This article studies the returns of 80 European and 64 US funds and attempts to identify whether those funds that invest in companies following environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles differ from conventional funds in terms of performance. The alpha, Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, and excess daily returns are used as various measures of performance. The five-factor Fama-French model is also applied to distinguish possible different influences of explanatory variables on ESG and non-ESG funds. This article follows the matched pair approach for fund evaluation (developed by Mallin, Saadouni, and Briston 1995) on 4 years of data (2017–2021). The empirical findings do not reveal any statistically significant difference between ESG and non-ESG funds although the former have slightly higher returns than the latter. The article adds to the early evidence of Statman (2000); Renneboog, ter Horst, and Zhang (2008a); and others on investing according to ESG criteria while acknowledging that the benefits are likely to be associated with investor’s demands and awareness of the environment, society, and corporate governance issues.

The author examines whether the trading behavior of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is biased by any herding effect. Return data of a sample of 66 and 34 large-cap and small-cap ETFs, respectively, are used over the period 2012–2016 to assess whether these funds herd and whether herding is more pronounced during extreme markets, during down markets, and during days with extreme trading activity and volatility. The results show that herding is not the case for ETFs. However, some evidence is obtained on a decreasing return dispersion among ETFs on days with negative market returns. Trading activity seems not to induce herding. On the contrary, the author obtains evidence that shows that the higher the trading volumes are, the higher the return dispersion among ETFs is. When it comes to herding during highly volatile markets, the author finds that return dispersion among ETFs decreases on days with extremely high intraday volatility. However, when assessing the relationship between return dispersion and volatility without focusing on days with extremely high risk, the author obtains strong evidence of a linear relation between the 2 variables. This contradicting finding suggests that the stronger the intraday volatility in the ETF market is, the wider the dispersion in returns among ETFs is.

Purpose: This paper tries to shed light on the international progress regarding the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), to accentuate the benefits resulting from the application of IPSAS, and to highlight the main differences between IPSAS and IFRS.Design/methodology/approach: A comprehensive literature review is conducted which focuses on issues concerning the factors that induce the adoption of IPSAS, the obstacles that must be overcome, the degree of IPSAS’ proliferation worldwide, the repercussions from adopting IPSAS, the benefits of IPSAS, and the differences between IPSAS and IFRS. The selection process of the cited articles focuses on journals with high rankings in the ABS list.Findings: It is accentuated that IPSAS carry significant benefits regarding the improved quality of the financial information reported by the public sector, the enhancement of transparency and accountability, the upgrading of the decision-making process and the restored trust in public finances. However, there is more work that needs to be done toward the global proliferation of IPSAS.Practical implications: This study provides insights regarding the implementation process of IPSAS, which should be useful to all the parties engaged in the reform of the public administration, such as national governments, local or international regulators, accounting standard setters and institutional organizations.Originality/value: The current study clarifies whether the public sector should move from using the business focused IFRS, as it is frequently the case, to the adoption of IPSAS. In addition, this study comprehensive literature review can be used by academics and researchers as a basis for further research on the issue. More importantly, policymakers and other officials who need to make informed decisions about financial reporting issues at the government level and the public sector in general can benefit from this study.

Purpose: I seek to identify whether cash flow management can affect the performance and risk of the Greek listed companies. Design/methodology/approach: This study examines the relationship of cash flow management with performance and risk, using a sample of 80 non-financial companies listed in the Athens Exchange. The study covers the period 2018–2022, and panel data analysis is applied. Both financial performance and stock return are taken into consideration, while risk concerns the volatility of the companies’ share prices. The various explanatory variables used include the net cash flow, free cash flow, cash conversion cycle days, cash flow from operating activities, cash flow from investing activities, cash flow from financing activities, inventory days, customer days and supplier days. Findings: The empirical results provide evidence of a positive relationship between financial performance and net cash flow and free cash flow. In addition, operating cash flow is positively related to financial performance. The opposite is the case for investing and financing cash flow. Finally, some evidence of a negative relationship between financial performance and inventory and customer days is provided too. On the other hand, stock return and risk are not related to the cash flow management variables at all. Originality/value: To the best of my knowledge, this is one of the few studies to examine the relationship of cash flow management with performance and risk, using data from the Greek stock market. The results can form an effective selection tool for investors seeking Greek companies with the highest financial performance potential, which may reward them with higher dividends.