A publication titled “New approaches to measure the social performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs)” on International Review of Economics & Finance by Hatice Ozer Balli and co-authors in January 2018

Abstract

Outreach is a central purpose of microfinance institutions in providing access to quality financial services for large numbers of poor people. This paper critically reviews outreach indicators for microfinance institutions from prior research using a South Asian panel data set covering the period 1998 to 2013. We introduce two new ways of measuring the social objectives of MFIs, reflecting market shares, for breadth and depth of outreach. The results show that these new outreach indicators provide a better explanation of social performance of MFIs than those commonly used in prior research.

A publication titled “Does it pay to be different? Relative CSR and its impact on firm value” on International Review of Financial Analysis by Jeff Wongchoti and co-authors in October 2016

Abstract

Conventional aggregation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) raw scores and its interpreted impact on firm value have provided mixed evidence in the literature. We show that the value impact of CSR activities relies heavily on the industry-specific relative position of the firm. Only firms that distinguish themselves over their peers are associated with increased firm value. This finding is robust and holds for both responsible and irresponsible behaviors. Information concerns and portfolio construction can allude to a possible CSR clientele, suggesting the existence of an optimal CSR level. Our peer-effect results are robust to unobserved heterogeneity along the lines of Gormley and Matsa (2013).