Salford Business School’s Lecturer in Accounting and Finance, Dr Rasol Eskandari, recently presented his research paper: ‘Does regularity quality enhance sustainability performance? International evidence,’ at the AfriMed Finance Association Annual Conference (AFS 2025), held at the University of Valencia in Spain.
Co-authored with Mousumi Zaman, a PhD student at Salford Business School, and Dr Rashed Khan, Lecturer in International Business and Marketing, the study explored the critical role of regulatory quality in promoting sustainability performance within financial firms.
About the AFS Conference
The AFS annual conference, held from 17th to 20th July, brought together international academics, practitioners, and doctoral students to discuss the latest challenges and opportunities in finance. This year’s programme was packed with engaging parallel sessions, a thought-provoking keynote address, and a dynamic “meet the editors” panel – all focusing on core themes such as sustainability, ESG (environmental, social and governance), diversity, and board reform.
Research focus and findings
The main objectives of the presented research were:
- To shed light on how regulatory quality influences the sustainable performance of financial firms, supporting the view that regulations are key to drive sustainability transitions.
- To recommend managers and policymakers to design regulations that promote corporate sustainability.
- To examine the link between regulatory quality and sustainable performance from different countries.
On his research presentation, Rasol commented: “Attending AFS 2025 was a great opportunity to meet international academics and discuss new ideas about the future of research and the new trending areas in research especially on ESG and sustainability. Some of the comments and feedback which I have got on my research will help me to improve my research in the future.”
About Rasol’s research:
Rasol’s research focuses on corporate finance, governance, ESG, sustainability, and FinTech. He has published in leading peer reviewed academic journals such as the International Journal of Banking & Finance, International Journal of Finance and Economics, and the Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting.