In our global sample of 263,461 deals in 47 countries, 3-day target cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) average 6.9% and bidder CARs average 1.4%. When we impose the common filters used in the literature which restrict the sample to completed acquisitions of public firms, target CARs increase from 6.9% to 13%. Our findings indicate that M&A activity (particularly in deals where control rights are sold) generates value. We also find that the magnitudes of bidder and target CARs in developed countries are higher than those in emerging-market countries.

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Nevertheless, scholarly knowledge on crowdfunding has been accumulating, and the number of studies on the role of crowdfunding in financing social entrepreneurs is limited and results are mixed. This calls for a need to uncover the underlying dynamics of funding success for socially and environmentally oriented projects. To analyze these dynamics, the authors analyze the funding performance of campaigns tagged by the Kickstarter platform as ‘public benefit', ‘environmental', or ‘LGBTQIA'. Results show that projects with these tags are more likely to be successful compared to projects without tags after controlling for other factors that are shown to affect project success in the literature. These findings provide guidelines to social entrepreneurs looking to fund their projects on crowdfunding platforms and open up the path for future research on the relationship between framing for social and environmental orientation and funding success.

This chapter presents an overview of sustainable finance literature focusing on studies using environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, and conducts a descriptive and comparative analysis of the Refinitiv ESG database worldwide. With increasing interest in ESG investing, it is common to integrate ESG factors into portfolio decisions. The authors first address the relevant literature to set the background for further studies. The chapter documents an increasing trend in ESG reporting and points out differences in ESG scores in terms of development level, region, industry, and legal origin for the period 2002-2019. Theoretical models and empirical tests, which integrate ESG factors into corporate performance, can only be established by a better understanding of ESG databases. Therefore, further research in the Refinitiv ESG database, as well as other ESG databases, is significant. This chapter contributes to this stream of research by explaining the Refinitiv ESG database with descriptive and comparative analysis, paving the way for new research on the subject.