Introductory description

This module is only open to WBS undergraduate students, and some students taking joint degrees with WBS and another department. Students from other departments cannot take this module. To find detailed availability and to apply for this module, log in to my.wbs.ac.uk using your normal IT login details and apply via the my.wbs module application system. Once you’ve secured a place on my.wbs you should apply via your home department’s usual process, which usually takes place via eVision. Note that you do not require the module leader’s permission to study a WBS module, so please do not contact them to request it.

In this module, you will learn innovative techniques and concepts like ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) valuation and Social Return on Investment. Using these techniques, you will learn how to help organisations measure and communicate their broader societal impact. The module’s teaching involves interactive lectures and seminar discussions designed to spark debate and deepen understanding. Through practical exercises, you will gain the skills to develop a thorough measurement of the social and environmental added value generated by for-profit companies. Ultimately, this module aims to equip you with the analytical tools and critical mindset needed to excel in today’s rapidly evolving financial landscape.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Foundations of financial markets and introduction to the importance of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors.
Social capital and its impact on corporate performance.
Environmental disclosure, reporting standards, and the impact of governance on environmental and social value.
Social impact measurement.
Prosociality, sustainability, organisational culture and the regulation of ESG disclosures.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Analyse and evaluate the ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) paradigm. This implies a comprehension of the components of ESG and their practical application.
• Apply ESG-based valuation techniques on financial accounts from different for-profit companies.
• Design valuation Theories of Change using the taught concepts of social and environmental capital.
• Judge the merits of key aspects in relevant valuation approaches and develop a discussion about decision-usefulness of these approaches. This discussion should develop a clear stand in relation to the assumptions that underpin these approaches.
• Evaluate critically the academic literature about social and environmental capital formation and weigh the relations between the core ideas comprising this literature and their relation to ESG valuation.

Indicative reading list

• Read, Colin. Understanding Sustainability Principles and ESG Policies: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Public and Corporate Responses to Climate Change. Springer Nature, 2023.
• Ciciretti, Roberta, Elena Dziwok, and Emiliya Gaeva. Creating Value and Improving Financial Performance: Inclusive Finance and the ESG Pr. Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2023.
• Esty, Daniel C., and Todd Cort (Eds.). Values at Work: Sustainable Investing and ESG Reporting. Springer International Publishing/Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.
• Ben Dor, Arik, Albert Desclée, Lev Dynkin, Jingling Guan, Jay Hyman, and Simon Polbennikov. Measuring ESG Effects in Systematic Investing (The Wiley Finance Series). Wiley, 2024.
• Gaganis, Christos, Fotis Pasiouras, and Zopounidis Christos (Eds.). Sustainable Finance and ESG: Risk, Management, Reg. Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2023.
• Sheth, Jagdish N., and Andrew Winston. The Sustainability Edge: How to Drive Top-Line Growth with Triple-Bottom-Line Thinking. University of Toronto Press, 2016.
• Laine, Matias, Helen Tregidga, and Jeffrey Unerman. Sustainability Accounting and Accountability. Routledge, 2022.

Subject specific skills

Analyse critically financial and ESG reports.
Evaluate the relative merits and weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative valuation techniques.
Appraise the usefulness of elements from ESG standards and assemble new valuation formation in relation to these standards.

Transferable skills

Judge the underpinning principles of qualitative and quantitative evaluative formats.
Investigate different organisational strategies in relation to generating environmental and social capital and weigh their relative implications.
Calculate ESG value-generation, draw conclusions on the basis of these results and critique these results in light of the inherent weaknesses of the taught ESG valuation perspectives.