Search Results (399)

This study investigates the different mechanisms through which environmental disclosure and green accounting practices influence investment attractiveness in an emerging market context. Drawing on legitimacy theory and the resource-based view, we examine whether these environmental accountability mechanisms create value directly or through enhanced sustainability performance. Using survey data from 290 non-financial firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange, we employ partial least squares structural equation modeling to test a mediated-moderation model within the Saudi Vision 2030 framework. The results reveal differentiated value-creation pathways: environmental disclosure affects investment attractiveness indirectly through sustainable economic outcomes (full mediation; indirect effect β = 0.121, p < 0.001), while green accounting demonstrates both direct (β = 0.237, p < 0.001) and indirect effects (β = 0.091, p < 0.01), indicating partial mediation. Both practices are positively associated with sustainable economic outcomes (β_ED = 0.290, β_GA = 0.219, p < 0.001), which in turn are positively related to investment attractiveness (β = 0.416, p < 0.001). Unexpectedly, Vision 2030 alignment shows no significant moderating effect (β = 0.042, p = 0.498), suggesting that the sustainability–investment relationship is not significantly conditioned by perceived alignment with the national strategic framework in this sample. The model explains 25.7% of the variance in investment attractiveness and 20.0% of that in sustainable economic outcomes, indicating moderate explanatory power. These findings contribute to the environmental accounting literature by suggesting that internal management-oriented practices may be more closely associated with investment attractiveness than disclosure transparency alone. Overall, the results indicate that green accounting systems are associated with investment attractiveness, while environmental disclosure appears to require observable sustainability performance to be reflected in investment perceptions, offering measured implications for corporate strategy and regulatory policy in sustainability transitions. Full article

Green finance is increasingly recognized as an important instrument for improving sustainable development. Existing research has focused on green finance’s impact on corporate environmental performance, failing to account for the complex regional mechanisms that shape its contribution to systemic sustainability. This study fills the gaps by examining the mechanism and spatial heterogeneity of green finance’s influences on regional sustainability measured by environmental performance. Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces during 2010–2022, it shows that green finance increased from 0.318 to 0.539, while environmental performance improved from 0.441 to 0.656. The empirical evidence demonstrates that green finance has a robust positive effect on environmental performance, acting as an effective tool for environmental governance. This impact is primarily channeled through technological innovation and green consumption, with environmental regulation providing a synergistic moderating role. Furthermore, significant regional heterogeneity in sustainability outcomes is observed, while the effect is strongest in eastern China, unstable or negligible in old industrial bases, and unexpectedly negative in ecologically fragile Northwest China. The disparities are attributed to variations in local economic structure, institutional capacity, and development stage. Corresponding policy recommendations include improving the institutional framework, channeling financial resources to green technology R&D and sustainable consumption incentives, integrating green finance with environmental policies, and implementing region-specific strategies. This study offers practical benchmarks for China and other developing economies to leverage green finance as a driver of sustainable development. Full article

Higher education institutions face a critical methodological challenge in pursuing net-zero commitments: Within the amount ofhe emissions related to Scope 3, including indirect emissions from water consumption, waste disposal, business travel, and mobility, employees commuting represents 50–92% of campus carbon footprints, yet reliable quantification remains elusive due to fragmented data collection and governance silos. The present research investigates how purposeful integration of the Home-to-Work Commuting Plan (HtWCP)—mandatory under Italian Decree 179/2021—into the Climate Neutrality Plan (CNP) could constitute an innovative strategy to enhance emissions accounting rigor while strengthening institutional governance. Stemming from the University of Genoa case study, we show how leveraging mandatory HtWCP survey infrastructure to collect granular mobility behavioral data (transportation mode, commuting distance, and travel frequency) directly addresses the GHG Protocol-specified distance-based methodology for Scope 3 accounting. In turn, the CNP could support the HtWCP in framing mobility actions into a wider long-term perspective, as well as suggesting a compensation mechanism and paradigm for mobility actions that are currently not included. We therefore establish a replicable model that simultaneously advances three institutional dimensions, through the operationalization of the Avoid–Shift–Improve framework within an integrated workflow: (1) methodological rigor—replacing proxy methodologies with actual behavioral data to eliminate the notorious Scope 3 data gap; (2) governance coherence—aligning voluntary and regulatory instruments to reduce fragmentation and enhance cross-functional collaboration; and (3) adaptive management—embedding biennial feedback cycles that enable continuous validation and iterative refinement of emissions reduction strategies. This framework positions universities as institutional innovators capable of modeling integrated governance approaches with potential transferability to municipal, corporate, and public administration contexts. The findings contribute novel evidence to scholarly literature on institutional sustainability, policy integration, and climate governance, whilst establishing methodological standards relevant to international harmonization efforts in carbon accounting. Full article

This study examines the impact of tax avoidance practices on investment efficiency in Egypt, with particular emphasis on the moderating role of earnings management by exploring whether these tactics reflect managerial opportunism or serve as a mechanism to ease financial constraints. We employ panel data regression to analyze a sample of 58 non-financial firms listed on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) over the period 2017–2024, yielding 464 firm-year observations. Data are collected from official corporate websites, EGX, and Egypt for Information Dissemination (EGID). Grounded in agency theory, signaling theory, and pecking order theory, this study reveals how conflicts of interest and information asymmetry between managers and stakeholders lead to managerial opportunism. The findings show that tax avoidance undermines the investment efficiency in the Egyptian market. Earnings manipulation further intensified this effect due to the financial statements’ opacity. A closer examination reveals that earnings management exacerbates overinvestment by masking managerial decisions. Conversely, for financially constrained firms with a tendency to underinvest, tax avoidance and earnings management may contribute to improved efficiency by generating internal liquidity and alleviating external financing constraints. These results provide valuable insights for regulators, highlighting that policy should be directed against managerial opportunism and improving transparency, instead of focusing solely on curbing tax avoidance. From an investor perspective, they should closely monitor and understand the tax-planning strategies to ensure they enhance the firm’s value. Full article

In the context of global climate change and carbon-neutrality goals, carbon taxes and carbon tariffs have become key policy tools for regulating corporate emissions. However, most existing studies examine these policies in isolation and overlook firms’ behavioral responses under their joint implementation, especially with product heterogeneity. This study analyzes production and emission-reduction decisions of two-country manufacturers under carbon taxation and further investigates corporate behavior and social welfare outcomes when both carbon taxes and carbon tariffs are imposed. The results show that carbon taxes enhance emission-reduction efforts, though with diminishing marginal effects. Moderate carbon tariffs further motivate exporting firms to reduce emissions, while overly high tariffs may induce market exit, particularly for high-quality manufacturers. Consumer preferences also interact with policy effects: stronger preferences for high-quality products encourage firms to expand domestic markets and increase green investments, whereas weaker preferences shift focus toward exports. Social welfare responds asymmetrically, moderate tariffs improve environmental performance, while excessive tariffs lead to trade distortions and welfare losses. Overall, this study highlights nonlinear and heterogeneous firm responses under combined carbon policies, offering insights for policy design and corporate strategy. Full article

Achieving long-term company financial performance requires strategic initiatives on the part of board management that can stimulate the sustainable development of companies through green strategies and eco-innovation. The research conducted in this study aims to identify the impact of executive management on financial performance based on the achievement of the sustainable development framework within European companies operating in various industries. An advanced empirical analysis was configured on a cross-sectional dataset based on 4.219 European companies, which was collected for the period of the 2022 fiscal year, considering dimensions such as corporate governance, sustainability, and financial performance. The methodological endeavor was founded on several modern econometric techniques, namely Generalized Structural Equation Modeling (GSEM) and Bayesian Network Analysis through Gaussian Graphical Models (GGMs). The main results highlight that companies having well-structured board management and corporate governance policies aligned with the SDGs facilitates the transition to sustainable economic models, enhancing financial performance, innovations, and long-term sustainable growth. Furthermore, policies should be tailored to emphasize the importance of optimal board management size and continuous professional training for human capital involved in sustainable activities, thus enhancing long-term financial performance. Full article

This study examines the effects of geopolitical risks on the investment efficiency of Vietnamese firms from 2017 to 2024 using fixed effect models and a series of robustness tests. The research findings reveal a negative effect of geopolitical risks on corporate investment efficiency through the channel of information asymmetry. Additionally, the negative effects of geopolitical risks on Vietnamese firms’ investment efficiency are more pronounced for financially constrained firms, underinvested firms, or UPCOM-listed firms. Based on the main findings, both policymakers and corporate managers should consider the geopolitical risks and their impacts when designing new government policies and corporate strategies in order to mitigate the negative effects of these risks on Vietnamese firms. Full article

Fuels constitute one of the most strategically significant categories of goods in the global economy. In many countries, including Poland, fuel prices are determined not only by global market dynamics but also by domestic fiscal instruments such as excise taxes, value-added tax (VAT), and fuel surcharges. The primary objective of this study is therefore to assess the extent to which tax burdens and profit margins shape diesel prices in Poland, thereby providing a deeper understanding of the market’s sensitivity to fiscal interventions and the pricing strategies adopted by fuel companies. The analysis draws on weekly data for the period 2006–2025, encompassing crude oil prices, wholesale and retail diesel prices, and relevant tax components (VAT, excise tax, and fuel surcharges). Methodologically, the study employs the Bai–Perron breakpoint test alongside correlation and comparative methods. The findings indicate that changes in indirect taxation and the fuel surcharge in Poland were predominantly upward and incremental, exerting only limited immediate effects on wholesale and retail fuel prices. This pattern was particularly evident outside of periods of acute geopolitical shocks, such as the 2022 war in Ukraine, when government interventions aimed to mitigate sudden price surges. Moreover, analysis of PKN Orlen’s margin dynamics shows that the company remained consistently profitable, with the highest processing margins observed following the reduction of the VAT rate, highlighting the interplay between fiscal policy and corporate pricing behavior. An exception occurred in 2022, when political involvement led to negative retail margins despite a reduction in VAT, a policy decision intended to mitigate sharp increases in fuel prices. The evidence suggests that petrochemical companies have greater capacity to affect prices through adjustments to wholesale margins than to retail margins. The study also underscores the critical role of fiscal policy in protecting households from fuel price volatility. It also demonstrates that carefully designed adjustments to taxation and other fiscal instruments can meaningfully influence market outcomes and corporate profitability, thereby highlighting their importance in broader economic stabilization efforts. Full article

Background: There is a high prevalence of the double burden of malnutrition (DBM) in children and adolescents in South Asia. This research aims to explore which sociodemographic factors are attributed to DBM in urban Bangladesh, a South Asian country. Methods: We conducted secondary analyses of data obtained from the national survey of childhood obesity among school-age children in Bangladesh (2012–2013). The sample includes 4140 children (aged 5–9 years) and adolescents (10–19 years) randomly recruited from the city corporation (urban) areas in all administrative divisions. At the population level, DBM was defined as the coexistence of underweight and overweight/obesity among children and adolescents. At the household level, DBM was defined as maternal underweight co-occurring with child overweight/obesity within the same mother-child dyad. A multivariable logistic regression model was fitted to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. A rapid policy review was conducted to understand the implication of the results obtained from the analysis. Results: The prevalence of DBM at the population level was 45.2% (95% CI: 42.5–45.5%), ranging between 40.0% and 47.6% across seven divisions (p < 0.001). At the household level, DBM prevalence was 16.6% (95% CI: 14.7–18.7%), ranging between 14.0% and 19.0% across seven divisions (p = 0.015). At the population level, DBM odds were 56% higher among younger children (5–9 years) than adolescents (10–19 years) (OR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.37–1.78), and this association was found in four divisions. At the household level (mother-child pairs), DBM odds were 64% higher in younger children than adolescents (OR: 1.64; 95% CI:1.38–1.95); and higher in children living at a lower-middle socioeconomic status (SES) and middle SES, than upper SES. The policy review revealed that Bangladesh has made substantial commitments to improve nutrition; however, reference to DBM is absent from policy documents. Conclusions: The prevalence of DBM is high among children in urban areas in Bangladesh, disproportionately affecting younger children and households with low SES. In the current policy space, Bangladesh should revise national nutrition frameworks to recognize DBM as a public health priority and implement region-sensitive strategies for preventing and reducing malnutrition among school-aged children. Full article

Green credit policies serve as the driving force behind the green allocation of credit resources and constitute a key strategy for promoting capital structure optimization among highly polluting enterprises. Utilizing data from Chinese A-share listed companies between 2007 and 2023, this study employs the implementation of the 2012 Green Credit Guidelines (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines) as a quasi-natural experiment. It empirically examines the impact of green credit policy implementation on the capital structures of China’s heavily polluting enterprises and its underlying mechanisms. Findings indicate: (1) Following the Guidelines’ promulgation, the financial leverage ratios of heavily polluting enterprises declined significantly, restraining capital structure expansion. The policy thus played a positive role in optimizing their capital structures. (2) Mechanism tests reveal that corporate ESG performance exerts a positive moderating effect within the relationship between green credit policies and corporate capital structure. The Guidelines heightened attention to ESG performance, which in turn constrained debt financing channels and strengthened equity financing, thereby reducing corporate financial leverage. (3) Heterogeneity analysis reveals asymmetric impacts of the green credit policy, with state-owned heavily polluting enterprises and those in eastern and central regions experiencing more pronounced reductions in financial leverage following policy changes. This study elucidates the mechanism through which the Guidelines’ implementation moderate’s capital structure, providing crucial empirical evidence for refining green credit policies and upgrading the capital structures of heavily polluting enterprises. Full article

The continued growth of international maritime trade has driven automated container terminals (ACTs) to pursue more efficient operational management strategies. In practice, the horizontal yard layout in ACTs significantly enhances transshipment efficiency. However, the more complex horizontal transporting system calls for an effective approach to enhance automated guided vehicle (AGV) scheduling. Considering AGV charging and path conflicts, this paper proposes a multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) approach to address the AGV dispatching and path planning (VD2P) problem under a horizontal layout. The VD2P problem is formulated as a Markov decision process model. To mitigate the challenges of high-dimensional state-action space, a multi-agent framework is developed to control the AGV dispatching and path planning separately. A mixed global–individual reward mechanism is tailored to enhance both exploration and corporation. A proximal policy optimization method is used to train the scheduling policies. Experiments indicate that the proposed MARL approach can provide high-quality solutions for a real-world-sized scenario within tens of seconds. Compared with benchmark methods, the proposed approach achieves an improvement of 8.4% to 53.8%. Moreover, sensitivity analyses are conducted to explore the impact of different AGV configurations and charging strategies on scheduling. Managerial insights are obtained to support more efficient terminal operations. Full article

Innovation drives China’s high-quality economic development, with corporate R&D investment being key to innovation. Using data from Chinese A-share non-financial listed firms (2010–2022), this study defines peer firms using a four-dimensional dynamic matching method of “year-industry-ownership nature-size quantile” and empirically explores peer effects on corporate R&D, combining dynamic panel analysis, instrumental variable regression, and robustness tests. The findings reveal a significant positive peer effect in the R&D investment of Chinese firms, meaning the R&D investment level of peer firms exerts a positive influence on the R&D decisions of focal firms. This conclusion is supported by Social Learning Theory, Knowledge Spillover Theory, and Institutional Theory: focal firms reduce decision-making uncertainty by observing and imitating peers, lower the marginal cost of R&D through knowledge spillovers from peers, and align their R&D behaviors with peers to gain legitimacy. This effect remains robust after addressing endogeneity. The study expands peer effect theory’s application in emerging markets and innovates peer identification, offering references for firms’ R&D strategies and governments’ innovation policies. Full article

Against intensifying climate risks, a paradox persists in green finance: high corporate awareness yet low green bond issuance. This study examines the impact of climate risk on green bond issuance using a final sample of 5958 bond issuances, which were issued by 469 unique A-share non-financial listed companies in China between 2016 and 2023. By integrating the Fogg Behavior Model (FBM) into a Motivation–Capability–Triggers framework and employing Logit and Karlson–Holm–Breen (KHB) methods, we investigate the underlying mechanisms. The baseline results show a positive link between climate risk and issuance likelihood, confirming a motivation-incentive effect. Mechanism analyses reveal significant negative mediation through financing constraints, green innovation, and environmental reputation, highlighting a capability-constraint effect. Heterogeneity analysis finds a stronger effect in non-state-owned firms, non-heavily polluting industries, and firms in pilot zones or central/western China, indicating that policy signals and resource endowments act as key triggers to synergize motivation and capability. Our findings offer valuable insights for policymakers in designing motivation-stimulating and capability-compensating intervention strategies to help firms balance economic and environmental objectives. Full article

Under China’s “dual carbon” targets and deepening global climate governance, this paper investigates whether and how corporate green transformation (GTF) improves carbon performance (CP). Using panel data on Chinese A-share listed firms from 2008 to 2023 and multiple causal identification strategies (fixed effects, RD, DID and PSM), we find that GTF significantly enhances CP, with stronger marginal effects for firms with poorer initial carbon performance. Mechanism analyses show that carbon disclosure (CD) acts as a positive mediator in the GTF–CP nexus, whereas executives’ green perception (EGP) exerts a short-term suppressing effect. Policy analyses further indicate that the 2012 pilot emissions trading schemes and the 2021 national carbon market amplify the positive impact of GTF on CP, but local “compliance traps” around industry medians suggest strategic use of allowance trading. The study integrates EGP and CD into a cognition–disclosure framework linking GTF and CP and provides evidence on the emission-reduction effects of GTF under evolving carbon policies, with implications for carbon market design and corporate low-carbon governance. Full article

This paper examines the role of digital marketing in promoting sustainable consumption within the Chinese economy, with a focus on economic and environmental product management, as well as business policies. In a world where digital platforms are increasingly playing a significant role in shaping consumption patterns, more organizations are relying on digital marketing to promote sustainable products and encourage sustainable consumption habits. This study examines the role of economic feedback, legal frameworks, and sustainability in environmental policy in shaping patterns of consumption and production. Through the lens of legal-constitutional and business approaches, in other words, the paper examines the extent to which sustainable activities in the digital marketing realm foster sustainable consumption patterns that align with corporate social responsibility and environmental management. The research methods are based on secondary data, the literature review, legal thought, and analysis, considering materials published between 2016 and 2024. Moreover, the paper discusses, with specific reference to the modern Chinese corporation, the extent to which legal limitations, in addition to other factors, influence sustainable consumption patterns in contemporary sustainability strategies of the economy. This study concludes that sustainable consumption patterns, with specific reference to economic and environmental product management, can be effectively achieved in the modern economy and supply chain management. Full article