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Growth remained strong in the region in 2012, with regional GDP rates increasing in most countries (excluding Nigeria and South Africa). Projections point to a moderate, broad-based acceleration in growth to around 5½ percent in 2013¬14, reflecting a gradually strengthening global economy and robust domestic demand. Investment in export-oriented sectors remains an important economic driver, and an agriculture rebound in drought-affected areas will also help growth. Uncertainties in the global economy are the main risk to the region's outlook, but plausible adverse shocks would likely not have a large effect on the region's overall performance.

Purpose. To substantiate the role of Green Finance and its separate segments for the greening of the national economy in the context of global trends and world practices regarding the transformation of the capital market and compliance with the principles of the European Green Deal; to determine the most effective mechanisms and tools for stimulating the launch and development of the green bond market in Ukraine. To improve methodical approaches to assessing the economic efficiency of investment projects and optimizing the enterprise’s investment program, taking into account the environmental impact factor. Methodology. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research is the theoretical position of scientists in the field of financial support for the development of the green economy; a complex of general scientific and specific methods: system analysis and mathematical statistics; economic and mathematical modeling and logical generalization. Findings. The peculiarities of the transformation of global green bond financing are established. The growth of its role in the diversification of existing sources of financing of the green economy and dominance in the world issue of debt obligations is proven. A green bond model based on the Green Bonds Principles is proposed; a mechanism for stimulating the launch and development of the green bond market in Ukraine, which will be an important step on the way to the implementation of European standards for the development of green energy and environmental protection. It has been proven that the formation of an optimal portfolio of green investment projects must be carried out taking into account environmental impact factors. Originality. In the process of research, it was established that in the conditions of an unstable environment and military operations, the role of new financial instruments, primarily green bonds, in financing environmental projects, providing access to global capital markets and international financial aid programs, is increasing. A green bond model based on the Green Bonds Principles and a mechanism for stimulating the launch and development of the green bond market in Ukraine is proposed. Methodical approaches to evaluating the efficiency of investment processes and optimizing the portfolio of green investment projects have been improved, which, unlike the existing ones, take into account the project’s ecological impact on the environment. Practical value. It consists in the development of proposals to stimulate the development of the green bond market in Ukraine; determination of the optimal investment development program of the enterprise based on the economic-mathematical model of optimization of the net profit of the enterprise, which takes into account the growing influence of environmental factors on investment efficiency indicators.

The study aims to empirically estimate the nexus of green bond financing with renewable energy index OECD countries. Using the OECD countries data over the period of the 2011–2019, the study estimated the nexus between constructs. To justify the study findings and present widespread policy implications on recent topicality Padroni unit root test, FMOLS and DOLS technique is applied. For robustness analysis, long-run sensitivity analysis using FMOLS extension is used, and a comparative picture of green bond financing nexus with renewable energy index is presented. The study presented the consistent effects of green bond financing on renewable energy index indicators. This asymmetrical role of green bonds is confirmed on renewable energy indicators over the sample period. OECD countries injected 31% role of green bond financing on renewable energy index constructs, and it raised 9.4% of per unit energy efficiency in renewable energy systems; by this, the study findings warrant maximum support through public office, energy ministries, and departments for energy efficiency optimization. The study presents multiple policy implications to enhance renewable energy generation for energy efficiency through different alternative sources. Despite growing literature, the empirical discussion on this topicality is still shattered and less studied, which is extended and contributed by recent research. Furthermore, efficient regulation in the renewable energy sector may convert financial uncertainty into a huge opportunity. Investing in renewable energy stocks might help investors diversify their portfolios.

Compared with financial information, whether corporate social responsibility disclosure has impacts on debt financing cost has obviously become a heated topic in the academic. This paper selects A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets of China from 2013 to 2017 as sample to study the impact of corporate social responsibility disclosure on debt financing cost, including bond financing cost and bank loan cost. In addition, this paper divides the sample into voluntary corporate social responsibility disclosure group and mandatory corporate social responsibility disclosure group and studies whether the effects of voluntary corporate social responsibility disclosure and mandatory corporate social responsibility disclosure on bond financing cost and bank loan cost are different. The empirical results are presented as follows: Firstly, enterprise disclosing high-quality corporate social responsibility report is more conducive to reducing the debt financing cost. Specifically, corporate social responsibility disclosure significantly lowers both the bond financing cost and bank loan cost. Moreover, the reduction impact of corporate social responsibility disclosure on bond financing cost is greater than that of bank loan cost. Secondly, enterprises voluntarily disclosing corporate social responsibility reports are more conducive to reducing the debt financing cost than that of enterprises mandatorily disclosing corporate social responsibility reports. Thirdly, non-state-owned enterprises are more conducive to reducing debt financing cost than that of state-owned enterprise. The enterprises with more market competition are more conducive to reducing the debt financing cost than the oligopolistic enterprises. Finally, this paper concludes and gives policy implications. This paper amplifies the literature regarding the economic consequences of corporate social responsibility disclosure and improves the understanding of the impact of corporate social responsibility disclosure on debt financing cost.

In recent years, green bonds have become an important part of the green financial system. In this paper, we investigate theoretically and empirically how green bond financing impacts corporate long-term value orientation. To study this relationship, we manually collect green bond financing data and use Python to construct a measure reflecting corporate long-term value. Using a sample of Chinese A-share bond issuing companies from 2016 to 2021, we find that (1) green bond financing can significantly promote companies to pursue long-term value, in which financing costs, management’s strategic risk-taking, and external supervision are the underlying mechanisms. (2) There is a synergistic effect between green bond financing and environmental regulation, which can jointly improve the intensity of corporate long-term value orientation. (3) The relationship between green bond financing and corporate long-term value is more significant in enterprises with heavily polluting, lower risk-taking levels, less strategic change, and lower financial mismatch risk. Our findings reveal the “corrective” effect of green bond financing on management’s strategic decision-making, which provides new empirical evidence for comprehensively and accurately evaluating the role of green bonds and promoting the development of the green bond market.

The global financial crisis has highlighted the potential of financial conditions for influencing real economic activity. We examine the linkages between the financial and real sectors in the euro area, finding that (i) bank loan supply responds negatively to declines in bank soundness; (ii) a cutback in bank loan supply has a negative impact on economic activity; (iii) a positive shock to the corporate bond spread lowers industrial output; and (iv) risk indicators for the banking, corporate, and public sectors show an improvement beginning in 2002-03, followed by a major deterioration since 2007. These estimates imply that the currently estimated bank losses would subtract some 2 percentage points from the euro area output (but with considerable uncertainty around the estimates).

The international shipping industry is the largest transportation system in the world. However, shipping stock prices were highly volatile during the 2020–2021 COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to identify the causal relationships of the four dimensions (financial performance, bond financing, environmental, social, governance, and COVID-19) and 20 criteria affecting the sustainability of global shipping companies. The research scope includes a sample of nine listed international shipping companies accounting for 49% of the global market share with data collected from 2010 to 2020. Survey responses from 15 investment experts were also obtained. We applied a hybrid multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) method integrating the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), analytic network process, and modified VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno techniques to be the DANP-mV model to identify the causal relationships among the dimensions and criteria, providing ways of narrowing the performance gaps of shipping companies. The results indicate that financial performance is the main cause affecting COVID-19 and ESG practices. The ESG practices influence bond financing. The largest performance gaps across shipping companies include earnings per share (EPS), yield to maturity, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and timely delivery. The findings of this study suggest that shipping companies may focus on gross profit margin to improve EPS, term to maturity to enhance yield to maturity, social distancing policy to meet timely delivery, and the board size to enhance corporate social responsibility (CSR). The outcome of this study aids shipping companies in prioritizing their resources and investors in selecting shipping company stocks in response to COVID-19.

Green bonds, as one of the main tools of green finance, have become an important choice of enterprises in green industries. Therefore, it has become an important theoretical and practical hot topic whether to select and what factors affect a choice to issue labeled green bonds for enterprises that meet the standards of green bonds. This paper employs the Logit model to demonstrate the impact of policy difference on the choice of green bond financing instruments. The results indicate that the type of bonds and the purpose of raising funds are the important factors affecting enterprises to issue labeled green bonds under policy difference caused by 'multi-sector supervision' on China's bond markets. The government must make full use of these key factors to formulate relevant policies to promote the development of green bond financing market.

This Selected Issues paper assesses the youth unemployment problem in advanced European economies, especially the euro area. Youth unemployment rates increased sharply in the euro area after the crisis. Much of these increases can be explained by output dynamics and the greater sensitivity of youth unemployment to economic activity compared with adult unemployment. Labor market institutions also play an important role, especially the tax wedge, minimum wages, and spending on active labor market policies. The paper highlights that policies to address youth unemployment should be comprehensive and country specific, focusing on reviving growth and implementing structural reforms.