Search Results (128)

Green hydrogen is gaining global attention as a zero-carbon energy carrier with the potential to drive sustainable energy transitions, particularly in regions facing rising fossil fuel costs and resource depletion. In sub-Saharan Africa, financing mechanisms and structured off-take agreements are critical to attracting investment across the green hydrogen value chain, from advisory and pilot stages to full-scale deployment. While substantial funding is required to support a green economic transition, success will depend on the effective mobilization of capital through smart public policies and innovative financial instruments. This review evaluates financing mechanisms relevant to sub-Saharan Africa, including green bonds, public–private partnerships, foreign direct investment, venture capital, grants and loans, multilateral and bilateral funding, and government subsidies. Despite their potential, current capital flows remain insufficient and must be significantly scaled up to meet green energy transition targets. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, drawing on primary data from utility firms under the H₂Atlas-Africa project and secondary data from international organizations and the peer-reviewed literature. The analysis identifies that transitioning toward Net-Zero emissions economies through hydrogen development in sub-Saharan Africa presents both significant opportunities and measurable risks. Specifically, the results indicate an estimated investment risk factor of 35%, reflecting potential challenges such as financing, infrastructure, and policy readiness. Nevertheless, the findings underscore that green hydrogen is a viable alternative to fossil fuels in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly if supported by targeted financing strategies and robust policy frameworks. This study offers practical insights for policymakers, financial institutions, and development partners seeking to structure bankable projects and accelerate green hydrogen adoption across the region. Full article

Over the past decade, artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly used in firm innovation. While AI has contributed to innovation improvement, direct evidence of its effectiveness in radical innovation is limited. This study fills this gap by empirically investigating the impact of AI on radical innovation and how this relationship is shaped by digital foundation and government subsidy from the perspectives of technological synergy and the external institutional environment. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed firms from 2007 to 2023, this study empirically tests hypotheses through regression analyses. The findings reveal that AI adoption significantly promotes radical innovation, and this relationship is moderated by the characteristics of a firm’s digital foundation (i.e., degree and rate) as well as government subsidy. Specifically, a high degree of digital foundation hinders AI-driven radical innovation, while a fast rate enhances it. In addition, government subsidy strengthens the positive impact of AI adoption on radical innovation. A heterogeneity analysis further shows that both the timing (early vs. late) and pace (fast vs. slow) of AI adoption exert nuanced impacts: firms that adopt AI later and at a slower pace tend to achieve greater gains in radical innovation. This study advances research on radical innovation in the era of intelligence and provides managerial implications regarding the interplay of AI with internal digital foundation and external government subsidy. Full article

Digital innovation is rapidly transforming the agriculture sector, drawing attention from global development institutions, policymakers, tech firms, and scholars aimed at aligning food systems with international goals like Zero Hunger and the FAO agendas. Small and medium enterprises in agriculture (Agri-SMEs) represent a significant portion of processing and production units but face challenges in digital transformation despite their importance. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud services, IoT, and mobile platforms offer tools to improve efficiency, access, value creation, and traceability. However, the patterns and applications of these transformations in Agri-SMEs remain fragmented and under-theorized. This paper presents a systematic review of interactions between digital transformation and innovation in Agri-SMEs based on findings from ninety-five peer-reviewed studies. Key themes identified include AI-based decision support, blockchain traceability, cloud platforms, IoT precision agriculture, and mobile technologies for financial integration. The review maps these themes against business model values and highlights barriers like capacity gaps and infrastructure deficiencies that hinder scalable adoption. It concludes with recommendations for future research, policy, and ecosystem coordination to promote the sustainable development of digitally robust Agri-SMEs. Full article

In the context of both domestic and international economic landscapes, regional policy has emerged as an increasingly influential factor shaping the developmental trajectories of Chinese enterprises. Despite its growing significance, the extant literature lacks a comprehensive and systematically visualized synthesis that encapsulates the scope and trends of research in this domain. This study addresses this critical gap by conducting an integrative bibliometric and qualitative review of the academic output related to regional policy and Chinese firm growth. Drawing on a final dataset comprising 3428 validated academic publications—selected from an initial pool of 3604 records retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection between 1991 and 2022, the research employs a two-stage methodological framework. In the first phase, advanced bibliometric tools, and software applications, including RStudio, Bibliometrix, VOSviewer, and CitNetExplorer, are utilized to implement techniques such as keyword co-occurrence analysis, thematic clustering, and the tracing of thematic evolution over time. These methods facilitate rigorous data cleansing, breakpoint identification, and the visualization of intellectual structures and emerging research patterns. In the second phase, a targeted qualitative review is conducted to evaluate the influence of regional policies on Chinese firms across three critical stages of business development: start-up, expansion, and maturity. The findings reveal that regional policy interventions generally exert a positive influence on firm performance throughout all stages of development. Notably, a significant concentration of citation activity occurred prior to 2017; however, post-2017, the volume of scholarly publications, journal-level impact (as measured by h-index), and author-level influence experienced a marked increase. Among the 3428 analyzed publications, a substantial portion—2259 articles—originated from Chinese academic institutions, highlighting the strong domestic research interest in the subject. Furthermore, since 2015, there has been a discernible shift in keyword co-occurrence trends, with increasing scholarly attention directed towards sustainable development issues, particularly those related to carbon dioxide emissions and green innovation, reflecting evolving policy priorities and environmental imperatives. Full article

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the B Impact Assessment (BIA) as a catalyst for integrating sustainability into industrial firms through a qualitative case study of LC Paper, the first B Corp-certified tissue manufacturer globally and a pioneer in applying BIA in the pulp and paper sector. Based on semi-structured interviews, organizational documents, and direct observation, this study examines how BIA influences corporate governance, environmental practices, and stakeholder engagement. The findings show that BIA fosters structured goal setting and the implementation of measurable actions aligned with environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and economic resilience. Tangible outcomes include improved stakeholder trust, internal transparency, and employee development, while implementation challenges such as resource allocation and procedural complexity are also reported. Although the single-case design limits generalizability, this study identifies mechanisms transferable to other firms, particularly those in environmentally intensive sectors. The case studied also illustrates how leadership commitment, participatory governance, and data-driven tools facilitate the operationalization of sustainability. By integrating stakeholder and institutional theory, this study contributes conceptually to understanding certification frameworks as tools for embedding sustainability. This research offers both theoretical and practical insights into how firms can align strategy and impact, expanding the application of BIA beyond early adopters and into traditional industrial contexts. Full article

This study explores whether sustainability achievements—proxied through ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting—are associated with superior financial performance in Latvia’s manufacturing sector, where ESG maturity remains low and institutional readiness is still emerging. Building on stakeholder, legitimacy, signal, slack resources, and agency theories, this study applies a mixed-method approach (that consists of two analytical stages) suited to the limited availability and reliability of ESG-related data in the Latvian manufacturing sector. Financial indicators from three large firms—AS MADARA COSMETICS, AS Latvijas Finieris, and AS Valmiera Glass Grupa—are compared with industry averages over the 2019–2023 period using independent sample T-tests. ESG integration is evaluated through a six-stage conceptual schema ranging from symbolic compliance to performance-driven sustainability. The results show that AS MADARA COSMETICS, which demonstrates advanced ESG integration aligned with international standards, significantly outperforms its industry in all profitability metrics. In contrast, the other two companies remain at earlier ESG maturity stages and show weaker financial performance, with sustainability disclosures limited to general statements and outdated indicators. These findings support the synergy hypothesis in contexts where sustainability is internalized and operationalized, while also highlighting structural constraints—such as resource scarcity and fragmented data—that may limit ESG-financial alignment in post-transition economies. This study offers practical guidance for firms seeking competitive advantage through strategic ESG integration and recommends policy actions to enhance ESG transparency and performance in Latvia, including performance-based reporting mandates, ESG data infrastructure, and regulatory alignment with EU directives. These insights contribute to the growing empirical literature on ESG effectiveness under constrained institutional and economic conditions. Full article

China’s internal control framework follows the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) framework, emphasizing enterprise risk management and encompassing financial reporting, operations, compliance, and strategies. The authors review research that uses the COSO-based Internal Control Index to assess internal control quality among all publicly listed firms in China. Unlike the binary classification of internal control weaknesses under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 404, this continuous index captures more nuanced variations in internal control effectiveness and provides two key advantages over traditional assessment of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR). First, while financial reporting can enhance a firm’s monitoring and decision-support systems, the underlying information is determined by operations. Thus, internal control over operations has a greater impact on a firm’s performance than ICFR. While U.S.-based research argues that the effects of ICFR extend to operations, the COSO-based index includes operational controls, allowing for a more direct study of internal control effects. Second, many U.S. corporations fail to report internal control weaknesses, particularly during misstatement years. In contrast, the COSO-based index, compiled by independent scholars, avoids managerial incentives to withhold negative internal control information. Covering institutional background and research evidence from China, the authors survey a wide range of internal control studies related to various aspects of enterprise risk management, such as earnings quality, crash risk, stock liquidity, resource extraction, cash holdings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate innovation, receivable management, operational efficiency, tax avoidance, and diversification strategy. Full article

This study investigates whether internationally diversified firms substitute between accrual-based and real earnings management and examines how institutional supervision moderates this relationship. Drawing on a sample of Taiwanese firms listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange from 2003 to 2016, we conduct regression analyses to test our hypothesis. We find that internationally diversified firms actively shift between accrual and real earnings management strategies depending on the constraints they face. Specifically, firms tend to rely more on accrual-based manipulation when information asymmetry is high and switch to real earnings management when accruals are more easily detected. We also show that stronger institutional supervision—measured by information transparency and investor protection—significantly curbs accrual-based earnings management. These findings reflect the higher volatility and agency problems associated with international operations, such as exposure to foreign risks and the distance between parent and subsidiary firms. By highlighting the conditions under which firms manage earnings and the supervisory mechanisms that constrain such behavior, this study offers practical insights for managers seeking to smooth earnings, investors aiming to evaluate firm transparency, and policymakers designing regulations to deter opportunistic financial reporting. Full article

This paper explores the effectiveness of an innovative FinTech risk-scoring model to predict the risk-appropriate return for short-term credit sales. The risk score serves to mitigate the information asymmetry between the seller of receivables (“Seller”) and the purchaser (“Funder”), at the same time providing an opportunity for the Funder to earn returns as well as to diversify its portfolio on a risk-appropriate basis. Selling receivables/credit to potential Funders at a risk-appropriate discount also helps Sellers to maintain their short-term financial liquidity and provide the necessary cash flow for operations and other immediate financial needs. We use 18,304 short-term credit-sale transactions between 23 April 2020 and 30 September 2022 from the private FinTech startup Crowdz and its Sustainability, Underwriting, Risk & Financial (SURF) risk-scoring system to analyze the risk/return relationship. The data includes risk scores for both Sellers of receivables (e.g., invoices) along with the Obligors (firms purchasing goods and services from the Seller) on those receivables and provides, as outputs, the mutual gains by the Sellers and the financial institutions or other investors funding the receivables (i.e., the Funders). Our analysis shows that the SURF Score is instrumental in mitigating the information asymmetry between the Sellers and the Funders and provides risk-appropriate periodic returns to the Funders across industries. A comparative analysis shows that the use of SURF technology generates higher risk-appropriate annualized internal rates of return (IRR) as compared to nonuse of the SURF Score risk-scoring system in these transactions. While Sellers and Funders enter into a win-win relationship (in the absence of a default), Sellers of credit instruments are not often scored based on the potential diversification by industry classification. Crowdz’s SURF technology does so and provides Funders with diversification opportunities through numerous invoices of differing amounts and SURF Scores in a wide range of industries. The analysis also shows that Sellers generally have lower financing stability as compared to the Obligors (payers on receivables), a fact captured in the SURF Scores. Full article

This study explores the relationship between institutional shareholders and climate-related disclosure (CRD) and how sustainability committees influence this relationship among publicly listed Malaysian firms. For the analysis, 990 firm-year observations were studied from 198 highly polluting firms from 2021 to 2024. A strong CRD index was designed using the recognized climate reporting frameworks and well-grounded literature to assess the level of climate-related disclosure. Fixed-effects and hierarchical panel regression models show that CRD increases when institutional investor ownership increases, meaning firms with more institutional investors disclose more information on climate-related topics. In addition, a sustainability committee at the board level greatly improves this relationship by highlighting the positive impact of strong internal governance. As a result, such committees establish climate management and improve communication with investors, making the firm’s actions more transparent. The findings of this study are consistent with agency and legitimacy theories because institutional investors assist in monitoring firms’ environmental performance, and sustainability committees help the company maintain these standards internally. Further, this study helps grow the understanding of corporate governance (CG) and sustainability by pointing out that the presence of institutional owners and sustainability committees can promote openness about climate matters. Accordingly, these findings can guide policymakers, investors, and business leaders in boosting responsible environmental reporting and sustainable business practices in developing countries. Full article

Numerous studies have examined how environmental restrictions affect innovation behavior; however, there has not been enough research focused on how public environmental concerns affect green innovation. This paper utilizes panel data of 4607 Chinese A-share listed companies (29,877 firm-year observations) over the period of 2011–2022 and constructs a dual fixed-effects model to investigate the impact of public environmental concern (PEC) on green innovation quality. Furthermore, we explore the mechanisms underlying this influence through the lenses of external pressure and internal motivation, and the moderating effect of digital transformation. The findings reveal the following: (1) Public concern about environmental issues is positively correlated with the green innovation quality. For every 1% increase in PEC, the companies’ green innovation quality will increase by 0.013%. (2) PEC forces firms to improve the green innovation quality through pressure from institutional investors, while pushing firms to boost the green innovation quality by stimulating ESG performance. (3) Digital transformation reinforces the impact of PEC on the green innovation quality. (4) PEC is more sensitive to the impact of green innovation quality in high-tech and non-heavy-polluting companies, and the enhancement effect is more pronounced in the eastern and western districts. Besides expanding the insights into the factors influencing the green innovation quality, this study also gives pragmatic guidance for governments and companies to enhance the green innovation quality, address environmental challenges, and achieve sustainable development. Full article

Climate change risk has significant impacts on corporate financial activities. Using firm-level data from A-share listed companies in China from 2010 to 2022, we examine how climate risk affects corporate debt financing capacity. We find that climate change risk significantly weakens firms’ ability to raise debt, leading to lower leverage and higher financing costs. These results remain robust across various checks for endogeneity and alternative specifications. We also show that reducing corporate carbon emission intensity can mitigate the negative impact of climate risk on debt financing, suggesting that supply-side credit policies are more effective than demand-side capital structure choices. Furthermore, we identify three channels through which climate risk impairs debt capacity: reduced competitiveness, increased default risk, and diminished resilience. Our heterogeneity analysis reveals that these adverse effects are more pronounced for non-state-owned firms, firms with weaker internal controls, and companies in highly financialized regions, and during periods of heightened environmental uncertainty. We also apply textual analysis and machine learning to the measurement of climate change risks, partially mitigating the geographic biases and single-dimensional shortcomings inherent in macro-level indicators, thus enriching the quantitative research on climate change risks. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and financial institutions in promoting corporate green transition, guiding capital allocation, and supporting sustainable development. Full article

This research investigates the effect of board characteristics on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure among firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) from 2021 to 2023. Motivated by the global shift toward sustainable development and the Saudi Vision 2030 agenda, this study examines how board size, gender diversity, independence, expertise, and compensation impact ESG disclosure practices. Drawing on stakeholder and agency theories, the regression model uses a sample of 78 Saudi-listed companies. ESG disclosure is measured using a content analysis-based checklist that conforms to international and Saudi ESG reporting frameworks. The findings indicate that background and skills, female representation, and compensation positively correlate with ESG disclosure. Conversely, board size and independence do not show significant relationships. The results highlight the pivotal role of board composition in emphasizing business practices for sustainability in emerging markets, particularly within the unique institutional setting of Saudi Arabia. The study contributes to the growing body of ESG literature by offering factual proof from an under-researched context and practical ramifications for investors, legislators, and business executives, as well as seeking to enhance transparency and accountability through effective board governance. Full article

This study investigates the impact of digital finance on corporate ESG performance, using panel data from A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets between 2011 and 2022. Our findings demonstrate that digital finance significantly enhances corporate ESG outcomes, with financing constraints and digital transformation serving as partial mediators and internal control quality acting as a moderating factor. The results from channel tests indicate that digital finance facilitates notable improvements in social performance and corporate governance, while its influence on environmental performance remains limited. Further analysis reveals that the positive impacts of digital finance on ESG are more evident in small-scale, technology-intensive, and non-polluting firms. This study concludes by proposing tailored recommendations for government, financial institutions, and corporations, emphasizing the need for differentiated policies to elevate ESG practices and promote higher quality, sustainable economic, and social development in China. Full article

In the modern corporation, understanding sustainable cost management practices is essential for promoting economic resilience and resource efficiency. This study investigates how ownership structures influence the behavior of selling, and general and administrative (SG&A) costs during periods of sales fluctuations in South Korean firms, with particular attention to Chaebols. Drawing upon agency theory and corporate governance perspectives, we examine whether proxies for agency costs, namely, free cash flow, asset utilization ratios, and operating expense ratios, explain variations in SG&A cost responses to changes in revenue. Utilizing a panel dataset of 4279 firm-year observations from KOSPI-listed companies over the period 2011–2021, we employ Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Fixed Effects, Random Effects, and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimations to model SG&A cost behavior. The analysis incorporates regression-based interaction terms that capture asymmetric cost adjustments during sales declines, commonly referred to as cost stickiness. Our findings indicate that firms with concentrated ownership, such as Chaebols, exhibit significantly lower SG&A cost stickiness, reflecting stronger financial discipline and more efficient resource allocation. In contrast, firms with dispersed ownership demonstrate more pronounced cost stickiness, consistent with governance frictions and managerial discretion. These results emphasize the moderating role of ownership structure in cost behavior and highlight its implications for sustainable corporate governance. Our study contributes to the literature on cost management and financial sustainability by offering empirical insights from a distinctive institutional setting. Policy recommendations include enhancing internal controls, promoting transparent cost practices, and encouraging shareholder oversight to reinforce long-term efficiency. Full article