The study reviews the current state of impact investments in Singapore and Hong Kong, particularl... more The study reviews the current state of impact investments in Singapore and Hong Kong, particularly those that have engaged with foundations. It further looks at the trends and challenges of the impact investment sector before presenting a list of recommendations.Impact investment assets globally represent a mere 0.2 percent of global wealth as reported by the Global Impact Investing Network. By increasing this share to just two percent, the potential of impact investments can reach over US$2 trillion (UNDP, 2016). Impact investments can play a significant role in sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region, potentially providing socioeconomic progress for the billions of people living in the region. Foundations in the region can potentially play a significant role given the billions of assets they can deploy.
This study looks at an emerging trend in which wealthy families, individuals, and corporations in... more This study looks at an emerging trend in which wealthy families, individuals, and corporations in Asia set up foundations to institutionalise their giving. This giving is motivated by a myriad of factors beyond prestige and status, including the desire to give back to society, religion, family and personal values, the desire to drive change, personal experience, and/or affiliations.This study finds that philanthropic foundations in Asia can be characterised by their operational model, governance structure, and philanthropic focus. In emerging economies in Asia like Myanmar and China, these foundations tend to give nationally and operate their own programmes. On the other hand, foundations in developed economies like Singapore and Hong Kong tend to give both regionally and nationally via grants to civil society organisations that operate programmes, as opposed to running programmes themselves. Further, families tend to retain significant control of foundations in Singapore and Hong K...
This is the second working paper in the series on Social Entrepreneurship in Asia published by th... more This is the second working paper in the series on Social Entrepreneurship in Asia published by the Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy (ACSEP). ACSEP's mission is to advance the understanding and impactful practice of social entrepreneurship and philanthropy in Asia through research and education. While Asia is rich with the practice of social entrepreneurship given the plethora of social issues and challenges facing the region, there is still catch-up to be done in the documentation of these challenges and the responses from the private, public and people sectors. Case studies provide the platform for story-telling, analysis and theory building. Each of these applications serves a function in capacity building in the social entrepreneurship space in Asia. Story-telling inspires, engenders passion, informs of possibilities, sparks action, builds communities and facilitates information exchange for change. Iterations of analysis (and synthesis) done in the classroom among practitioners, professionals and students develop critical skills of assessment and evaluation. Academics interact with the models of social entrepreneurship which surface from data drawn from practice to build theory which again informs on practice.
This study provides a parsimonious methodological framework for synthesis of multidisciplinary de... more This study provides a parsimonious methodological framework for synthesis of multidisciplinary determinants of philanthropic behavior. We find strong religious motivation for philanthropy, both directly in the religious sector and more significantly, indirectly with spillover effects, in the non-religious sectors. Interestingly, we find that religious spirituality and religious affiliation explain philanthropy independent of each other. Other independent roots of philanthropy include economic resources, intergenerational learning, and social integration. One’s ability to give from one’s economic resources explains charitable donation but not volunteering. While intergenerational learning in a child’s growing years drives philanthropic behavior, one’s social integration, channels the giving to diverse sectors over one’s life time. We evaluate the intergenerational effects of philanthropy via parental role modeling on children’s philanthropic behavior. Consistent with social learning ...
In this thesis, I develop an account of how Scripture can be read in the Spirit, in a context lik... more In this thesis, I develop an account of how Scripture can be read in the Spirit, in a context like that of The Tabernacle Church and Missions in Singapore. I begin by reflecting on a practice of attending to the Spirit in my church community. I draw from this pneumatology an account of the marks of the Spirit - intoxication, life, participation and revelation of truth - that can help readers discern when they are not only hearing human voices but also the voice of the Spirit. I locate the church’s reading of Scripture within this account of the Spirit’s working. I argue that such a Spirit-led process is the proper context for an interpretation of Scripture that can make for an embodied witness to Jesus Christ in the world. I formulate a theology for this account of interpreting Scripture in the Spirit; I call it kerygmatic hermeneutics. I develop a detailed practical proposal for kerygmatic interpretation. I adapt David Jeremiah Seah’s Participatory Active Listening Prayer Method to...
Research Paper Series (National University of Singapore. Faculty of Business Administration); 200... more Research Paper Series (National University of Singapore. Faculty of Business Administration); 2007-0111-4
Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 1991
She wishes to thank Warren Bailey of Cornell University for his useful comments on earlier drafts... more She wishes to thank Warren Bailey of Cornell University for his useful comments on earlier drafts, and acknowledges the encouragement from various participants at the Northern Finance Association meetings in Ottawa, Canada, in October 1989.
This is an exploratory study on the state of the charity sector in Singapore using the Commission... more This is an exploratory study on the state of the charity sector in Singapore using the Commissioner of Charities Annual Reports from 2007 to 2013, available from the Charity Portal. The depth of analysis is much limited by the availability of inter-sectoral and intra-sectoral data as well as the length of time covered by each annual report.While there are studies that use the same data, we attempt to rationalise the data trends and their implications for strategy making by would-be entrants, practitioners and policymakers.We first present the broad trend in the net number and revenue growth of registered charities to understand the size of the sector and its financial health. Overall, the whole sector has been growing at a steady rate in terms of numbers and total amount of receipts which include grants, donations and others. Among the three components, grants, or the money given by the government, contributed the most to the total receipts. A more microscopic review shows that the ...
Ambidexterity theory proposes that systems pursuing innovation at the individual, team or, organi... more Ambidexterity theory proposes that systems pursuing innovation at the individual, team or, organization level must be capable of performing both exploratory and exploitative activities to successfu...
This study discusses the implication of information asymmetry between firms and investors for the... more This study discusses the implication of information asymmetry between firms and investors for the estimation risk of asset returns. We evaluate various risk measures of information asymmetry between firms and investors for China, an excellent example of a low ...
It is not surprising to see that firms that have more socially responsible actions ("good" firms)... more It is not surprising to see that firms that have more socially responsible actions ("good" firms) are rewarded by a higher market return of 3% per calendar year compared to firms that do not engage in socially responsible or irresponsible actions ("neutral" firms). On the contrary, firms that are more socially irresponsible ("bad" firms) are not penalized by a negative return compared to "neutral" firms. A more important question remains: How does the market value those firms that engage in both socially responsible and irresponsible actions simultaneously? We term these socially ambiguous firms as "grey" firms. In reality, many firms are taking on both socially responsible and irresponsible actions. A visible example includes Altria, which is a tobacco company with a strong CSR component such as community building activities. Yet the tobacco industry is deemed a "sin" industry by socially responsible investors. How then would market value these "grey" firms? Are firm's socially responsible and irresponsible actions valued the same? Using the KLD database that rates both the socially responsible actions and irresponsible actions of each single firm, we manage to disentangle the valuations of responsible and irresponsible actions. Our results show that the "grey" firms are valued higher for their redeeming socially responsible actions. The annual return is about 3.2% higher for "grey" firms when they are compared to "bad" firms (which mostly engage in socially irresponsible actions). The reward is even higher for "grey" firms compared to "neutral" firms, at 3.6%. These results imply that it pays off for a firm in a "sin" industry to engage in socially responsible actions. At least, doing "good" is better than "doing nothing" or "purely doing bad". Exploring which aspects of the socially responsible actions that firms should engage in, we find that the "Environment" and "Community" related socially responsible actions are the key drivers for the higher return. This finding is intuitive as the benefits to the environment and community are more visible to the public. This is the first study that reveals that financial market and investors are forgiving and they recognize the "good" performed by "grey" firms.
We conduct empirical analysis on the relation between firm value and corporate social responsibil... more We conduct empirical analysis on the relation between firm value and corporate social responsibility (CSR) using 134,823 observations of 2542 firms across 44 countries from 2009 to 2014. We find that the firm value is positively related to the overall CSR score of the firm. At a more granular level, we find that good environmental score is positively related to the firm value and good social and governance scores are negatively related to the firm value. Since these firms operate in different institutional frameworks, we explore whether the institutional voids-the absence of institutions or intermediaries that are instrumental in supporting business operations in a country-may result in greater firm valuation for its CSR and vice versa. Our results show that firms' environmental scores and social scores receive higher valuation in countries with weaker institutions. Overall, our findings suggest that CSR creates value for firms by filling institutional voids in their home country.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reveal the economic impact of policy reversals related to... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reveal the economic impact of policy reversals related to market liberalization reforms in China. Design/methodology/approach To perform the analysis, the authors hand-collect 59 financial market liberalization policy reversals from 1999 to 2017. These reversals are related to the liberalization of the stock market, bond market, derivatives market, forex market, lending market, and real estate market etc. The authors employ a stylized equilibrium interest rate model from Li et al. (2013) to deduce the impact of policy reversals on economic growth and the associated volatility after the announcement of each policy reversal. Findings First, the authors discover that about half of reversals are related to some tradeoff between the economic growth and the volatility associated with growth. Second, the authors also find that about a quarter of the reversals are detrimental to both the growth and the stability. These reversals, if known to policymak...
The study reviews the current state of impact investments in Singapore and Hong Kong, particularl... more The study reviews the current state of impact investments in Singapore and Hong Kong, particularly those that have engaged with foundations. It further looks at the trends and challenges of the impact investment sector before presenting a list of recommendations.Impact investment assets globally represent a mere 0.2 percent of global wealth as reported by the Global Impact Investing Network. By increasing this share to just two percent, the potential of impact investments can reach over US$2 trillion (UNDP, 2016). Impact investments can play a significant role in sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region, potentially providing socioeconomic progress for the billions of people living in the region. Foundations in the region can potentially play a significant role given the billions of assets they can deploy.
This study looks at an emerging trend in which wealthy families, individuals, and corporations in... more This study looks at an emerging trend in which wealthy families, individuals, and corporations in Asia set up foundations to institutionalise their giving. This giving is motivated by a myriad of factors beyond prestige and status, including the desire to give back to society, religion, family and personal values, the desire to drive change, personal experience, and/or affiliations.This study finds that philanthropic foundations in Asia can be characterised by their operational model, governance structure, and philanthropic focus. In emerging economies in Asia like Myanmar and China, these foundations tend to give nationally and operate their own programmes. On the other hand, foundations in developed economies like Singapore and Hong Kong tend to give both regionally and nationally via grants to civil society organisations that operate programmes, as opposed to running programmes themselves. Further, families tend to retain significant control of foundations in Singapore and Hong K...
This is the second working paper in the series on Social Entrepreneurship in Asia published by th... more This is the second working paper in the series on Social Entrepreneurship in Asia published by the Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy (ACSEP). ACSEP's mission is to advance the understanding and impactful practice of social entrepreneurship and philanthropy in Asia through research and education. While Asia is rich with the practice of social entrepreneurship given the plethora of social issues and challenges facing the region, there is still catch-up to be done in the documentation of these challenges and the responses from the private, public and people sectors. Case studies provide the platform for story-telling, analysis and theory building. Each of these applications serves a function in capacity building in the social entrepreneurship space in Asia. Story-telling inspires, engenders passion, informs of possibilities, sparks action, builds communities and facilitates information exchange for change. Iterations of analysis (and synthesis) done in the classroom among practitioners, professionals and students develop critical skills of assessment and evaluation. Academics interact with the models of social entrepreneurship which surface from data drawn from practice to build theory which again informs on practice.
This study provides a parsimonious methodological framework for synthesis of multidisciplinary de... more This study provides a parsimonious methodological framework for synthesis of multidisciplinary determinants of philanthropic behavior. We find strong religious motivation for philanthropy, both directly in the religious sector and more significantly, indirectly with spillover effects, in the non-religious sectors. Interestingly, we find that religious spirituality and religious affiliation explain philanthropy independent of each other. Other independent roots of philanthropy include economic resources, intergenerational learning, and social integration. One’s ability to give from one’s economic resources explains charitable donation but not volunteering. While intergenerational learning in a child’s growing years drives philanthropic behavior, one’s social integration, channels the giving to diverse sectors over one’s life time. We evaluate the intergenerational effects of philanthropy via parental role modeling on children’s philanthropic behavior. Consistent with social learning ...
In this thesis, I develop an account of how Scripture can be read in the Spirit, in a context lik... more In this thesis, I develop an account of how Scripture can be read in the Spirit, in a context like that of The Tabernacle Church and Missions in Singapore. I begin by reflecting on a practice of attending to the Spirit in my church community. I draw from this pneumatology an account of the marks of the Spirit - intoxication, life, participation and revelation of truth - that can help readers discern when they are not only hearing human voices but also the voice of the Spirit. I locate the church’s reading of Scripture within this account of the Spirit’s working. I argue that such a Spirit-led process is the proper context for an interpretation of Scripture that can make for an embodied witness to Jesus Christ in the world. I formulate a theology for this account of interpreting Scripture in the Spirit; I call it kerygmatic hermeneutics. I develop a detailed practical proposal for kerygmatic interpretation. I adapt David Jeremiah Seah’s Participatory Active Listening Prayer Method to...
Research Paper Series (National University of Singapore. Faculty of Business Administration); 200... more Research Paper Series (National University of Singapore. Faculty of Business Administration); 2007-0111-4
Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 1991
She wishes to thank Warren Bailey of Cornell University for his useful comments on earlier drafts... more She wishes to thank Warren Bailey of Cornell University for his useful comments on earlier drafts, and acknowledges the encouragement from various participants at the Northern Finance Association meetings in Ottawa, Canada, in October 1989.
This is an exploratory study on the state of the charity sector in Singapore using the Commission... more This is an exploratory study on the state of the charity sector in Singapore using the Commissioner of Charities Annual Reports from 2007 to 2013, available from the Charity Portal. The depth of analysis is much limited by the availability of inter-sectoral and intra-sectoral data as well as the length of time covered by each annual report.While there are studies that use the same data, we attempt to rationalise the data trends and their implications for strategy making by would-be entrants, practitioners and policymakers.We first present the broad trend in the net number and revenue growth of registered charities to understand the size of the sector and its financial health. Overall, the whole sector has been growing at a steady rate in terms of numbers and total amount of receipts which include grants, donations and others. Among the three components, grants, or the money given by the government, contributed the most to the total receipts. A more microscopic review shows that the ...
Ambidexterity theory proposes that systems pursuing innovation at the individual, team or, organi... more Ambidexterity theory proposes that systems pursuing innovation at the individual, team or, organization level must be capable of performing both exploratory and exploitative activities to successfu...
This study discusses the implication of information asymmetry between firms and investors for the... more This study discusses the implication of information asymmetry between firms and investors for the estimation risk of asset returns. We evaluate various risk measures of information asymmetry between firms and investors for China, an excellent example of a low ...
It is not surprising to see that firms that have more socially responsible actions ("good" firms)... more It is not surprising to see that firms that have more socially responsible actions ("good" firms) are rewarded by a higher market return of 3% per calendar year compared to firms that do not engage in socially responsible or irresponsible actions ("neutral" firms). On the contrary, firms that are more socially irresponsible ("bad" firms) are not penalized by a negative return compared to "neutral" firms. A more important question remains: How does the market value those firms that engage in both socially responsible and irresponsible actions simultaneously? We term these socially ambiguous firms as "grey" firms. In reality, many firms are taking on both socially responsible and irresponsible actions. A visible example includes Altria, which is a tobacco company with a strong CSR component such as community building activities. Yet the tobacco industry is deemed a "sin" industry by socially responsible investors. How then would market value these "grey" firms? Are firm's socially responsible and irresponsible actions valued the same? Using the KLD database that rates both the socially responsible actions and irresponsible actions of each single firm, we manage to disentangle the valuations of responsible and irresponsible actions. Our results show that the "grey" firms are valued higher for their redeeming socially responsible actions. The annual return is about 3.2% higher for "grey" firms when they are compared to "bad" firms (which mostly engage in socially irresponsible actions). The reward is even higher for "grey" firms compared to "neutral" firms, at 3.6%. These results imply that it pays off for a firm in a "sin" industry to engage in socially responsible actions. At least, doing "good" is better than "doing nothing" or "purely doing bad". Exploring which aspects of the socially responsible actions that firms should engage in, we find that the "Environment" and "Community" related socially responsible actions are the key drivers for the higher return. This finding is intuitive as the benefits to the environment and community are more visible to the public. This is the first study that reveals that financial market and investors are forgiving and they recognize the "good" performed by "grey" firms.
We conduct empirical analysis on the relation between firm value and corporate social responsibil... more We conduct empirical analysis on the relation between firm value and corporate social responsibility (CSR) using 134,823 observations of 2542 firms across 44 countries from 2009 to 2014. We find that the firm value is positively related to the overall CSR score of the firm. At a more granular level, we find that good environmental score is positively related to the firm value and good social and governance scores are negatively related to the firm value. Since these firms operate in different institutional frameworks, we explore whether the institutional voids-the absence of institutions or intermediaries that are instrumental in supporting business operations in a country-may result in greater firm valuation for its CSR and vice versa. Our results show that firms' environmental scores and social scores receive higher valuation in countries with weaker institutions. Overall, our findings suggest that CSR creates value for firms by filling institutional voids in their home country.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reveal the economic impact of policy reversals related to... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reveal the economic impact of policy reversals related to market liberalization reforms in China. Design/methodology/approach To perform the analysis, the authors hand-collect 59 financial market liberalization policy reversals from 1999 to 2017. These reversals are related to the liberalization of the stock market, bond market, derivatives market, forex market, lending market, and real estate market etc. The authors employ a stylized equilibrium interest rate model from Li et al. (2013) to deduce the impact of policy reversals on economic growth and the associated volatility after the announcement of each policy reversal. Findings First, the authors discover that about half of reversals are related to some tradeoff between the economic growth and the volatility associated with growth. Second, the authors also find that about a quarter of the reversals are detrimental to both the growth and the stability. These reversals, if known to policymak...
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