Planet & Finance received the 2024 ESSEC Foundation Science & Society Prize during the annual awards ceremony held at the Institut Catholique de Paris.
The prize was presented by the Dean for Research at ESSEC Business School Prof. Roméo Tégondap (ESSEC Business School).
Presentation
Professors François Longin and Adrian Zicari, both at ESSEC Business School, received the 2024 ESSEC Foundation Science & Society prize for their ongoing Planet & Finance.
A few words about the Planet & Finance below.
Research Question
How do individual investors perceive corporate strategy and concrete actions in the area of social responsibility? What mental models do different individual investors adopt: a purely financial objective (aligned with shareholder profit maximization) or a dual objective—both financial and social (aligned with a stakeholder-oriented approach)? What factors explain behavioral differences among investors? And how can companies and asset management firms integrate investor expectations regarding social responsibility?
Behavioral Finance Experiment
For several years, we have offered a workshop on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) across various ESSEC programs. These include undergraduate and graduate programs on the Cergy and Singapore campuses (BBA, Grande École, Master in Finance), as well as executive education programs on the La Défense campus (Executive Masters).
In the spirit of Wilhelm von Humboldt—who asserted that “the education of the individual presupposes their incorporation into society and extensively mobilizes their ties with it”—this workshop combines pedagogy and research, scientific dissemination and teaching. More than a thousand students and participants have already taken part in our CSR workshop. It has thus provided a valuable opportunity to understand, share, and discuss diverse perspectives on issues that affect society and have a tangible impact on financial markets.
Science & Society
This workshop also serves as a means of explaining to participants how research in management sciences is conducted. We begin by presenting the three main research methodologies: theoretical, empirical, and experimental. We then focus on the experimental method, highlighting its advantages (strong internal validity through control of experimental variables and knowledge of participant profiles) and its limitations (low external validity of results).
The CSR workshop offers a rare opportunity for participants to engage directly with academic research. It is a participatory form of research that involves individuals who, in turn, take on the roles of students, investors, and citizens.
ESSEC Strategy
This workshop is fully aligned with ESSEC’s strategic vision, particularly with the “Data” pillar through the collection of user data for research purposes, and the “Together” pillar, through its focus on corporate and societal issues.
About the ESSEC Foundation
The mission of the ESSEC Foundation is to support the development of ESSEC in the short and long term, through the funding of social scholarships, the transformation of the Cergy campus, and support for academic excellence.
Research paper
You can download the latest version of our research paper on SSRN.
Research design
You can explore our research design to see how we structure our study, collect data, and analyze corporate social responsibility and its impact on financial performance.
Contact
ESSEC Business School