1. Introduction by the Editors

This book presents original contributions discussed at the 2019 Wolpertinger Conference, the annual meeting of the European Association of University Teachers in Banking and Finance, held in Venice, Italy. The conference centred around the future of credit for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and socially sustainable investing, touching upon the role and the evolution of the banking sector and the financing tools it fosters. The chapters contributed to this book confirm that the academic debate regarding financial markets and institutions is not at all out of step with the issues that businesses and firms are facing, thus reaffirming the central role that the academic research can play in understanding real-world phenomena.