Thesis subject

Banque Populaire Aquitaine Centre Atlantique (BPACA) is supporting the La Rochelle University Foundation to create a research chair in "Cooperative Values and CSR". Within this framework, La Rochelle University is offering a 3-year doctoral contract aimed at examining the specific features of cooperative models in the banking sector and their links with CSR.

In the 19th century, cooperative banks were created alongside the large commercial banks. Their names are well known today (BNP-Paribas or Société Générale for the former, Groupe BPCE, Crédit Mutuel, Crédit Agricole for the latter) and these two models have endured as they have recomposed themselves. Cooperative banks have based their identity and uniqueness on their determination not to seek profits for shareholders, but rather to benefit their members and the local community. This co-existence of models is not unique to France and can be found in many European countries and in Canada.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the reality of this difference by taking a comparative look at the practices of commercial and cooperative banks with regard to profit distribution and CSR practices, linking them in particular to the composition of boards of directors and their development over time. A quantitative and/or prosopographical approach may be considered.

The plan is to build up a historical corpus of French and international banks from 1945 to the present day, subject to data availability. By building up such a corpus, the doctoral research aims to analyze the differences between commercial banks and cooperative banks and to understand the singularities of the latter.

The thesis is in the field of management science and management, with a specialization in accounting and governance. The future doctoral student will have expertise in these fields, but a multi-disciplinary profile, with an appetite for inter-disciplinarity, will be appreciated. Training in and through research (research-oriented Master's degree, research university diploma) will be an additional advantage.