Khalid Abdelhalim and Amani Gamal Eldin
The purpose of this paper is to develop an assessment model for corporate social responsibility (CSR) that is interlinked to sustainable development and examine the model on CSR…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an assessment model for corporate social responsibility (CSR) that is interlinked to sustainable development and examine the model on CSR cases in Egypt, exploring whether CSR is embedded into the core agenda of the corporations. This analysis helps in understanding the state of CSR in Egypt and countries with a similar socio-economic background.
Design/methodology/approach
The study presents a sustainable development assessment model for CSR, based on combining and modifying Archie Carroll’s model of Hierarchy of Corporate Responsibilities (1979, 2010) and Donna Wood’s Corporate Performance Model (1991) to include sustainable development imperatives. The proposed model analyzes two CSR practices of corporates. Qualitative analysis using in-depth interviews was conducted in the two case studies: a global multinational company represented in Egypt and a family business typical of many Egyptian corporates.
Findings
Generalizing from the results of the assessment in Egypt and countries with similar circumstances, most CSR practices in such a context still fall under philanthropy and few under human development or the business case. The lack of the formal institutional framework for organizing the role of the State in CSR promotion leads to missing the opportunity of linking CSR to the Sustainable Development Goals or similar strategies.
Originality/value
The paper presents a CSR assessment model adopted in developing countries, with a focus on incorporating sustainable development indicators since the 1990s. This methodological development since 2010 is timely and particularly useful for relating CSR to the recent global focus on sustainable development.
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Hanen Khaireddine, Isabelle Lacombe and Anis Jarboui
Although the association between sustainability assurance (SA) quality and firm value has been examined in previous studies, the moderating relationship is novel in this study and…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the association between sustainability assurance (SA) quality and firm value has been examined in previous studies, the moderating relationship is novel in this study and highlights the effect of corporate environmental sustainability performance (CESP) on the relationship between SA quality and firm value. This study aims to examine whether such an effect is strengthened or weakened by eco-efficiency, as measured by ISO 14001 certification, aggregate CESP score and each individual dimension of CESP (emission reduction [ER], resource reduction [RR] and product innovation [PI]).
Design/methodology/approach
The sample includes 40 companies in Euronext Paris with the largest market capitalisations (the Cotation Assistée en Continu 40 [CAC 40] index) from 2010 to 2020. The authors apply the feasible generalised least squares regression technique to estimate all the regression models. Because observed associations may be biased by reverse causation or self-selection, the authors use the instrumental variable approach and Heckman two-stage estimation.
Findings
The results show that SA quality had a positive and significant effect on firm value. Second, the authors demonstrate that CESP, as assessed by ISO 14001 certification, has a stronger interaction with assurance quality and acting as a moderator variable. Using the ASSET4 scores, an alternative proxy for CESP, the authors find inconsistent evidence regarding the impact of CESP attributes. The CESP and ER scores are homogeneous and have a positive effect on firm value. However, the PI and RR CESP attributes are not homogenous and do not have the same interactive effect on firm value. The results are robust to the use of an instrumental variable approach and the Heckman two-stage estimation procedure.
Research limitations/implications
Policy implications: Regulators may be interested in the findings when considering current and future assurance requirements for sustainability reporting, and shareholders when considering SA as an investment choice criterion. The insights into and enhanced understanding of the incentives for obtaining high SA quality can help policymakers develop effective policies and initiatives for SA. Considering the possible improvements in sustainability performance when obtaining a high level of sustainability verification, governments need to consider mandating SA.
Practical implications
Firms receive clear confirmation of the importance of investing in SA quality. Financial markets do not evaluate SA dichotomously but reward companies with higher SA quality because of the greater credibility it provides. Firms should allocate a significant percentage of their annual budgets and other relevant resources to environmental training and development programmes to improve and maintain environmental performance. If they care about environmental issues, they must announce this by issuing sustainability reports and seeking assurance of the information disclosed. High-quality assurance not only has a significant effect on investors’ investment reliability judgements but also the perceived credibility of environmental performance fully moderates the effect of assurance on these judgements.
Social implications
This study has social implications; the authors find that the French market rewards firms that provide a high-quality assurance to guarantee the integrity of their sustainability reports. Therefore, by incorporating environmental sustainability into their financial goals, a better assurance ultimately will urge firms to move from green washing to strategic goals, which is beneficial for society. Further, firms that focus on sustainability as part of their business strategy may attract employees who engage in green behaviours at work and create a friendlier and productive environment because it gives meaning to the work they do and keeps them engaged to the level needed to perform their jobs capably.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by re-examining the relationship between SA quality and firm value. It also provides new evidence on the moderating effect of CESP on the SA quality–firm value nexus. Specifically, it explores the joint effect of credibility and eco-efficiency on market confidence in sustainability information.
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Hanene Kheireddine, Isabelle Lacombe and Anis Jarboui
This study elucidates the interactive relationship of sustainability assurance (SA) quality with corporate environmental sustainability performance (CESP) and firm value and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study elucidates the interactive relationship of sustainability assurance (SA) quality with corporate environmental sustainability performance (CESP) and firm value and explores the moderating impact of CESP on the SA quality–firm value relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample comprises 320 firm-year observations of 40 companies listed on the Cotation Assistée en Continu (CAC 40) from 2010 to 2019. The authors use the simultaneous equations model to capture the CESP and SA quality–firm value relationship and apply the three-stage regression and generalised method of moments approaches to address possible endogeneity.
Findings
The results show that CESP, as assessed by International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 14001 certification, has a significant positive effect on firm value, the relevance of which implies that in the case of good environmental performance, society's perception of a firm is much more favourable; consequently, the firm is likely to be rewarded with a premium value in capital markets. In addition, environmental performance has a stronger interaction with SA quality, acting as a moderator variable; thus, greater SA quality signals credibility owing to increased eco-efficiency. The authors interpret their findings within a multi-theoretical framework that draws insights from legitimacy, stakeholders and signalling theoretical perspectives.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by re-examining the relationship between SA quality and firm value. It also provides new evidence of the moderating effect of CESP on the SA quality–firm value nexus. Specifically, this study explores the joint effects of credibility and eco-efficiency on market confidence in sustainability information. The authors use a simultaneous equation model to capture the reciprocal association between SA quality and firm value, whereas prior studies on SA quality and market performance have frequently used single-equation regression. The authors also find that CESP positively moderates the relationship between SA quality and firm value. Including CESP and exploring the moderating impact of eco-efficiency on the SA quality–firm value relationship is a novel approach.
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The main purpose of this study is to determine the accounting analytics technology (AAT) adoption among manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this study is to determine the accounting analytics technology (AAT) adoption among manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based on the extended technology acceptance model (TAM).
Design/methodology/approach
The quantitative research approach with online surveys was used to collect data from 219 accounting managers among manufacturing SMEs in Jordan. To test the suggested research model, partial least squares structural equation modeling was used.
Findings
The findings indicated that all direct paths were found to be significant in the hypothesized directions. Ultimately, the results also revealed that perceived usefulness has mediated the relationship between perceived ease of use and intention to use AAT, and hence all direct and indirect hypotheses were accepted.
Originality/value
This research has successfully extended the TAM model in the context of AAT adoption among Jordanian manufacturing SMEs by including new factors along with the original factors of the TAM model, particularly in the postpandemic era.
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Javier Martínez-Falcó, Eduardo Sánchez-García, Bartolomé Marco-Lajara and Patrocinio Zaragoza-Sáez
This present study investigates how green intellectual capital (GIC) impacts sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in Spanish wineries, further exploring the mediating roles of…
Abstract
Purpose
This present study investigates how green intellectual capital (GIC) impacts sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in Spanish wineries, further exploring the mediating roles of environmental management accounting (EMA) and green entrepreneurship orientation (GEO) in the primary GIC-SCA linkage. Moreover, the wineries’ age, size and membership in a protected designation of origin (PDO) are introduced as control variables to enhance the accuracy of the examined cause-effect associations.
Design/methodology/approach
This research, based on a theoretical framework developed by previous academic studies, utilizes partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze data collected from 207 Spanish wineries between September 2023 and February 2024.
Findings
The findings indicate that GIC positively impacts the SCA of Spanish wineries, with EMA and GEO partially mediating this relationship.
Originality/value
This study stands out for its pioneering incursion into the joint analysis of EMA and GEO as mediating factors in the GIC-SCA relationship, a perspective not previously examined in the academic literature as well as for its contextualization in the wine business setting, thus tracing a novel path in the understanding of environmental management and wineries’ intellectual capital.
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This study aims to investigate the relationship between trust in government, value added tax (VAT) compliance costs and VAT compliance in the Jordanian retail industry context.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between trust in government, value added tax (VAT) compliance costs and VAT compliance in the Jordanian retail industry context.
Design/methodology/approach
The study makes use of an online questionnaire survey to collect the required data, and the research model is eventually validated based on 189 responses gathered from the retail industry in Jordan. The obtained data was analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling to examine the effects of trust in government and costs of VAT compliance on VAT compliance.
Findings
The results showed that VAT compliance costs have no significant influence on VAT compliance; while trust in government was found statistically positive significant with VAT compliance.
Practical implications
This study’s results are expected to have implications for VAT authorities and policymakers in Arab countries, like Jordan in their policies formulation to enhance VAT compliance in retail industry. The study’s findings are alerting the policymakers for the positive noneconomic consequences of VAT compliance. It provides evidence that trust in government can increase VAT compliance.
Social implications
The results of the research have a plentiful of social implications. Higher VAT compliance will enable higher levels of government spending on a many of social targets such as health, education, welfare programs and infrastructure.
Originality/value
While the study builds on recent research examining how to incentivize VAT compliance, it simultaneously seeks to make three contributions. First, the study design aims to apply recent advances in behavioral sciences (impact of trust in government and VAT compliance costs) in a policy area that has not seen much use of such interventions in the Jordanian context (i.e. VAT compliance). Second, the study is government procedures pertinent in the sense that it aims to increase the effectiveness of existing government policies by complementing them with behavioral primes. Third, there is nearly no literature found applying this topic in a developing country such as Jordan. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that examines the trust in government and VAT compliance costs on VAT compliance among Jordanian retail industry. Thus, this paper contributes to mitigating the literature gap by providing empirical evidence concerning the influence of trust in government and VAT compliance costs on the retail industry VAT compliance in the Jordanian context.