Suchergebnisse

AbstractDisclosure of social, environmental, and governance (ESG) information is inherent to the implementation of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. Furthermore, the level of quality in sustainability reports that are developed by the company may enhance its credibility and in turn, influence the perception of stakeholders improving corporate reputation. The aim of this work is to test whether the quality of sustainability reports influences subsequent corporate reputation. This contribution responds to a latent need in the literature as the study of the assurance on sustainability reporting is relatively new and its focus is novel since few studies examine the level of quality information as a precedent of reputation instead of a result of certain corporate variables. Using a logistic regression applied to Ibex35 companies for the period 2006–2011, we find that the quality of sustainability reporting increases the likelihood of having higher corporate reputation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

AbstractThe aim of this research has been to analyse how the method employed for lending can affect the cost efficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs) since innovations for lending have been introduced in the sector in the last years and there are not empirical studies to analyse the actual impact of it. The improvement of MFIs' cost efficiency is very important for these institutions to achieve their financial self‐sufficiency and be sustainable in the long run. The data employed in this analysis have been an unbalanced panel composed of a sample of 1017 MFIs for the 2008–2018 period and collected from the microfinance information exchange (MIX) database. Our results also show that community or group‐lending methods, as village banking and solidarity groups, have a positive effect on the MFIs' cost efficiency versus traditional methods based on individual lending. In addition, we have found that MFIs with a higher proportion of borrowers in rural areas are more cost efficient than institutions with more borrowers in urban areas, although community or group‐lending methods have a larger positive effect on MFIs' cost efficiency in urban than in rural areas.

AbstractThe incorporation of sustainable compensation policies reflects the willingness of companies to manage the behavior of directors towards long‐term goals, responding to a large number of stakeholders with different demands. Analysis of compensation policies is biased to financial performance, so that the effectiveness of sustainable policies remains unexplored. This paper investigates whether having a sustainable compensation policy has a positive influence on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and economic scores. These relationships are tested by estimating a fixed‐effects model for listed companies from Spain, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom in the period 2005–2015. According to the results, sustainable compensation policies affect ESG scores, but especially when firms have a corporate social responsibility committee acting as control mechanism and supporting the achievement of those objectives, triggering better nonfinancial performance. This paper contributes to literature by exploring the effect of sustainable incentives and expands the range and richness of results by including four different scores.

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to provide more knowledge about the model to generate reputation and its relationship in the long term with companies' strategy of social responsibility. Particularly, research is done to test whether there is a positive effect of firms' social behaviour (corporate social responsibility [CSR]), analysing differences of intensity and consistency, on their corporate reputation (CR) and whether the current financial crisis is a factor that has changed the relationship between both variables (moderator factor).Design/methodology/approach– This study uses a sample of 26 Spanish large firms of the Ibex35 index and covers an eight-year period from 2004 to 2011. To test the hypotheses of this research, a fixed-effects model was estimated using moderating regression analysis.Findings– The results obtained show that, for the Spanish Ibex35 companies, CSR practices according to their consistency have a significant positive effect on CR and in turbulent environments, as in the current financial crisis, it has had a significant positive influence on the CSR-CR relationship.Originality/value– Although a substantial number of empirical studies have examined the relationship between firms' strategy and their performance, only a few of them have analysed the impact of the external environment on this relationship, whereby there is a need for longitudinal studies with different economic scenarios to achieve better knowledge of the CSR–CR relationship.

In the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication, we explore whether consumer perceptions and responses differ when the message content is based on storytelling or exposition. The conceptual model that we propose in the article includes five attributes of CSR message content (i.e., issue importance, CSR impact, CSR motives, CSR fit, and CSR commitment) and their relationships to two types of consumer responses (i.e., purchase and advocacy). We collected data from 444 participants who evaluated the website of a fictitious restaurant chain that included information about its CSR activities using (a) storytelling or (b) expositive CSR messages. The findings suggest that the use of storytelling notably improves perceptions of issue importance, CSR impact, CSR fit, and CSR commitment. On the contrary, the type of CSR message does not differentiate consumer perceptions of corporate CSR motives. The use of storytelling or an expositive CSR message also has a significant impact on the conceptual model, with consumers responding more or less intensively to each attribute of the CSR message content depending on the type of message they are exposed to.

Production of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) and European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is the second most important aquaculture industry in the European Union in value terms. During the last 10 years, the industry has experienced a process of industry concentration with the aim to overcome efficiency and profitability issues. However, the economic performance of the companies is still in general rather poor. The present work analyzes the economic performance of EU seabream and seabass companies in the period 2008–2016. The work is the first study to analyze companies' profitability in the EU as a whole, by country and company size, using economic and financial data extracted from companies' annual accounts. Based on the results, the study discusses the improvement of production and business profitability in recent years and the different factors that may have caused it, as well as the challenges and threats that seabream and seabass companies will have to face in order to achieve economic sustainability. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion