Essays on geopolitical risk in the financial system

This research work is composed of a trilogy of three researches that study the interconnectedness between geopolitical risk (GPR), which has been among the undisputed protagonists of the most recent years, and the financial system, with a particular focus on energy markets, bank lending and ESG performance of banks. The first research consists of a bibliometric literature review that is aimed at outlining and defining the intellectual and research architecture entailed in the topic of geopolitical risk and energy markets. Through this in-depth analysis, this work captures the existing trends and conceptual frameworks and also simultaneously highlights research gaps which could potentially be addressed in future researches. Moreover, the second work is focused on the analysis of the impact of geopolitical risk on bank lending. Through the employment of panel data, this study uncovers the way GPR fluctuations shape the bank lending behaviours and also the relevant mechanisms governing the interconnectedness in question. Furthermore, the third research work entails the sustainability domain and, in fact, is aimed at exploring the relationship between geopolitical risk and ESG performances of banks. This in-depth analysis leads to the sound understanding of the various effects of GPR on ESG performances and sheds light on the related dynamics. In conclusion, the three research works taken together uncover the way GPR shapes and influences the financial sector. The whole research thus incrementally contributes to the existing literature and also provides useful tools and insights with regard to these topics to managers, stakeholders, policy makers and also other researchers.