Q01 - Sustainable DevelopmentReturn

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have a significant influence on global financial markets, with assets exceeding USD 11.2 trillion and accounting for 40% of the world's largest 100 asset owners' total assets. Understanding the drivers behind SWFs' investment decisions is crucial. This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and irresponsibility (CSI) compared to financial data on SWFs' investment decisions, analysing 72% of their total public equity holdings from 2019 to 2023. Findings reveal that SWFs prioritize company self-reported environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics over public CSI information when making investment decisions. Furthermore, public equity holding CSI data have a more pronounced influence on the investment decision of SWFs in countries with higher transparency of sustainability. The study underscores the necessity for greater ESG integration into SWFs' investment strategies to demonstrate a commitment to sustainable investing practices. This research illuminates the path towards a more responsible and sustainable approach for SWFs on global financial markets.
Implications for Central European audience: Our conclusions could help encourage greater ESG integration into investment strategies and promote sustainable investing practices more broadly, not limited to liquid assets, to showcase a sustainable “walk the talk”. A special focus should be put on CSI's development of target investments. Future research might also consider whether the investment behaviour of SWFs is equivalent to that of other major investors, such as insurance companies and public pension schemes.

To identify the most recent trends in the literature about the convergence of FinTech and Sustainability, this study combines bibliometric analysis with a thorough literature review using documents from the Scopus database. The current body of literature in a particular topic of research is thoroughly and methodically examined on a systematic literature analysis. One quantitative technique that makes it easier to identify current trends and underlying ideas in a subject is bibliometric analysis. Trends, evolution, bibliometrics, mapping, and qualitative content analyses serve as the foundation for the analysis. By following all inclusion and exclusion criteria, 116 papers that were taken from the Scopus database were bibliometrically reviewed in order to identify popular keywords, notable authors, institutions, and countries. WordStat was used for content analysis, and Biblioshiney and VOSviewer were used to determine the most cited papers. The results identified five noteworthy clusters. The results show a significant increase in the examination of the connection between FinTech and Sustainability starting in 2021, highlighting the significance of technological advancements and financial innovations in the corporate sphere.
Implications for Central European audience: The study's conclusions have significance for sustainability research as well as FinTech, stressing the importance of relevant research methods and the part FinTech plays in developing and putting sustainable practises and initiatives into reality. The study outlines the development of the literature on the connection between sustainability and fintech, offering insights into influential writers, countries, organisations, and journal sources. The study's insights help to direct future research in this field by providing a road map for more investigation and comprehension of the changing dynamics between sustainability and FinTech.

Despite a decades-long discussion about corporate social responsibility ("CSR"), there is little known about the evolution and meaning of the EU law on CSR and its perception by various stakeholders. The two objectives of this paper are: (i) assessing the evolution to the current EU law on CSR and (ii) making a case study about the perception of CSR by businesses from the luxury fashion industry supposed to be the leading CSR force, namely their ambassadors - CEOs and employees facing the clientele in Pařížská street in Prague. In order to address these two objectives, holistic and interdisciplinary research of economic, legislative and academic sources as well as a case study, entailing interviews and mystery shopping was performed. The exploration of the yielded data employed Meta-Analysis, content analysis, teleological interpretation, etc. The critical and comparative review of the evolution of the EU law on CSR shows piecemeal trends and a lack of permanent consent. This leads to the fragmentation and ambiguity, which is matched by the findings of the case study. The perception of the EU law on CSR is done differently by various CEOs of luxury fashion businesses, and there is an inconsistency between their attitudes and those of their employees facing the clientele. Such inconsistency undermines the effectiveness and efficiency of the CSR regime and needs to be corrected.
Implications for Central European audience: Although the sustainability projected in CSR is critical, the EU law has undergone a complex and fragmented evolution leading to a partially mandatory framework. The understanding and application of such a framework about CSR and its reporting is a challenge. A Central European case study of luxury fashion industry businesses shows piecemeal trends and a lack of consent, and this even among CEOs and frontline employees of the same business. The implication of such an inconsistency is a decrease in the effectiveness and efficiency of the CSR regime, a devaluation of the CSR awareness and the need for corrections.