Corporate sustainability

About: Corporate sustainability is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3517 publications have been published within this topic receiving 94075 citations.

Addressing endogeneity by proposing novel instrumental variables in the nexus of sustainability reporting and firm financial performance: A step‐by‐step procedure for non‐experts

Abstract: Most of the prior literature that investigated the nexus between corporate sustainability disclosures (CSD) and firm financial performance (FFP) has largely been ignored the potential problem of endogeneity. The omitted variable(s), measurement error, and reverse causality, which are the known causes of endogeneity, may also be the possible reasons for the indecisive and inconsistent relationship between CSD and FFP. Accordingly, this study reinvestigates the relationship by addressing the problem of endogeneity through applying the two‐stage least squares (2SLS) estimator to data collected from the annual reports of the top 10 Pakistani banks through content analysis from 2013 to 2017. The results show a positive impact of the CSD and social sustainability on FFP. However, environmental sustainability exerted a negative impact on FFP. The statistics for 2SLS are much different than those of the ordinary least squares (OLS), which explain the importance of addressing the endogeneity bias. The study offers a methodological procedure that identifies and addresses the endogeneity through a step‐by‐step process in Stata 13.0. Besides, the study also has a novelty to propose and validate additional instrumental variables for the research in the future. Overall, the study has many contributions and implications for different stakeholders such as academia, regulatory bodies, and practitioners in the field of corporate sustainability.

Field Experiments in Corporate Sustainability Research: Testing Strategies for Behavior Change in Markets and Organizations

Abstract: Experimental studies are a valuable tool to test effective strategies for encouraging sustainable behavior but have not been used much in corporate sustainability research. In this article, we describe the benefits and challenges of the randomized field experimental method for research in corporate sustainability. We draw on the examples of our own research in energy conservation behavior to illustrate some of the hurdles that need to be overcome for the successful implementation of field experiments.

Sustainability Reporting and Corporate Reputation: The Moderating Effect of CEO Opportunistic Behavior

Abstract: The present study’s main objective is to assess the impact of non-financial sustainability reporting (NFSR) on corporate reputation and the role of the CEO in the opportunistic behavior of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. In total, 178 firms were assessed for this paper during 2013–2020. In this study for calculating the NFSR, environmental sustainability reporting (ESR), social sustainability reporting (SSR), governance sustainability reporting (GSR) and ethical sustainability reporting (ETSR), Arianpoor and Salehi’s comprehensive and conceptual model has been used. In addition, the literature states that a CEO’s power can be classified as an opportunity for discretion and opportunistic behavior in CEOs that is in contrast with stakeholder demands. To this end, in this study, CEOs’ power has been used as an indicator for the CEO’s opportunistic behavior, and the CEO pay slice (CPS) index was used to calculate the CEO’s level of power. The results revealed that NFSR affects corporate reputation positively. In addition, ESR, SSR, ETSR and GSR positively affect corporate reputation. Moreover, the CEO’s power affects the relationship between NFSR/ESR/SSR/ETSR and corporate reputation. Because managers desire to engage in social and ethical activities, they try to hide the company’s errors and increase its reputation. The results revealed that the CEO’s power did not affect the relationship between GSR and corporate reputation. Since companies in the Tehran Stock Exchange are under intensive supervision, such as in governance, the impact of a CEO’s power and the interaction of a CEO’s power and GSR on company reputation in this study might, thus, not apply to these companies. It is crucial to investigate NFSR, corporate reputation and CEO power within Iran-specific conditions because of differences in emerging markets and developing countries such as Iran, which have diverse ownership structures, economic status, legal systems, government policies, and culture.

A hybrid MCDM model based on DEMATEL and ANP for improving the measurement of corporate sustainability indicators: A study of Taiwan High Speed Rail

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to improve the sustainability measurement of indicators by using corporate social responsibilities (CSR) reports, examine the degree of interaction between these indicators, and analyze the trend of the performance towards the CS goals set up over the past years. If managers review and identify key indicators regularly, these key indicators will help arrive at long-term performance goals, which will also be an essential reference for the transportation industry's business decision-making. Most of the selected indicators suffer from a significant technical problem: all of the measurement dimensions are independent, leading to inadequate indicators for measuring CS/CSR. Our calculations consider the interrelationships and effects among the evaluation dimensions and indicators to precisely rank and select indicators. This study's value is that it provides HSR with a direction for measuring and improving their CSR to develop sustained competitive advantage over the long term. This study implemented Taiwan's Railway Transportation Corporate as a case study and applied the DEMATEL-ANP Based Method (DANP) to analyze and standardize discrete indicator and synthetic performance indices using critical indicators from CSR reports. The results showed that the Service Quality (SQ), Operation Effect, and Customer Satisfaction (CS) were ranked the top three key factors, and the discrete indicators and synthetic performance indices of the corporate were all positive and consistent with the trend of its sustainable development.