Emna Mnif, Anis Jarboui and Khaireddine Mouakhar
Sustainable development hinges on a crucial shift to renewable energy, which is essential in the fight against global warming and climate change. This study explores the…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainable development hinges on a crucial shift to renewable energy, which is essential in the fight against global warming and climate change. This study explores the relationships between artificial intelligence (AI), fuel, green stocks, geopolitical risk, and Ethereum energy consumption (ETH) in an era of rapid technological advancement and growing environmental concerns.
Design/methodology/approach
This research stands at the forefront of interdisciplinary research and forges a path toward a comprehensive understanding of the intricate dynamics governing green sustainability investments. These objectives have been fulfilled by implementing the innovative quantile time-frequency connectedness approach in conjunction with geopolitical and climate considerations.
Findings
Our findings highlight coal market dominance and Ethereum energy consumption as critical short- and long-term market volatility sources. Additionally, geopolitical risks and Ethereum energy consumption significantly contribute to volatility. Long-term factors are the primary drivers of directional volatility spillover, impacting green stocks and energy assets over extended periods. Additionally, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) findings corroborate the quantile time-frequency connectedness outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
This study highlights the critical importance of transitioning to sustainable energy sources and embracing digital finance in fostering green sustainability investments, illuminating their roles in shaping market dynamics, influencing geopolitics and ensuring the long-term sustainability required to combat climate change effectively.
Practical implications
The study offers practical sustainability implications by informing green investment choices, strengthening risk management strategies, encouraging interdisciplinary cooperation and fostering digital finance innovations to promote sustainable practices.
Originality/value
The implementation of the quantile time-frequency connectedness approach, in line with considering geopolitical and climate factors, marks the originality of this paper. This approach allows for a dynamic analysis of connectedness across different distribution quantiles, providing a deeper understanding of variable interactions under varying market conditions.
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Khaireddine Mouakhar and Albéric Tellier
Open Source software companies (OSSCs) are confronted with institutional pressures from Open Source software (OSS) communities. They must find an acceptable balance between the…
Abstract
Purpose
Open Source software companies (OSSCs) are confronted with institutional pressures from Open Source software (OSS) communities. They must find an acceptable balance between the expectations of these communities and their own business model. However, there are still few studies that try to analyse the OSSC business models. The purpose of this paper is to highlight OSSC typical business models by using rich empirical data.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is based on a combination of quantitative analysis of a sample of 66 OSSCs and qualitative analysis of three typical situations resulting from that sample.
Findings
The quantitative study enables the authors to highlight three typical business models. The in-depth study of three typical cases enables the authors to specify these OSSC business models. The authors can distinguish four key dimensions: the relationship developed with the OSS communities, the strategic manoeuvres made, the key resources and competitive positioning.
Research limitations/implications
The results indicate that it is possible for firms to accommodate both profit and non-profit logics using different strategic manoeuvres to position themselves with regard to the Open Source institutional environment. Such accommodation requires the development of key resources and the adoption of suitable competitive positioning.
Practical implications
This study allows the authors to highlight two main practical contributions for OSSCs’ directors. First, the different manoeuvres identified may help them to ensure coherence between their strategic choices and the business model chosen. Second, the results can help OSSC founders identify value creation mechanisms more clearly by analysing four key variables.
Originality/value
This paper provides new insight about OSSCs business models. It aggregates four dimensions that provide a more “fine-grained” analysis of business models, while other studies often emphasise one dimension (usually the regime of appropriability).
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Emna Mnif, Khaireddine Mouakhar and Anis Jarboui
The mining process is essential in cryptocurrency networks. However, it consumes considerable electrical energy, which is undoubtedly harmful to the environment. In response…
Abstract
Purpose
The mining process is essential in cryptocurrency networks. However, it consumes considerable electrical energy, which is undoubtedly harmful to the environment. In response, energy-conserving cryptocurrency projects with reduced energy requirements or based on renewable energies have been developed. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine ignited an unprecedented upheaval in financial products, especially in cryptocurrency and energy markets. Therefore, the paper aims to explore the response of these energy-conserving cryptocurrencies to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine conflict.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper investigates the response of these energy-conserving cryptocurrencies to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine conflict. Their competitiveness is compared with conventional ones by analyzing their efficiency through multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis and automatic variance ratio during the COVID-19 and Russian invasion periods.
Findings
The empirical results show that all investigated energy-conserving cryptocurrencies negatively responded to the pandemic and positively reacted to the Russian invasion. On the other hand, all conventional cryptocurrencies reacted negatively to the COVID-19 pandemic and the amid-Russian attack. Besides, Bitcoin and SolarCoin were the least inefficient before the outbreak of COVID-19. Nevertheless, the Ethereum market became the most efficient after the pandemic spread. Similarly, the efficiency of Ripple was the most significant during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The energy crisis caused by Russia benefited the efficiency of the studied energy-conserving cryptocurrencies.
Practical implications
This research is of interest to investors seeking opportunities in these energy-conserving cryptocurrencies and policymakers working to implement reforms to improve their market efficiency and promote long-term financial market growth.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, the behavior of cryptocurrencies based on renewable and reduced energy during the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine has not been explored.
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Kachouri Maali, Riguen Rakia and Mouakhar Khaireddine
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect links between corporate governance and sustainability performance using corporate social responsibility.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect links between corporate governance and sustainability performance using corporate social responsibility.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a sample consisting of 300 UK firms over the 2005–2017 period. This study applied structural equations models that specify both a direct and an indirect link between corporate governance and sustainability performance.
Findings
The authors find that corporate governance has a positive effect on sustainability performance. In addition, this study shows that corporate social responsibility fully mediates the relationship between corporate governance and sustainability performance in UK firms.
Practical implications
This study shows that firms are invited to engage more in sustainability performance and corporate social responsibility activities, which reduces agency conflicts between managers and shareholders.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, no research studies examined empirically the direct and indirect relationship between corporate governance and sustainability performance. Therefore, the main contribution of this research is to show how corporate governance effectiveness leads to higher corporate social responsibility level and sustainability performance using two analyses methods (mediator analysis and multiple mediator analysis).
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Amel Kouaib, Anis Jarboui and Khaireddine Mouakhar
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the moderating effect of mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on the relationship between chief executive…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the moderating effect of mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) experience/education and earnings management in European companies.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from a sample of 302 European firms listed on Stoxx Europe 600 index and 596 CEOs from 2000 to 2014 are used to test the moderation model using moderation regression analysis.
Findings
Evidence reveals that CEO’s accounting-based attributes are negatively associated with accruals-based earnings management and positively associated with real earnings management (REM). Further, mandatory IFRS adoption significantly moderates the impact of CEO’s accounting-based traits on earnings-management activities.
Research limitations/implications
A small number of European firms were studied and, given the long study period, many firms with missing data were eliminated. To avoid a small sample size, countries with few observations were included, which leads to an uneven distribution between observations per country.
Practical implications
Findings from this paper can help: European firms to consider demographic traits when recruiting or promoting executives; the IASB to improve enforcement mechanisms and make IFRS implementation mandatory; and audit committees to effectively monitor REM.
Originality/value
This study is unique in providing European evidence for the moderating effect of mandatory IFRS adoption on the relationship between CEOs’ accounting experience/education and earnings management activities. This paper is also relevant as it addresses the effectiveness and efficiency of accounting literates.
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Mouna Amari, Khaireddine Mouakhar and Anis Jarboui
This paper aims to study the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) readiness, use, and intensity and environmental sustainability factors in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) readiness, use, and intensity and environmental sustainability factors in the lower and middle lower-income countries from 2012 to 2018.
Design/methodology/approach
ICT readiness, use and intensity are measured with the impact of ICT on access to basic services, phone penetration and Internet penetration, while CO2 emissions per capita, fossil fuel energy consumption and methane emissions are used as indicators for air pollution. To achieve this goal, a two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation was performed which thresholds are computed contingent on the validity of tested hypotheses.
Findings
The results demonstrate that increasing ICT readiness, use and intensity in lower and lower-middle-income countries enhance environmental sustainability by decreasing CO2 emissions and energy consumption.
Research limitations/implications
One of the limitations of this study is that the conclusions and policy recommendations do not take into account the specificities of each country. Indeed there are some differences in the growth pattern of ICT in the lower and middle-lower-income countries. Taken together, the authors conclude that increasing ICT has a positive net effect on CO2 and methane emissions per capita, while increasing the impact of ICT access in basic services has a net negative effect on CO2 fossil fuel energy consumption and methane emissions.
Practical implications
The world needs immediate emissions reduction to avoid the long-term danger of climate change. Second, government authorities should give additional efforts in the more pollutant sector such as transport and industry to monitor their energy consumption.
Originality/value
To explore this issue further, the negative net effects suggest that ICT needs to be further developed beyond the determined thresholds, to attain the required negative net effect on fossil fuel energy consumption.
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Asma Bouzouitina, Mouakhar Khaireddine and Anis Jarboui
This paper aims to examine the effect of two CEO characteristics, namely, narcissism and overconfidence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the moderating effect of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the effect of two CEO characteristics, namely, narcissism and overconfidence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the moderating effect of corporate governance (CG) mechanisms in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of 2,360 UK firms listed on the FTSE 400 index for the years 2010–2017, the feasible generalized least squares method was applied to test the hypotheses developed.
Findings
The finding argues that CEO narcissism and overconfidence positively affect CSR. In addition, this paper found that CG effectiveness moderates the CEO’s CSR behavior.
Research limitations/implications
This research is subjected to two limitations. First, this study used different measures to proxy for CEO narcissism and overconfidence. However, other measures are not included owing to the difficulty to collect data regarding these measures. Second, this study includes only CSR performance instead of all other dimensions and categories of CSR. These limitations do not change the conclusions of this research, and they may provide guidance for further investigations.
Practical implications
Given that the CEOs psychological and behavioral features are critical in understanding CSR, shareholders and boards of directors should incorporate the behavioral aspects of narcissistic and overconfident CEOs in the design of CSR strategy.
Originality/value
This study emphasizes the importance of top executives’ psychological characteristics for CSR, which is a key application and complements the “upper echelons theory” and fills the research gap in the literature. This is one of the few studies that investigate the interaction between CG, CEO profile and CSR.
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The purpose of this paper is to study how board attributes impact corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular, this paper aims to empirically examine the impact of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study how board attributes impact corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular, this paper aims to empirically examine the impact of financial performance on the relationship between board attributes and CSR. Board attributes such as board size, board independence, female board representation and CEO-chair duality are included.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses panel data set of 200 French companies listed during 2007–2018 period. The direct and moderating effects were tested by using multiple regression technique.
Findings
The results indicate that significant direct relationships exist among board attributes and CSR. Board independence and female board representation are positively linked with CSR. However, board size and CEO duality are negatively associated with CSR. Findings show, also, that corporate financial performance accentuates significantly the effect of board size, board independence and CEO-duality on CSR, but does not moderate the relationship between female board representation and CSR.
Practical implications
The findings may be of interest to different stakeholders and policy-makers and regulatory bodies interested in enhancing CG initiatives to strengthen corporate social responsibility because it suggests thinking about implementing a broadly accepted framework of good CG practices to meet the demand for greater transparency and accountability. As an extension to this research, further study can examine the impact of ownership structure and audit quality on CSR issues.
Originality/value
This study extends the dynamic relationship between CG mechanisms and CSR by offering new evidence on how corporate financial moderates this relationship.
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Sawssen Khlifi, Yamina Chouaibi and Salim Chouaibi
This study aims to investigate the direct and indirect relationship between board characteristics and corporate tax avoidance using the environmental, social and governance (ESG…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the direct and indirect relationship between board characteristics and corporate tax avoidance using the environmental, social and governance (ESG) index as a mediating variable in G20 countries.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the direct and indirect effects between board characteristics and tax avoidance using structural equation model analysis, this study used a panel data set of 522 companies from G20 countries between 2015 and 2021.
Findings
The regression results show that ESG reporting mediates the relationship between the board of directors and tax avoidance in G20 countries.
Practical implications
The findings have some policy and practical implications that may help regulators improve the quality of transactions and achieve more efficient market supervision. They recommend that governments implement regulations and restrictions on corporate tax avoidance through board mechanisms in G20 countries.
Social implications
The paper enables information users to assess future growth opportunities by emphasizing the importance of ESG policies and board characteristics in evaluating companies.
Originality/value
Although previous literature has investigated the direct relationship between the board of directors and tax avoidance, the present work focused on considering the direct and indirect association between the board of directors and tax avoidance through the mediating effect of ESG reporting, which has not been widely used in ESG studies so far.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect relationship between board gender diversity and corporate tax avoidance using corporate social responsibility…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect relationship between board gender diversity and corporate tax avoidance using corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a mediating variable.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a panel dataset of 200 French firms listed during 2007–2018 period. The direct and indirect effects between board gender diversity (BGD) and tax avoidance were tested by using structural equation model analysis.
Findings
The results indicate that the presence of women on corporate boardrooms negatively affects tax avoidance. The greater the proportion of women in boards, the lower the likelihood of tax avoidance practice. In the mediation test, CSR appears to partially mediate the link between women on boards and corporate tax avoidance. Additional analysis shows that the social dimension of CSR produces this mediating effect.
Practical implications
The results have practical implications for companies in regulating the composition of their boards. To benefit from diversity, firms have to increase women‘s percentage in their boards of directors. Also, investors are encouraged to pay attention to the percentage of female directors when investing and purchasing shares.
Social implications
This study proved empirically that the higher proportion of female directors significantly reduces the possibility of tax avoidance either directly or indirectly through enhancing CSR performance. The findings show that firms with gender diversified boards are more likely to get involved in CSR for hedging against the potential consequences of aggressive tax avoidance practices. In light of the above results, firms are well-advised to strongly apply the policy encouraging or mandating women as board members to take advantage of their expected benefits.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper consists in proposing the establishment of both direct and indirect relationships between BGD and corporate tax avoidance through CSR. Unlike prior studies that have been examining the direct relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and corporate tax avoidance, this study went further to investigate the indirect relationship between these two constructs. This study also differs from prior studies as it examines the effect of BGD on each of constituting pillars of CSR, namely, environmental, social and governance. To date, an extensive part of CSR research has used the combined score of CSR, but the effects on different CSR pillars remain little investigated.