The structural diversity of the German banking market and the associated variety of business models is thought to have been an important factor in the stability of the German banking market in recent decades. This diversity is manifested both in the three-pillar structure of the German banking...

Access to finance is crucial if we are to achieve the fundamental transition of our time: securing a safe and just society operating within the planetary boundaries. In the era of global market capitalism and deregulation, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) offer one of the few public economic...

The article provides an overview of the most important current EU initiatives contributing to sustainable finance. After an introduction on how the concept of sustainability entered the domain of European policy, the definition of sustainable finance from the EU perspective is discussed, as well...

This paper synthesizes the literature on sustainable divestment. Nowadays, divestment seems to be a popular strategy to sanction harmful industries or socially not desired outcomes of economic activities. However, in practice for a long time many firms which were known for harmful technologies...

Although there is an increasing demand for sustainable investment products accompanied by increasing regulations regarding sustainability disclosures, people suffer from a lack of information concerning the offered investment products' sustainability. Despite hundreds of ESG indicators for...

We use a choice experiment on equity fund investments to estimate the preferences of young adults for sustainable investments relative to conventional investment funds. Our results suggest that the traditional trade-off between investment fund risk and return is still valid in the selection of...

The analysis highlights the aspects of diversified market structures and of local, low-distance banking as advantageous for financial stability. Heterogeneity protects from uniform market behaviour. Local banking can better overcome the problem of asymmetric information, particular in SME...