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Repositório Institucional da Universidade Católica Portuguesa
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How platform design shapes risk beliefs : evidence from neobroker users in Germany
Publication . Scholz, Nico; Karimli, Tural
This thesis: How Platform Design Shapes Risk Beliefs: Evidence from Neobroker Users in Germany by Nico Scholz, investigates whether retail investors in Germany updated their risk perception differently after the 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse, depending on how they invest in financial markets. The SVB/CS shock represents an episode of great financial instability which sent a clear risk signal to markets. Rising interest rates had begun to reveal weaknesses in the global banking system. Attentive investors should have recognised this signal and adjusted their risk perceptions for different asset classes accordingly. This analysis compares risk perceptions between neobroker users and traditional investors with the use of a difference-in-differences model based on a three-wave survey of German retail investors conducted between 2022 and 2024. The results show that neobroker users updated their perceived riskiness of individual stocks and cryptocurrencies significantly less than traditional investors did. This difference remains stable across a nested model specification and is not explained by differences in investor demographics, risk tolerance, investment duration or financial literacy. A VIX-based test shows that neobroker users' risk perception is not driven by market volatility or events. However, the results should be interpreted cautiously as the model is based on a single pre-shock period, and the results lose partial significance under de-meaned robustness checks. Nonetheless, the findings suggest that neobroker platform design affects how investors form beliefs about the riskiness of financial assets, indicating implications for regulatory debate around platform design.
Perceived authenticity in AI-generated product content : effects of source attribution and disclosure on consumer purchase intention
Publication . Gades, Vanessa Melina; Romeiro, Paulo
The growing integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into digital marketing is transforming how online marketing communication is created and presented. While AI-generated content offers advantages regarding efficiency, scalability, and personalization, its increasing use also raises important questions regarding how consumers evaluate AI-generated communication in online retail environments. Drawing on attribution theory, this study examines how source attribution and disclosure transparency influence perceived authenticity and purchase intention. To investigate these relationships, a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects online experiment was conducted manipulating source attribution (AI vs. human), disclosure (disclosure vs. no disclosure), and content type (product description vs. review summary). The findings demonstrate that both AI attribution and disclosure reduce perceived authenticity. Interestingly, consumers did not appear strongly opposed to AI-generated communication itself but reacted more negatively once AI involvement was explicitly disclosed. Perceived authenticity further emerged as a key factor shaping purchase intention, while content type did not significantly influence the observed relationships. Overall, the study suggests that making AI involvement visible may fundamentally alter how consumers interpret the authenticity of online communication.
Pricing the transition : capital market reactions to COP closing announcements in the fossil fuel and renewable energy sectors
Publication . Pey, Joshua Lenny van; Stahl, Jörg
This thesis examines whether the closing announcements of United Nations climate conferences (COPs) convey price-relevant information to energy sector equities, and whether fossil fuel and renewable energy firms react asymmetrically. Using a Carhart four-factor event study across all 31 COPs from 1995 to 2025 and a sample of 660 developed-market firms, abnormal returns are aggregated into event-level cumulative average abnormal returns and tested through pooled inference, complemented by standardized and rank-based robustness checks. The results show a robust negative reaction among fossil fuel firms in the main event window, significant at least at the 5% level and stable in sign across all specifications. Renewable energy firms display no systematic reaction, a null result interpreted as evidence that their valuations already embed the structural growth case of the transition. A pooled regression finds no uniform asymmetry between the two groups. However, an event-level analysis reveal that significant negative asymmetry concentrates at a small set of post-2010 policy-milestone conferences, identified through a governance-based classification constructed independently of the return data. The findings indicate that COP closings reprice transition risk in fossil valuations conditionally, primarily when conferences deliver credible institutional content, rather than uniformly across the conference sequence.
What factors mitigate tensions for European dual-use companies operating across civilian and military markets?
Publication . Trupi, Leon; Giry-Deloison, Patrick
This study examines what factors mitigate tensions in European dual-use companies, firms operating simultaneously across civilian and military markets. Motivates by the accelerating civil-military technology convergence following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the study addresses a gap in the existing literature: while prior research describes the structural tensions inherent to dual-use marker positioning, the mechanisms through which firms manage them remain empirically underexplored, particularly in European context. Drawing on paradox theory and institutional logics, five structural tensions are identified deductively: Opportunity Creation vs. Opportunity Realization, Market-Led Strategy vs State-Led Demand Dependence, Scalability vs Selective Exploitability, Strategic Optionality vs Strategic Commitment, and Value Capture vs. Value Protection. Eight semi-structured expert interviews with practitioners and advisors across sector including unmanned systems, space-based intelligence, and quantum computing were analyzed using Mayring’s qualitative content analysis. All five tensions are confirmed as permanent features of dual-use positioning. Six mitigating factors are identified: regulatory adaptation strategies, strategic revenue architecture, institutional network capital, proactive compliance and security architecture, interface management as an organizational capability, and capital market access and ESG repositioning. Two inductively derived findings extend the theoretical framework: personnel security as a structural barrier to defense market participation and dual-use positioning as a capital markets signal. The study contributes and empirically grounded framework for practitioners navigating the civilian-to-defense transition in the current European strategic environment.
Business adaptive strategies in crisis : how Mercedes-Benz navigated the COVID-19 pandemic
Publication . Hansen, Tomke Mats; Cardeal, Nuno
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an unprecedented shock that hit the global economy on both the supply and demand side simultaneously, leaving no region unaffected. The automotive industry, characterized by just-in-time production, high fixed costs, and deep globalinterdependencies, was among the most structurally exposed sectors. This case study examines how Mercedes-Benz, one of the world's leading premium automobile manufacturers, navigated the COVID-19 crisis through immediate operational responses and strategic adaptation measures. To analyse the company's crisis response, the frameworks of SWOT, PESTEL, Dynamic Capabilities, and Organisational Resilience are applied. The analysis reveals a coherent two-phase crisis response, beginning with an acute stabilisation phase and transitioning into a structural transformation phase as the crisis persisted. The main findings indicate that the combination of just-in-time production and constrained financial flexibility represented the most critical strategic vulnerability exposed by the pandemic. At the same time, the crisis accelerated pre-existing transformation processes, particularly in electrification, digital sales, and supply chain resilience, ultimately leading Mercedes-Benz to emerge structurally repositioned rather than merely recovered. The study provides valuable insights into how globally operating companies can navigate systemic crises. In doing so, it highlights the critical role of dynamic capabilities and organisational resilience in sustaining competitive advantage under extreme uncertainty.