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The framework of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) is principles-based and does not provide specific key performance indicators (KPIs) for integrated thinking and reporting. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose KPIs for integrated reporting which decipher a firm’s sustainability through empirical analysis.

As a proxy of firms’ sustainability, the authors focus on firms that have survived for more than 100 years and that have already achieved sustainability, and analyze these firms to reveal the financial features that distinguish sustainable firms from the other firms.

The study found two distinguishing facts: the value added that is distributed to stakeholders other than shareholders is significantly larger, and the stability of profitability and the profitability itself are significantly higher in sustainable firms.

The study proposes a value-added distribution and the stability of profitability as sustainability KPIs for integrated reporting.

First, this study provides the first evidence that value added distribution and the stability of profitability distinguish a firm’s sustainability. Second, it provides a new perspective in the search for sustainability KPIs. Third, as the empirical data consist of all listed firms in 136 countries, the results should be robust and general.

The present study develops a multi-theoretic framework of the mechanisms of value creation in interorganizational relationships and of the key factors influencing those mechanisms. The integrative use of several theories in building the model is justified by numerous studies suggesting that a multi-theoretic approach is required to understand the complexity of interorganizational relationships (Gulati, 1998; Osborn & Hagedoorn, 1997; Park et al., 2002). We believe that the relationships between start-up companies and their corporate investors, with each party holding a diversity of strategic and financial objectives, are not less complex than other potential interorganizational relationships. They may therefore also require ideas from several theories to be properly understood. In this study, we build the models applying primarily the resource-based and the knowledge-based views, as well as social capital theory. Ideas from other theoretical approaches are used to complement these theories.

The purpose of this research is to examine the validity of the agriculture-induced environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis with evidence from an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach with a structural break including real income and energy consumption in the model for Ghana over the period 1980–2014.

The ARDL approach with a structural break was used to analyze the agriculture-induced EKC model which has not been studied in Ghana. The dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), canonical cointegration regression (CCR) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) econometric methods were further used to validate the robustness of the estimates, and the direction of the relationship between the study variables was also clarified using the Toda–Yamamoto Granger causality test.

The ARDL results revealed that GDP, energy consumption and agricultural value added have significant positive effects on CO₂ emissions, while GDP² reduces CO₂ emissions. The Toda-Yamamoto causality test results show a bidirectional causality running from GDP and energy consumption to CO₂ emissions whereas a unidirectional long-term causality runs from GDP² and agriculture value-added to CO₂ emissions.

This finding validated the presence of the agriculture-induced EKC hypothesis in Ghana in both the short run and long run, and the important role of agriculture and energy consumption in economic growth was confirmed by the respective bidirectional and unidirectional causal relationships between the two variables and GDP. Thus, a reduction in unsustainable agricultural practices is recommended through specific policies to strengthen institutional quality in Ghana for a paradigm shift from rudimentary technology to modern sustainable agrarian technologies.

This study is novel in the EKC literature in Ghana, as no study has yet been done on agriculture-induced EKC in Ghana, and the other EKC studies also failed to account for structural breaks which have been done by this study. This study further includes a causality analysis to examine the direction of the relationship which the few EKC studies in Ghana failed to address. Finally, dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), canonical cointegration regression (CCR) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) methods are used for robustness check, unlike other studies with single methodologies.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate and compare the moderating effects of the two basic business process change paradigms – business process reengineering (BPR) and total quality management (TQM) – on the business value generated for firms by their information and communication technologies (ICT) investment.

Using data collected through a survey of 271 Greek firms, moderated regression models founded on the Cobb‐Douglas production function are estimated, which have as the dependent variable the firm value added (objective measure of business performance), and as independent variables the yearly labour expenses, the value of the non‐computer capital, the value of the computer capital and BPR (TQM) measures.

From the above models it is concluded that both BPR and TQM have considerable positive moderating effects of a similar magnitude on the relationship between ICT investment and firm value added. Also, different BPR and TQM activities have different moderating effects on ICT business value; process simplification, process improvement and the creation of a horizontal interdepartmental process are the BPR activities with the largest moderating effects, while measurement of employee satisfaction and simplification of work methods for quality improvement are the TQM activities with the largest moderating effects.

The basic limitation of this study is that it is based on data from Greek firms. Another limitation is that only one business performance measure, although quite important and theoretically fundamental (i.e. firm value added), is used.

Both BPR and TQM are important ICT “complementary factors”, which, if combined with ICT, can increase the business value it generates. Therefore ICT should not be used simply as a tool for automating existing business processes, but for creating and supporting new business processes and practices, such BPR and TQM.

This study investigates and compares the moderating effects of the two main business process paradigms – BPR and TQM – based on reliable measurement of both through validated multi‐item scales, and also on theoretically sound models, founded on the Cobb‐Douglas production function.

The resource‐based view of the firm maintains that firms achieve a sustainable comparative advantage and earn superior profits by owning or controlling tangible as well as intangible strategic assets. The stakeholder view recommends that a better measure of financial performance than accounting profit is the total wealth created or net value added. Accordingly, this study examines the relationship between a return on total assets based on net value added (à la stakeholder view) and the specific intangible asset of intellectual capital to test the resource‐based view of the firm. The results, using a sample of US multinational firms, are statistically significant in support of both the resource‐based and stakeholder views.

This study aims to validate the value-added hypothesis in hotel franchising using data from 2,120 properties across the United States with a total of 12,720 observations over a six-year period of 2008-2013.

A series of annual cross-sectional regressions for each of the sample years and aggregated panel regressions for all sample hotel years were conducted. Newey–West errors were computed to address potential issues of autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity, and sensitivity tests were also performed.

The paper concludes that franchise royalty fee adds value to hotel franchisees as it significantly and positively affects revenue per available room (RevPAR) for all sample years after controlling for the major determining dimensions of RevPAR. A series of sensitivity tests also show robustness of results.

This study offers a rational and empirical explanation for the positive and significant effect of franchise royalty fees on hotel performance and the value-added hypothesis. Hoteliers need to ensure that there is a proper match between hotel specific attributes and the potential franchise when making a franchise selection. Individual entrepreneurs can partner with franchisors to reap the benefits of franchising, while experienced hoteliers can also use the findings of this study to make strategic decisions.

This study is the first using actual performance data from a large hotel property sample over multiple years to validate the value-added theory, where a higher royalty fee does command a higher RevPAR.

The paper aims to investigate the performance determinants of European non-listed private equity real estate funds between 2001 and 2014.

Using a sample of 363 funds collected from the Inrev database, the analysis evaluated the impact of fees and other intrinsic characteristics of these funds, such as leverage, size and duration, on the funds’ performance, intending to enhance the understanding underlying their relationship.

The findings show a negative relationship between the return of the funds and redemption fee, performance fee and management fee. Conversely, marketing fees have a positive effect on performance. When analyzing the investment style, the results reveal inhomogeneous behaviors of leverage on funds’ performance. This variable has a positive impact on the return in core funds, while there is a negative relationship in value-added investments. Finally, the emphasis on the global financial crisis shows that the effects of the independent variables on the performance do not significantly change in different economic cycles.

The practical implication of the research is to understand whether an investor can direct its resources in a fund, leveraging on certain intrinsic characteristics that can be observed a priori.

Even if there is a considerable body of literature on determinants of performance in European non-listed real estate funds, little research has analyzed the role of fees in driving their results. Besides, this paper takes advantage of observations from different investment styles to emphasize the impact of higher or lower risk profiles and from the full economic cycle to understand the effects of the crisis period.

This paper aims to examine how foreign direct investment (FDI) and firm-specific advantages (FSAs) of US multinational enterprises (MNEs) majority-owned subsidiaries affect environmental pollution in host countries. The research results contribute to helping managers and policymakers understand the environmental impact of MNEs activities, and encourage these firms to develop environmentally responsible management (ERM) as an element of their corporate social responsibility practice.

Panel data consisting of developing and developed countries spanning the years 2004 through 2014 are used. The dynamic panel generalised method of moments technique is implemented. This method avoids common estimation bias, such as endogeneity, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation.

This paper finds that the direct environmental impacts of FDI vary significantly between the two groups of countries. The environmental benefits of FDI to the recipient country are achieved through capital and technology transfer. The study also reveals that R&D intensity moderates the relationship between FDI and environmental pollution in both developing and developed countries in such a way that environmental pollution decreases.

Future research could explore the environmental impact of MNEs on host countries by considering both equity and non-equity entry modes. The findings offer some support to host government policies offering generous incentive packages to attract R&D investment to improve environmental pollution. This research raises questions as to the reasons corporations operating in developing and developed countries should pursue their ERM practices.

This research examines both the direct effect of FDI and the moderating effects of FSAs on the relationship between FDI and the environment. Although previous studies have already looked at the relationship between FDI and the environment, the moderating effect of FSAs is very under-developed in this relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of being located in a science park (SP) on the level of a firm's intellectual capital (IC) performance.

Using a sample of 183 Italian firms (i.e. 61 tenant and 122 non-tenant firms), and through the GLS technique, the authors regress the firms’ IC performance across various explicative variables including a dummy that discriminates tenant and non-tenant firms.

Consistently with expectations, the results show that the location of a firm in a SP leads to improved IC performance. Moreover, the authors find that some other firm characteristics, such as size, age, and leverage, are important predictors of its IC-based performance.

The sample is small and the impact on performance might be biased by factors related to the regional context (e.g. level of industrialization, quality of education, and science system).

Implications for policy makers: support the growth of firms in SPs especially in those industries full of firms with scarce performance in IC. Implications for SP managers: they could “sell” (in terms of marketing) to both entrepreneurs to attract and policy makers this result. Implications for institutional investors: they should look at SPs with greater interest to find high-quality firms and improve their screening activity.

This paper aims to extend literature about factors explaining the level of a firm's IC performance and the current understanding of the impact of SPs at firm level.

Focusses attention on service value as a construct which may help explain consumer decision making; however, to date this attention has been largely conceptual. Finds from the results of two empirical studies that models of consumer decision‐making which include service value explain significantly more variance in purchase intentions than models which include only service quality or cost factors, and the means by which consumers form service value perceptions is best depicted as a cognitive addition process.