Search results

This paper aims to examine the question, “How do firm-level, home-country and host-country environmental performance (EP) affect the outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) of Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs)?”

The authors examine the relationships between EP and OFDI propensity and between EP and OFDI intensity using a sample of 359 Chinese firms in industries with a significant environmental footprint between 2009 and 2019 (2,002 firm-year observations) and a Heckman two-stage model.

This study shows that the propensity for OFDI by Chinese MNEs is significantly and positively related to the firm’s prior EP and the country-level EP of China. However, the amount of FDI invested is significantly and positively related to the firm’s prior EP and negatively related to the EP of the host country.

The findings suggest that FDI in a country by an MNE is determined by a combination of firm-level EP, home-country EP and host-country EP. This study finds that the decision to undertake FDI (propensity) and the decision about how much to invest (intensity) are determined by different factors. The propensity for FDI is determined by the home-country EP and firm-level EP. However, the intensity of FDI is determined by a combination of the host country EP and firm-level EP. A limitation is that this study only examines MNEs in China, so the findings may not apply to other countries.

This paper shows that MNEs’ EP is positively related to the propensity and intensity of their OFDI decisions. However, this paper shows that the home-country and host-country EP may also play an important role in determining the propensity or intensity of OFDI.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on pollution emissions and how environmental regulation affects this relationship.

In the empirical research, the authors selected panel data for 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2019 as samples. First, the authors used the instrumental variable method to verify the existence of the above hypotheses in China. Then, the authors analyzed the moderating effect of different types of environmental regulations on the environmental effects of FDI. Next, in further discussion, the authors analyzed the difference between the environmental effect and the moderating effect in different time periods and regions, respectively. Finally, the authors discussed whether the different intensities of environmental regulations lead to the transfer effect of FDI in choosing investment destinations.

The result shows that FDI can help reduce pollution emissions and create a “pollution halo” effect, which is enhanced by command-and-control regulation but suppressed by market-based incentives. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party has weakened the pollution halo effect of FDI, while the environmental effect of FDI in the eastern region is not significant, but in the middle and western regions, there is a significant pollution halo effect and a positive moderating effect of environmental regulations. Finally, further analysis reveals that FDI has a transfer effect under command-and-control environmental regulations.

First, the main purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between FDI and pollution emissions from the perspective of heterogeneous environmental regulation. Therefore, there is no detailed discussion on their effect mechanism of them. Second, limited by data, the authors adopt the single index to measure the stringency index of command-and-control and market-based incentive environmental regulations in China. The single index may not be able to fully reflect the intensity of regional environmental regulation, so the construction of a composite indicator is necessary. These shortcomings are the focus of the authors' future research.

Under the guidance of high-quality development, the conclusions above can provide reference for adjusting FDI policies and improving environmental regulation policies.

The innovations in this paper can be summarized as the following four dimensions: First, the authors use the instrumental variable (IV) method to address endogeneity in the relationship between FDI and pollution emission, which can further ensure the robustness of the research results and increases the credibility of the paper. Second, the authors distinguish between two types of environmental regulations to investigate their moderating effect on the environmental impact of FDI. Third, the authors consider the temporal and spatial heterogeneity of both the environmental effects of FDI and the moderating effect of regulation. Last, the authors analyze the spatial spillover of environmental regulation through the study of the transfer effect.

This study aims to investigate the external effect of the economic growth target pressure of local governments on establishment-level SO₂ emissions.

Based on manually collected panel data of 74,058 China's industrial establishments and more than 330 thousand observations from CIED and ESR, the authors use a firm-fixed effect model, instrumental variables estimation and heterogeneity tests to identify the environmental externality of economic growth target pressure.

The establishments in cities that meet or slightly exceed the economic growth target experience greater negative externality measured by SO₂ emission intensity. This external effect is more pronounced in regions: with a strict and overweighted target setting; with stronger officials' promotion incentives; with a low degree of marketization; and in firms with great economic importance. The authors identify the underlying mechanisms of dependence on dirty industry and the relaxation of environmental enforcement. And the environmental protection constraints in 2007 mitigate the negative externality.

The paper sheds light on to what extent economic growth target pressure has a negative externality of pollution in China and how this pressure may conflict with environmental protection.

This paper complements prior research on the economic effects of economic growth targets, expands the knowledge on the determinants of establishment-level pollution emission from the perspective of target pressure and provides insight into the environmental externality that results from political factors.

This study uses a multi-level framework to systematically summarize and synthesize the empirical literature on determinants of sustainability disclosure.

This review study is based on 159 empirical studies examining determinants of sustainability disclosure and published in Charted Association of Business Schools (CABS) ranked journals over the last 40 years.

Companies are experiencing multi-level pressures for sustainability disclosure. Macro-level variables include political, legal, social-cultural and international pressures. Meso-level factors include customers' concerns, shareholders’ and investors' demands, industry-level variables and media coverage. Micro-level factors include the firm-level governance mechanisms, executives' reporting attitude and role of sustainability promoting institutions. Unlike in developed markets, companies in developing markets feel minimal public pressure for sustainability disclosure but rather are influenced by international NGOs, the media and international buyers. Multi-level and multitude of pressures for sustainability disclosure explains the widely observed differences between studies.

This research presents the most extensive systematic review of the extant sustainability disclosure literature and is the first study to group determinants into micro-, meso- and macro-level components using multi-level analysis.

Examine the effects of sudden environmental disasters on the advancement of both renewable and conventional energy technologies.

Utilizing panel data from 31 Chinese provinces spanning 2011 to 2022, the SEM (Spatial Error Model) dual fixed model is utilized to examine the impact of sudden environmental disasters on energy technologies.

The findings reveal that: (1) Sudden environmental disasters exert a markedly positive influence on the Innovation of Renewable Energy Technologies (IRET), while their impact on conventional energy technologies is positively non-significant. (2) Sudden environmental disasters not only significantly enhance innovation in local renewable energy technologies but also extend this positive influence to neighboring regions, demonstrating a spatial spillover phenomenon. (3) Research and Development (R&D) funding serves as a partial mediator in the relationship between sudden environmental disasters and renewable ETI. In contrast, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) exhibits a masking effect.

Consequently, the study advocates for intensified efforts in post-disaster reconstruction following abrupt environmental events, an elevation in the quality of foreign direct investments, and leveraging research funding to catalyze innovation in renewable energy technologies amid unforeseen environmental crises.

Achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) demands mobilising finance and aligning it with elements of sustainability. This study, thus, aims to investigate the impact of financial development of an economy on the achievement of SDGs.

The authors analyse a sample of 35 Asian countries based on their SDG trends and representative SDG indicators. An ordered probit model is employed for analysing the impact of financial development on the SDG trend. Subsequently, pairwise Granger causality test is employed for investigating the causality between the SDG and the financial development.

The findings indicate that financial development positively impacts the progress towards SDG achievement in the areas: (1) gender equality, (2) economic growth, (3) industry, innovation and infrastructure and (4) sustainable cities and communities; and adversely impacts the climate action. The causality test indicates a bidirectional causality for financial development and industry, infrastructure and innovation, financial development and sustainable cities and communities and financial development and climate action, and unidirectional causality from gender equality to financial development.

The findings have implications for the government of a nation as well as the private businesses. The goals allow businesses to implement well-articulated strategies which pay attention to the SDGs.

The novelty of the paper is that the authors provide evidence supporting the view that focusing on building a resilient and robust financial system is of importance for the achievement of SDGs.

The present study investigates the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) and governance quality on carbon emissions in the Economics Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

To achieve the objective of this research, panel data for dependent and explanatory variables over the period 2005–2016, collected in the World Development Indicators (WDI) database and World Governance Indicators (WGI), are analyzed using the generalized method of moments (GMM). Also, the panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) method is applied to the four segments of the overall sample to analyze the stability of the results.

The findings of this study are: (1) FDI inflows have a negative effect on carbon emissions in ECOWAS and (2) The interaction between FDI inflows and governance quality have a negative effect on carbon emissions. These results show the decreasing of environmental damage by increasing institutional quality. However, the estimation results on the country subsamples show similar and non-similar aspects.

This study suggests that policymakers in the ECOWAS countries should strengthen their environmental policies while encouraging FDI flows to be environmentally friendly.

The subject has rarely been explored in West Africa, with gaps such as the lack of use of institutional variables. This study contributes to the literature by drawing on previous work to examine the role of good governance on FDI and the CO2 emission relationship in the ECOWAS, which have received little attention. However, this research differs from previous work by subdividing the overall sample into four groups to test the stability of the results.

This purpose of this study is to explore the impact of global trend of economic integration and interconnectedness which has drawn the attention of world economies and their implications on trade inflow. This trajectory has its impact, either positive/negative, on key macroeconomic indicators, to say the least on environmental sustainability, especially emerging economies. To this end, the need to explore the connection between foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow and energy consumption amidst the wave of economic globalisation is timely and pertinent for the case of Turkey.

This study seeks to explore the interaction between the outlined variables in a carbon-income framework for annual time series data from 1970 to 2016. A series of econometrics strategies was used consisting of unit root tests to examine the stationarity properties of the highlighted series. Subsequently, Pesaran’s Bounds testing technique is used to explore the long-run equilibrium relationship between the highlighted variables in conjunction with the Johansen cointegration test. For long-run regression coefficients, Pesaran’s autoregressive distributed lag and dynamic ordinary least squares methodology are used, and innovative accounting approaches are used to explore the responsiveness of each variable on another.

Empirical results validate the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) in the long run for the case of Turkey. Thus suggesting that FDI inflow induced environmental degradation in Turkey. Additionally, this study observed that renewable energy, on the contrary, improves the quality of the environment. This study also affirms the presence of the environmental Kuznets curve phenomenon, indicating that Turkey, at its early stage of economic trajectory, emphasis is on economic growth rather than environmental quality. This suggests a need for more deliberate action(s) by the government administrators to pursue cleaner FDI inflow and energy technologies and strategies to foster a clean environment in Turkey and a cleaner ecosystem at large.

This study is unique in its choice of variables which is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda to be achieved by 2030 and is very limited in the extant literature. From the economic perspective, the effect of the PHH is of interest especially to ascertain the extent the interplay among the variables has on the economy of Turkey. The empirical insights on PHH hypothesis have received less documentation in the extant literature especially for emerging economy like Turkey. Thus, this study seeks to revisit this theme for Turkey with aim to presents environmentally sustainable strategies without compromise for economic growth. Thus, this study seeks to revisit this theme.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the amount of trust customers have in Somali Islamic banks. Furthermore, the role of gender in CSR activities and Islamic bank clientele is evaluated.

Throughout February and March 2022, 410 clients of Islamic banks in Somalia were surveyed using a questionnaire. The partial least squares approach and the structural equation model are applied to examine the data.

Findings indicate that all variables of CSR activities, such as social product, social legal, social needs, social environment and social employees’ responsibility, are influential and significant predictors of trust in Islamic banks in Somalia. Gender inequalities moderate the relationship between social product, social needs, social environment, social employee and trust. Conversely, only social legal responsibility was unaffected by gender differences in Somalia regarding people’s trust in Islamic banks.

A sample from a developing country such as Somalia is useful for shedding light on the outcomes of consumers’ perceptions of and trust in businesses’ CSR in the developing world. Furthermore, this study contributes to knowledge regarding CSR and how it can help the Islamic banking industry. Its findings will be useful to policymakers and regulatory bodies in the banking industry in their efforts to improve CSR.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical investigation of its kind about the understudied relationship among customer trust, CSR efforts and gender in Somalia context. Furthermore, it investigates how gender specifically moderates CSR in the Islamic banking sector in a developing country.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and fintech have emerged as critical megatrends in the banking industry. This study aims to examine the impact of financial technology on the relationship between CSR and banks' financial stability. Specifically, it investigates the moderating effect of fintech on the association between CSR and the financial stability of conventional banks operating in Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey from 2010 to 2021.

To achieve the authors’ objective, the authors apply Baron and Kenny's three-link model, tested with fixed and random effects regression models.

The results reveal that the development of fintech decreases banks' financial stability, whereas it promotes banks' involvement in CSR strategies. Furthermore, the findings indicate that fintech plays a moderating role in the relationship between CSR and financial stability. It positively moderates the impact of CSR on financial stability. The robustness analysis highlights the mutual reinforcement of fintech and CSR dimensions in improving the financial stability of banks. Thus, by fostering community and product responsibility, fintech could enhance the financial stability of banks.

Finally, the authors recommend that banks focus more on developing technological and environmentally friendly financial products.

This study contributes significantly by providing valuable insights for managers and policymakers seeking to improve banks' financial stability through the simultaneous adoption of new financial technology products and the strong commitment to CSR practices.