The Business Education Fund awarded grants to researchers at the University of Vaasa

In total, the Board of the Finnish Business Education Fund awarded over €5 million in grants in November. These grants represent 16.9% of the €29.5 million requested in this funding round.

Ten research teams received grants, including two from the University of Vaasa. Professor of Finance Timothy King and his team received €100,000 for their project Do organisations and citizens care about the climate and biodiversity? Evidence from interviews with senior bank practitioners and 1,000,000 loans.

– Climate change and the rapid loss of biodiversity are major challenges that impact us all. Our project looks at the role and responsibilities of financial institutions for addressing these challenges as well as the citizens, says Professor Timothy King.

According to King, the project employs novel lending data to examine the purchase choices of consumers with respect to environmentally friendly purchases. Additionally, the project seeks the views of senior bank and finance sector practitioners including executives, regulators and policy makers as to what the sector is doing and should do to meet these challenges.

– The outcomes of the project will offer timely and much needed feedback for policy makers worldwide, King emphasises.

In addition to Professor Timothy King, the project team includes doctoral researchers Buddhi Weerasekara and Enamul Hasan, as well as Associate Professor Tatiana King.

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The impact of climate change news on financial markets

Associate Professor of Finance Vanja Piljak also received €100,000 from the Business Education Fund for her project on media-based climate change risks and their impact on international financial markets. 

The media-based climate change risk indicators used in Piljak’s research are based on textual analysis of news articles from major US newspapers. These indicators capture both environmental and regulatory climate risks.

– In our study, we will examine the pricing of transition and physical climate risks across developed and emerging equity and bond markets, industries, and different time horizons. The topic is very timely, as climate change and climate risks are recognised as significant and complex challenges for economies, financial stability, and global financial markets

The project, led by Piljak, includes an international research team. Among the participants are Professor Ramzi Benkraiem from Audencia Business School and Associate Professor Milos Vulanovic from EDHEC Business School. Additionally, Associate Professor Nebojsa Dimic and doctoral researcher Maria Zhukova from the University of Vaasa are involved in the project.

– Our research offers new insights into green, sustainable, and climate finance from both investors' and society’s perspectives. The research project will have significant societal impact by raising awareness of the urgent need to respond to climate change, says Piljak.

Both Professor King and Associate Professor Piljak extend their warmest thanks to the Foundation for Economic Education for its generous funding.

Additionally, the following researchers received grants exceeding €10,000:

For doctoral dissertations:

• Maruf Ahmed, €26 000
  Assessing the risks profile and causality of rare earth element against clean energy assets
• Ezenwanyi Elizabeth Edgal, €26 000
  Sustainability and inter organizational collaboration
• Enamul Hasan, EUR 26 000
  The evolution of banks climate reporting: a framework for researchers, practitioners and policy makers
• Arshed Iqbal, 26 000 euros
  Foreign divestment and its impact on parent firms' insolvency risk and value creation: understanding the role of managerial experience in mitigating these risks among Nordic firms
• Mikko Luomala, EUR 13 000
  Kyberrikollisuuden ilmiöt, suppiloteoria ja turvallisuuskontrollien toimivuuden mittaaminen: tapaukset Suomessa sekä kirjallisuuskatsaukset
• Shaofang Zong, EUR 13 000
  Sustainable Global Careers

For post-doctoral research:

• Probal Dutta, EUR 26 000
  Impact of Corporate Environmental Performance on Corporate Biodiversity Reporting: Evidence from Finland
• Roman Filenko, €30 000
  Towards Sustainable Development Through Divestment of International Subsidiaries: The Role of Institution Distances
• Essi Vesterinen, EUR 15 000
  From an altruistic niche to moving masses with egoism: Subjective well-being and regulation as tools towards anti-consumption of clothing
   

For organising a conference or a seminar:

• Anni Rajala and Anne-Maria Holma, € 9 600
  Nordic Workshop on Supplier Relationships (NoW) 2025
• University of Vaasa, EUR 10 000
  3rd International Workshop on Global, Sustainable Innovation
• University of Vaasa, EUR 3 600
  The 6th Vaasa Banking Research

In addition, a large number of researchers from the University of Vaasa received smaller research and travel grants.

In accordance with its rules, the Business Education Fund supports higher economic education, which is developed at university and college level. The aim is in particular to promote Finland's economic growth and the competitiveness of its business sector.

Further information

Grants for 2024 from the Finnish Business Education Fund