheds light on some detailed but relevant aspects of this phenomenon by analyzing the breakdown of the ESG profile of infrastructure funds into four sustainability sub-scores capturing their efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, the use of polluting materials and to influence local communities as well their exposure to the risk of litigation due to the occurrence of ESG controversies. This study addresses the extent to which the adoption of ESG investment policies by the infrastructure funds have an impact on their performances.