Showing papers on "Corporate governance published in 2021"

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Scores and Financial Performance of Multilatinas: Moderating Effects of Geographic International Diversification and Financial Slack

Abstract: This paper examines whether a firm’s financial performance (FP) is associated with superior environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores in emerging markets of multinationals in Latin America. The study addresses the current research gap on this issue; it develops hypotheses and tests them by applying linear regressions with a data panel drawn from the Thomson Reuters Eikon™ database to analyse data on 104 multinationals from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru between 2011 and 2015. The results suggest that the relationship between the ESG score and FP is significantly statistically negative. Furthermore, in examining environmental, social and governance separately to accurately determine each variable’s relationship to multilatinas’ FP, the results reveal a negative relationship. Finally, the empirical analysis provides evidence for a moderating effect of financial slack and geographic international diversification on the relationship between ESG dimensions and firms’ FP. This study furthers understanding of the relationship between ESG dimensions and FP for the Latin American business context.

Board Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility: Empirical Evidence from France

Abstract: This study analyzes how the board’s characteristics could be associated with globally corporate social responsibility CSR and specific areas of CSR. It is drawn on all listed firms, in 2016, on the SBF120 between 2003 and 2016. Our results provide strong evidence that diversity in boards and diversity of boards globally are positively associated with corporate social performance. However, they influence differently specific dimensions of CSR performance. First, we show that large boards are positively associated with all areas of CSR performance, while specific and overall CSR scores are negatively associated with CEO-chair structures. Second, board gender diversity is positively associated with human rights and corporate governance dimensions. Third, age diversity is positively associated with corporate governance, human resources, human rights, and environmental activities. Also, our results provide evidence that outside directors care about CSR performance. Specifically, the presence of foreign directors is positively associated with environmental performance and community involvement, whereas CSR-Governance dimension is positively associated with the presence of independent directors. Regarding the director’s educational level, post-graduated directors are positively and significantly associated with overall CSR score and all CSR sub-scores, except the corporate governance one. When directors have multiple directorships, they are more concerned about human resources, environmental performance, and business ethics. Finally, our findings are robust only in non-family firms. In fact, family boards are less diverse than non-family ones; specifically, they have a lower number of independent, foreign, and high-educated directors.

Blockchain Governance—A New Way of Organizing Collaborations?

Abstract: The recent emergence of blockchains may be considered a critical turning point in organizing collaborations. We outline the historical background and the fundamental features of blockchains and pre...

COVID-19 and the future of CSR research

Abstract: Research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) flourished pre-COVD-19 and could reasonably claim to be one of the most widely read and cited sub-fields of management. However, the pandemic has clearly challenged a number of existing CSR assumptions, concepts, and practices. We aim to identify four key areas where CSR research has been challenged by COVID-19 – stakeholders, societal risk, supply chain responsibility, and the political economy of CSR – and propose how future CSR research should be realigned to tackle them.

The determinants of business contribution to the 2030 Agenda: Introducing the SDG Reporting Score

Abstract: Within the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations have explicitly required that the Member States introduce within their jurisdictions new forms of regulations about non‐financial reporting practices. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects related to the transposition of Directive 2014/95/EU by analyzing firm‐level, governance‐level, and report‐level determinants of business reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To conduct such an analysis, this study defines and introduces the SDG Reporting Score (SRS)—a qualitative proxy representing a firm orientation toward SDG reporting. The study sample includes the non‐financial reports of 153 Italian Public Interest Entities. The results show a positive relationship between a firm's SRS and various determinants, such as the presence of independent directors on the board, expertise with non‐financial reporting, and length of the report. Finally, the highest levels of SRS are achieved by firms operating in environmental sensitive sectors.

A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change

Abstract: Assessing global progress on human adaptation to climate change is an urgent priority. Although the literature on adaptation to climate change is rapidly expanding, little is known about the actual extent of implementation. We systematically screened >48,000 articles using machine learning methods and a global network of 126 researchers. Our synthesis of the resulting 1,682 articles presents a systematic and comprehensive global stocktake of implemented human adaptation to climate change. Documented adaptations were largely fragmented, local and incremental, with limited evidence of transformational adaptation and negligible evidence of risk reduction outcomes. We identify eight priorities for global adaptation research: assess the effectiveness of adaptation responses, enhance the understanding of limits to adaptation, enable individuals and civil society to adapt, include missing places, scholars and scholarship, understand private sector responses, improve methods for synthesizing different forms of evidence, assess the adaptation at different temperature thresholds, and improve the inclusion of timescale and the dynamics of responses. Determining progress in adaptation to climate change is challenging, yet critical as climate change impacts increase. A stocktake of the scientific literature on implemented adaptation now shows that adaptation is mostly fragmented and incremental, with evidence lacking for its impact on reducing risk.

15‐minute city: Decomposing the new urban planning Eutopia

Abstract: As cities are struggling to cope with the second wave of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of 15-min cities seem to have sparked planners’ imagination and politicians’ willingness for providing us with a new urban planning eutopia. This paper explores the “15-min city” concept as a structural and functional element for redesigning contemporary cities. Methodologically, a study of three case cities that have adopted this new model of city vision, is carried out. The analysis focus on understanding how the idea of 15-min cities fits the legacies of different cities as described by traditional planning principles in the context of three evaluation pillars: inclusion, safety and health. The paper argues that the 15-min city approach is not a radical new idea since it utilizes long established planning principles. Nevertheless, it uses these principles to achieve the bottom-up promotion of wellbeing while it proposes an alternative way to think about optimal resource allocation in a citywide scale. Hence, application of 15-min city implies a shift in the emphasis of planning from the accessibility of neighborhood to urban functions to the proximity of urban functions within neighborhoods, along with large systemic changes in resource allocation patterns and governance schemes citywide.

ESG did not immunize stocks during the COVID-19 crisis, but investments in intangible assets did

Abstract: Environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) scores have been widely touted as indicators of share price resilience during the COVID-19 crisis Contrary to this conventional wisdom, we present robust evidence that once industry affiliation, market-based measures of risk and accounting-based measures of performance, financial position and intangibles investments have been controlled for, ESG offers no such positive explanatory power for returns during the COVID crisis Specifically, ESG is insignificant in fully specified returns regressions for each of the Q1 2020 COVID market crisis period and for the full COVID year of 2020 By contrast, a measure of the firm's stock of investments in internally generated intangible assets is an economically and statistically significant positive determinant of returns during each of the Q1 market implosion and full 2020 COVID year periods Our results are robust to alternative measures of returns, as well as for using Refinitiv, Refinitiv II and MSCI data to capture ESG performance We conclude that ESG did not immunize stocks during the COVID-19 crisis, but those investments in intangible assets did © 2021 The Authors Journal of Business Finance & Accounting published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

The Effect of Blockchain Technology on Supply Chain Sustainability Performances

Abstract: Improving supply chain sustainability is an essential part of achieving the UN’s sustainable goals. Digitalization, such as blockchain technology, shows the potential to reshape supply chain management. Using distributed ledger technology, the blockchain platform provides a digital system and database to record the transactions along the supply chain. This decentralized database of transactions brings transparency, reliability, traceability, and efficiency to the supply chain management. This paper focuses on such novel blockchain-based supply chain management and its sustainability performances in the areas of environmental protection, social equity, and governance efficiency. Using a systematic literature review and two case studies, we evaluate whether the three sustainability indicators can be improved indirectly along supply chains based on blockchain technology. Our study shows that blockchain technology has the potential to improve supply chain sustainability performance, and we expect blockchain technology to rise in popularity in supply chain management.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) activity and firm performance: a review and consolidation

Abstract: Interest in why firms conduct environmental, social and governance (ESG) activity is longstanding and increasing. Our understanding, however, remains fragmented with alternative accounts that seek to explain the relationship between ESG performance (ESGP) and corporate financial performance (CFP). This paper reviews alternative accounts for the relationship and finds that the weight of empirical evidence shows a positive, statistically significant but economically modest ESGP-CFP link, consistent with theoretical expectations. This economically modest relationship suggests ESG activity is unlikely to be primarily motivated by narrow measures of CFP. Further scholarship viewing ESG as part of overall firm activity would be constructive.

Collaborative Governance : Principles, Processes, and Practical Tools

Abstract: Traditional governance, even when it is functioning effectively and fairly, often produces clear winners and clear losers, leaving smoldering resentments that flare up whenever there is a shift in the balance of power. Over the past two and a half decades, a new style of governance has arisen to disrupt some of that winner-takes-all dynamic, offering parties a means to collectively navigate their interests in a highly focused and democratic way. Collaborative Governance is the first comprehensive practice-based textbook on the topic, presenting a solid grounding in relevant theory while also focusing on case studies, process design, and practical tools. Bringing together theory and tools from the fields of negotiation and mediation, as well as political science and public administration, this book introduces students and practitioners to the theory of collaborative governance in the context of practical applications. Coverage includes: • A connection of the practices of collaborative governance with the field’s theoretical underpinnings; • Tools for students and practitioners of collaborative governance—as well as public administrators and other possible participants in collaborative governance processes—to discern when collaborative governance is appropriate in politically complex, real-world settings; • A roadmap for students, practitioners, and process participants to help them design—and effectively participate in—productive, efficient, and fair collaborative governance processes; • An exploration of constitutional democracy and the ways in which collaborative governance can be used as a tool in building a more just, fair, and functional society. Collaborative Governance is an ideal primary textbook in public administration, planning, and political science courses, as well as a jargon-free primer for professionals looking to learn more about the theory and practice of this important field.

Nudging toward diversity in the boardroom: A systematic literature review of board diversity of financial institutions

Abstract: Going beyond the mere gender diversity in the boardroom, this systematic review comprehensively covers the research on board diversity of financial institutions. More specifically, we cover gender diversity, as well as other characteristics of diversity, such as nationality, age, tenure, experience, education, ethnicity, and religion. A systematic literature review was employed using Scopus and Web of Science databases, covering all publications until May 2020, which resulted in 91 studies from 66 top-ranked journals in accounting, finance, and economic fields. We analyze them based on the journal, methodology, research construct questions, and theoretical perspectives. Our results highlight the substantial knowledge gaps and the inconsistent findings of prior studies on several aspects of the field, suggesting avenues for further studies in terms of research designs, settings, scope, and theories. We argue that there is a need to explore other board diversity attributes rather than focusing on the gender diversity of the boards of financial institutions to achieve sustainable development. Also, more work is outlined on topics related to board diversity of financial firms that receive limited attention from scholars, such as (but not limited to) environmental performance, capital structure, intellectual capital, innovation and earnings quality of financial institutions, as well as the indirect effect of policy settings.

Environmental performance, sustainability, governance and financial performance: Evidence from heavily polluting industries in China

Abstract: This study seeks to contribute to the existing business strategy and the environment literature by examining the effect of governance structures on Chinese firms' environmental performance, and consequently ascertain the extent to which the financial performance–environmental performance nexus is moderated by governance mechanisms. Using a sample of Chinese companies from heavily polluting industries over a 5‐year period, our baseline findings suggest that, on average, board size and governing board meetings are positively associated with Chinese firms' environmental performance, whilst board independence and gender diversity have positive, but insignificant association with firms' environmental performance. Our evidence suggests further that the examined internal governance mechanisms have a mixed moderating effect on the link between financial performance and environmental performance. Our findings have important implications for company executives, environmental activists, policy‐makers, and regulators. Our results support insights drawn from agency, resource dependence, stakeholder, and legitimacy theories.

Seeing the forest for the trees: Visualizing platformization and its governance:

Abstract: The complexities of platforms are increasingly at odds with the narrow legal and economic concepts in which their governance is grounded. This article aims to analyze platformization through the me...

Shareholder activism and firms' voluntary disclosure of climate change risks

Abstract: Research Summary This article examines whether—in the absence of mandated disclosure requirements—shareholder activism can elicit greater disclosure of firms' exposure to climate change risks. We find that environmental shareholder activism increases the voluntary disclosure of climate change risks, especially if initiated by institutional investors, and even more so if initiated by long‐term institutional investors. We also find that companies that voluntarily disclose climate change risks following environmental shareholder activism achieve a higher valuation postdisclosure, suggesting that investors value transparency with respect to firms' exposure to climate change risks. Managerial Summary Climate change poses increasing risks to companies. Yet, despite the growing importance of climate change risks, little is known about companies' exposure to climate change risks, their disclosure of these risks, and what strategic actions they take to manage and mitigate these risks. In this study, we examine whether—in the absence of mandatory disclosure—shareholders can elicit greater corporate transparency with respect to climate change risks. We find that shareholder activism is effective, especially if initiated by long‐term institutional investors. We also find that the stock market reacts positively to companies' climate risk disclosure following environmental shareholder activism, suggesting that investors value transparency with respect to firms' exposure to climate change risks.