Stakeholder engagement is central to organizations’ social impact. Engagement activities rely on mechanisms whose complexity increases for multinational corporations. This study explores the boundary conditions of our Western/Northern-based knowledge of stakeholder engagement mechanisms through the examination of such practices in multinational companies founded in Latin America. Based on previous studies on the identification of organizational stakeholders in the region, we aim to understand the specific engagement mechanisms MLs use. To this end, we analyze qualitatively 28 corporate sustainability reports by relevant (...) firms. Our findings show that the community includes silent stakeholders composed of subgroups not listed as organizational stakeholders but mentioned in the report as engaged by the company or a subsidiary. MLs in our sample use four main mechanisms to engage these subgroups: strong, visible commitments to local social organizations; continuous dialogue with members of the community; networks of volunteers to help perform the social activities of the companies; and creation of social infrastructure institutions. We end by detailing the theoretical implications for stakeholder engagement among emerging economies multinational companies and for MNCs in general. (shrink)

Despite the growing public awareness of social sustainability issues, little is known about what drives firms to emphasize social criteria in their supplier management practices and what the precise benefits of such efforts are. This is especially true for relationships with international suppliers from the world's emerging economies in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Building on stakeholder theory, we address the issue by examining how pressures from customers, the government, and employees as primary constituencies of the firm determine (...) the extent to which firms consider social aspects in the selection of emerging economy suppliers. Further, we analyze how such socially sustainable supplier selection relates to the capabilities of the firm's suppliers, its market reputation, and the learning in its supply management organization. We test the developed research framework empirically using data from 244 U. S. and German corporations. Our findings, consistent with our hypothesized model, suggest that middle-level supply managers as internal stakeholders play a major driving role for firms' socially sustainable supplier selection, and that strong positive links exist between that selection and the investigated outcomes. (shrink)

Prior research on corporate misconduct pays extensive attention to single misconduct behaviors. However, little research has addressed recidivism – the repeated behaviors of corporate misconduct. Based on institutional theory and using the context of emerging economies where recidivism plays a considerable role, we propose the path dependency of corporate recidivism and suggest that three influential factors exist: internal preconditioning, inter-organizational imitation, and the prevailing external evaluation. Our event history analysis of 1,036 listed companies in China over the period 2001–2008 (...) statistically confirms our hypotheses. We conclude the paper by outlining the implications for both theory and practice. (shrink)

Although a number of studies have shown that corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities often lead to greater organisational performance in western developed economies, researchers are yet to examine the strategic value of CSR in emerging economies. Using survey data from 280 firms operating in Dubai, this study examines the link between CSR activities and organisational performance. The results show that CSR has a positive relationship with all three measures of organisational performance: financial performance, employee commitment, and corporate reputation. These (...) results reinforce the accumulating body of empirical support for the positive impact of CSR on performance and challenge the dominant assumption that, given the weak institutional framework in emerging economies, CSR activities drain resources and compromise firms’ competitiveness. (shrink)

This paper investigates the development of corporate governance regulations in emerging economies, using the case of Bangladesh. In particular, the paper considers three issues: What type of corporate governance model may be suitable for an emerging economy such as Bangladesh? What type of model has Bangladesh adopted in reality? and What has prompted such adoption? By analysing the corporate environment and corporate governance regulations, the paper finds that, like many other developing nations, Bangladesh has also adopted the (...) Anglo-American shareholder model of corporate governance. Analysis of behaviours of principal actors in the Bangladeshi corporate governance scenario, using new institutionalism as a theoretical foundation, then reveals that such adoption may be prompted by exposure to legitimacy threats rather than efficiency reasons. (shrink)

Multinational enterprises venturing into emerging economies operate in relatively unfamiliar environments that, compared with their home countries, often display a high degree of administrative distance. At the same time, many MNEs face the question of how intensely to commit to corporate social responsibility in emerging economies, given the often relatively lower social standards in those countries. This research addresses the question of how administrative distance, MNE subsidiary size, and experience in the host country relate to the extent to (...) which MNEs strategically commit to CSR in their emerging economy subsidiaries. We argue that the greater the administrative distance between MNEs’ home and host countries, the lesser the MNE subsidiaries strategically commit to CSR. At the same time, we predict that the larger the size of MNE subsidiaries, and the longer their experience in the host country, the more the MNE subsidiaries strategically commit to CSR. To test our hypotheses, we use data from a large-scale, cross-industry survey of 213 subsidiaries of Western MNEs in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. We complement the survey data with country-level data from the World Bank Governance Indicators. (shrink)

This study develops an internal–external institutional framework that explains why firms act in socially responsible ways in the emerging country context of China. Utilizing a mixed method of in-depth interviews and a survey study of 225 Chinese firms, the author found that internal institutional factors, including ethical corporate culture and top management commitment, and external institutional factors, including globalization pressure, political embeddedness, and normative social pressure, will affect the likelihood of firms to act in socially responsible ways. In particular, (...) implicit ethical corporate culture plays a key role in predicting different aspects of corporate social responsibility, while external institutional mechanisms mainly predict market-oriented CSR initiatives. This study contributes to the research on CSR antecedents by showing that in the emerging economy of China, CSR toward nonmarket stakeholders is more closely intertwined with corporate tradition and values, while legitimacy-seeking CSR activities are still limitedly rewarded. (shrink)

Little research has explored the possible effects of government institutions in emerging economies on ethical reviews of multinational research. We conducted semi-structured, in-depth telephone interviews with 15 researchers, Research Ethics Committees personnel, and a government agency member involved in multinational HIV Prevention Trials Network research in emerging economies. Ministries of Health or other government agencies often play pivotal roles as facilitators or barriers in the research ethics approval process. Government agency RECs reviewing protocols may face particular challenges, as (...) they can lack resources, be poorly organized, have inconsistent review processes and limited expertise, and use differing definitions of national interests, including upholding national reputation and avoiding potential exploitation and stigma of the country's population. The MOH/governmental review body may be affected by power dynamics and politics in study reviews; may consider issues both related and unrelated to research ethics as understood elsewhere; and may prioritize particular diseases, treatments, or interventions over other topics/types of research. Poor communication and deeply-rooted tensions may exist between sponsor and host countries, impeding optimal interactions and reviews. Investigators must understand and plan for the potential effects of governmental agencies on multinational collaborative research, including preserving adequate time for agency review, and contacting these agencies beforehand to address issues that may arise. Better understanding of these issues can aid and advance appropriate global scientific collaboration. (shrink)

What signals do firms in emerging economies send to stakeholders when they adopt corporate social responsibility practices? We argue that in emerging economies, firms that adopt CSR practices positively signal investors that their firms have superior capabilities for filling institutional voids. From an institution-based view, we hypothesize that the institutional environment moderates the signaling effect of CSR on a firm’s financial performance. Based on a sample of firms from ten Asian emerging economies, we find a positive relationship (...) between CSR practices and financial performance. This positive relationship is stronger in the less developed capital market than in the more developed one. The financial benefits of CSR practices are also more salient in the low information diffusion market than in the high one. We emphasize that signaling theory and the institution-based view can jointly contribute to the CSR literature. (shrink)

This article proposes a novel mapping of the complex relationship between business ethics and regulation, by suggesting five distinct ways in which business ethics and regulation may intersect. The framework is applied to a comparative case study of business responses to climate change regulation in Canada and Germany, both signatories to the Kyoto Protocol. Both countries represent distinctly different approaches which yield significant lessons for emerging economies. We also analyze the specific role of large multinational corporations in this process.

The purpose of the study is to observe the impact of policy intervention on financial sustainability using the structural vector autoregression analysis. The population of the study is the manufacturing sector of Pakistan, which is an emerging economy. Data for 249 firms operating in the manufacturing sector are taken, collected from Datastream from 2005 to 2019, with total observations of 2,400. To conduct the analysis, R software is used for its better visualization. Results show that firm performance, corporate (...) governance, and sectoral policies have a positive and long-term impact on financial sustainability, whereas earning management and financialization not only have a negative impact, but this impact affects the operations of the corporate for a longer period. This study would be helpful for policymakers as it gives a framework for financial sustainability based on the policies and strategies developed by the sector. (shrink)

This study aims at analyzing the board structure and its impact on firm performance in the context of an emerging economy, Turkey. Emerging economies are characterised by poorly-developed legal systems, under-developed markets for corporate control and concentrated ownership structures. This context is expected to have an impact not only on the board structure but also on the relationship between board structure and firm performance. Drawing from agency, stewardship and resource dependence theories and emphasising the impact of the (...) societal context in line with macro institutional approaches, hypotheses are developed regarding the board structure/firm performance relationship. Findings tend to show that board structure does not have a significant impact on performance. (shrink)

Voluntary sustainability standards that establish global rules for firms’ environmental and/or social conduct and allow for verification of firm compliance via third-party certification hold the promise to govern firms’ sustainability conduct in a globalizing world economy. However, the recent proliferation of competing and overlapping global sustainability standards that have been developed by various stakeholders with different agendas, creates uncertainties for firms that likely reduce their propensity to adopt any standard. Without widespread adoption these standards cannot effectively govern firm conduct (...) and in contrast create barriers for firms’ access to export markets. We suggest that the uncertainties associated with competing standards and the effect of these uncertainties on standard certification decisions are especially large for firms in emerging economies because these firms lack access to information about current and future standards and the resources to obtain certifications to multiple standards. We theoretically propose and empirically identify three distinct sources of sustainability standard uncertainty: diversity of customer requirements, dynamism of customer requirements, and the unpredictability of the future evolution of standard and propose that each of these sources reduces firms’ propensity to obtain certification to any standard. Our empirical results based on certifications to food safety standards by a sample of 97 Mexican food exporting firms confirm that three distinct sources of sustainability standard uncertainty exist and that all of them negatively impact certification. We discuss ethical implications and offer recommendations for both suppliers as well as standard setting organizations. (shrink)

The importance imposed on corporate social responsibility is greater in developed economies than in emerging markets. The pressures from various stakeholder groups on the CSR are expected to have substantial spillover impact on companies domiciled in emerging economies that obtain revenues from companies in developed economies. Based on the data from 1,330 listed companies in China, the largest emerging economy in the world, this study provides evidence that the CSR performance of China firms is positively related (...) to the degree of their internationalization, and such a positive association is less pronounced for state-owned enterprises. Our findings support the hypothesis that internationalized companies in emerging economies are motivated to improve their CSR practices to address concerns from their importers or outsourcers in developed economies. (shrink)

This study aims at analyzing the board structure and its impact on firm performance in the context of an emerging economy, Turkey. Emerging economies are characterised by poorly-developed legal systems, under-developed markets for corporate control and concentrated ownership structures. This context is expected to have an impact not only on the board structure but also on the relationship between board structure and firm performance. Drawing from agency, stewardship and resource dependence theories and emphasising the impact of the (...) societal context in line with macro institutional approaches, hypotheses are developed regarding the board structure/firm performance relationship. Findings tend to show that board structure does not have a significant impact on performance. (shrink)

Multinational companies (MNCs) frequently adopt corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities that are aimed at providing ‘public goods’ and influencing the government in policymaking. Such political CSR (PCSR) activities have been determined to increase MNCs’ socio-political legitimacy and to be useful in building relationships with the state and other key external stakeholders. Although research on MNCs’ PCSR within the context of emerging economies is gaining momentum, only a limited number of studies have examined the firm-level variables that affect the extent (...) to which MNCs’ subsidiaries in emerging economies pursue PCSR. Using insights from resource dependence theory, institutional theory, and the social capital literature, we argue that MNCs’ subsidiaries that are critically dependent on local resources, have greater ties to managers of related businesses and to policymakers, and that those that are interdependent on the MNCs’ headquarters and other foreign subsidiaries, are more likely to be involved in PCSR. We obtain support for our hypotheses using a sample of 105 subsidiaries of foreign firms that operate in India. Our findings enhance our understanding of the factors that determine MNCs’ political CSR in emerging economies. (shrink)

Does environmental management help foreign firms outperform local firms in emerging economies? While existing research suggests that environmental management may or may not benefit firm performance, the question is particularly under-investigated in the emerging economy context. Using the data on foreign investment into China, this study explores whether foreign firms that are under greater environmental pressure, at home or at the host, outperform comparable local firms in an emerging host country. In making this comparison, we use (...) propensity-score matching and a difference-in-differences approach to handle the problem of endogeneity inherent in comparing the performances of foreign versus local firms. We find empirical support that foreign firms perform better than local firms when they are under high environmental pressure in the emerging host country, and this result is driven by the foreign firms originating from countries with high environmental pressure. (shrink)

There is a lack of theoretical consensus on how multinational enterprises (MNEs) should implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) to build legitimacy, particularly those operating in the smaller Asian emerging market context, where current growth in the global economy is being felt more acutely than elsewhere. This paper argues for theoretical integration of business ethics (BE) and international business (IB) research to address this concern. Hence, we explore the management of CSR strategies by MNE subsidiaries with specific interest on (...) their proactive adoption of strategic CSR to obtain legitimacy in a foreign host country. Drawing on the recent CSR literature and related theories, including stakeholder theory and institutional theory, propositions and a conceptual framework are developed and presented. The framework integrates BE and IB concepts on the different dimensions of CSR and provides a theoretical derived explanation of the process for strategic adoption of global through to more local CSR strategies by MNE subsidiaries to build legitimacy in an emerging market context. In addition, the framework provides valuable insights into the adoption of different ethical approaches or CSR strategies based on the level of ethical pressure in a host country and the degree of CSR ingrainedness in the parent company. (shrink)

As a generation of ‘digital natives,’ secondary students who were born from 2002 to 2010 have various approaches to acquiring digital knowledge. Digital literacy and resilience are crucial for them to navigate the digital world as much as the real world; however, these remain under-researched subjects, especially in developing countries. In Vietnam, the education system has put considerable effort into teaching students these skills to promote quality education as part of the United Nations-defined Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4). This issue (...) has proven especially salient amid the COVID−19 pandemic lockdowns, which had obliged most schools to switch to online forms of teaching. This study, which utilizes a dataset of 1061 Vietnamese students taken from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s “Digital Kids Asia Pacific (DKAP)” project, employs Bayesian statistics to explore the relationship between the students’ background and their digital abilities. Results show that economic status and parents’ level of education are positively correlated with digital literacy. Students from urban schools have only a slightly higher level of digital literacy than their rural counterparts, suggesting that school location may not be a defining explanatory element in the variation of digital literacy and resilience among Vietnamese students. Students’ digital literacy and, especially resilience, also have associations with their gender. Moreover, as students are digitally literate, they are more likely to be digitally resilient. Following SDG4, i.e., Quality Education, it is advisable for schools, and especially parents, to seriously invest in creating a safe, educational environment to enhance digital literacy among students. (shrink)

The systematic measurement of consumers’ sentiments toward business ethical practices is expanded to two emerging economies in Asia (China and India). The Chinese were very optimistic about the future ethical behavior of businesses, while the Indians recorded the lowest BEI scores yet. Chinese consumers were very concerned with product issues, while Indians were concerned equally about low quality products and excessive prices.

Independent of ecology, subsistence strategy, social complexity, or other aspects of socioecology, the altricial nature of young humans requires mothers to have help raising their offspring. What seems to be context-dependent, however, is who the helpers are, how they invest, and what the impacts of that investment are. In a series of papers that focus on parental and alloparental investment across five populations, this special issue of Human Nature uses evolutionary theory to examine how socioecological context influences modes of direct (...) parental investment among the boat-dwelling Shodagor of Bangladesh, modes of indirect paternal investment in the modern United States, and the biological outcome of paternal investment for men in Jamaica, as well as direct alloparental investment among village Bangladeshis and indirect alloparental investment in breastfeeding practices in the United States. (shrink)

In this paper, we critique the emergent international normative framework of growth – the knowledge economy. We point out that the standardized character of knowledge economy's flagship – intellectual property rights (IPRs) – has an adverse impact on women in emerging economies, such as India. Conversely, this impact on women, a significant consumer segment, has a feedback effect in terms of market growth. Conceptually, we analyze the consequences of knowledge economy and standardized IPR through a feminist (...) lens. We extend the analyses by pointing to various contradictions surrounding growth norms; for example, there are inherent contradictions between established "formal" legalistic interpretation ofIPR, "soft law" norms of corporate social responsibility, a fluid situation of moral claims of human rights, and different institutional capabilities at the international and domestic level. Consequently, we are able to demonstrate how standard IPR laws fail to deliver equity for all. We argue our case through exploring the growth aspects of the agricultural sector in India and the adverse impact of standard biopatenting on women farmers' rights (as producers and consumers) and preservation of environment. We suggest that desired gendered equity is better achieved when there is a constellation of actors – private–sector business, the state, and civil-society leaders – working together to ensure a balanced development through tailoring of IPR to local needs. (shrink)

This case study documents a high-profile incident involving the world-famous auto maker Daimler Benz with its customers in China. On the one hand, angry customers felt victimized by the auto maker's lack of willingness to take responsibility and its double standard between industrialized markets and emerging economies in dealing with customer complaints; on the other hand, the auto maker also felt frustrated at how this product warranty matter quickly escalated into a public relations nightmare. The case illustrates the complexity (...) of operating in emerging markets where institutional environments are vastly different, and the difficulty of balancing business interests with social responsibility. It also illustrates the urgent needs for emerging markets to develop institutional infrastructure to protect consumer rights, and to offer proper channel for conflict resolution. (shrink)

The article discusses the determinants of fiscal policy in the times of COVID-19. Most economists share the opinion that fiscal packages are necessary to mitigate the health and economic costs of a pandemic. However, the scale of fiscal intervention and the types of fiscal policy instruments that should be used raise doubts. The aim of the article is to explore the factors determining the size and structure of fiscal packages which have been implemented globally in response to the crisis caused (...) by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, attention is drawn to the potential impact of fiscal intervention on public finance sustainability, bearing in mind that most governments have chosen to use fiscal support instruments to enhance consumption and investment following the COVID-19 hit, although the cross-country differences are evident both in the magnitude and composition of fiscal stimulus packages. A descriptive analysis was conducted along with a panel data analysis to examine the determinants of government fiscal support in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The empirical analysis is based on cross-sectional data from the International Monetary Fund, OECD and Eurostat. The sample consists of 40 countries representing advanced and emerging economies. Based on the panel analysis, it was found that the total fiscal stimulus packages depended mainly on the fiscal space. Fiscal intervention in countries with greater tax-collection capacity (such as Germany, United States, United Kingdom and Japan) was greater compared to others. A positive and statistically significant relationship between the average income level and the size of fiscal stimulus was also confirmed. Moreover, it turned out that countries with larger populations and higher fatality rates provided greater fiscal support for the COVID-19 pandemic.The empirical analysis expands the existing knowledge on the determinants of the fiscal policy implemented in response to the COVID-19 crisis under the conditions of low interest rates, when macroeconomic stabilization can only be ensured through fiscal stimulus programs. (shrink)

Is it socially responsible to price at a premium, company branded generic pharmaceuticals in emerging economies? Building toward an answer to this question, the study first describes the role of the branded generic sector in the economic success of the global pharmaceutical industry. Second, the concept of “shared value,” i.e., the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility, is introduced and applied to the global pharmaceutical industry’s position on marketing generic pharmaceuticals. Third, an empirical evaluation ascertains whether there (...) is sufficient shared value for this company branded generics pricing strategy to be considered “socially responsible.” Fourth, after concluding there is sufficient shared value, a discussion section offers a public/private framework that will help ensure that safe and effective pharmaceuticals are sold to consumers in developing economies. Lastly, a summary and conclusion section completes the article. (shrink)

In the context of technological dissemination sessions aimed at prospective students at the Polytechnic University of Baja California in the city of Mexicali, Baja California, the importance of engineering and its role in scientific and technological progress was stressed, as well as its role in scientific and technological progress as drivers of economic development in the region. A group of 2,154 students from 20 different institutions of public high school education answered a survey designed as an evaluation tool for a (...) career path or technology area of interest. The survey results show that students have a low preference for engineering careers. Moreover, these results were augmented with an additional study on the high attrition of students in engineering schools in the city of Mexicali, Baja California, also conducted by the authors. It raises the importance of teaching science in the early education levels, which aims to prepare scientists and technologists needed for the development of research and innovation as a foundation for economic prosperity and welfare of an emerging economy such as Mexico. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:How does the state influence stakeholder legitimacy? And how does this process affect an industry’s ethical challenges? Stakeholder theory adopts a forward-looking perspective and seeks to understand how managers can address stakeholders’ claims to improve the firm’s ability to create value. Yet, existing work does not adequately address the role of the state in defining the stakeholder universe nor the implications this may have for subsequent ethical challenges managers face. This article develops a political stakeholder theory by weaving together the (...) political economy, stakeholder theory, and legitimacy literatures. Political ST shows how state policies influence stakeholder legitimacy and, in turn, affect an industry’s ethical challenges. This article integrates the concept of agonism to address the perennial tension between markets and states and its implications for firms and their managers. Political ST is then applied to the case of microfinance, followed by a discussion of the contributions of this approach. (shrink)

We examine the key elements of board diversity (or heterogeneity) amongst listed companies operating in an emerging economy (Mauritius) and the extent to which these influence financial performance. Specifically, we ask whether there is evidence of tangible benefits in pursuing a strategy of board diversity in terms of gender-, age-, educational background and independence in a corporate context which has long been dominated by family-led and ‘closed’ boardrooms. In light of recent corporate governance developments which appear to foster (...) greater diversity, we examine data from the 2007 annual reports of all 42 companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. We find that (i) women remain poorly represented on boards (ii) there is a relatively satisfactory level of heterogeneity in terms of educational background, age and independence in relation to developed countries. We also find significant regression coefficients for all four variables in terms of their impact on short-term performance. However, these relationships are characterised by both negative and positive impacts thereby leading to discussions on the validity of a strict heterogeneous or homogeneous board composition in the context of a developing economy. (shrink)

The Panama Papers (2016), Paradise Leaks (2017), and Pandora Papers (2021) have revealed the extensive practice of corporate tax avoidance. Yet, the tax behavior of companies claiming to be “socially responsible” has been less examined. This study examines the association between corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) and tax avoidance, particularly in developing economies, focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). By analyzing data from 600 firm-year observations across 13 SSA countries using panel quantile regression, we found a negative relationship between CSRD, which (...) includes ethical, social, and environmental dimensions, and tax avoidance. This aligns with legitimacy theory, indicating that firms are increasingly adopting CSR transparency to meet societal expectations and gain stakeholder trust, avoiding socially irresponsible behaviors. Furthermore, the quality of national governance significantly moderates the CSRD–tax avoidance relationship, supporting the concept of institutional isomorphism. This evidence is valuable for professionals and policymakers and encourages further research to deepen and broaden these findings. (shrink)

Tax payments stimulate business enterprises to choose tax management through tax avoidance activities, which is the legal practice to reduce the amount of tax payable. In developing economies, taxation is considered more critical for budget and revenues of a country. This paper investigates whether various business strategies influence corporate tax avoidance decisions of firms by adopting business strategies. Besides, it explores how gender diversity can ease this relationship. This study has chosen a sample of organizations from non-financial sector in Pakistan. (...) The time frame is 5 years, including once a year. The present model employed a generalized moment method and tested the proposed hypothesis to draw the results. The study has taken the size, leverage, and business profitability as control variables of firms. The study outcomes by using the GMM method demonstrate that the presence of female directors reduces tax avoidance behavior in prospector companies. This study provides insight into future research for stakeholders, government officials, tax authorities, and policymakers. The findings offer valuable recommendations and practical insights and implications. The findings provide future directions for research to test different frameworks to attain beneficial results to promote the responsibility of tax payment culture. (shrink)

We examine the relationship between corporate governance and the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures in the annual reports of Bangladeshi companies. A legitimacy theory framework is adopted to understand the extent to which corporate governance characteristics, such as managerial ownership, public ownership, foreign ownership, board independence, CEO duality and presence of audit committee influence organisational response to various stakeholder groups. Our results suggest that although CSR disclosures generally have a negative association with managerial ownership, such relationship becomes significant (...) and positive for export-oriented industries. We also find public ownership, foreign ownership, board independence and presence of audit committee to have positive significant impacts on CSR disclosures. However, we fail to find any significant impact of CEO duality. Thus, our results suggest that pressures exerted by external stakeholder groups and corporate governance mechanisms involving independent outsiders may allay some concerns relating to family influence on CSR disclosure practices. Overall, our study implies that corporate governance attributes play a vital role in ensuring organisational legitimacy through CSR disclosures. The findings of our study should be of interest to regulators and policy makers in countries which share similar corporate ownership and regulatory structures. (shrink)

As I am now approaching 50 years old, I think I should reflect on my works and pass on what I have learned. When I published my first academic article in 1997 as a graduate student, little did I know about how the academic publishing world would change the course of my life as well as others.

In this study, we examine the equity premium of seventeen nonfinancial sectors covering sample 306 firms using monthly data from January 2002 to December 2018. Two-stage least square method is applied to estimate the macro-based multifactor model. It is found that the market premium and the interest rate factors are significantly affecting the industry equity premium of all the nonfinancial sectors. However, there exists a positive effect of other macroeconomic variables such as money supply, foreign direct investment, and industrial production (...) which is different for the different sectors based on its nature of product and services they offered. The industries based on their product development which are linked to particular macroeconomic variables have more effect than others such as increase in money supply which cannot increase the sale of pharmaceutical products until needed. Similarly, an interesting insight reveals that industries producing seasonal goods, e.g., food producing, are not very much affected by macroeconomic variables but the change in seasons and similar results also revealed for tobacco industry. (shrink)

This article develops a notion of the ‘politics of time’ in order to analyse the effects that imaginations of future emergencies have in the fields of law and economy. Building on Niklas Luhmann’s theory of social time, it focuses on the multiplex temporalities in contemporary society, which are shown to interact differently with the ‘emergency imaginary’. We demonstrate that the apprehension of the future in terms of sudden, unpredictable and potentially catastrophic events reinforces current modes of producing financial futurity, (...) while it undermines the procedural rhythm and retroactive sentencing of liberal law. As a whole, the article supplements the analysis of the ‘politics of truth’ prevalent in the current debate about precaution and pre-emption with a theoretical perspective on social temporality. (shrink)

Cryptocurrency could redefine the interplay of Internet-connected world markets by eliminating constraints set by traditional local currencies and exchange rates. It has the potential to revolutionise digital markets through the use of duty-free trading. This study investigates the factors which influence the behavioural intention to use cryptocurrency based on the Technology Acceptance Model 3 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through a cross-sectional questionnaire from 357 Pakistani business-educated adults, including investors who had a rudimentary understanding of the technology and (...) financial instruments. Partial least square -based structural equation modeling was used to test the developed theoretical framework based on the Technology acceptance model 3. The PLS model has explained 72.1% of what constitutes the behavioural intention to use cryptocurrency. Surprisingly, risk was not a major consideration. This might be due to the fact that the majority of respondents thought working with cryptocurrency was hazardous. Willingness to handle cryptocurrency risk, on the other hand, might be a stumbling block to acceptance. The most essential aspect of a cryptocurrency's success was the perceived usefulness. Moreover, the moderating role of experience was not substantiated in this study. However, perceived usefulness was identified as a partial mediator of subjective norm and the perceived ease to use. This study contributed to the literature through the application of TAM 3 to investigate the fundamental qualities a cryptocurrency should have in order to influence investor's behavioural intention to use it. These findings provide revolutionary insights for the present and future market players for investment planning and for improved cryptocurrencies development. (shrink)

The acceptability of sentences in natural language is constrained not only grammaticality, but also by the relationship between what is being conveyed and such factors as context and the beliefs of interlocutors. In many languages the critical element in a sentence (its focus) must be given grammatical prominence. There are different accounts of the nature of focus marking. Some researchers treat it as the grammatical realization of a potentially arbitrary feature of universal grammar and do not provide an explicit account (...) of its origins; others have argued, however, that focus marking is a (grammaticalized) functional solution to the problem of efficiently transmitting information via a noisy channel. By adding redundancy to highlight critical elements in particular, focus protects key parts of the message from noise. If this information‐theoretic account is true, then we should expect focus‐like behavior to emerge even in non‐linguistic communication systems given sufficient noise and pressures for efficiency. We tested this in an experiment in which participants played a simple communication game in which they had to click cells on a grid to communicate one of two line figures drawn across the grid. We manipulated the noise, available time, and required effort, and measured patterns of redundancy. Because the lines in many cases overlapped, meaning that only some parts of each line could be used to distinguish it from the other, we were able to compare the extent to which effort was expended on adding redundancy to critical (non‐overlapping) and non‐critical (overlapping) parts of the message. The results supported the information‐theoretic account of focus and shed light on the emergence of information structure in language. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:This article assesses the proliferation of international accountability standards (IAS) in the recent past. We provide a comprehensive overview about the different types of standards and discuss their role as part of a new institutional infrastructure for corporate responsibility. Based on this, it is argued that IAS can advance corporate responsibility on a global level because they contribute to the closure of some omnipresent governance gaps. IAS also improve the preparedness of an organization to give an explanation and a justification (...) to relevant stakeholders for its judgments, intentions, acts and omissions when appropriately called upon to do so. However, IAS also face a variety of problems impeding their potential to help address social and environmental issues. The contribution of the four articles in this special section is discussed in the context of standards’ problems and opportunities. The article closes by outlining a research agenda to further develop and extend the scholarly debate around IAS. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:This article assesses the proliferation of international accountability standards (IAS) in the recent past. We provide a comprehensive overview about the different types of standards and discuss their role as part of a new institutional infrastructure for corporate responsibility. Based on this, it is argued that IAS can advance corporate responsibility on a global level because they contribute to the closure of some omnipresent governance gaps. IAS also improve the preparedness of an organization to give an explanation and a justification (...) to relevant stakeholders for its judgments, intentions, acts and omissions when appropriately called upon to do so. However, IAS also face a variety of problems impeding their potential to help address social and environmental issues. The contribution of the four articles in this special section is discussed in the context of standards’ problems and opportunities. The article closes by outlining a research agenda to further develop and extend the scholarly debate around IAS. (shrink)

One of the key challenges of social policy in Poland in the early 21st century is to adapt its management to the requirements of a service economy. Essential conditions for the mixed economy of welfare have been already created after adjustments of the subsystems of national social policy during the first years of membership in the European Union since 2004. Labour market policies already include the relationships between providers from the public sector, the commercial sector, and the non-governmental (...) sector. However, the tasks and services of individual entities and institutions still lack coordination and integration. This paper focus on the examples of possibilities for their development by combining the activation policy with concepts of the governance and welfare mix. The paper presents the results of the author’s research on the implementation of welfare mix solutions in the field of professional activation of the unemployed people in Poland. Two case studies are included the implementation of outplacement programs that are based on the cooperation between different entities; and the cooperation between the public employment services and non-governmental employment agencies in the activation of people with disabilities in the labour market. Moreover, basic concepts of ongoing reforms of active labour market policies in Poland were discussed. The summary contains the practical recommendations and possible directions for further research in the field of integration of employment services. (shrink)

Many efforts are focused on transformation to wellbeing economies as economies oriented towards equity, social justice, and human wellbeing in a flourishing natural environment (wellbeing economics). Drawing from analysis of innovations associated with these efforts, we emerge a framework of wellbeing-oriented ‘economic operating infrastructure’ (EOI). This is presented as a typology of six core types of economic transformation innovations nested from innovations with the broadest reach (narratives) to the most specific (products and services). Development of the typology was guided by (...) a set of wellbeing economies values that help in identifying which innovations to include. The innovations were identified by research on the internet, technical reports, and published articles. The typology elements are: innovations in economic narratives; governance; financing mechanisms; exchange mechanisms; business structures; and the products and services derived from them. Examples are presented in each category to illustrate how this infrastructure is emerging in alignment with establishing wellbeing economies. This exploratory and descriptive typology provides a preliminary framework for developing a strategic approach to economic transformation through wellbeing economic infrastructure development. Four EOI-based activities are identified to accelerate this transformation. (shrink)

Nicholas Vriend asked whether F.A. Hayek was an “ace,” and answered affirmatively. By “ace,” Vriend meant someone who worked with agent-based modeling. To be sure, Hayek could not have worked with agent-based models because that platform did not exist when Hayek was developing his ideas about the distribution and use of knowledge in society. All the same, Vriend explained convincingly that Hayek could have made good use of the agent-based platform had it been available in the 1930s. To similar effect, (...) we argue in this paper that James Buchanan could have made good use of agent-based modeling to carry forward his ideas about the value of taking an emergent approach to the explanation of economic processes. (shrink)