June 22, 2021, 16:00 Research seminar 'Empirical Research of Corporate Finance'

1-year postgraduate student Vadim Anpilogov with the report «Influence of CEO Behavioral Characteristics on the Innovation Policy of a Commercial Bank», prepared under the guidance of Irina Ivashkovskaya.

Abstract

In this paper we examine the impact of CEO behavioral characteristics on an innovation policy of a commercial bank. In our opinion, the study of the impact of the CEO's behavioral characteristics on the bank's innovation is important for several reasons: CEOs are directly involved in the formation of the bank's development strategy, and therefore innovation policy; CEOs of companies are in most cases the most interested persons in the implementation of innovative programs. To achieve the goal of the study, we are planning to test several hypotheses: on identifying the impact of various behavioral characteristics of the bank's CEO on the innovation policy and the degree of innovation of the bank; on the impact of the behavioral characteristics of the bank's CEO on the results of the innovation policy and on the growth of the bank's value in the long term; on the role of the boards of directors of banks in reducing the possible negative effects of the CEO's behavioral characteristics. As a result of studying the existing literature, we revealed that the issue of innovation in banking does not seem to be fully investigated. Economists do not have a single approach to the definition of innovativeness, and even more so to the definition of innovative solutions, which can strongly depend on the CEO. In addition, there are no studies in the literature concerning the probable relationship between the behavioral characteristics of CEOs and the bank's innovation policy, which indicates the existing gaps in the topic of corporate governance of a modern commercial bank.

1-year postgraduate student Konstantin Popov, the topic of the report «Corporate Governance Features as a Determinant of ESG Practices and Financial Performance of Russian Companies», scientific adviser - Elena Makeeva.

Abstract

Corporate governance structure and features are being widely studied by researchers in corporate finance. One of the most popular directions of studies in the recent two decades is the impact of corporate governance features, such as CEO characteristics, management and ownership structure, on the ways in which companies implement their strategies for corporate environmental and social responsibility, and the effects of such strategies on corporate financial performance. Our paper is focusing on the determination of CEO and Board of Directors characteristics that affect the Environmental, Social, and Governance, or ESG performance in Russian non-financial companies included in Moscow Exchange Index. The results of the econometric analysis of data for 82 Russian public non-financial companies demonstrate that companies with ESG score provided by S&P Market Intelligence are usually led by older and more tenured CEOs. CEOs in such companies are more likely to have experience in civil service and education in Economics and Finance, while Boards of Directors mostly are more independent, with specialized strategy and ESG committees included in their structure. Further results of the two-step econometric analysis demonstrate that CEO age, tenure and experience in civil service positively contribute to company’s inclusion in S&P Market Intelligence ESG rating and score, while majoring in technical and management sciences, as well as previous experience on CEO position corporate sector, on the contrary, decrease ESG score. Independence and national diversity of Board of Directors positively affect corporate ESG score, while there has been no significant impact of specialized committees detected. Finally, our analysis demonstrates significant positive impact of ESG score on market capitalization and Tobin’s Q of Russian companies. These results provide us with an evidence on significant corporate governance features’ effect on ESG and financial performance of Russian non-financial companies, expanding the knowledge on the development of ESG in emerging markets.

Link to zoom conference:

https://zoom.us/j/99843310520