Finance

Environmental, Social and Governance Performance

Addressing the 'S' Demands of ESG

Top-quality research and teaching are essential to understand growing inequalities which hinder the urgently needed ecological transition, to interrogate the ESG factors, and to leverage theory and the most ambitious empirical methods. To do so, HEC scholars work with public and private regulators, peers from leading European academic institutions, CEOs and administrators to develop, test, and evaluate novel strategies, policies and practices designed to tackle inequalities in their field. In this Knowledge@HEC issue, we share academic knowledge and highlight professional experiences on those topics. Find the pdf of that issue here.

January 17th, 2023

demonstration-pictrider-AdobeStock_vignette

Finance

January 17th, 2023

Addressing the "S" Demands of ESG - Editorial

Because of Europe’s strong social welfare tradition, the social dimension of business has an additional legitimacy and urgency here. Top-quality research and teaching have an essential role to play in understanding growing inequalities which hinder the urgently needed ecological transition, in interrogating the environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, their interplay and their promise and limitations, in leveraging theory and the most ambitious empirical methods. As a leading business school and research center in France and Europe, HEC Paris’ faculty has a responsibility in providing science-based evidence and practical tools to reinvent the business of tomorrow.

Professor, Dean

Economics and Decision Science

Finance

December 15th, 2022

Thinking Deglobalization

Is globalization’s time up? There are two major, and conflicting, views about this tricky topic. For many economists, free trade is a natural state of the global economic system. Any upheavals – Covid-19, the war between Ukraine and Russia, the resurgence of protectionism - can only result in temporary disruptions which, sooner or later, will be corrected. They are just bursts of irrationality, arising momentarily from political forces upsetting otherwise harmonious economic balance, etc.

Associate Professor

Finance

November 10th, 2022

Do Employee Shareholders Care about their Employers' ESG Performance?

The Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance of companies has become an increasingly significant factor influencing investor sentiment in recent years. But does this hold for all investors? A recent study by HEC Paris Finance researchers Maxime Bonelli and François Derrien, with Marie Brière of Amundi Asset Management, Paris Dauphine University and Université Libre de Bruxelles, investigated the response of French employee shareholders to ESG performance through their personal investment behavior in their employers’ share schemes. The results show that these employees have a distinctly different response to the ESG performance of their employers: one that is focused on their personal welfare.

By Maxime Bonelli , François Derrien

business people scrutinizing a document in a meeting room_vignette

Finance

November 07th, 2022

How Governments’ Heavy Reliance on Bank Debt Affects Firms

Noémie Pinardon-Touati, newly Assistant Professor at Columbia University and holder of a PhD in Finance from HEC Paris, investigates how governments affect the economy, with practical implications for policymakers. In this interview based on her research, she explains how the increase of local governments’ reliance on bank debt adversely affects firms, and thereby hinders growth.

Finance

November 04th, 2022

Future of Finance: How Are New Technologies Reshaping the Sector?

The advent of digital technologies has created a very new and vastly different financial landscape. Today's buying and selling of securities is conducted mostly by computer programs that react within nanoseconds – faster than any human could – to the subtlest market fluctuations. In a new report published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Professor of Finance Thierry Foucault comes to grips with how technologies are fundamentally changing the way banks, brokers, exchanges, and dealers do their work, and what it means for investors, for privacy and income inequalities.

By Thierry Foucault

Finance

November 02nd, 2022

How AI is Affecting VC Funding of Innovative Startups

Artificial Intelligence adoption by investors might hinder the allocation of capital to breakthrough innovations. Learn more in this interview with Maxime Bonelli, PhD student in Finance at HEC Paris, on his dissertation. Maxime focuses on the real effects of new technologies and human capital in the financial sector, to help us better understand how the industrial organization of the financial sector affects the real economy.

PhD Student

Finance

May 09th, 2022

Activist Short Sellers vs. Financial Analysts: Competitive Claims of Expertise

The methods and aims of activist short sellers and financial analysts are often at odds. In a highly competitive environment, there is a battle for narrative authority, with short sellers often criticizing analysts. New research examines this struggle, and how — or if — analysts respond to challenges.

By Hervé Stolowy , Luc Paugam

Finance

March 14th, 2022

Ukraine/Russia: The Energy Factor

Professor of Finance and Executive Director of the Société Générale Energy & Finance Chair at HEC Paris, Jean-Michel Gauthier spoke to us on March 3, one week after Russia invaded Ukraine. Jean-Michel is a veteran of the energy business. After a start in the oil and gas industry, he moved to the energy consulting for 16 years as a partner at Deloitte. In parallel, he joined HEC Paris’ finance department in 2006. The school campus is where we discuss the dramatic events developing in Ukraine. Jean-Michel focuses on a key factor behind the conflict: the question of energy. Not just the pipelines that bring Europe 40% of its natural gas and much of its oil – but also the knock-on effects on all energy sources that prop up our global economy. He helps us understand what role energy is playing in this ongoing conflict and where these upheavals could lead the entire planet.

Energy & Finance Professor

Finance

HEC Paris Trains Future Professors

Our PhD Students Got Talent

This special issue aims to show the excellence and diversity of the research conducted by HEC Paris PhD candidates and alumni. You will find a selection of cutting-edge findings, answering crucial questions such as: Is AI a threat to human creativity? Should we listen to the Wall Street gurus? How to better manage one’s promotion? How much do we value our private data? What are ambiguity and risk attitudes? How bad is the mere presence of a phone? HEC Paris PhD Program, headed by finance professor Johan Hombert, supports its students throughout their thesis writing and job placement in the best universities and business schools, such as the MIT, Wharton and Harvard Business School. Most PhD alumni continue to collaborate with professors at HEC, thanks to the strong relationships they have developed during their journey.

October 13th, 2021