The Bucharest Stock Exchange: A Starting Point in Structuring a Valuable CSR Index

Mirela Clementina Panait,Alfonso Siano,Marian Catalin Voica,Eglantina Hysa,Maria Palazzo

doi:10.3390/jrfm15020094

Abstract

The aim of this article was to identify the role and specific mechanisms of the stock exchange in promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) and CSR communications among companies listed on the Romanian capital market given country membership of the European Union. Taking into account the quality of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE) as a member of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges, as well as BSE’s concerns about promoting CSR, a CSR index was built to capture the specific actions of companies listed on this market. The public companies were considered representative for the promotion of CSR based on their size and other relevant features. The index can be seen by companies that can further develop it, test its validity, and employ it as a tool to reassure investors who will decide to spend their money to buy shares and stocks of organizations ranked in the BSE.

Highlights

The need to promote sustainable development has generated changes in behavior, in companies but in financial market institutions that, through various means, try to turn challenges into business opportunities for issuers and portfolio investors (Adam and Shavit 2008; Manea et al 2020)
The launches of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2006 and the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) in 2007 were steps made by different stakeholders in the complex process of achieving sustainable development goals (Zaman et al 2012; Naseem et al 2019)
Institutions of capital markets have generated a new approach, namely, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSEs) initiative launched in 2009. This initiative is intended to be a platform for dialogue and exchange of good practices among stock exchanges, financial supervisors, issuers, and portfolio investors but for financing the business opportunities presented by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Summary

Introduction

The need to promote sustainable development has generated changes in behavior, in companies but in financial market institutions that, through various means, try to turn challenges into business opportunities for issuers and portfolio investors (Adam and Shavit 2008; Manea et al 2020). The launch of the Global Compact principles for companies by the United Nations was a modest step towards making firms aware of their major role in the transition to the green economy and their duty to strive to internalize negative externalities through various means (Dobrowolski and Sułkowski 2020; Sułkowski and Dobrowolski 2021) One such method consists of CSR programs, through which environmental and social parameters are followed to assess the impact of the activity of corporate entities The authors present their interpretation of the obtained results, the limits of this research, and future research directions

Background

CSR and Sustainability Indices

Findings

Data and Methodology