Sustainability and Firm Performance : Evidence from Corportate and Farm Level

Sustainability and Firm Performance : Evidence from Corportate and Farm Level
Author: Amer Ait Sidhoum
Publisher:
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2018
Genre:
ISBN:

This thesis approaches the question of sustainability and firm performance. In the contemporary business model, firm performance measurement must take into account not only economic profits, but also environmental and social issues, in order to ensure the sustainable development of the firm. By using advanced methodological approaches and exploring sustainability through a holistic view, this thesis contributes significantly to sustainability performance literature. Three specific objectives have been fulfilled through three papers that constitute the main body of the present thesis. The first article aims to answer whether profitable business is compatible with balanced sustainability by investigating the relationship between the economic, social, environmental and governance performance for a sample of global firms. A canonical vine (C-vine) copula is used for this purpose. Results show the existence of a fairly strong positive relationship between economic, social and environmental performance. The corporate governance dimension is shown to have a weak relationship with the rest of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) dimensions. Important policy implications are derived from these results. The second paper investigates the relationships among performance dimensions associated with corporate social responsibility focusing on the U.S. electric utility sector. Results of a statistical copula approach suggest that economic performance of utilities is compatible with environmental, social, and governance performance. The CSR model has the potential to help U.S. electric utilities become better corporate citizens while also obtaining higher economic profits. The third paper investigates farms' stochastic production technology as the interaction of three-main types of sub-technologies that govern, respectively, the production of agricultural commodities, environmental pollution, and social outputs of agricultural activities. The model is empirically implemented through a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. The empirical application is based on a survey of Catalan arable crop farms. On average, we find our sample farms to display high technical and social performance, while they show relatively poor environmental performance.

Sustainability and company performance

Sustainability and company performance
Author: Lujie Chen
Publisher: Linköping University Electronic Press
Total Pages: 67
Release: 2015-09-03
Genre:
ISBN: 9176859673

This dissertation approaches the question of sustainability and its influence on company performance, with special focus on the manufacturing industry. In the contemporary production environment, manufacturing operations must take into account not only profit, but also environmental and social performance, in order to ensure the long-term development of the company. Companies have to decide whether they should allocate resources to environmental and social practices in order to improve their competitive advantage. Consequently, in decision-making processes concerning operations, it is important for companies to understand how to coordinate profit, people, and planet. The objective of this dissertation was to investigate the current situation regarding manufacturers’ sustainable initiatives, and to explore the relationship between these sustainable practices and companies’ performance, including financial performance, operational performance, innovation performance, environmental performance, and social performance. First of all, a structured literature review was conducted to identify sustainable factors considered to be important in the decision making of manufacturing operations. The findings were synthesized into a conceptual model, which was then adopted as the basis for designing the survey instrument used in this dissertation. Drawing on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reports, empirical research was performed to explore the relationship between environmental management practices and company performance. Interestingly, the findings showed that many environmental management practices had a strong positive impact on innovation performance. Sustainability disclosures and financial performance were further analyzed using extended data from the GRI reports. The results also showed that several sustainability performance indicators, such as product responsibility, human rights, and society, displayed a significant and positive correlation with return on equity in the sample companies. In order to further explore the research area and to verify these findings, a triangulation approach was adopted and new data were collected via a survey conducted among middle and large sample companies in the Swedish manufacturing industry. The results indicated that the sustainable improvement practices had a positive impact on company performance. Some environmental and social improvement practices had a direct and positive correlation with product and process innovation. Furthermore, findings suggested that better cooperation with suppliers on environmental work could help to strengthen the organizational green capabilities of the focal companies. When considering the company’s general approach to implementing sustainable practices, some interesting findings emerged. There were limited significant differences in sustainable practices when comparing different manufacturing sectors, and different countries and regions. However, the results showed that Swedish manufacturing companies often place higher priority on implementing economic and environmental sustainability practices than on social ones. This dissertation contributes to the literature on manufacturing sustainability. The study expands the understanding of how environmental, social, or economic perspectives as a triple bottom line can influence company performance and to a certain extent the supply chain. Identifying and understanding such relationships gives companies the opportunity to integrate sustainability into their manufacturing operations strategy in order to sustain their manufacturing operations over the long term.

Key Factors of Sustainable Firm Performance

Key Factors of Sustainable Firm Performance
Author: Mustafa Emre Civelek
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2015-11-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1609620747

The uncertainty and volatility of modern commercial environments have shifted the foundations of business success and survival. Key factors that affect firm performance and determine sustainability now include knowledge creation, knowledge management, uncertainty management, organizational intelligence, and supply chain administration. This book proposes an analytical approach to identifying and enhancing these critical factors and describes how firms can exploit their strengths and compensate for their disadvantages. Sustaining business success requires competitive strategies that are rational and analytical. Firms that know their goals have an advantage over their rivals; those that can innovate and incorporate the knowledge they develop will prosper, even in the most competitive situations. Managers and business practitioners can learn from this book how to identify the key factors that make their firms effective and successful, and how to ensure they remain sustainable over time.

Sustainable Development and Firm Performance

Sustainable Development and Firm Performance
Author: Polwat Lerskullawat
Publisher:
Total Pages: 8
Release: 2017
Genre:
ISBN:

The sustainability framework shifts the firm's management paradigm from simply maximising not only shareholders' wealth, to also considering the wider interests of shareholders as well as environmental and social developments. This study aims to examine whether sustainable development has a significant link with firm performance. The investigation only covers the year 2015 since the Stock Exchange of Thailand had then just launched the list of firms that were announced as part of the “Thai Sustainability Investment (THSI)” scheme. We classify firms into two groups: the first group of firms has passed the sustainability criteria defined by the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The second group of size-matched firms has not passed these criteria. The matched pair design is employed to reduce the heteroscedasticity between the groups. The total sample was finalised as 96 firms: 50 from the Thai Sustainability Investment list, and 46 with a similar size, based on market capitalisation. To measure firm performance, we use return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). The results show no differences in performance between the Thai Sustainability Investment firms and the matched ones. Furthermore, our findings support the view that adopting sustainability practices would facilitate the development of firm value over the long-term rather than the short-term.

International Perspectives on Sustainability Reporting

International Perspectives on Sustainability Reporting
Author: Amina Mohamed Buallay
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 131
Release: 2022-09-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1801178585

As global concerns grow surrounding the environment, climate, and sustainability, International Perspectives on Sustainability Reporting presents business case studies from different sectors across different regions, highlighting the changing institutional contexts and laws in each country regarding sustainability reporting.

Corporate Sustainability Performance Over the Firm Life Cycle

Corporate Sustainability Performance Over the Firm Life Cycle
Author: Jan Diebecker
Publisher:
Total Pages: 51
Release: 2017
Genre:
ISBN:

In this paper, we empirically investigate the levels and the determinants of corporate sustainability performance (CSP) in different stages of the firm life cycle, as well as the impact of CSP on accounting-based corporate financial performance (CFP). Based on an international sample of 26,902 firm-year observations for the period 2002 to 2014, we use Dickinson's (2011) firm life cycle measure based on cash flow patterns, Thomson Reuters ESG Research Data (formerly known as ASSET4) as CSP proxy, and return on assets to proxy accounting performance. Drawing on stakeholder theory and the resource based view, we hypothesize and find that CSP differs significantly across the life cycle stages and is lower before and after the mature stage. Free funds available increase CSP during the growth, mature and the shake-out stages. This finding can be attributed to strategic differentiation efforts and also hints towards opportunistic management behavior, i.e., managers might pursue sustainability measures as discretionary investments to keep resources within their spheres of influence. Shareholder concentration reduces CSP in the introduction, growth, mature and shake-out stages. Combined with the results regarding free funds, this finding could be attributed to the limitation of discretionary spending. We find a significantly positive effect of CSP on CFP in the growth, mature and shake-out stages, giving impetus to the CSP business case.

Does it Pay to be Sustainable?

Does it Pay to be Sustainable?
Author: Ibtisam Al Abri
Publisher:
Total Pages: 60
Release: 2014
Genre:
ISBN:

Several attempts have been made to analyze the benefits of creating long term value for shareholders and stakeholders through corporate sustainability (CS), however empirical evidence has been mixed. This thesis has considered some core issues like covering a relatively longer time frame and accounting for the recessionary economic conditions that dominated the selected period. The Propensity Score Matching method was used to select comparable firms for analysis. Then, standardized multi-period panel data on financial performance and First Difference and Difference in Difference methods were applied to address the objectives of the study. This study proved the existence of a positive association between financial performance and CS, and found that a period of eight years was sufficient to reap the benefits of CS investment. Second, the financial performance of firms was sensitive to the level of CS applied. Third, the recession of 2008-09 had an insignificant influence on the relationship between CS and corporate financial performance (CFP). Fourth, on average, firms continuously practicing CS had an 11.3% higher Tobin's q and a 7.1% higher return on assets (ROA) compared to firms that never practiced CS. In addition, on average, the firms that were persistently involved in CS had a higher Tobin's q by 6% and a higher ROA by 3.1% compared to those firms occasionally investing in such practices. The significant differences among the three groups of firms persisted since the beginning of the study period in 2000, which suggests that corporate managers can quickly capture the benefits of CS. Fifth, empirical analysis revealed that the Utilities, Retail Trade, Information and Services industries were more efficient in capturing the benefits of CS investment during the study period of 8 years. Finally, only the Retail Trade and Information industries were found to be sensitive to the level of CS applied by firms.

Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Bigdata Blockchain and Economy Management (ICBBEM 2022)

Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Bigdata Blockchain and Economy Management (ICBBEM 2022)
Author: Daowen Qiu
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 1730
Release: 2022-12-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9464630302

This is an open access book. As a leading role in the global megatrend of scientific innovation, China has been creating a more and more open environment for scientific innovation, increasing the depth and breadth of academic cooperation, and building a community of innovation that benefits all. These endeavors have made new contribution to globalization and creating a community of shared future. With the rapid development of modern economic society, in the process of economic management, informatization has become the mainstream of economic development in the future. At the same time, with the emergence of advanced management technologies such as blockchain technology and big data technology, real market information can be quickly obtained in the process of economic management, which greatly reduces the operating costs of the market economy and effectively enhances the management level of operators, thus contributing to the sustained, rapid and healthy development of the market economy. Under the new situation, the innovative application of economic management research is of great practical significance. 2022 International Conference on Bigdata, Blockchain and Economic Management (ICBBEM 2022) will be held on March 25–27, 2022 in Wuhan, China. ICBBEM 2022 will focus on the latest fields of Bigdata, Blockchain and Economic Management to provide an international platform for experts, professors, scholars and engineers from universities, scientific institutes, enterprises and government-affiliated institutions at home and abroad to share experiences, to expand professional fields, to exchange new ideas face to face, to present research results, and to discuss the key challenging issues and research directions facing the development of this field, with a view to promoting the development and application of theories and technologies in universities and enterprises.