CSR Disclosure: Effects of Political Ties, Executive Turnover and Shareholder Equity. Evidence from China

How ESG reporting is effected by sustainable finance and green innovation: moderating role of sales growth

In light of the conflicting findings within the existing empirical literature regarding the factors influencing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures in the context of sustainable investment and firms' green innovation performance (GIP), our current study stands out as a distinctive research endeavor that examines how the relationship is influenced by the moderating effects of sales growth. Non-financial trade manufacturing companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges between 2015 and 2020 were selected for this study. For data estimation, panel regression estimations using OLS and fixed effects models have been used. The results demonstrate a significant moderation of manufacturing industry's sales growth in China on the relationship between ESG disclosures and sustainable finance (operationalized by green credit, and green investment), and green innovation (operationalized by R&D intensity and green patents). Several practical takeaways are offered to boost green innovation performance among ESG reporting enterprises and increase the effectiveness of R&D intensity. These findings, including policy recommendations, will benefit all stakeholders.

Nexus between environmental disclosures and top management team characteristics: a systematic review

Voluntary nature of sustainability disclosures in most of the countries shifts focus of academicians towards discretion of top executives as a major determining force for firms to make their operations environmentally and socially sustainable. Based on two decade literature on the topic available at Scopus database this study aims to present a comprehensive knowledge map of intellectual structure on the relationship of top management characteristics on sustainability spending and disclosures. A bibliometric systematic review of 164 articles from 2002 to 2022 has been conducted with the help of VOSviewer and identified most influential journals, articles, and the countries whose corresponding authors have contributed in the field and influential research clusters in the literature. These research clusters are first, red cluster with 94 articles has discussed the upper echelon's personal and professional characteristics in relation to sustainability disclosures. Second, green cluster with 60 articles has discussed particularly the gender diversity in top executives and board of directors in relationship with sustainability disclosures. Third, blue cluster with 10 articles has elaborated the influence of independent directors on sustainability disclosures of corporate sector. The findings of this study will particularly help the regulators to make regulations regarding critical mass of female on boards and top management, family-owned firms, and politically connected directors. Moreover it will also help consultants, analysts, and investment bankers to differentiate firms with pressure-resistant and pressure-sensitive institutional investors. From this review shareholders can be very much clear in the selection of their representatives and ultimately the appointment of top management team. This study also provides an insight for future direction so that unexplored dimension of this field may further be discovered by upcoming researchers.

Do financial performance and firm's value affect the quality of corporate social responsibility disclosure: Moderating role of chief executive officer's power in China

This paper investigates the correlation between the quality of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) and financial performance (FP). It also investigates the moderating role of chief executive officer power (CEOP) in the relationship between the quality of CSR disclosure and firm value (FV) in Chinese listed companies. The evidential research used the up-to-date sample (3, 248) of unbalanced findings for the period of 2014-2020, from the registered Chinese firms in the Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchanges as samples for the study. As a starting point technique, the STATA 15 has been used to test pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) regression on a sample of Chinese listed companies. We use 1-year lagged regression and two SLS regressions to monitor the potential endogeneity problem. The imbalanced data set was received from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) web page, which is the most significant source of information for Chinese publicly listed firms. Data on CSR information items and media reporting are compiled manually. The findings of the study revealed that there are positive FP consequences for the companies engaged in the quality of CSR disclosure. We also report that higher CEO power negatively enhances the quality of CSR disclosure effect on the FP of FV. The research investigates the impact of CSR disclosure and FP by presenting evidence of the moderating role of CEO power. Therefore, it is suggested that a higher law for CSR engagement and disclosure be implemented in China, and robust measures for the implementation of CEO power, although there are financial advantages to be gained. A key relevance to the empirical quality of CSR disclosure research can be recognized as the moderating role of CEO power in the quality of CSR disclosure, FP, and FV in the context of Chinese study. The findings are robust with the use of an instrumental variable method.

Board Gender Diversity, Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure, and Firm’s Green Innovation Performance: Evidence From China

The current research investigates the interplay of board gender diversity (BGD), the quality of corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD), and the green innovation performance (GIP) of a firm. It examines the moderation effect of the CSRD on the relationship between corporate GIP and BGD. The study inculcates 3,736 firm-year observations of A-share listed Chinese firms from 2010 to 2019. Least square dummy variables method, generalized method of moments, and 2SLS are employed for the analysis of the study. The findings foster an affirmative and significant impact of BGD on corporate GIP in terms of green innovation patents. Moreover, the quality of CSRD is also detected for a significant moderating effect on the relationship between BGD and corporate GIP. The quality of CSRD emerges to be an indicator for social resilience and female role congruence under the purview of the social resilience theory and the role congruence theory, respectively. This research would help managers and policymakers of developing nations in formulating environmental innovation strategies for corporate sustainability.

Do Chief Executives Matter in Corporate Financial and Social Responsibility Performance Nexus? A dynamic Model Analysis of Chinese Firms

This study examined the relationship between Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) and Corporate Social Responsibility Performance (CSRP). Furthermore, it explored the effectiveness of chief executive characteristics as a moderator in the CFP-CSRP nexus. We employed a dynamic sysGMM regression model on 2,439 firm-year observations of Chinese firms. The results reveal that CFP (market-based) has a significant positive impact on CSRP. However, CFP (historical) is significantly negatively related to CSRP. Furthermore, the study found that CEO turnover and CEO duality negatively moderate the CFP-CSRP relationship, while CEO as CFO positively moderates this relationship. The findings have substantial implications for all stakeholders, including investors, CEOs, corporate regulators, and policymakers.

Element Matching and Configuration Path of Corporate Social Responsibility Performance

With rapid progress in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) theories and the up-gradation of the global market information disclosure system, enterprises have increased their attention toward relevant stakeholders and social responsibility. CSR exerts a substantial impact on the sustainable development of enterprises and markets in the economic and social fields. On the one hand, the increasingly perfect supporting facilities promote the financial growth of the entire society. While on the other hand, the profit-seeking trend of capital is also on the rise. The incongruity between the rapid progress of enterprises and the lack of social responsibility limits the benign development of the market. This study discusses the antecedents of CSR from the variable combination perspective using the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. It also investigates which combination of characteristics has better CSR performance. After the configuration analysis, it is identified that four paths lead to high CSR performance. These include the market-developed type, political link type, financial performance type, and state-owned enterprise subsidy type, and the level of each type is explained in-depth. Finally, this study provides management inspiration for the government and enterprises to formulate a sound social responsibility strategy and improve CSR performance by optimizing the matching of CSR activities and business objectives.

The Impact of CEO Duality and Financial Performance on CSR Disclosure: Empirical Evidence from State-Owned Enterprises in China

This paper studies the effects of a firm’s financial performance (FP) and chief executive officer’s (CEO) duality on the quality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in the context of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) among Chinese A-share-registered companies. The results depict a negative relationship between CEO duality and CSR disclosure. Our results demonstrate that better-performing firms disclose CSR information more frequently and of higher quality compared with firms with poor financial performance. This role of financial performance in the quality of CSR disclosure is generally valuable in public enterprises; however, it is relatively sluggish in state-owned enterprises the outcomes indicate that the dual leadership structure reduces assessments and renders CEOs less liable to their stakeholders. Therefore, this study offers valuable information and details for regulators to improve corporate governance and CSR from the perspective of stakeholder theory.

Business Models of Social Enterprises: Insight into Key Components and Value Creation

The increasing pressure on people to do something for society, in combination with the need for financial turnover in order to survive, is seen as one of the dominant factors for the rise of social enterprises. However, there is still debate on how social enterprises create social value in addition to economic value and how this is reflected in the business model. In this case study research, we investigate how the key components of the business model of social enterprises contribute to the creation of social and economic value. The cases in this research create social and economic value through the mutually interacting operation of key components and their sub-components. This interacting effect focuses on the one hand on the alignment of the internal architecture, market and financial management with the mission. The mission statement serves as a guiding principle. Furthermore, realizing the highest possible profit is not a goal in itself for social entrepreneurs. Generating profit serves the continuity of the company and the realization of social value. We also found that social enterprises can be configured as either market hybrids, blending hybrids, bridging hybrids or coupling hybrids.