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In this work, a new method has been developed for accurate and precise Sr isotopic analysis of microsamples via inductively coupled plasma – tandem mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS). For introduction of low-volume samples, a setup consisting of a syringe-driven pump that allows to work at low and stable sample introduction flow rates was combined with a high-efficiency sample introduction system, originally designed for the introduction of single cells and other discrete entities into the ICP. The method requires 240 μL of sample only, introduced at a sample uptake rate of 20 μL min−1 and allows for the straightforward measurement of the 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratio without prior Rb/Sr separation. The isobaric overlap of the signals of 87Rb and 87Sr is overcome by the selective reaction between Sr+ and CH3F gas in the collision/reaction cell (CRC) of an ICP-MS/MS instrument. In this way, Sr+ ions are measured as their corresponding SrF+ reaction product ions in a mass-shift approach. A multivariate approach was applied to obtain optimum instrument settings (sample uptake rate, nebulizer gas flow rate, make-up gas flow rate, and plasma sampling depth) for maximum sensitivity and optimum precision of the 87Sr/86Sr and 88Sr/86Sr isotope ratios. The method thus developed was found to be accurate (mean bias = −0.001 ± 0.070%, with respect to a quality control reference value) and showed an external precision of 0.17% (RSD, n = 24) at an analytical concentration of 2 ng g−1. The method was applied to the analysis of small-volume digests of samples of Antarctic atmospheric particulates (PM10) and of soils from Australia and South America as potential source areas for atmospheric particulates reaching East Antarctica. The raw soil samples were handled using a dedicated resuspension/collection system to select the finest fraction (PM2.5), thus simulating the long-range transport of mineral dust in the atmosphere. The results obtained for these samples were found to be in good agreement with literature data, demonstrating the suitability of the procedure developed for the Sr isotopic analysis of such complex matrices with Sr concentrations as low as a few ng g−1 (

PurposeThis paper investigates the effect of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on small- and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) access to credit. Starting with the idea that SMEs' strategy-making process, structures and behaviour can favour credit access, the authors also explore the moderating role of bank lending technologies in shaping this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis study relies on a unique survey of Austrian and Italian SMEs which contains detailed information on access to credit, EO dimensions, relationship lending and firm-level characteristics. The authors perform stepwise logistic regressions to assess whether EO interacts with SME's access to finance, and how relationship lending enhances this relationship.FindingsProactiveness, autonomy and competitive aggressiveness are important constructs for improving access to bank financing. Those dimensions became more important when a relationship bank is involved, suggesting a role for relationship lending in overcoming SMEs' opaqueness. In addition, relationship lending is crucial for innovative SMEs in overcoming credit denial rates.Research limitations/implicationsThe small sample did not allow to analyse the effect of EO on discouraged borrowers. Furthermore, alternative measures of relationship lending (such as geographical proximity or the length of the relationship) and the share of credit granted by the relationship bank would have been interesting to further validate our results.Practical implicationsThis study shows that EO dimensions and the type of lending technology are relevant for the financial success of SMEs. More precisely, the authors show that diversity within the banking system helps innovative, autonomous, proactive and competitive SMEs. These important pieces of soft information are injected into the final lending decision when a relationship bank is involved. The evidence suggests the need for SMEs to interact with local banks to fully exploit their EO posture.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to analyse whether relationship lending can affect the EO–credit access relation.

PurposeThe authors compare two market collapse incidents, focusing on their role as turning points for ESG considerations among investors that do not fall under the SRI class. The authors draw from the signaling theory to posit that ESG performance acts as a buffer to retain institutional shareholders under stress conditions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collect extensive data on institutional shareholdings and corporate performance during the pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis to examine the potential of ESG to act as a downward risk hedging mechanism. The authors test whether superior ESG scores function as insurance and resilience signals that lock investors in through times of high probability of divestments.FindingsFindings indicate that ESG weighs in investment decisions during economic downturn and poor returns. The nature of this positive relationship is not static but dynamic contingent on overall risk materiality considerations.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors update regulators, firms, investors and academics on ESG, risk and crisis management. The shifting materiality and the altering impact of ESG practices is our core implication, as well as limitation, in terms of metrics, temporal evolution and interaction with institutional factors, along with portfolio alpha and safe haven potential in ESG asset classes.Originality/valueThe authors extend current literature focusing on portfolio returns and firm valuations to highlight the role of ESG in shareholder retention during poor return periods. The authors further add to existing studies by examining the shifting materiality of ESG pillars during different crisis settings.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of the initial capital structure in the success and duration of entrant manufacturing start-ups. We select all the Italian manufacturing companies incorporated in the database Aida Bureau van Dijk in 2009; we include financial variables such as leverage (measured as debt-to-asset ratio) and study their impact on firm survival. We use duration analysis as the estimation technique and focus on the time span 2009–2016. Our analysis confirms that the relation between initial leverage and firm hazard is positive and significant also for the Italian manufacturing companies. We also find a weak evidence of a positive relation between the quintiles of the leverage distribution and the hazard ratio but this relation requires further investigation.

In this work, we present chemical stratigraphies of two sampling lines collected within a 4 m depth snow pit dug in Dome C during the Antarctic summer Campaign 2017/2018, 12 years after the last reported snow pit. The first sampling line was analyzed for nine anionic and cationic species using Ion Chromatography (IC), the second sampling line was analyzed for seven major elements in an innovative way with Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) after sample pre-concentration, allowing the study of deposition processes of new markers especially related to crustal source. This coupled analysis, besides confirming previous studies, allowed us to investigate the depositions of the last decades at Dome C, enriching the number of the detected chemical markers, and yielding these two techniques complementary for the study of different markers in this kind of matrix. As a result of the dating, the snow layers analyzed covered the last 50 years of snow depositions. The assessment of the accumulation rate, estimated about 9 cm yr−1, was accomplished only for the period 1992–2016, as the eruption of 1992 constituted the only tie-point found in nssSO42− depth profile. Na, the reliable sea salt marker, together with Mg and Sr, mainly arose from marine sources, whereas Ca, Al and Fe originated from crustal inputs. Post-depositional processes occurred on Cl− as well as on NO3− and methanesulfonic acid (MSA), compared to the latter, Cl− had a more gradual decrease, reporting a threshold at 2.5 m for the post-depositional process completion. For NO3− and MSA, instead, the threshold was shallower, at about 1 m depth, with a loss of 87% for NO3− and of 50% for MSA.

The complete removal of biorecalcitrant xenobiotics, including most notably the pharmaceutical pollutants, by advanced oxidation processes is often difficult to be reached in urban or industrial wastewater because of the high concentration of organic and inorganic scavengers that compete with the xenobiotics for the oxidizing species. This work investigates a coupled treatment train in which wastewater effluents are pretreated with a negatively charged loose nanofiltration (NF) membrane (HydraCoRe70, made up of sulfonated polyethersulfone) to enhance the removal of xenobiotics with the thermal Fenton process. Carbamazepine (CBZ), a drug prescribed mainly for epilepsy treatment, is used here as a model xenobiotic. After optimizing the conditions for separation and degradation, the NF–Fenton approach was applied to both synthetic wastewater and real samples to assess the overall efficiency of CBZ removal. The Fenton degradation of CBZ was drastically enhanced in nanofiltered samples, thanks to the removal by the membrane of nearly all organic matter that would otherwise consume the reactive oxidizing species (e.g., the hydroxyl radical). On the basis of a preliminary treatment cost analysis, it can be concluded that the combined process is potentially applicable to the treatment of several kinds of wastewaters (e.g., industrial ones) to favor the removal of biorecalcitrant contaminants. Key cost savings of NF–Fenton concern the lower amounts of Fenton reagents needed to degrade CBZ and (even more importantly) the decreased levels of acids and bases for pH adjustment before and after the oxidative process because of the lower buffer capacity of the NF permeate compared to feed wastewater, after the removal by the NF of many inorganic ions and most organic carbon.

Investing in early-stage companies is incredibly hard, especially when no data are available to support the decision process. Venture capitalists often rely on gut feeling or heuristics to reach a decision, which is biased and potentially harmful. This work proposes a new data-driven framework to help investors be more effective in selecting companies with a higher probability of success. We built upon existing interdisciplinary research and augmented it with further analysis on more than 600,000 companies over a 20-year timeframe. The resulting framework is therefore a smart checklist of 21 relevant features that may help investors to select the companies more likely to succeed.

A new procedure for the determination of Al, Ba, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na and Sr in snow samples by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) has been developed. The analytes were 100-fold preconcentrated by sample volume reduction and quantified by ICP-OES using the heated torch-integrated sample introduction system (hTISIS). After multivariate optimization of the hTISIS/ICP-OES operating parameters for maximum sensitivity and plasma robustness, fit-for-purpose performances were achieved, requiring only 20 mL of sample (as water equivalent). The analytical recovery was quantitative (except for Ba at low concentration, ≈80%) and the precision of the procedure was better than 5%. The limits of detection (Al: 0.10 ng g−1; Ba: 0.013 ng g−1; Ca: 0.52 ng g−1; Fe: 0.13 ng g−1; K: 0.38 ng g−1; Mg: 0.04 ng g−1; Na: 0.39 ng g−1; Sr: 0.003 ng g−1) were suitable for the analysis of Antarctic snow, with some limitation for Ba. The accuracy of the method was assessed by the analysis of the certified reference water NIST SRM 1640a. The application of the analytical method to sixty snow samples collected at Dome C, on the East Antarctic Plateau, provided self-consistent results, in good agreement with literature data.

International audience

Lead content, enrichment factors, and isotopic composition (208Pb/206Pb and 207Pb/206Pb) measured in atmospheric particulate matter (PM10) samples collected for nine years at Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard islands, Norwegian Arctic) during spring and summer are presented and discussed. The possible source areas (PSA) for particulate inferred from Pb isotope ratio values were compared to cluster analysis of back-trajectories. Results show that anthropogenic Pb dominates over natural crustal Pb, with a recurring higher influence in spring, compared to summer. Crustal Pb accounted for 5–16% of the measured Pb concentration. Anthropogenic Pb was affected by (i) a Central Asian PSA with Pb isotope signature compatible with ores smelted in the Rudny Altai region, at the Russian and Kazakhstan border, which accounted for 85% of the anthropogenic Pb concentration, and (ii) a weaker North American PSA, contributing for the remaining 15%. Central Asian PSA exerted an influence on 71–86% of spring samples, without any significant interannual variation. On the contrary, 59–87% of summer samples were influenced by the North American PSA, with higher contributions during 2015 and 2018. Back-trajectory analysis agreed on the seasonal difference in PSA and highlighted a possible increased influence for North American air masses during summer 2010 and 2018, but not for summer 2015.

Lead (Pb) concentration and Pb isotope ratios have been determined in 109 snow pit samples collected at Dome C, on the East Antarctic Plateau, corresponding to the period 1971–2017. The Pb concentration was 8.2 ± 1.0 pg g−1 (mean ± 95%-confidence interval), with a decreasing trend from the early 1990s (the median Pb concentration halved from 9.0 pg g−1 in 1970–1980 to 4.4 pg g−1 in 2010–2017). The 206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/207Pb ratios were 2.419 ± 0.003 and 1.158 ± 0.003 (mean and 95%-confidence interval), respectively. The temporal variations of Pb isotopic composition from 1970 to mid-1990s reflect the changes in the consumption of Pb-enriched gasoline in the Southern Hemisphere, whereas the subsequent increase of the Pb isotope ratios is ascribed to a shift toward the natural isotopic signature. Accordingly, the anthropogenic Pb contribution decreased from (61 ± 3)% in 1980–1990 to (49 ± 10)% in 2010–2017. The measured ratios suggest that Australia has been a significant source of anthropogenic Pb to Antarctica, even in recent times. Differences and similarities among Pb content and isotopic composition in various sites across Antarctica have been displayed by principal component analysis, indicating that the altitude and the distance from the coast significantly affect the Pb content, while the Pb isotopic signatures are not influenced by these parameters.

Integrated Reporting (IR) and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) are two ways that have to converge into the “integrated thinking” approach, as both of them push towards a new long-termism in management decisions. Risk management aims to protect company value, this way making the business sustainable over time; so risk issues should be well considered into the integrated report and, in the meantime, company providing the integrated report should demand for the existence of an ERM. Analyzing the companies of the IIRC Pilot Programme we find that: the number of companies filling the IR and contemporaneously adopting the ERM is increasing over time. However, shifting from the traditional to the integrated report doesn’t imply a simultaneous adjustment to an integrated risk management, but when both approaches are present companies have higher performances with respect to those that only do the IR. This evidence supports the hypothesis that ERM can be useful to make the integrated thinking effective.

A method to assess the ability of a photocatalyst to induce reactions with free or trapped hydroxyl radicals versus direct charge-transfer processes is here proposed, based on the use of phenol and 2-hydroxybenzoic acid (salicylic acid) as test substrates. The rationale is that phenol degradation would be preferentially (although not exclusively) induced by hydroxyl radicals, while salicylic acid would mainly undergo direct charge-transfer oxidation. The use of t-butanol as selective OH scavenger is helpful to understand how much each substrate is a selective indicator of the intended reaction pathway in the presence of a given semiconductor oxide. Phenol and salicylic acid should be used at low concentration (e.g. 25 mol L1) to limit the occurrence of the backreactions, the importance of which can be highlighted by using higher initial concentration values (e.g. 1 mmol L1). The method was optimized with the well-studied photocatalysts Evonik P25 and Wackherr's Oxyde de titane standard, and it was then applied to study the behavior of two TiO2/Al2O3 binary oxide systems (where TiO2 occurs as a mixture of anatase and rutile). The latter photocatalysts were poorly efficient toward the degradation of phenol, but they performed better with salicylic acid. These findings, which are coherent with the results of t-butanol addition, suggest that the two binary oxide systems would induce charge-transfer rather than OH reactions.

Dynamics of equity risk premium is not directly measurable on the market. Numerous studies and empirical research analyse its volatility also considering the time span, concluding that the dynamics of equity risk premium over time is inversely proportional to the economic cycle. This study analyses the passive role that, implicitly, would place institutional investors in such a context. In reality, savings management is delegated to a small number of professional operators (institutional investors), as opposed to pure theoretical models in which every person can act directly on the market thus ensuring unlimited price elasticity. Institutional investors should be rational and completely informed so that they can assume an anticyclical position on the market. Thus, supply and demand should quickly smooth over emerging price pressures and avoid price bubbles. We analyse one possible explanation for this situation not to occur, namely, that professionals suffer from operational limits that prevent them from doing their job in the best possible way. Using empirical evidence from the Italian Stock Exchange (Comit Index), we conclude that three factors reduce the freedom of institutional investors to manage their portfolios – the market target size, the fund structure, and the benchmarking – and discuss some implications for each of them.

We aim to investigate the impact of the adoption of an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) system on the enterprise value and to discover which are the determinants of this choice. Several economic actors have decided to face the current economic and financial complexity shifting from a Traditional silo-based Risk Management approach (TRM) to a more comprehensive one, the so called Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). Some academics have tried to investigate the effects of the ERM implementation on firm value, mainly focusing on the financial industry. The results are still controversial. Moreover, there is no empirical evidence about the adoption of ERM programs among non-financial companies. The aim of our study is double: first, we try to understand if the ERM implementation affects firm value on a sample of 200 European companies, belonging to both financial and non-financial industries; second, we test which are the determinants of the adoption of an ERM system. We do this performing a fixed effects panel regression analysis (goal 1) and a fixed effects logistic analysis (goal 2). We find a positive statistically significant relation between the ERM adoption and firm value. As for the probability that a firm engages in an ERM protocol, we find that size, the company beta and profitability (ROA) are the statistically significant determinants.

The paper proposes to intend the firm as a nexus of stakeholder, each bearing return-to-risk expectations on the overall corporate performance. All stakeholders must achieve their own satisfaction by bargaining contracts that must be sustainable, i.e. keep alive in the long term both the firm and its stakeholders-network. Governance is intended as the mechanism that gives solution to the above puzzle. When market and contracts are complete, optimal solution can be easily found out. But when incompleteness emerges, governance can misallocate the firm performance between the stakeholders. Accordingly, the stakeholders will negotiate the visible-only arguments of contracts, and, this way, they bind even the invisible ones (i.e. those impacting anyway on their ex-post performance). This being the case, a Governance Risk Premium (GRP) emerges and incentivize a governance repackage. Such a GRP depends both on the actual grade of incompleteness of the financial markets but even on the one of the contracts as per their capability to allocate risk and growth through time. A framework to detect GRP is even proposed here. Its affordability is proved through an application to the Italian case which is characterized by 142bp GRP inside the cost of equity capital

The latest financial crisis has been impressive for strength, impact, duration and reduced efficacy of the economic and financial policies adopted by the Authorities. We use an original information risk model to contribute to the analysis of the crisis and to suggest some approaches for a possible early diagnosis. Using data referred to the three main financial markets and comparing the latest crisis with the previous one and with a long term quantitative evidence, we find out that the 2007-2009 crisis was very different in the information risk quality. That gap affected the market risk aversion and its equilibrium, reducing the efficacy of the Authorities’ intervention tools mainly based on payoff risk control and efficient market restoration. Since information risk is an endogenous element of the market dynamics that can be independent form contingent levels of market efficiency. Drivers of information risk in the European Markets differed strongly from the US and Japanese ones; that’s why some global decision had low impact while opportunities of local intervention was missed.

The paper presents an empirical study on the content of reports on Italian stocks. We collected 4,603 reports regarding 29 blue chips listed in Italian stock market and released during years 2000-2003 by important brokers and investment firms. We carefully examined each report to find out the evaluation method used to get the final recommendation. The first puzzling finding is that for most of reports (about 70%) it is not possible to understand clearly the evaluation method used. This behaviour is coherent only with a very strong reputation effect, so that it does not matter why an analyst says something but only what he says and who he is. Then we restricted the analysis to reports whose main evaluation method was elicit. We divided evaluation methods into two main categories: the one based on market ratios and the one on fundamental analysis, that is the in-depth estimation of future profits and cash flows. The two methods occur with a quite similar proportion, but the year by year approach shows that the situation has changed through time. While in year 2000 market ratios were above fundamental analysis, in the following three years the weight of market ratios has constantly declined and in year 2003 the position was reversed. At last, we assessed whether the evaluation methods have some impact on the estimates, measured by recommendation's delta ((Target price - Current price)/Current price). But we did not find any significant relation: it doesn't matter if the report is based mainly on supposed original estimates, which is the typical feature of fundamental analysis, or on well known market data. The quality and the value of a report, if there are any, don't rely on the evaluation method used.