•Strong relationship between digitalization, sustainability and performance.•Positive results under the environmental and social lens push economic performance.•The size impacts on both financial and ...sustainable performance.•Digitalization for sustainability creates new opportunities.
Environmental and social issues have become increasingly important both at operating and strategic levels. Enterprises must integrate sustainability within their strategies. This implementation should be supported by different managerial tools and digital technologies. The latter is central in supporting sustainability implementation and conversion, and therefore, the interaction between digitalization and sustainability can unlock higher potential. Consequently, this study mainly aimed to understand the link between digitalization, sustainability, and performance in the Italian context. Our findings reveal a significant relationship between digitalization, sustainability, and profitability performance and that when positive results are achieved under the environmental and social lens, economic performance also improves. Our study highlights the role of enterprise size and its impact on financial and sustainable performance, thus addressing the gaps in the literature.
•Quantitative and qualitative instruments were used study the effects of governance on R&D.•FsQCA shows that the influence of governance mechanisms is not symmetric.•FsQCA reveals alternative ...governance configurations for high or low levels of R&D intensity.
The positive effects of R&D investment on innovation, productivity, and sustainability are well documented. However, findings regarding the impact of corporate governance on R&D investment are mixed, despite arguments supporting the role of governance mechanisms in solving agency problems. This study focuses on the relationship between governance mechanisms and R&D investment using a sample of large companies listed in European countries. The data cover the period from 2002 to 2013. These data are analyzed using an econometric panel data method and the recently developed method of panel data fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The results reveal the importance of institutional context and highlight the configurations of governance mechanisms that lead to high and low levels of R&D investment. These findings are relevant for companies aiming to adopt the most suitable governance mechanisms to pursue their R&D objectives and for policymakers interested in promoting R&D investment.
The enterprise's financing response to the green credit policy is of great significance. It is related to whether green finance can successfully accelerate enterprises' technological upgrading and ...transformation. Based on Propensity Score Matching-Difference in Difference (PSM-DID) model, this paper studies the impact of green credit policy on financing behavior of the heavily-polluting listed companies in China from 2008 to 2020. The results show that the illiquid debt financing behavior of heavily-polluting enterprises has a clear downward trend since China's "Green Credit Guidelines" were implemented, while liquid debt and commercial credit, as alternative financing methods for enterprises, have increased significantly. Through further analysis, we found that state-owned enterprises (SOE) are more affected by green credit policy than non-state-owned enterprises (NSOE), and companies in regions with a lower green development index are more affected by green credit policy than companies in higher green developing regions. Although China's green credit policy has a certain inhibitory effect on the illiquid debts financing behavior of heavily-polluting enterprises, it has failed to allocate the capital flow effectively due to the firm-level alternative financing response to the green credit policy. From the managerial significance of the policy, the signal guidance of green finance needs to be strengthened for enterprises.
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•Explore the impact on financing behavior of green credit policy.•Green credit policy is effective in reducing the illiquid debt of heavily-polluting enterprises.•Green credit policy has led to an increase in alternative financing for enterprises.•Explore the impact of green credit policies on different green development index regions.
•The effect of ETS pilot policy on green innovation in enterprises is analyzed.•Company level data in 31 Chinese provinces from 1990 to 2018 are used.•The DDD model is used to identify causal ...relationship.•ETS pilot policy cannot stimulate green innovation in enterprises.•Reducing output is a potential mechanism.
For climate change mitigation, China launched seven pilot areas before establishing a unified carbon emission trading system in 2014. This study explores the “weak” version of the Porter hypothesis while focusing on listed companies in 31 provinces (municipalities or autonomous regions) from 1990 to 2018. In this study, we provided preliminary evidence on the influence of China's carbon emission trading scheme pilot policy on green innovation based on green patent data. Results show that the “weak” Porter hypothesis has not been realized in the current carbon trading market of China. Moreover, the pilot policy has significantly decreased the proportion of green patents by approximately 9.26%. Then, we find that the pilot policy has an evident lagging effect on restraining the green innovation of enterprises. Furthermore, inhibition is more pronounced among the samples of small-scale, manufacturing, and non-state-owned companies, including companies in the eastern and central regions. Most importantly, companies mainly choose to reduce output rather than increase green technological innovation to achieve their emission reduction targets. Moreover, companies reduce their investment in research and development because of the reduction in cash flow and expected income, which is not conducive to green innovation.
•Probes into the influence of nonreal estate enterprises on house prices.•Sums up the reasons why monetary policy affects housing prices.•Enriches the financial attribute of real estate.
This study ...explores the integration of real estate into financial assets within the context of China's regulatory framework for nonreal estate corporate listed companies (NRELCs). The purpose is to assess the impact of NRELCs’ involvement in the real estate market on housing prices as influenced by monetary policy. The need for a solution is driven by the significant role of real estate in China's economic strategy and the challenges posed by speculative investments. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, this study employs empirical models to analyze data from 2007 to 2018. The key findings indicate that NRELCs’ entry into the real estate market significantly stimulates housing prices, with monetary policy acting as a critical driver. The interaction between credit expansion and NRELCs’ real estate activities exacerbates price fluctuations. Our findings highlight the necessity of controlling the financial attributes of real estate and suggest regulatory measures to curb speculative demand. The potential impact includes informing policy decisions to stabilize the housing market and promote sustainable economic growth.
•This study examines the impact of COVID-19 on firm innovation.•The results show that at the national level, COVID-19 inhibits firm innovation in China.•At the regional level, there are no ...differences in the impacts of COVID-19 on Hubei province and other regions.•At the firm level, compared with non-state-owned enterprises (NSOEs), COVID-19 has a greater negative effect on the innovation quality of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Innovation in large companies is more vulnerable to COVID-19 than in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
This study examines the impact of COVID-19 on firm innovation using the data of Chinese listed companies from January 2020 to October 2020. The results show that at the national level, COVID-19 inhibits firm innovation in China. At the regional level, there are no differences in the impacts of COVID-19 on Hubei province and other regions. At the firm level, compared with non-state-owned enterprises (NSOEs), COVID-19 has a greater negative effect on the innovation quality of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Innovation in large companies is more vulnerable to COVID-19 than in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The impact of pilot free trade zones (PFTZs) on companies' low-carbon innovation is not yet studied. In response, this paper considers the establishment of PFTZs as a quasi-natural experiment, using ...panel data on China's A-share industrial listed companies for the period 2010–2021 and utilizing the entropy balancing difference-in-differences (EB-DID) model to examine PFTZs' impact on companies' low-carbon innovation. The results show that: (1) PFTZs significantly promote companies' low-carbon innovation in pilot cities through the “promoting R&D effect” and the “environmental governance effect”; (2) Foreign capital positively moderates PFTZs' impact on companies' low-carbon innovation; (3) PFTZs' policy effect is characterized by spatial heterogeneity. The paper thus suggests that the government should improve the construction plans of PFTZs to ensure alignment with low-carbon development goals. Moreover, the government should also provide appropriate subsidies for low-carbon technology R&D to encourage innovation, implement advanced institutional systems to facilitate local companies' low-carbon transition, attract high-quality foreign investments to drive the inflow of innovation elements, and optimize the geographical distribution of PFTZs to maximize the spatial spillover effect.
•We examine the impact of PFTZs on companies' low-carbon innovation in China.•PFTZs significantly promote companies' low-carbon innovation in pilot cities.•PFTZs exert a dual-promotion effect on low-carbon innovation through two channels.•Foreign capital positively moderates the PFTZs' impact on low-carbon innovation.•PFTZs' policy effect is characterized by spatial heterogeneity.
Our study examines whether internal corporate governance (CG) mechanisms moderate the relationship between a firm's engagement in corporate environmental disclosure (CED) and earnings management (EM) ...practices in an emerging economy. Using a sample of 100 Jordanian listed firms from 2010 to 2014 (i.e., 500 firm‐year observations), our findings reveal that while the relationship between CED and earnings manipulations is negative, the links between CG arrangements and EM are heterogeneous in that they might have either reduced or increased earnings manipulations in Jordan. Furthermore, some CG structures, such as board size, managerial, and institutional ownership structures have moderating effects on the CED‐EM nexus. Our research highlights the significance of considering internal CG mechanisms to explain the link between CED and EM in the context of emerging economies. Our results help to explain and place into setting the earlier mixed results on the association between CED and earnings manipulations and most importantly add to the debate about whether CG structures detrimental to the CED‐EM nexus. This study allows for a richer understanding of how managers respond to CED initiatives and CG reforms in relation to reducing earnings manipulations, which offers policymakers, board directors and managers, a set of context‐specific recommendations related to the crucial need for more concerted efforts to ensure corporate sustainability in emerging economies.
Purpose: This paper analyses the effect on economic profitability of the adoption of work-life balance practices.Design/Methodology/Approach: Based on a sample of Spanish listed companies during the ...period 2015-2019, the aim was to contrast the effect of a work-life balance index on economic profitability.Findings: The regression analysis clustered at firm level, shows a positive and significant effect of the index on economic profitability, suggesting that companies' practices to achieve a work-life balance can be a source of motivation for their human resources.Originality/Value: Investigating the consequences of work-life balance practices at company level not at individual level and, performing a longitudinal study as opposed to cross-sectional studies, more frequent in the literature. Adding evidence in a Continental European country, Spain, as opposed to previous studies carried out mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries so like considering the work-life balances actually used by listed firms in the Spanish market.
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