Editorial networks, geography, and social responsibility: Alternative finance and the limits of finance

This editorial introduces a special issue of the British Accounting Review on alternative finance, comprising four papers on venture capital social networks, the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate hedging, regional patterns in private equity buyout pricing and performance in the United Kingdom, and the internationalisation of equity crowdfunding platforms. We position the four contributions within the broader literature on information asymmetry, the geography of capital allocation, and the role of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) engagement as a financial signal. We then discuss policy implications relating to institutional reform, regional finance policy, crowdfunding regulation, and mandatory ESG disclosure, and outline an agenda for future research, with attention to data limitations, identification, and international generalisability.