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Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals
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Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 82951

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Akrum Helfaya

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Economics, Accounting, and Finance Department, Keele Business School, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5AA, UK
2. Accounting Department, Faculty of Commerce, Damanhour University, Damanhour P.O. Box 22511, Egypt
Interests: corporate governance and sustainability; corporate social responsibility; corporate reporting quality; Islamic accounting; accounting education
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ahmed Aboud

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Accouting and Financial Management Dep, University of Portsmouth., Portsmouth, UK
Interests: accounting regulation (international financial reporting standards, environmental social and corporate governance (esg); earnings management; banking regulations and tax avoidance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this Special Issue is to shed light on the importance of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and innovation in achieving sustainable business development goals.  The magnificent challenges that humankind faces, such as climate change and global warming, deforestation, biodiversity loss,  hunger, poverty, inequality, racism, women abuse, child labor, shareholderism/wealth maximization, conflicts, and recent pandemics,  deter the achievement of both corporate and national sustainable development goals. Sustainable corporations embed sustainable development agenda into their traditional business models and make sustainability benefits a key objective of the new business era. Corporate managerial and investment choices take into account not only the aspects of economic performance, but also their social and environmental performance. Accordingly, sustainable business represents an opportunity for corporations to enhance trust and create value on a wide scale. However, a sustainable business must be economically worthwhile, so that it can have a positive impact on corporate profitability, stimulating the long-term growth and resilience of business companies and overall sustainable financial solidity.

Corporations are widely accredited as playing a crucial role in achieving sustainable business development goals, as they can promote responsible investments and integrate environmental and social criteria into their investment strategies. Corporate directors can use corporate governance mechanisms and innovation to support business projects and activities with a measurable long-term positive economic, social, and environmental impact. Accordingly, additional research is needed regarding governance, sustainability, innovation, and sustainable business development goals.

This Special Issue of Sustainability will contribute to the existing literature on corporate sustainability governance and innovation and sustainable development goals. It will also offer additional insights into the perception of sustainability governance, innovation, and sustainable development goals of corporate directors, investors, and other stakeholders. It will collect empirical and theoretical studies covering a wide range of themes related to CSR in general, sustainable business development goals, corporate governance, and innovation. In particular, we encourage submissions that address issues related (but not limited) to the following main topics:

  • Corporate governance and sustainable business management;
  • Corporate socially responsible investments and SDGs;
  • ESG/CSR  and economic performance and firm value;
  • Companies’ contribution to SDGs and the current status of corporate practices.
  • The managerial incentives and CSR including opportunistic CSR
  • The role of formal and informal institutions in shaping SDGs.
  • The role of regulations and enforcement in shaping the future of SDGs
  • ESG/CSR practices, incentives, and benefits in emerging and developed markets.
  • The capital market reactions to SDGs.

Papers selected for this Special Issue will undergo a rigorous peer-review process with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results.

Dr. Akrum Helfaya
Dr. Ahmed Aboud
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • corporate governance
  • CSR
  • innovation
  • SDGs

Published Papers (26 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

11 pages, 238 KiB  
Editorial
Editorial for the Special Issue “Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals”
by Akrum Helfaya and Ahmed Aboud
Sustainability 2023, 15(12), 9471; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129471 - 13 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1093
Abstract
Corporate governance, social responsibility, and innovation play an important role in achieving sustainable business development goals (SDGs) [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

16 pages, 1187 KiB  
Article
Corporate Sustainability by Combating Bribery: The Role of an Organisation Culture and Its Impact on the Organisation’s Performance
by Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman, Faruk Bhuiyan, Munshi Samaduzzaman, Parvez Mia and Ishtiaque Mahmood
Sustainability 2023, 15(8), 6557; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086557 - 12 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1589
Abstract
There is an increasing trend in bribery practices among employees (corporate bribery), especially from emerging economies, where developed countries, including the USA, have enormous interests in various aspects of local and international trade. Therefore, this study aims to examine the influence of organisations’ [...] Read more.
There is an increasing trend in bribery practices among employees (corporate bribery), especially from emerging economies, where developed countries, including the USA, have enormous interests in various aspects of local and international trade. Therefore, this study aims to examine the influence of organisations’ culture and outcome orientation, as well as the stability culture dimensions of Organisation Culture Profile (OCP), in order to combat corporate bribery practices, as an aspect of corporate sustainability practices, and their subsequent impact on both organisational financial and non-financial performance. The study surveyed mid-to-top level managers of a total of 201 organisations from Bangladesh. The survey data were used to develop a structural equation model (SEM) by utilising the AMOS (26th version) software, and thus tested the developed hypotheses on the study variables. The findings provide evidence of the positive influence of the two dimensions (outcome orientation and stability) of organisations’ culture in combating bribery practices within organisations. The findings highlight the positive impact of combating bribery practices on both organisations’ financial and non-financial performance. Our empirical findings contribute to the existing limited bribery-related corporate sustainability literature, with the goal of achieving suitable organisation culture in order to minimise unethical business practices, specifically bribery practices. The findings provide practical implications for practitioners and policymakers due to the discovery of the importance of having congenial corporate culture, in order to promote and enhance corporate sustainability practices by reducing the likelihood of poor practices by employees, i.e., taking or offering bribes to business partners. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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23 pages, 708 KiB  
Article
Transformational Leadership, Organizational Innovation, and ESG Performance: Evidence from SMEs in China
by Jin Zhu and Fei Huang
Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 5756; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075756 - 25 Mar 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5555
Abstract
ESG is a sustainable development concept that integrates environmental, social, and corporate governance. Most studies on ESG have been conducted based on secondary data from listed companies and have not used questionnaires as a method for analysis. Given this research gap, this paper [...] Read more.
ESG is a sustainable development concept that integrates environmental, social, and corporate governance. Most studies on ESG have been conducted based on secondary data from listed companies and have not used questionnaires as a method for analysis. Given this research gap, this paper examines whether transformational leadership influences ESG performance in SMEs, whether organizational innovation mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and ESG performance, and the moderating effect of external social capital on transformational leadership and organizational innovation. Based on higher-order theory, resource-based theory, stakeholder theory, etc., we tested this hypothesis by conducting a regression analysis with a questionnaire collected from SMEs in China. After controlling for firm ownership, firm size, firm industry, and years in business, the results of the study indicate that transformational leadership has a positive effect on ESG performance and that organizational innovation partially mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and corporate ESG performance. Furthermore, external social capital moderates the direct relationship between transformational leadership and organizational innovation and moderates the role of organizational innovation as a mediator between transformational leadership and ESG performance. This study adds to our further understanding of the relationship between transformational leadership and ESG performance in SMEs, expanding the antecedent research on ESG performance and providing a basis for sustainable SME development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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23 pages, 720 KiB  
Article
Investigating the Factors That Determine the ESG Disclosure Practices in Europe
by Akrum Helfaya, Rebecca Morris and Ahmed Aboud
Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 5508; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065508 - 21 Mar 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 8630
Abstract
The increased focus on environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) (ESG) disclosure has become a necessary step toward the integration of sustainability practices into firms’ culture to meet the expectations of stakeholders. The social and environmental implications of firm activities on the [...] Read more.
The increased focus on environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) (ESG) disclosure has become a necessary step toward the integration of sustainability practices into firms’ culture to meet the expectations of stakeholders. The social and environmental implications of firm activities on the environment and surrounding communities have led to the growing demand for useful non-financial information. This paper investigates the impacts of the board’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy and CSR orientation, GRI, and the country–cultural dimensions, based on Hofstede’s measures of ESG disclosure practices within Europe. Using a European dataset from Bloomberg and Refinitiv Eikon, this paper adopts a quantitative research methodology to test the research hypotheses through a statistical analysis of 7840 observations from European companies to analyze the extent of the relationship between micro- and macro-variables and the disclosure of company ESG. Our findings suggest that both board CSR orientation and strategy and the GRI have positively and significantly affected the overall disclosure of ESG practices within Europe. When examining country–cultural dimensions, we find that individualism and feminine cultures are positively associated with increased levels of ESG disclosure. Our findings shed light on factors affecting ESG disclosure practices within Europe and could be of interest to companies, policy makers, and other stakeholders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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33 pages, 2564 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Anti-Corruption Disclosure Practices in the UK FTSE 100 Extractive Firms
by Musa Ghazwani, Mark Whittington and Akrum Helfaya
Sustainability 2023, 15(6), 5155; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065155 - 14 Mar 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1864
Abstract
This paper considers the anti-corruption disclosure reporting of the large UK-quoted extractive companies from 2003 to 2019. This period includes the introduction of the 2010 UK Bribery Act, which might be expected to influence corporate disclosure. It takes content analysis metrics from the [...] Read more.
This paper considers the anti-corruption disclosure reporting of the large UK-quoted extractive companies from 2003 to 2019. This period includes the introduction of the 2010 UK Bribery Act, which might be expected to influence corporate disclosure. It takes content analysis metrics from the environmental reporting literature, which is a more developed area of research, and considers an area with a higher volume of corporate disclosures. It applies these metrics to investigate the trends in corruption reporting over time and the impact of the introduction of the Act on reporting breadth and depth. We find that some of the metrics would appear to add more insight than others in this new context. We conclude that the volume of reporting has grown over time, but this would seem to be in breadth, more questions addressed rather than more depth to the answers given. There has been a step-change in reporting since the introduction of the Act, though concluding whether this has increased quality may depend on your perspective and interest as a user of the information. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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18 pages, 1141 KiB  
Article
A Comprehensive Model for Developing SME Net Zero Capability Incorporating Grey Literature
by Tolu Olarewaju, Samir Dani and Abdul Jabbar
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4459; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054459 - 02 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3691
Abstract
SMEs collectively account for a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions and so there is a need for urgent action to be taken by SMEs in the journey to achieve net zero. In this article, we provide a comprehensive conceptual framework for SMEs [...] Read more.
SMEs collectively account for a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions and so there is a need for urgent action to be taken by SMEs in the journey to achieve net zero. In this article, we provide a comprehensive conceptual framework for SMEs to draw from in the journey towards net zero by synthesizing the academic and grey literature. By bringing together key strands of the literature, we derive a conceptual model that provides a clear pathway for SMEs to embark on their net zero journeys. The framework we invent involves understanding the position of the SME in the value chain, understanding the pressures from stakeholders, undertaking greenhouse gas accounting to measure current levels of carbon emissions, undertaking internal changes towards the net zero agenda, undertaking external facing changes towards the net zero agenda, uncoupling, community participation, and updating business activities regularly. This model acts as a progressive decision-making and continuous improvement framework that will be an asset to SMEs as they undertake net zero activities. Overall, the paper contributes to the sustainability literature by being the first to synthesize the academic and grey literature to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework for SMEs to attain net zero. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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20 pages, 606 KiB  
Article
Executive’s Environmental Protection Background and Corporate Green Innovation: Evidence from China
by Xiyan Bai and Chan Lyu
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4154; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054154 - 24 Feb 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2134
Abstract
Green innovation is crucial to the sustainable development of corporates. The executive’s environmental protection background has an impact on their comprehensive skills, value orientation, management style, and behavioral patterns, thus playing an important role in corporate green innovation strategy. Therefore, this study aims [...] Read more.
Green innovation is crucial to the sustainable development of corporates. The executive’s environmental protection background has an impact on their comprehensive skills, value orientation, management style, and behavioral patterns, thus playing an important role in corporate green innovation strategy. Therefore, this study aims to explore the relationship between executives’ environmental protection background and corporate green innovation and its boundary mechanisms. Using data of A-share listed companies in China from 2007 to 2021, this relationship was empirically investigated using Stata analysis software and the establishment of a fixed-effects analysis model. Based on the upper echelons theory, this study finds that executive environmental protection background positively affects corporates’ green innovation. The above positive relationship persists when measures of green innovation and alternative regression models address robustness. Furthermore, this study explores the moderating role of the external environment and internal organizational factors (i.e., media attention and board independence). This study concludes that media attention and board independence positively moderate the positive relationship between executives’ environmental protection background and green innovation. The study contributes to the upper echelons theory and provides new insights into green innovation in emerging economies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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17 pages, 310 KiB  
Article
Learning from Each Other: UK Global Businesses, SMEs, CSR and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
by Sarah Williams and David F. Murphy
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4151; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054151 - 24 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2775
Abstract
Situated within the context of ‘Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ and the associated 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this article explores some current understandings about corporate social responsibility (CSR) and related ethical and sustainable business policies and practices within [...] Read more.
Situated within the context of ‘Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ and the associated 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this article explores some current understandings about corporate social responsibility (CSR) and related ethical and sustainable business policies and practices within UK-based global businesses. It also considers the potential lessons for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based on the approaches of global companies. The research engaged senior CSR managers from UK global brand businesses to discuss their CSR perceptions and practices. To the surprise of researchers, the participants described how they were moving past ‘CSR’ to instead use the SDGs as their framework. The findings suggest that global companies are reframing CSR within the broader concept of sustainability, influenced by the SDGs, and are willing to offer advice to SMEs as part of a broader supply chain collaboration process. While there is emerging literature focusing on the practical implications of the SDGs for global business, there appears to have been less attention to the potential for knowledge sharing between global companies and SMEs linked to the SDGs. Our research asked participants about recommendations for SMEs and these are also discussed in this paper. Our intention is to make a particular contribution to the latter area of inquiry and demonstrate the relevance of the SDGs to business, regardless of size. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
12 pages, 2115 KiB  
Article
Characterization of CSR, ESG, and Corporate Citizenship through a Text Mining-Based Review of Literature
by Jong Gyu Park, Kijung Park, Heena Noh and Yong Geun Kim
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 3892; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15053892 - 21 Feb 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 7956
Abstract
As the social and environmental roles of companies have been emphasized by various stakeholders, the concepts of CSR (corporate social responsibility), ESG (environmental, social, governance), and corporate citizenship have received a great deal of attention in academia and industry. To understand and distinguish [...] Read more.
As the social and environmental roles of companies have been emphasized by various stakeholders, the concepts of CSR (corporate social responsibility), ESG (environmental, social, governance), and corporate citizenship have received a great deal of attention in academia and industry. To understand and distinguish corporate responsibility approaches in the literature, this study employs text mining techniques to comprehensively analyze the summary information of 1235 articles (i.e., title, abstract, and keywords) on CSR, ESG, and corporate citizenship. First, frequently occurring terms in text datasets related to CSR, ESG, and corporate citizenship are analyzed to extract conceptual commonalities and differences. Then, correlated topic modeling is applied to the collected text datasets to identify underlying topics widely discussed in CSR, ESG, and corporate citizenship related studies. The results of this study show that corporate citizenship is not only a high-level concept that encompasses ESG and CSR, but also a broad concept with missions that are associated with various societal areas. The findings from this study also reveal that employees, as the principal agents of corporate citizenship practice, are more critical than other stakeholders of corporate citizenship practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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23 pages, 2264 KiB  
Article
Regulations on Non-Financial Disclosure in Corporate Reporting: A Thematic Review
by Nurul Jannah Mustafa Khan and Hasani Mohd Ali
Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2793; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032793 - 03 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3903
Abstract
There is a growing call globally for corporations to improve transparency in corporate reporting, along with the surge of enhancing disclosure of non-financial information. Companies are seen as agents for contributing to a better future, and hence could assist in achieving the sustainable [...] Read more.
There is a growing call globally for corporations to improve transparency in corporate reporting, along with the surge of enhancing disclosure of non-financial information. Companies are seen as agents for contributing to a better future, and hence could assist in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) 2030, via transparent non-financial disclosure. This review paper is premised on the fact that laws on non-financial disclosure may be useful in enhancing the transparency of companies’ conducts. Hence, this systematic review aims to synthesize the literature from 2014 to 2021 on the patterns and trends relating to regulations on non-financial disclosure in corporate reporting by companies. A keyword search followed by filters provided by the Web of Science Core Collection and SCOPUS databases resulted in a total of 369 documents being found. A total of 62 articles were reviewed after manual filtering and exclusion. A thematic review of these 62 articles identified 20 initial codes, which were then grouped into eight clusters: Directive 2014/95/EU, disclosure approaches, fiduciary duties of directors, stakeholder engagement, the effectiveness of disclosure regulations, the impacts of rules, the role of different actors and corporate accountability. The paper finds that the patterns and trends in the review set the path for future research on laws of non-financial disclosure, as they serve as a guideline for researchers for future studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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15 pages, 328 KiB  
Article
Corporate Digital Responsibility: A Board of Directors May Encourage the Environmentally Responsible Use of Digital Technology and Data: Empirical Evidence from Italian Publicly Listed Companies
by Francesco Napoli
Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2539; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032539 - 31 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2083
Abstract
This paper presents a framework for our hypotheses that the independence of a board of directors and the use of digital technology might influence the way a corporation performs environmentally. For empirical verification of our thesis, we take a sample of 53 publicly [...] Read more.
This paper presents a framework for our hypotheses that the independence of a board of directors and the use of digital technology might influence the way a corporation performs environmentally. For empirical verification of our thesis, we take a sample of 53 publicly listed Italian companies and look at data on their board composition, greenhouse gas emissions, and expenditures for the use of digital technologies of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) over a period of five years. What emerges from the test partially supports our predictions. In particular, we find that a higher level of board independence is associated with better environmental performance. There is no direct, statistically significant association between the use of digital technologies and environmental performance, so a greater use of digital technologies is not, in itself, sufficient to improve the environmental performance of a firm. However, our empirical analyses find that environmental performance is positively influenced by the use of digital technologies in firms that include a proportionately high number of independent directors on their boards. This research improves our understanding of antecedents of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR), showing how the share of independent directors on a board has a positive impact on CDR, understood here as the set of practices and behaviours that help an organisation use data and digital technologies in ways that are environmentally responsible. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
24 pages, 297 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty on Executives’ Self-Interest Behaviors: Evidence from China
by Hong Huang, Chang Liu and Yuqian He
Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 1815; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15031815 - 18 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1110
Abstract
This paper empirically studies the impact of economic policy uncertainty on executives’ self-interest behaviors, distinguishes explicit self-interest behaviors from implicit ones, and studies the moderating effect of internal control. The results illustrate that rising policy uncertainty will inhibit explicit self-interest behaviors of executives, [...] Read more.
This paper empirically studies the impact of economic policy uncertainty on executives’ self-interest behaviors, distinguishes explicit self-interest behaviors from implicit ones, and studies the moderating effect of internal control. The results illustrate that rising policy uncertainty will inhibit explicit self-interest behaviors of executives, yet the implicit ones will be encouraged. Internal control can regulate the above effects. Further research proves that the above-mentioned impact is more significant in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Stable institutional investors and sound market competition can play a certain role in governance. Our paper contributes to the literature on the impact of economic policy uncertainty on corporate governance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
23 pages, 643 KiB  
Article
Bonding or Indulgence? The Role of Overborrowing on Firms’ Innovation: Evidence from China
by Qiankun Meng, Yupei Liu, Wei’an Li and Mingshan Yu
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1079; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021079 - 06 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1342
Abstract
This paper examines the innovation spending gap associated with overborrowing in China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Based on the double agency problem of the banking sector, the authors hypothesize that SOEs are more inclined to a higher level of overborrowing and therefore worsen firms’ [...] Read more.
This paper examines the innovation spending gap associated with overborrowing in China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Based on the double agency problem of the banking sector, the authors hypothesize that SOEs are more inclined to a higher level of overborrowing and therefore worsen firms’ debt governance system for innovation. We argue that obtaining excessive bank loans has an indulgence effect and is used by firms’ managers as an entrenchment strategy for underinvestment in innovation. We test our theoretical model under the unique institutional setting of China’s banks, in particular the administrative-economic governance. Using a longitudinal panel dataset that contains a cross section of Chinese listed companies from 2012 to 2018, we confirm overborrowing’s mediating role between state ownership and firm innovation expenditure, implying that enhancing the delegated monitoring of banks is also essential to firm innovativeness in transition economies. Additionally, we further test the role of political connections and managers’ R&D functional experience to leverage the benefits of SOEs’ innovation resource endowment. Our study demonstrates another debt governance channel through which government intervention has a negative impact on firm innovation resource allocation. It expands the understanding of the debt governance role for innovation in transition economies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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16 pages, 611 KiB  
Article
Corporate Social Responsibility and Innovation Input: An Empirical Study Based on Propensity Score-Matching and Quantile Models
by Linsheng Chen, Siew Hoon Lim, Shiwei Xu and Ying Liu
Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 671; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010671 - 30 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1165
Abstract
Social responsibility performance and innovation investment are two important aspects of corporate strategy, and there is no consensus as to whether they are competing or complementary goals in an enterprise. Using propensity score-matching, ordinary least squares, and quantile regression, the study shows that [...] Read more.
Social responsibility performance and innovation investment are two important aspects of corporate strategy, and there is no consensus as to whether they are competing or complementary goals in an enterprise. Using propensity score-matching, ordinary least squares, and quantile regression, the study shows that the voluntary disclosure of social responsibility by enterprises will increase innovation investment. In other words, corporate social responsibility has a significant positive impact on innovation and investment; however, with the increase in enterprise innovation investment, this impact gradually weakens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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17 pages, 339 KiB  
Article
Asymmetric Effects of the Defense Burden on Environmental Degradation: Evidence from NATO Countries
by Olcay Çolak, Sevilay Ece Gümüş Özuyar and Ömer Faruk Bölükbaşı
Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 573; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010573 - 29 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1493
Abstract
Rapid industrialization tends to occur at the expense of natural resources. Thus, countries are inclined to control natural resources for their development objectives, which may create conflicts when countries allocate scarce resources to national defense. As a major military block, NATO poses a [...] Read more.
Rapid industrialization tends to occur at the expense of natural resources. Thus, countries are inclined to control natural resources for their development objectives, which may create conflicts when countries allocate scarce resources to national defense. As a major military block, NATO poses a potential threat to environmental degradation, as it comprises large industrialized arms manufacturers and military spenders. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the asymmetric effects of the defense burden on environmental degradation, which has rarely been studied in the empirical literature. Panel ARDL and NARDL methodologies were used to analyze the period 1965–2018 for the 15 oldest members of NATO. The findings of the panel ARDL analysis do not indicate any significant effect of the defense burden (ME) on carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) in the long term. On the other hand, panel NARDL analysis indicates that the effect of the defense burden on carbon emissions is asymmetric; a 1% negative change in ME leads to a 0.08% drop in CO2 emissions in the long term. In line with these findings, the results of panel causality tests verify the validity of the treadmill of destruction theory. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
20 pages, 588 KiB  
Article
Linking Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility with Green Innovation Performance: The Mediating Role of Shared Vision Capability and the Moderating Role of Resource Slack
by Rongbin Ruan, Wan Chen and Zuping Zhu
Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16943; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416943 - 17 Dec 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2067
Abstract
Environmental corporate social responsibility is important for firms to achieve both economic benefits and the sustainable development of firms and the environment, which are of great concern to theorists and practitioners. However, the relationship between environmental corporate social responsibility and green innovation performance [...] Read more.
Environmental corporate social responsibility is important for firms to achieve both economic benefits and the sustainable development of firms and the environment, which are of great concern to theorists and practitioners. However, the relationship between environmental corporate social responsibility and green innovation performance is still unclear. To address the research gap, we propose a research model that incorporates the mediating effect of shared vision capability, and the moderating effect of resource slack, to investigate whether and when environmental corporate social responsibility affects green innovation performance. Data were obtained from 351 respondents of Chinese firms through a questionnaire. The results confirmed that environmental corporate social responsibility is positively associated with green innovation performance. The results also confirmed that shared vision capability mediated the environmental corporate social responsibility–green innovation performance link. Resource slack statistically significantly moderated the relationship between environmental corporate social responsibility and green innovation performance. These findings offer novel insight for managers when formulating management policies about environmental corporate social responsibility, shared vision capability, and green innovation performance, which can help enterprises to achieve the goal of sustainable development and promote environmental friendliness in society at large. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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22 pages, 3909 KiB  
Article
The Impact of TMT Experience Heterogeneity on Enterprise Innovation Quality: Empirical Analysis on Chinese Listed Companies
by Rao Ma, Wendong Lv and Yao Zhao
Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16571; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416571 - 10 Dec 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1782
Abstract
High-quality innovation can solve the “bottleneck” problem of key enterprise technologies and drive the high-quality development of enterprises. Therefore, how to improve innovation quality has become a growing concern in the academic industry. In previous studies, the impact of TMT experience heterogeneity on [...] Read more.
High-quality innovation can solve the “bottleneck” problem of key enterprise technologies and drive the high-quality development of enterprises. Therefore, how to improve innovation quality has become a growing concern in the academic industry. In previous studies, the impact of TMT experience heterogeneity on enterprise innovation quality has not been well explored. Based on the panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies, this paper explored how TMT experience heterogeneity affects enterprise innovation quality. The following constitutes our findings: (1) TMT functional experience heterogeneity positively affects partner diversity to promote innovation quality, while industrial experience heterogeneity shows the opposite result. (2) Enterprise partner diversity partially mediates the relationship between TMT experience heterogeneity and innovation quality. (3) TMT technological participation positively regulates the relationship between TMT experience heterogeneity and enterprise partner diversity. This paper gave theoretical support for enterprises to play the role of TMT experience heterogeneity in enhancing innovation quality, and we extended the research on TMT heterogeneity based on empirical analysis. This study also provided new micro evidence for enterprises to use diverse partners to improve innovation quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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17 pages, 280 KiB  
Article
Social and Environmental Regulations and Corporate Innovation
by Zhi Cao and Yinping Mu
Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 16275; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142316275 - 06 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1253
Abstract
In this study, we investigate the effects of mandatory social and environmental regulations (MSER) on firm innovation. In 2008, the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China published regulations that mandate some public firms to disclose their social and environmental governance information in [...] Read more.
In this study, we investigate the effects of mandatory social and environmental regulations (MSER) on firm innovation. In 2008, the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China published regulations that mandate some public firms to disclose their social and environmental governance information in their annual reports. As the MSER apply only to selected firms, this provides an ideal setting for us to observe the effects of MSER on firm innovation. Using a difference-in-differences with propensity-score-matching methodology, we find that the treatment firms experience a significant increase in innovation in terms of the number of total patents and invention patents. More importantly, we further explore three possible mechanisms underlying this association, that is, the corporate social responsibility (CSR)-improving effect, information-disclosing effect, and market-reaction effect, and demonstrate that this positive relationship is mainly driven by the CSR-improving effect and market-reaction effect, manifesting in an improvement in CSR performance and a decline in transient institutional investors for the treatment firms, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
29 pages, 1310 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Status Quo of Adopting the 17 UN SDGs in a Developing Country—Evidence from Vietnam
by Akrum Helfaya and Phuong Bui
Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 15358; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215358 - 18 Nov 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3638
Abstract
This paper develops the multiple-theoretical framework of legitimacy, stakeholders, and voluntary perspective to assess the adoption of Vietnamese listed firms to the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper’s primary objective is to use content analysis to discover the status quo [...] Read more.
This paper develops the multiple-theoretical framework of legitimacy, stakeholders, and voluntary perspective to assess the adoption of Vietnamese listed firms to the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper’s primary objective is to use content analysis to discover the status quo of the SDGs practices of the largest 100 Vietnamese listed firms on the two biggest Vietnamese stock exchanges (Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange–HOSE and Hanoi Stock Exchange–HNX). By drawing a unique framework, the paper contributes to the extant literature review of SDG-related research. Our research framework enables corporate decision-makers significantly access corporate SDG adoptions and the implementation process. With the direct pressure of stakeholders, high environmental sensitivity industries are keen on disclosing SDG-related information. Notwithstanding, the findings reveal that Vietnamese listed firms indicate “green talks” in their corporate reporting rather than “green actions”. Thus, our findings encourage firms to engage in SDGs through substantive sustainability strategies and need greater attention from governments, practitioners, and policymakers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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14 pages, 437 KiB  
Article
Advancing SDG No 16 via Corporate Governance Disclosure: Evidence from Indonesian and Malaysian Fintech Companies’ Websites
by Endah Susilowati, Corina Joseph, Vicky Vendy and Indrawati Yuhertiana
Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 13869; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142113869 - 25 Oct 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2259
Abstract
The aims of this paper are: (1) to examine the extent of corporate governance disclosure on the websites of Indonesian and Malaysian FinTech companies using the coercive isomorphism tenet, and (2) to determine whether variation in the extent of corporate governance disclosure is [...] Read more.
The aims of this paper are: (1) to examine the extent of corporate governance disclosure on the websites of Indonesian and Malaysian FinTech companies using the coercive isomorphism tenet, and (2) to determine whether variation in the extent of corporate governance disclosure is influenced by the country and type of FinTech services. The websites of 148 Indonesian and 159 Malaysian corporations were subjected to content analysis using a Modified Corporate Governance Disclosure Index (MoCGOvDi). The MoCGovDi was constructed using the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard and previous research. The level of corporate governance disclosure is higher among Malaysian FinTech companies, possibly due to stronger coercive pressure by government regulation in Malaysia. Overall, the level of corporate governance disclosure is low in both countries (7 and 9 items out of 50 total items for Indonesia and Malaysia, respectively), which may delay the achievement of SDG No 16. Several implications are provided in this paper to advocate the corporate governance disclosure of FinTech companies in Indonesia and Malaysia to achieve SDG No 16. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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20 pages, 472 KiB  
Article
Can ESG Ratings Stimulate Corporate Green Innovation? Evidence from China
by Heying Liu and Chan Lyu
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12516; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912516 - 30 Sep 2022
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6101
Abstract
Green innovation serves as both a catalyst for businesses to pursue sustainable development and a crucial step in achieving green circular economic development. Green innovation is the practice of organizations considering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects and the ESG advantages resulting from [...] Read more.
Green innovation serves as both a catalyst for businesses to pursue sustainable development and a crucial step in achieving green circular economic development. Green innovation is the practice of organizations considering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects and the ESG advantages resulting from this process may become a driving force for enterprises to undergo a green transformation. Therefore, based on data related to Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2020, we study the relationship between ESG rating performance and corporate green innovation and its boundary mechanism. The results show that ESG ratings can improve the green innovation level of listed enterprises, and the relationship between ESG ratings and green innovation was also found to be strengthened by the institutional environment and redundant organizational resources. This study previously confirmed the positive impact of enterprises’ ESG ratings on their green innovation, which has important implications for realizing the effective combination of ESG advantages and green innovation, promoting the construction of an ecological civilization, and realizing the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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16 pages, 289 KiB  
Article
Islamic Religiosity and CSR Attitudes—The Case of Egyptian Managers
by Akrum Helfaya and Nasser Fathi Easa
Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11255; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811255 - 08 Sep 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1512
Abstract
In this research, we investigated the complex relationship between Islamic religious beliefs and corporate social responsibility (CSR) attitudes and behaviour. We defined four aspects of religiosity, four types of individual attitudes toward CSR, and five types of CSR behaviour. The empirical analysis of [...] Read more.
In this research, we investigated the complex relationship between Islamic religious beliefs and corporate social responsibility (CSR) attitudes and behaviour. We defined four aspects of religiosity, four types of individual attitudes toward CSR, and five types of CSR behaviour. The empirical analysis of the responses of 274 questionnaires showed that there is a very different picture of the Islamic religiosity of the Egyptian managers, with low correlations between the cognitive, intrinsic, extrinsic, and behavioural aspects of religiosity. The results show that there are significant and negative impacts of Islamic religious beliefs on various types of CSR attitudes and behaviour. The joint mediating role of attitudes toward CSR is almost non-existent and Islamic religious beliefs exert a direct impact on CSR behaviour. Our findings offer important implications for CSR scholars to use a multidimensional measure to assess the religious beliefs of managers and their impacts on CSR attitudes. These findings also enhance business managers’ awareness of the interconnection of religiosity and CSR. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
14 pages, 293 KiB  
Article
Government Ownership and Corporate Cash Holdings: Empirical Evidence from the Amman Stock Exchange
by Ahmad Alkhataybeh, Safaa Adnan AlSmadi, Mohammad Ziad Shakhatreh and Mohammad A. Khataybeh
Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11168; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811168 - 06 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1411
Abstract
While the effect of ownership structure on the level of cash holdings has been widely examined, that of government ownership has been understudied. Using a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation on the panel data of 107 Jordanian firms listed on the Amman [...] Read more.
While the effect of ownership structure on the level of cash holdings has been widely examined, that of government ownership has been understudied. Using a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation on the panel data of 107 Jordanian firms listed on the Amman Stock Exchange, this research adds to the limited literature on the relationship between government ownership and the level of corporate cash holdings. Consistent with agency theory, the findings reveal that firms with government ownership hold higher levels of cash and that such ownership creates agency problems. Other types of ownership, namely individual, foreign, and block holders, were found to be insignificant. The results provide an important implication for policy makers in Jordan: in order to reduce agency problems associated with government ownership, the government should revise its ownership policy and ensure it specifies clear purposes and expectations of business ownership and how it intends to exercise its rights as owner. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
19 pages, 330 KiB  
Article
ESG Disclosure and the Cost of Capital: Is There a Ratcheting Effect over Time?
by Imen Khanchel and Naima Lassoued
Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9237; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159237 - 28 Jul 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5729
Abstract
In recent years, the CSR disclosure–firm risk relationship has raised the acute interest of capital providers, regulators, debtholders, and academic researchers. In addition to the mounting corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure issues, one particular area that has increasingly attracted the attention of academics, [...] Read more.
In recent years, the CSR disclosure–firm risk relationship has raised the acute interest of capital providers, regulators, debtholders, and academic researchers. In addition to the mounting corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure issues, one particular area that has increasingly attracted the attention of academics, practitioners, and policymakers is the dynamic of CSR disclosure. The effects of institutional pressures and the relative nature of reputation have amplified expectations over time, resulting in a dynamic CSR disclosure strategy to meet those expectations. However, studies on the relationship between CSR disclosure and firm risk over time are still in their premature stages. Thus, this paper seeks to contribute to the literature on firm risk and CSR disclosure by examining the effect of ESG disclosure on the cost of capital over time. The study examines a sample of 430 S&P 500 US firms observed over the 2011 to 2019 period. Our results indicate that the three dimensions do not have the same effect. Governance disclosure decreases the cost of capital during the first years, and in later years, the effect becomes positive. Over time, social disclosure increases the cost of capital. However, environmental disclosure shows a negative and significant effect on the cost of capital during the first years but no significant effect later in time. Our results contribute to explaining the dynamic effect of CSR disclosure. A predominant feature to consider is the evolution of CSR disclosure over time. Steadily, US firms are moving away from some CSR disclosure activities to others. However, firms that abandoned some existing CSR disclosure commitments may face aggressive responses from stakeholders. US firms have to be more cautious when linking CSR disclosure to firm risk over time, recognizing the long-term benefits and drawbacks of CSR disclosure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
21 pages, 3298 KiB  
Article
Clarifying the Concept of Corporate Sustainability and Providing Convergence for Its Definition
by Mariapia Pazienza, Martin de Jong and Dirk Schoenmaker
Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7838; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137838 - 27 Jun 2022
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5524
Abstract
Organizations are under mounting pressure to adapt to and to adopt corporate sustainability (CS) practices. Notwithstanding the increasing research attention given to the subject and the meaningful theoretical contributions, it is claimed that a definition, and a commonly accepted understanding of the concept [...] Read more.
Organizations are under mounting pressure to adapt to and to adopt corporate sustainability (CS) practices. Notwithstanding the increasing research attention given to the subject and the meaningful theoretical contributions, it is claimed that a definition, and a commonly accepted understanding of the concept of corporate sustainability, is still missing. Alignment on the meaning of CS is of critical importance for enabling coherent and effective practices. The lack of a sound theoretical foundation and of conceptual clarity of corporate sustainability has been identified as an important cause of unsatisfactory and fruitless actions by organizations. To address the questions “What is Corporate Sustainability?” and “Is it true there is a lack of convergence and clarity of the concept?”, we perform an ontological analysis of the different and interrelated concepts, and a necessary condition analysis on the key constitutive features of corporate sustainability within the academic literature. We demonstrate that the concept of corporate sustainability is clearer than most authors claim and can be well defined around its environmental, social and economic constitutive pillars with the purpose to provide equal opportunities to future generations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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18 pages, 370 KiB  
Article
Ownership Characteristics and Financial Performance: Evidence from Chinese Split-Share Structure Reform
by Ahmed Aboud and Ahmed Diab
Sustainability 2022, 14(12), 7240; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127240 - 13 Jun 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2496
Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between two characteristics of corporate governance (concentrated and state ownership) and firm financial performance by bringing new and extensive evidence from an emerging market. Further, this study examines the impact of the recent stock split reform in China [...] Read more.
This paper investigates the relationship between two characteristics of corporate governance (concentrated and state ownership) and firm financial performance by bringing new and extensive evidence from an emerging market. Further, this study examines the impact of the recent stock split reform in China on the corporate ownership characteristics–firm performance relationship. The final sample of this study is comprised of 234 firms with 2340 annual observation values. The study hypotheses are examined using regression analysis of panel data. We found that concentrated ownership is positively and significantly related to firm performance. However, state ownership has a significant negative impact on firm performance. Further, we observed that the stock split reform has a substantial and positive effect on the ownership–corporate financial performance relationship. In particular, the positive relationship between ownership concentration and firm performance has increased following the split-share structure reform. The negative relationship between state ownership and corporate financial performance has been mitigated following the split-share structure reform. We contribute to the existing literature on corporate governance by investigating the ownership–corporate financial performance relationship in a unique research setting based on the impact of an exogenous regulatory change, namely, the split-share structure reform in China. The study presents implications for regulators, investors, and researchers interested in examining developing markets such as China. Our results imply that the institutional reform of the Chinese stock market has benefitted investors through enhancing corporate financial performance. The findings suggest that the reform of the Chinese stock market has significantly shaped the impact of ownership structure on corporate financial performance in a valuable way for effective capital allocation. Thus, collectively, the split-share structure reform enhances the quality of corporate governance, which is pivotal to the growth of the country’s economy. This, in turn, has policy implications for other emerging economies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Corporate Governance, Social Responsibility, Innovation, and Sustainable Business Development Goals)
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