Sustainable and Socially Responsible Finance Conference

The Yunus Social Business Centre and the Department of Management at the University of Bologna are organizing the second edition of the Sustainable and Socially Responsible Finance Conference that will take place in person on November 2nd – 3rd – 4th.
Socially responsible investing has gained traction as an investment strategy that generates financial returns and promotes social welfare. While the responsible and impact investing market has grown considerably in recent years, concerns persist regarding greenwashing, inadequate regulations, and a need for uniform metrics to measure the social impact of financial activities.
Additionally, climate change poses significant risks to financial and non-financial firms and affects households’ preferences. In this context, energy, transportation, and financial services companies are exposed to transitional and physical risks.

Conference Goals
The Conference aims to bring together leading academics, practitioners, and policymakers and provide the opportunity to present state-of-the-art research on the following significant challenges:
• Can sustainable securities meet growing sustainable financial needs?
• Which asset pricing methods can be proposed to value innovative financial tools, such as social impact bonds and crowdfunding?
• What is policymakers’ role in promoting green, impact, and sustainable finance?
• Is there a role for fintech in the sustainable finance industry?
• Can artificial intelligence play a role for sustainable finance?
• How can behavioral aspects influence the choice of sustainable investment opportunities?
• Do ESG metrics call for more regulation?

We solicit papers in the following areas, but other related areas may also be considered:
1. Sustainable finance and impact investing.
2. Financial intermediaries and their role in the sustainability transition.
3. Finance for social enterprises and sustainable business models.
4. Regulation and policy in sustainable finance.
5. Sustainable finance and the energy transition.
6. Fintech and sustainable finance.
7. Artificial intelligence in the sustainable finance industry.
8. Behavioral finance and sustainable investment decision-making.
9. Measuring and valuing social and environmental impact in finance.
10. Sustainability reporting and disclosure in finance.
11. ESG integration and performance measurement in investment portfolios.
12. Green bonds and other Sustainable Debt Instruments.
13. Socially responsible mutual funds and ETFs.
14. Sustainable real estate investing and green building certification.
15. Corporate social responsibility and impact assessment.
16. Green, social and impact washing.
17. Sustainable supply chain financing and ESG risk management.
18. Circular economy and sustainable production and consumption.
19. Sustainable development goals (SDGs) and impact Investing.
20. Gender lens investing and social equity in finance.

Keynote speakers:

Prof. Brian Lucey, Trinity College Dublin

Prof. Samuel A. Vigne, Luiss University of Rome

Dr. Florian Berg, MIT Sloan School of Management

Participation
The Conference will be held in presence at the Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, Imola Campus.

Paper submission
Interested authors should submit a preliminary version of their paper or extended abstract by email to sustainablefinance.conf@unibo.it by June 20th, 2023, using the file name “SubmittingAuthor_PaperTitle.pdf”.
Early submissions are highly encouraged. Authors will be notified of the decision by September 30th and invited to submit the latest version of the paper by October 27th and pay the submission fee.
A special session will be devoted to papers presented by Ph.D. students which will benefit from the feedback of a panel of senior academicians.

Registration fees
Standard fee: EUR 300 + VAT
PhD session: EUR 200 + VAT
Gala dinner: EUR 60 + VAT

Special issues

A subset of papers presented at the Conference will be considered for publication in the Finance Research Letters (AJG 2*) and International Review of Financial Analysis (AJG 3*) special issues.

Important deadlines:
Submission of preliminary manuscript or extended abstract: June 20th
Notification of acceptance: September 30th
Fee payment: October 10th
Submission of definitive version of the paper to be presented: October 27th
Conference dates: November 2nd – 3rd – 4th

For any inquiries please contact: Prof. Stefano Cenni (stefano.cenni@unibo.it) or Prof. Giuseppe Torluccio (giuseppe.torluccio@unibo.it)