PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the situation in Spain after the Kyoto Protocol with respect to greenhouse gas emissions and the national allocation plan published in 2005, which assigns CO2 tonnes to approximately 1,920 Spanish firms for the 2005‐2007 period.Design/methodology/approachThe author analysed the international norms related to the Kyoto Protocol and the situation in Spain.FindingsFrom the conclusions of the study it can be derived that, although in recent years notable progress has been made, there is still a series of issues that can only be resolved, in the author's opinion, with practical application on the part of firms over time. These issues, both on an international level and in Spain, are: how to reflect the greenhouse gas emissions allowance in accounting; what information firms should include about greenhouse gas emissions in their annual reports; environmental reports and web sites; and what the economic impact of the Kyoto Protocol will be on the world economy, considering that some countries have already ratified it, while others have not.Research limitations/implicationsThis work should also be extended to more countries and not just be limited to Spanish companies. There is still much to be done to cover the possible gaps in this topic.Originality/valueIt is believed that the issues posed by the different sets of regulations are developing little by little, as seen in the fact that different countries are passing their respective national allocation plans, which specify the individual allocation of greenhouse gas emission allowances of different industries.
Este artículo revisa algunos de los retos de la igualdad entre mujeres y hombres en la economía española, atendiendo al proceso de digitalización y las tareas pendientes para cerrar la brecha de género. Si bien ha habido notables avances en el empoderamiento femenino en España respecto a la media europea, y las diferencias en el mercado de trabajo que juegan en contra de las mujeres han ido disminuyendo paulatinamente con el tiempo, no se deben perder de vista aquellas características de acceso a la economía digital, fundamentalmente en términos de cualificaciones y formación en materias tecnológicas, para no frenar el ritmo en la carrera hacia la plena igualdad.
AbstractChile's experience with its Constitutional Convention from 2021 to 2022 sheds light on an important issue for comparative reflection: the role of procedures in constitution-making processes. The Constitutional Convention was bound by procedures that were both externally imposed and internally created. Our assessment is that, while some procedures improved representation and deliberation, the most important decision-making procedures were pernicious to the process. We argue that looking at procedures is fundamental when analysing constitutional processes, as the rules that bind rule-making processes can significantly impact not only their functioning, but also their outcomes.
PurposeRecent years have seen increased participation by women in Science and Technology activities, but parity with men remains a distant goal. This paper provides a framework for improving knowledge on the dynamics of women's contributions to innovation, as measured through their contributions as inventors.Design/methodology/approachAnalysis was conducted using data from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database, covering over 40 years from 1976 to 2019. The study provides a breakdown of women's inventiveness/innovation by technology area, which permits analysis of whether female inventors tend to work individually or as part of a team, as well as analysis of the effects of international networks.FindingsSpecific data have been analyzed around innovative activity by women in Spain, providing new insights on gender gaps. Key findings include those recent increases in inventions by women (as measured through patents) have occurred mostly via participation in internationally connected mixed-gender teams. Furthermore, the inventive creativity of women is found to be sector-biased and framed mainly in the chemical sector.Originality/valueThere are no similar contributions using USPTO data for Spanish inventions. This is an original paper that emphasizes the potential of collaborative networks as key driving mechanisms for the reduction of gender gaps and for the larger integration of women into innovation activities, with potential implications for stakeholders at both firm and governmental levels.
La digitalización, o transformación digital, implica un conjunto de cambios en el estado y el uso de la tecnología que tiene un carácter disruptivo. La aplicación masiva de tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones (TIC) impacta en el sistema productivo y también en los servicios financieros, de educación y salud, así como en las relaciones del ciudadano con la Administración pública. En este artículo se recorre el marco conceptual de la digitalización, necesariamente acotado dadas las numerosas aristas que presenta, se describe en qué lugar está España en materia de digitalización, y se analizan las fortalezas relativas de las empresas y las habilidades de los trabajadores en el uso de servicios conectados.
El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar el efecto de la diversidad de género en I+D en las empresas españolas sobre la decisión de colaborar con otros agentes para la innovación. Los resultados confirman que siendo significativa la presencia relativa de mujeres en los equipos de I+D, el impacto es notablemente más elevado en la probabilidad de cooperar en I+D con universidades y centros de investigación. Además, se observan diferencias en el caso de las empresas internacionalizadas, siendo mayor el efecto que tiene el porcentaje de mujeres empleadas en I+D sobre la colaboración para la innovación en aquellas empresas exportadoras y que además pertenecen a un grupo extranjero.
Este artículo analiza la internacionalización de las universidades españolas, a través de su participación en programas de investigación internacionales y, en particular, de la colaboración internacional en proyectos financiados por el programa europeo Horizonte 2020 (H2020). El estudio de los casos de las universidades españolas más internacionalizadas en el programa H2020 que aquí se plantea, explora la existencia de diversos patrones de colaboración internacional, y analiza en qué medida estos se corresponden con un grado de dispersión geográfica diferenciado.
La evolución de la IDE ha ido conformando una geografía de las empresas multinacionales con nuevos inversores, entre los que se encuentran multinacionales de países menos desarrollados (emergentes) y multinacionales de propiedad estatal y fondos soberanos. Se ha ido construyendo así una estructura institucional de gobernanza global que se asimila a una economía mixta, que abre oportunidades para el avance de políticas públicas y de cooperación internacional en el cumplimiento de los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible.
AbstractThe aim of this research is to analyse the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure on corporate performance. It also analyses the moderating effect of CSR assurance on the association between CSR disclosure and corporate performance, contributing to knowledge in this area. The theoretical framework of the study is based on stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory. The sample used consists of 9861 international firm‐year observations collected from the Thomson Reuters database between 2009 and 2018. Our model has been estimated using the generalised method of moments (GMM) estimator. The findings show that CSR disclosure is positively associated with corporate performance, as proposed in our hypothesis. Additionally, our evidence shows that CSR assurance plays a positive moderating role between CSR disclosure and corporate performance.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to verify if the characteristics of the board of directors (BD) affects the disclosure practices of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Two different population samples were used from the period 2008-2011: Brazilian listed companies and Spanish companies. It is observed that the size of the board positively affects CSR disclosure practices of the two groups of companies. The percentage of independent directors of the board members positively affects the disclosure practices of CSR in Spanish companies. The percentage of participants of the board women positively impacts the disclosure practices of CSR in Brazilian companies.
Design/methodology/approach The authors worked with two different population samples: one, composed by the Brazilian listed companies in BM&FBOVESPA and other by Spanish companies listed on Madrid Stock Exchange. The selection of this period was due to the increase in the adoption of GRI guidelines from 2008 (Prado-Lorenzo et al., 2012). In addition, as Spanish companies disclose more CSR reports according to the GRI guidelines (Global Reporting Initiative, 2012), this is a suitable environment for the analysis.
Findings Regarding the research question of this study, it was found that the profile of the board affects the disclosure practices of CSR of Brazilian and Spanish companies. The size of the board positively affects CSR disclosure practices of the two groups of companies. The percentage of independent directors of the board members positively affects the disclosure practices of CSR in Spanish companies. The percentage of participants of the board women positively impacts the disclosure practices of CSR in Brazilian companies.
Research limitations/implications Both the BD of Spanish companies as the Brazilian still requires the participation of a greater number of women. It is important to remember that the variable that represents women in the board presented a positive impact on the dependent variables, and it is statistically significant, so it is possible to affirm that when a large number of women are on the Board, the company tends to disclose more standardized information about CSR practices. These results are in line to other empirical analysis that defend that women usually introduce more philanthropic worries (Ibrahim and Angelidis, 1991) and tend to provide higher information transparency, especially about sustainability issues (Barako and Brown, 2008; Prado-Lorenzo and García-Sánchez, 2010; Frías-Aceituno et al., 2012).
Practical implications This research should benefit, in this sense, investors, managers and policymakers, civil society representatives and corporate managers themselves active in the two economies investigated.
Social implications It should be noticed that both Brazil and Spain use to encourage joint research between researchers of Brazilian and Spanish universities, funding projects developed in partnership as Cooperation Programme signed in 2001 by the Ministries of Education in both countries. Thus, it is justified the choice of Spain for its comparative analysis due to the need for more field studies on this topic in both countries, and also that it has been promoted by their governments.
Originality/value It is expected that the results of this research contribute to the identification of relevant factors in disclosure of corporate environmental policies and actions that may be useful in the decision-making process of various stakeholders. Such identification will also allow us to identify possible relationships between environmental initiatives, the profile of BD.
AbstractWithin corporate governance, the board of directors plays a major role in improving corporate transparency by increasing the disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information. In this paper, we analyse the effect of board composition, particularly board independence, board gender diversity, CEO duality, and the presence of a CSR board committee on CSR reporting. Evidence of this effect is still scarce when it concerns the effect of corporate governance mechanisms and CSR disclosure in firms pertaining to emerging market economies, and for this reason, our study focuses on this type of country. Our sample comprises 934 international firm‐year observations from the following 10 countries with emerging markets: Brazil, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Thailand for the period 2004–2015. This classification of countries with emerging markets is based on the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Emerging Markets Index. Drawing on agency and stakeholder approaches, we posit four hypotheses: board independence and CSR board committees positively affect CSR disclosure, whereas board gender diversity and CEO duality have a negative effect. The results obtained reveal that in emerging market economies, the presence of women on boards of directors is quite limited and, therefore, their participation in decision‐making is minimal. Furthermore, CEO duality discourages the disclosure of CSR information, which may be justified for the family orientation of most firms in these countries, where the CEO is usually also the chairperson of the board.
