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The purpose of this study is to analyze the corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication of the Fortune top-100 companies during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Specifically, the authors examine the messages of international companies' CSR communication to customers during the pandemic, focusing particularly on the companies' posts on Twitter. In addition to identifying what international companies communicate, the authors determine the motives of companies' COVID-19-related CSR communication as well as how companies strategically approach CSR communication.

Using Nvivo, the authors carried out content analysis of the COVID-19-related tweets of the Fortune top-100 companies using Twitter's ‘advanced search’ tool. The analysis included tweets posted between 1 February 2020 and September 2021, a period that represents the peak of the pandemic.

Study findings indicate that COVID-19-related CSR responses of international companies are driven by commitment to organizational values, attainment of recognition for timely response to COVID-19, altruistic motives to combat COVID-19 and congruence with social movements that create expectations from customers to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most companies adopt a response strategy to CSR communication, by informing customers of their COVID-19 responses in relation to several issues such as alterations in companies' processes and the impacts of the pandemic on health.

The study suggests that the CSR practices of companies should be strategically embedded in organizations' international marketing plans and not remain just on-off responses to crises should marketing-related benefits be obtained. Several recommendations are made to strengthen companies' adoption of a proactive, engagement-oriented approach to CSR communication.

The CSR communication of international companies during external crises has not been sufficiently studied in relation to international marketing, as most studies considered internal corporate crises. Focusing on an external crisis (COVID-19 pandemic) with global impacts, this study advances existing knowledge on international companies' CSR communication to their customers. Additionally, this study offers new insights on the role of integrated, coordinated and consistent CSR messages and strategies, which are targeted to the needs and expectations of domestic and international customers in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

This research aims at synthesizing the existing body of literature on the role of environmental, social and governance (ESG) during the Covid-19 global pandemic, identifying the research agenda and perspectives on the role of ESG during times of economic turbulences and pointing to gaps and future research directions in this area.

A literature review of academic articles that focus on the role of ESG investments during the Covid-19 pandemic is conducted. These studies are identified based on searching/containing the keywords “ESG”, “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)”, “Sustainability” and “Sustainable Finance” in combination with one or more of the following terms: “Covid-19”, “Pandemic” “and Crisis”. Then, the authors explore the key directions/themes in these papers, and highlight the main gaps and areas that are evolving as future research opportunities.

The empirical findings provide overall compelling evidence in support of the role of ESG during times of crisis, especially when it comes to stock risk and volatility. For example, several studies report that ESG stocks are associated with superior stock performance (higher stock returns and firm value) during the pandemic, while other studies report that ESG act as a risk protection tool during times of crisis, as they document that ESG stocks are associated with lower volatility and lower downside risk during the Covid-19 crisis.

To the best of the authors knowledge, no review of the literature on the role that ESG plays during crises and pandemics has been conducted before. Thus, it fulfills this research gap in the literature.

This study examines how the world's largest business-to-business (B2B) firms communicated about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on LinkedIn during the first months of the pandemic. A Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) framework (Coombs, 2004) is used to assess how pandemic message themes resembled and differed from those utilized in past crises.

Researchers examined all LinkedIn posts made by the 20 largest global B2B firms during February–October 2020 and assigned the posts to five message themes.

Consistent with past crises, firms conveyed “instructing” information designed to help social media followers cope. However, some businesses also promoted products for use in dealing with COVID-19. This stands in contrast to past reluctance to promote products during a crisis due to fears of being viewed as acting inappropriately. Surprisingly, only about 9% of all posts related to COVID-19.

Research focused on the LinkedIn posts of the 20 largest B2B firms, limiting generalizability for smaller firms and for other social networks.

This study provides insights into how marketers can communicate to their stakeholders during a crisis.

This study examines how reaction to COVID-19 was similar and different from message themes found during previous crises.

This study is one of the first to examine how businesses use LinkedIn to communicate with key constituencies. This study examines whether SCCT predicted strategies used by global B2B firms during the pandemic and considers whether expectations regarding crises may be changing.

The investigation goal is the analysis of the relation between healthcare expenditures and other resources, and COVID-19 fatality rates among European countries to design effective health policies for crisis management.

Research methodology is based on descriptive statistics and various parametric methods, also including a linear model of regression to analyze basic relationships of variables under study.

Results show that a lower COVID-19 fatality rate is associated with higher levels of health expenditure (% GDP), of healthcare expenditure per capita, health expenditure in preventive care (% GDP), hospitals per million inhabitants, physicians, nurses, hospital beds and curative acute care beds per 1,000 inhabitants. Regression analysis shows that a 1% increase in healthcare expenditures per capita of countries, it reduces the level of COVID-19 fatality rate by 0.74%. In fact, many countries in Eastern Europe with low healthcare expenditures per capita in 2019 (e.g., Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Lithuania, etc.), they have experienced high COVID-19 fatality rates. Instead, a lot of countries in Western Europe, with high healthcare expenditures per capita, such as Germany, Denmark, Austria, and the Netherlands, they had resilient health systems to face pandemic crisis and lower COVID-19 fatality rates.

These findings suggest strategies of systematic and continuous investments in healthcare, medical technologies, and ICT infrastructures to support effective health policy of crisis management in countries to face future pandemic crisis and other emergencies in society.

The explanation of critical role of high health expenditure (% GDP) and healthcare expenditure per capita to support robust health systems that bolster the resilience in nations to face health emergencies and worldwide crises.

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on the earnings management (EM)–corporate social responsibility (CSR) relationship as most of the previous studies have been carried out in non-turbulent periods. This study investigates whether CSR affects EM during the pandemic period by testing two hypotheses: the cognitive biases hypothesis and the resilience hypothesis

The difference-in-difference and triple difference approaches are used for a sample of 536 US firms (268 socially responsible firms and 268 matched non-socially responsible counterparts) during the 2017–2021 period. Socially responsible firms are selected from the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index, and matched firms are identified through the propensity score matching method.

The authors find an income-increasing practice for both socially responsible firms and control firms for the whole period and each sub-period. Moreover, socially responsible firms are more likely to manage their earnings (income increasing) than their counterpart. Furthermore, the authors show that CSR commitment exacerbated EM in line with the cognitive biases hypothesis.

This study is the first shed light on the dark side of CSR during pandemic periods.

This study aims to examine the resilience of Peruvian startups during the COVID-19 pandemic using a framework proposed by Lengnick-Hall et al. (2011), in which resilience impacts organizational strengthening. The goal is to identify those characteristics that allowed certain startups to discover growth opportunities amid this crisis.

This study analyzed human, social and entrepreneurial capital variables in Peruvian startups using data from a survey conducted in July 2020. Binary logistic regression was used to determine which organizational resources increased the probability of identifying growth opportunities during the pandemic.

The findings suggest that human capabilities become secondary in extreme crises such as pandemics. Critical factors for startup resilience include commercial partnerships with established firms, founders’ capital investment, business maturity and adoption of advanced digital technologies.

This research provides unique insights into startup resilience and growth in Peru during the COVID-19 crisis. The authors observed that business growth during this period was largely unpredictable, with less emphasis on human capabilities. The study highlights the importance of external factors in resilience, the role of collaboration between established firms, the integration of advanced digital technologies and the influence of founders’ investments and business maturity in navigating difficult times.

Este estudio examina la resiliencia de las startups peruanas durante la pandemia de COVID-19 utilizando un marco propuesto por Lengnick-Hall et al. (2011), en el que la resiliencia tiene un efecto en el fortalecimiento de las organizaciones. Su objetivo es identificar las características que permitieron a ciertas startups descubrir oportunidades de crecimiento en medio de esta crisis.

Analizamos variables de capital humano, social y empresarial en startups peruanas utilizando datos de una encuesta realizada en julio de 2020. Se utilizó regresión logística binaria para determinar qué recursos organizativos incrementaban la probabilidad de identificar oportunidades de crecimiento durante la pandemia.

Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que las capacidades humanas pasan a un segundo plano en crisis extremas como las pandemias. Los factores críticos para la resiliencia de las startups incluyen las asociaciones comerciales con empresas establecidas, la inversión de capital de los fundadores, la madurez empresarial y la adopción de tecnologías digitales avanzadas.

Esta investigación proporciona una visión única sobre la resiliencia y el crecimiento de las startups en Perú durante la crisis COVID-19. Observamos que el crecimiento empresarial durante este período fue en gran medida impredecible, con menos énfasis en las capacidades humanas. El estudio subraya la importancia de los factores externos en la resiliencia, el papel de la colaboración con las empresas establecidas, la integración de tecnologías digitales avanzadas, la influencia de las inversiones de los fundadores y la madurez empresarial para navegar en tiempos difíciles.

Este estudo examina a resiliência das startups peruanas durante a pandemia da COVID-19 usando uma abordagem proposta por Lengnick-Hall et al. (2011), na qual a resiliência tem um efeito fortalecedor nas organizações. Seu objetivo é identificar as características que permitiram que determinadas startups descobrissem oportunidades de crescimento em meio a essa crise.

Analisamos variáveis de capital humano, social e empresarial em start-ups peruanas usando dados de uma pesquisa realizada em julho de 2020. A regressão logística binária foi usada para determinar quais recursos organizacionais aumentaram a probabilidade de identificar oportunidades de crescimento durante a pandemia.

Nossas análises sugerem que as capacidades humanas se tornam secundárias em crises extremas, como as pandemias. Os fatores essenciais para a resiliência das startups incluem parcerias comerciais com empresas estabelecidas, investimento de capital dos fundadores, maturidade dos negócios e adoção de tecnologias digitais avançadas.

Esta pesquisa fornece informações exclusivas sobre a resiliência e o crescimento de startups no Peru durante a crise da COVID-19. Observamos que o crescimento das empresas durante esse período foi amplamente imprevisível, com menos ênfase nas capacidades humanas. O estudo destaca a importância de fatores externos na resiliência, o papel da colaboração com empresas estabelecidas, a integração de tecnologias digitais avançadas e a influência dos investimentos dos fundadores e da maturidade dos negócios na superação de tempos difíceis.

This study analyses the impact of the Covid-19 on stock market performance of BRICS nations together. BRICS countries comprise almost 30% of the global GDP and around 50% of the world’s economic growth. As BRICS nations have gained the attraction as financial investment destinations, their financial markets have apparently been as potential opportunities for foreign portfolio investors. While there is extensive research on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on individual economies and global financial markets, this paper is among the first to systematically investigate the dynamic connectedness of these emerging economies during the pandemic using the Time-Varying Parameter Vector Autoregressions (TVP-VAR) approach.

We categorise our data into two distinct periods: the pre-Covid period spanning from January 1, 2018, to March 10, 2020, and the Covid crisis period extending from March 11, 2020, to June 4, 2021. To achieve our research objectives, we employ the Time-Varying Parameter Vector Autoregressions (TVP-VAR) approach to assess dynamic connectedness.

Our findings reveal that among the BRICS nations, Brazil and South Africa serve as net transmitters of shocks, while China and India act as net receivers of shocks during the Covid crisis. However, the total connectedness index (TCI) has exhibited a notable increase throughout this crisis period. This paper makes several notable contributions to the academic literature by offering a unique focus on BRICS economies during the Covid-19 pandemic, providing practical insights for stakeholders, emphasising the importance of risk management and investment strategy, exploring diversification implications and introducing advanced methodology for analysing interconnected financial markets.

The results have important implications for the investors, the hedge funds, portfolio managers and the policymakers in BRICS stock markets. The investors, investment houses, portfolio managers and policymakers can develop investment strategies and policies in the light of the findings of this study to cope up the future pandemic crisis.

This study is one of its kind that examines the dynamic connectedness of BRICS with recently developed TVP-VAR approach across pandemic crisis.

This study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corporate tax avoidance (TA).

This study used a panel data set of US publicly traded firms listed in the Standard & Poor 500 index. Based on available information in the DATASTREAM database covering the 2019–2021 period, three proxies for TA are used, namely the current effective tax rate (CUETR), the cash effective tax rate and book-tax differences (BTD). Multiple regression models including industry and year fixed effects are estimated. Additional analyses are performed using BTD components i.e. temporary and permanent BTD, and testing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across industries.

The results show that the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) affected positively the CUETRs and negatively BTD, indicating a reduction in TA, in the postpandemic period. Further analyses provide evidence that this effect is the same, regardless of the degree of industry failure probability, but it is more driven by the reduction of deferred tax expenses (temporary BTD component). These findings suggest that the US publicly listed firms have experienced a serious drop in their income in the postpandemic period, following the markets closure and the quarantine periods that hampered business. Therefore, with lower profits, they are not willing to evade taxes.

This paper enriches taxation research during economic crises. The research findings have important policy implications. On the one hand, the fiscal policy should stimulate growth to allow firms to tackle the challenges they confronted post-COVID-19. On the other hand, the global economic crisis caused by the pandemic has led to a major deterioration in public finances and has raised inequalities across households. Therefore, it would be necessary to review public fiscal policies to achieve a balance of equity, growth and sustainability. In this context, tax reform focusing on tax progressivity could counter in part the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and led to economy recovery.

This study contributes to the growing body of literature on the COVID-19 effects with a special focus on corporate practices. This study provides first evidence on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on manager’s behavior from taxation perspective. This study also enriches taxation research during economic crises.

This study explored how the Singaporean government responded to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis from early January 2020 to the end of May of the same year. It evaluated the capability of Singapore's leadership management in a crisis during the peak and ravaging period of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The study utilised a systematic design analysis approach, analysing Singaporean cases on the Covid-19 crisis using a systematic and narrative approach to underscore the country's response to the pandemic attack from January 2020 to May 2020.

Against the backdrop of Singapore's peculiar political system of government dominated by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and culture of bureaucracy, the government has increasingly executed several control measures, including strict travel bans, contact tracing, the circuit breaker–lockdown, mask-wearing, social distancing orders as well as financial support to businesses and employees from top to the bottom in the country. However, the treatment and health issues of the migrant workers in the dormitories continue to be the major concern among academics and scholars. At the same time, policy inadequacies truncate the excellent measure of Singapore's response to Covid-19. The case point review concluded that the mortality rate in Singapore remains low compared to other nations of the world. Singapore's case points unveil fundamental learning that an excellent leadership-driven harmonised strategic model is essential for crisis management in any society. The finding of the analysis demonstrated that Singapore adopted a contingency and value-based leadership model to advance good governance and tackle the spread of the deadly coronavirus in its country.

The study has demonstrated a profound analysis that has not been conducted hitherto. Investigation of the Singapore case point is not a popular analysis among Nigerian scholars. Therefore, from Nigeria's perspective, the study has showcased the good and the wrong sides of a coin in Singapore's leadership and power dynamic in crisis management.

This study aims to determine the influence of the role of hospital leaders, the COVID-19 budget and health service facilities at regional general hospitals (RSUDs) to Indonesia on hospital responses in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, moderated by hospital class level.

This research was designed as quantitative research using partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test hypotheses.

Using a sample of 185 RSUDs, it was found that the role of hospital leaders, the COVID-19 budget and health service facilities in RSUDs had a positive and significant effect on the hospital's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show that the role of hospital leaders, in this case, the RSUD director, is essential in improving health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 budget and health service facilities at RSUD can run effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic if the RSUD director issues appropriate policies during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

This study is the first to determine the influence of hospital leaders, the health budget for COVID-19 and hospital health service facilities simultaneously on the hospital's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study also provides empirical evidence regarding the idea of stewardship theory, which suggests the role of leaders in supervising organizations to achieve organizational goals effectively in times of crisis.