Environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds are among the fastest growing investment styles. ESG funds can be used either to only mitigate risk (input ESG) or to go beyond that to create impact (output ESG). We argue that the governance by ESG is characterised by three potential...

From its inception, big business in the western industrialised world has been organised in national business communities. Central elements of these business communities are corporate board interlocks that constitute the notorious 'Old Boys Network'. This corporate elite connects the centres of...

Critical macro-finance (CMF) has become an influential avenue of research aimed at shedding light on how the global payments system is governed. In the introduction to this special forum on CMF, we explore three main themes: (1) the intellectual lineage of CMF and its relation to...

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds are among the fastest-growing investment styles. ESG investing thereby has a governing effect, and a key open question is whether ESG merely reduces risks for investors or whether it can have a sustainability impact and actively contribute to...

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds are among the fastest growing investment styles. ESG funds can be used either to only mitigate risk (input ESG) or to go beyond that to create impact (output ESG). We argue that the governance by ESG is characterised by three potential...

Since 2008, a massive shift has occurred from active towards passive investment strategies. The passive index fund industry is dominated by BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, which we call the ‘Big Three'. We comprehensively map the ownership of the Big Three in the United States and find...