Search results

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

The development in information communication and technology (ICT) has led to many changes such as reorganization of economics, globalization and trade. With more innovation processes being organized and adopted across technologies, trade, etc., these are getting more closely related and needs fresh research perspective. This study aims to empirically investigate the interrelationship between ICT penetration, innovation, trade and economic growth in 20 developed and developing nations from 1995 to 2018.

The present paper examines both long-run and short-run relationships between the four variables, namely, innovation, ICT penetration, trade and economic growth, by applying panel estimation techniques of regression and vector error correction model. ICT penetration and innovation indices are constructed using principle component analysis technique.

The findings of the study highlight that for developed nations, growth, trade and innovation are significantly interlinked with no significant role of ICT penetration While for developing nations, significant relationship is present between growth and trade, ICT penetration and innovation. With respect to trade, in case of developed nations, significant relationship is present with ICT penetration. While for developing nations there is no significant result for trade promotion. On further employing the vector error correction model, the presence of short run causality between growth, trade and innovation in case of developed nations is established but no such causality between variables for developing nations is seen.

The present paper adds to the existing strand of literature examining interlinkage between innovation and growth by introducing new variables of ICT penetration and innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of various determinants at the country level, the industry level, the firm level and the corporate governance (CG) level on the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in the group of developing and developed nations.

The data set comprises 310 companies listed on stock exchanges of developing and developed markets (Brazil – IBrX 100, 42 companies; Russia – Broad Market Index; 48 companies; India – Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 100, 50 companies; China – Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) 180, 27 companies; South Africa – The Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE)/Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) All Share index, 49 companies; the USA – New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) 100, 47 companies; and the UK – London Stock Exchange (LSE) 100, 47 companies). CSR disclosure is measured through CSR disclosure index. Five separate regression models are run to investigate the impact of the factors that affect the extent of CSR disclosure.

The findings reveal that CSR disclosure is influenced by factors both at micro and macro levels. Governance environment, globalization and income inequality are found to be significant determinants of CSR disclosure for developing countries. International listing significantly influences CSR disclosure in the developed countries. The results also exhibit that board with large proportion of independent directors, high presence of CSR committee and environmental sensitive industries are more likely to engage in CSR disclosure practices in developing as well as in developed nations.

This study implicates that varied factors – at country level, industry level, firm level and CG level – need assessment to know their impact differently in countries at different stages of economic development. However, longitudinal study covering longer period would lead to better generalization of results.

The findings of this present study implicate that managers must evaluate country’s political, social and economic forces and not just rely on company-level indicators affecting disclosure. Policymakers in emerging nations must emphasize on improving country governance features to enhance CSR disclosure of companies. Developing countries must respect and conform to rules and regulations while going global. More endeavors should be made to raise awareness about the benefits of CSR disclosure on reducing income inequality among companies listed on stock exchanges of developing countries. Emerging nations should follow developed nations in assuming responsibility toward stakeholders in foreign markets. This study also recommends regulatory bodies in both developing and developed countries to frame stringent policies regarding CG for improving CSR disclosure by companies.

This study overcomes the limitations of prior literature by considering both country- and company-specific determinants in prominent group of developing (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and developed (the USA and the UK) countries.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate differences among member groups, with more detailed division of groups than the existing literatures, during the WTO’s dispute settlement procedures.

Trade disputes requested through the WTO’s DSU regimes up until 2011 were statistically described and analyzed using logit regression models.

Despite capacity gaps, developing nations have encountered stronger legal challenges from the US and, although without much capacity gaps, similar patterns of litigation rivalries between the US and other advanced countries, with the exception of the EU, have been also found during dispute settlements in the WTO regimes.

Although the DSU procedures themselves might not be biased for/against certain member groups, there has been some evidence of the struggles of weaker opponent groups of the US during the actual litigation processes.

Power dominances of the US against developing nations as well as developed nations, other than the EU, have been neglected in many previous researches on the topic with a simple developed-developing dichotomy classification.

Fairness is central to any multilateral regime, that is, any agreement between multiple nation-states to address and resolve a common problem. Climate change mitigation is among the key global environmental concerns that will require a common agenda, approach, and set of actions by the community of nations. To that end, global climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, 1992) are centered on establishing a multilateral framework to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from all nations and to help those who would be affected by climate change.

This paper aims to investigate and compare the sustainability reporting practices of companies in developing nations (BRIC) with those in the developed economies (the UK and USA) as per GRI framework.

Content analysis has been applied on a sample of 232 companies listed on the Stock Exchanges of developing and developed countries (Brazil – BOVESPA index, 39 companies; Russia – RTS index, 21 companies; India – SENSEX, 17 companies; China – SSE 50, 19 companies; the USA – NASDAQ 100 and Amex major market index, 58 companies and the UK – FTSE100, 78 companies). It uses descriptive statistics and independent sample t-test to identify significant comparisons.

The findings of this paper suggest that developing nations are providing more information on sustainability practices as compared to the companies in the developed nations. Overall mean disclosure score of developing countries is 59.04 per cent followed by that of the developed countries at 36.47 per cent. The result of independent sample t-test shows these differences significant at 1 per cent level.

The results of the current paper implicate that the corporate managers of the developing nations should prefer rational and purposive reporting. They should work on the quality of reporting rather than just filling pages because social and environmental issues are more gross in the developing nations as compared to the developed countries.

Developing and developed nations jointly use the scarce resources and provide output to the world, thereby raising sustenance issues. However, not even a single study was found while reviewing the literature that studied and compared the sustainability reporting practices of these countries.

Literature on nation branding is heterogeneous and varies significantly, not only in terminological terms but also in theoretical approaches and practical application. This paper aims to conduct an extensive exploratory study that empirically develops a comprehensive nation brand framework for Palestine, with international applications as well.

Initially, a conceptual framework for developing a nation brand is theoretically designed. Subsequently, through a methodologically deductive–inductive approach and qualitative means, it tests, adapts and refines the framework based on empirical data collected from key stakeholders, such as government officials, politicians, business people and academics.

The theoretical part of the research uncovers the extant key models and core concepts, and it identifies several gaps, with the more prominent one being the lack of an integrated and widely adopted framework for developing a nation brand. The research, thus, conclusively builds a holistic strategic framework towards a distinct nation brand for Palestine, with generic/international application and value, also presenting the practical implications of the findings and identifying avenues for further research.

There are varying extant perspectives on the topic, with these different views often reflecting scholars’ and stakeholders’ methodological approaches, perspectives and even deeper ontological beliefs and convictions. This paper is original consequent to its multi-perspective approach, the strength of its theoretical foundation, the extent and methodological approach of its empirical research, the uniqueness of its focus and the comprehensiveness of the framework developed that can also be used as the conceptual cornerstone for testing in other nations branding studies as well.

This paper aims to examine and compare the nature and extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting practices of companies in developing (BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa]) and developed (the USA and the UK) countries.

Content analysis is conducted on the annual reports and websites of 325 companies listed on stock exchanges of developing markets and of developed markets (Brazil – IBrX 100, 46 companies; Russia – Broad Market Index, 50 companies; India – BSE 100, 50 companies; China – SSE 180, 29 companies; South Africa – FTSE/JSE All Share index, 50 companies; the USA – NYSE 100, 50 companies; the UK – FTSE 100, 50 companies). Descriptives are used to calculate company wise and item wise scores. T-test analysis is applied to check for significant differences between mean scores of developing and developed countries.

The findings of the study reflect that developed countries have higher CSR disclosure scores than developing countries. Overall, mean CSR disclosure score of developed countries is 53.5%, followed by that of the developing countries at 49.4%. Developed countries take lead in CSR disclosure for all the five categories, namely, human resources, community, environment, customer and product and others. The results of independent sample T-test suggest that mean disclosure score of developing nations is significantly different from developed nations.

As suggested by the results, the gap in the CSR disclosure scores between developing and developed group of countries is not an alarming one. However, developing countries should practice CSR in spirit and not just in letter. Focus should not be on just filling the pages in black and white, rather the essence of CSR should be attained for balanced development of the country. For instance, though developing country like India has high score of CSR disclosure in contrast to each of the developed country taken in the sample, yet the country is still battling with several issues such as poverty, over-population, corruption, poor standard of working conditions for the employees and environmental conservation. Sustenance should focus upon renewable sources of energy; efforts of employees should be acknowledged offering flexible working hours; consumer trust should be built by communicating authentic and accurate information about the product. As developing countries encounter several social and environmental problems, companies must endeavor to build a healthy nation keeping in mind the welfare of all stakeholders by practicing CSR.

This study overcomes the limitations of prior cross-country studies by taking a better representative sample with greater number of countries belonging to identifiable group of “developing” and “developed” nations and thus attempts to improve generalization and authenticity of results.

I. Introduction For over forty years, a model for Third World development has gained widespread acceptance. Three key premises underpin the traditional development model: (1) the identification of “development” with the maximization of the rate of national economic growth; (2) the quest to achieve Western living standards and levels of industrialization which require the transfer of labor from the agricultural to the industrial sector as well as increased consumerism; and (3) the integration into the interdependence of Third World nations in the global economy and the global marketplace. Increasing the demand for a Third World nation's exports (in other words, export‐led growth) is viewed as leading to the maximization of a nation's Gross National Product (GNP).

The global energy sector draws significant stakeholder attention due to never-ending controversies surrounding its environmental impacts. Investors’ response to such controversies causes direct financial implications for these firms. Furthermore, environmental, social and governance (ESG) sensitivity, which is likely to safeguard the energy sector firms from such controversies, is itself conditional to the development stage of a country and its regulatory environment. Therefore, this study aims to investigate if the influence of ESG on the share price volatility (SPV) of energy sector firms is subject to the development stage of the countries.

The study investigates nine years of panel data of 93 global energy sector firms from developing and developed nations. Using dynamic two-way fixed effects estimation and computing robust standard errors to obtain the econometric results.

The main finding reveals that the impact of ESG on SPV is, indeed, subject to the development stage of the nations. Similar results are observed for the effects of the social dimension of ESG on SPV. While ESG impacts the SPV negatively for firms in developing economies, the impact is the opposite for firms in developed nations. In other words, strong ESG propositions induce share price stability for developing countries while destabilizing the firms in developed nations.

The policymakers should further streamline the regulations and policies related to ESG adoption and adherence. In practice, the energy sectors should streamline their operations. Firm managers, especially in the energy sector, should devise strategies with ESG as an essential component to safeguard their firms against environmental and market volatility and adversatives. The firms in developing nations should further strengthen their social dimension of ESG to foster social equity and harmony.

The study contributes through its niche investigations on the energy sector, which is very important for the world economy. The study is relevant in the current scenario when the world faces a severe energy crisis due to global supply chain issues.