Banking Stability in the ESG Framework Across Italian Regions

Banking Stability in the ESG Framework Across Italian Regions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Banking Stability in the ESG Framework Across Italian Regions Massimo Arnone, Angelo Leogrande, Alberto Costantiello, Lucio Laureti This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4734769/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This work aims to initiate a reflection on the awareness of environmental, social, and corporate governance issues, summarized in the acronym ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), among Italian SMEs. The integration of ESG issues into business models has led to an expansion of the risk taxonomy affecting corporate management. In addition to traditional financial risks, new risks have emerged, primarily climate risk, environmental, and energy risks, which can significantly impact companies' ability to create economic value. This includes planning and designing virtuous initiatives focused on sustainability and the ability to build public-private partnerships with various stakeholders. After this theoretical framework aimed at highlighting the evolution of the concept of corporate sustainability following the introduction of ESG factors, a clustering of non-performing loans of Italian companies is proposed using a k-Means algorithm, comparing the results obtained through two different methods, namely the Elbow method and the Silhouette coefficient. Finally, using data on Italian regions between 2004 and 2023, an empirical analysis is conducted to provide an estimate of the relationship between non-performing loans and some variables related to ESG components. JEL CODES: G1, G10, G11, G12, G13, G14, G15. Finance Sustainability ESG non performing loans SMEs clustering Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4734769","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":326469246,"identity":"a886a09f-4c91-48c4-99ac-a2852118badc","order_by":0,"name":"Massimo Arnone","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Catania","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Massimo","middleName":"","lastName":"Arnone","suffix":""},{"id":326469247,"identity":"3bfea9c4-fa20-4934-a5ae-7b9222542edd","order_by":1,"name":"Angelo Leogrande","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA9ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPijN2AAiH4AI9mYQWwKnFjYULQkJQILnIFgLTj1YtEgkgtm4tbA3H35dUXNHtp+B+ZlE4g+bfH7Jh21SNxgs6nBq4TmWZnnm2DPjmQ1sZhIJCWmWM2cntknn4HOYRI6ZYQPb4cQNB3jYgFoOGxjcJqRF/g1Qy7/DifthWuxvHiRkC4/xw8Y2oC0MMFskGAlo4UlLY2zsO2w84zCbsUVCWpqBxJnEZuscAwnJBhxa+NkPH/7Y8O2wbH9788MbH2xsDPjbDx+8nVNRx4/LFrDbwBQziqABHg1AtR/wSo+CUTAKRsEoAABg1U/Q4kxZZwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"LUM UNIVERSITY GIUSEPPE DEGENNARO","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Angelo","middleName":"","lastName":"Leogrande","suffix":""},{"id":326469248,"identity":"f1d5e2d9-0b55-4996-8d76-612de37cdba6","order_by":2,"name":"Alberto Costantiello","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lum University Giuseppe Degennaro","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alberto","middleName":"","lastName":"Costantiello","suffix":""},{"id":326469249,"identity":"8915f915-d956-4e31-bde0-ab3100d6251e","order_by":3,"name":"Lucio Laureti","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lum University Giuseppe Degennaro","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lucio","middleName":"","lastName":"Laureti","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-07-13 10:24:55","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4734769/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4734769/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":60460241,"identity":"5399b8f4-a9bb-49af-9784-a70d077e412b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-07-17 03:45:06","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2094317,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"13072024CGRM2024ARNONEBankingStabilityintheESGFrameworkAcrossItalianRegions.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4734769/v1_covered_4b0b5451-8802-4f4f-9b23-0356def1437b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eBanking Stability in the ESG Framework Across Italian Regions\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Sustainability, ESG, non performing loans, SMEs, clustering","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4734769/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4734769/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis work aims to initiate a reflection on the awareness of environmental, social, and corporate governance issues, summarized in the acronym ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), among Italian SMEs. 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