Visualization of Board of Director Connections for Analysis in Socially Responsible Investing

Paper: arXiv 2405.20522

Authors: Alice Da Fonseca, Peter Lake, Ariana Barrenechea

Abstract

This project is a collaboration between industry and academia to delve into Finance Social Networks, specifically the Board of Directors of public companies. Knowing the connections between Directors and Executives in different companies can generate powerful stories and meaningful insights on investments. A proof of concept in the form of a Data Visualization tool reveals its strength in investigating corporate governance and sustainability, as well as in the partnership between industry and academic institutions.

Complexity vs Empirical Score

• Math Complexity: 1.5/10
• Empirical Rigor: 3.0/10
• Quadrant: Philosophers — conceptual discussion, limited math and data

Why this score: The paper presents an applied data visualization project built using PowerBI to explore corporate board connections for ESG investing. It lacks quantitative modeling, formal statistical rigorous testing, or advanced network analytics algorithms, serving primarily as a case study for an academic-industry experiential learning project.

Research Flowchart

  flowchart TD
    A[Research Goal: Analyze Board Connections for Socially Responsible Investing] --> B[Input Data: Corporate Directors & Executives Relations]
    B --> C[Methodology: Graph Analytics & Social Network Analysis]
    C --> D[Computational Process: Build Data Visualization Tool]
    D --> E[Outcomes: Reveal Insights in Corporate Governance & Sustainability]
    D --> F[Outcomes: Successful Industry-Academia Collaboration]

Cited References (6)

1. Corporate Finance Policies and Social Networks (2017) — link
2. Executive Networks and Firm Policies: Evidence from the Random Assignment of MBA Peers (2013) — link
3. The Small World of Investing: Board Connections and Mutual Fund Returns (2007) — link
4. Financial Analyst Characteristics and Herding Behavior in Forecasting (2005) — link
5. Security Analysts’ Career Concerns and Herding of Earnings Forecasts (2000) — link
6. SEC Form 10-Q, Quartely Report

0 of 6 cited works are in the corpus; resolved via arXiv source bundles, Semantic Scholar and OpenAlex. Corpus-wide: 2518 linked papers.