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The research aims to include good governance as a facet in the measurement of human development.

A modified Human Development Index (MHDI) was computed by including a governance dimension computed using the six governance indicators published by the World Bank. The rankings using the new index were obtained and compared to the rankings of the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP's) HDI.

The rank correlation of the original and modified indices was very high, but there were many big rank changes for individual countries in each HDI group. These rank changes could be largely reconciled in the light of the rankings of these countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index and the Democracy Index.

The research considers the measurement of human development at a point in time alone and incorporates 2010 governance indicators into the 2011 HDI, which could lead to a discrepancy in time periods considered. Furthermore, the governance indicators are measures of perceptions which can be subjective. The Practical implications paper does not delve into the country-specific factors that may have caused big rank changes.

The paper builds a case for incorporating, or at least providing the option of including a governance dimension in the HDI.

The paper is a novel attempt to incorporate good governance as a dimension in the HDI. It reasserts the need for policy-makers and governments to realize that peoples' capabilities cannot be realized in the absence of good governance, and that whilst improving other facets of human development, much attention needs to be paid towards establishing good governance.

This paper investigates the relationship between human capital, economic freedom, governance performance, and economic growth and whether institutional factors such as governance performance and economic freedom mediate the association between human capital and economic growth.

In this study, the authors apply the panel data regression method to verify five hypotheses and check the robustness of the empirical findings from four aspects (chow test, panel unit root test, granger test and generalized method of moments) based on the data covering China, India, Russia, Brazil and South Africa from 2000 to 2018.

After multiple tests with mixed methods, the empirical results show that the relationship between human capital and economic growth is not linear but inverted U-shaped. Furthermore, human capital has a positive effect on economic growth only in a certain period of time, and governance performance positively moderates the effect of human capital on economic growth in BRICS.

First, the impact of human capital on economic growth is not linear but an inverted U-shaped and governance performance moderates the effect of human capital on economic growth in BRICS. The study and research model enhances the authors’ insights on the advantage and challenges of human capital in the future. Second, the proposed multi-methods in the study accurately forecast economic growth which partially solves endogenous problems because of reverse causality.

This paper aims to explore the links between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and human rights abuses and review the development of international business (IB) and human rights initiatives. Arguing that the focus of the business and human rights debate has shifted from responsibility to rights, and subsequently to governance, it proposes a framework for analysing IB and human rights governance issues in the context of social value creation.

The paper develops a framework for analysing business and human rights governance with respect to the business and human rights field and four business and human rights subfields (labour, consumption, community and environment).

The analytical framework is organised around the relationships between human rights duty-bearers (companies) and human rights-holders (e.g., employees, consumers). It emphasises the role of actors and their interests, the relationships between actors, the objectives of these relationships and the role of governance mechanisms and structures, which, for a particular human rights subfield, define the IB and human rights governance system.

The analytical framework can be used by IB researchers, practitioners and public policymakers to describe, analyse, discuss and address business and human rights issues and challenges. It can be used for comparing and evaluating characteristics and properties of alternative institutional arrangements in the field of business and human rights. Furthermore, it can be used to support the design corporate non-market strategies as well as public policies.

The chapter focuses on the personal characteristics of top executives in companies involved in corporate financial crime as well as the introduction of human governance as one of the mechanisms in preventing corporate misbehaviour. This chapter discusses directors’ and top management teams’ personal characteristics – in the context of corporate governance – that may influence the occurrence of corporate financial crime. The study further proposes the human governance factor as a possible mechanism to improve corporate governance in preventing such misbehaviour. This chapter highlights the personal characteristics of top executives, which may become the indicators of corporate financial crime, as well as human governance, which is shown to be one of the most important mechanisms of corporate governance for corporate financial crime prevention.

Given that the literature on the links between taxation and inclusive human development is ambiguous, it is important to investigate whether the mediating influence of governance in taxation for inclusive development exists. Thus, this study aims to explore the linkages between the governance quality, taxation and inclusive human development (i.e. inequality-adjusted human development index).

This study employs the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to establish the empirical findings on 52 African countries for the period 2010–2018. Among the existing GMM approaches, this study follows the Roodman approach, an enhancement of the Arellano and Bover techniques, which limits the proliferation of instruments. This study uses the two-step approach, which deals with issues of the heteroscedasticity as against instead the one-step procedure, which solely addresses the homoscedasticity concerns.

The following findings are established. First, there is an unconditional positive effect of taxation on inclusive human development. Second, the net effects of taxation on inclusive human development, associated with the interaction of the government revenue with governance quality variables, are positive for the most part. It is then evident that when taxation policies are combined with good governance initiatives, the ultimate impact of inclusive human development is likely to be enhanced.

This study establishes that, whereas taxation dynamics largely have a favorable incidence in promoting inclusive human development, when such taxation measures are complemented with good governance initiatives, the overall impact of inclusive human development is also likely to be positive. It follows that policies designed to promote political, economic and institutional governance should be implemented in tandem, which policies designed to boost tax performance in the sampled countries. The findings can also be understood from the perspectives that inclusive human development is likely to be boosted when taxation measures are complemented with, (1) the free and fair election and replacement of political leaders (i.e. political governance), (2) the formulation and implementation of inclusive policies for the delivery of public goods (i.e. economic governance) and (3) the respect by citizens and the state of institutions that govern interactions between them (i.e. institutional governance).

The purpose of this paper is to explore how and why international advocacy NGOs (iaNGOs) use counter accounting as part of their campaigns against oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to reform problematic regulatory systems and make visible corporate practices that exploit governance and accountability gaps in relation to human rights violations and environmental damage.

This arena study draws on different sources of evidence, including interviews with nine iaNGOs representatives involved in campaigns in the Niger Delta. The authors mapped out the history of the conflict in order to locate and make sense of the interviewees’ views on counter accounting, campaigning strategies, accountability and governance gaps as well as their motivations and aspirations for change.

The evidence revealed an inability of vulnerable communities to engage in relevant governance systems, due to unequal power relationships, corporate actions and ineffective governance practices. NGOs used counter accounts as part of their campaigns to change corporate practices, reform governance systems and address power imbalances. Counter accounts made visible problematic actions to those with power over those causing harm, gave voice to indigenous communities and pressured the Nigerian Government to reform their governance processes.

Understanding the intentions, desired outcomes and limitations of NGO’s use of counter accounting could influence human rights accountability and governance reforms in political institutions, public sector organisations, NGOs and corporations, especially in developing countries.

This paper seeks to contribute to accounting research that seeks to protect the wealth and natural endowments of indigenous communities to enhance their life experience.

By interviewing the preparers of counter accounts the authors uncover their reasons as to why they find accounting useful in their campaigns.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of corporate governance and human governance on management commentary disclosure among Malaysian Public Listed in the Main Market, Bursa Malaysia.

The annual reports of 150 companies listed on the main market, Bursa Malaysia, for the year ended 2014, are examined to analyze the company’s management commentary disclosure using content analysis. A management commentary disclosure index was developed based on the five elements that had been established by the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) in Practices of Management Commentary’s framework. The study considers four corporate governance mechanisms such as board composition, board size, board’s education and ownership structure. Structural equation modeling (SEM -PLS), partial least squares (PLS) and SmartPLS software were used to measure the impact of corporate governance and human capital on management commentary disclosure.

The results reveal that most of the information disclosure by Malaysian Listed companies was not presented in a complete and balanced manner and not providing an insight because they are more focused on describing the process. Besides, there was no clear link between companies’ strategies and performance measure. Consequently, the reporting is not balanced and cannot assist the shareholders in understanding the opportunities and risk associated with the business. The results, based on a structural model, indicated that only two variables, namely, board size and board independence, showed a positive and significant influence on the degree of disclosure information of management commentary. Board independence is the most significant variable that influences the degree of corporate governance and human capital on management commentary disclosure.

The study contributes to the information disclosure literature as it presents in empirical evidence proving that governance mechanism affects the management commentary disclosure of information by companies. This study also provides additional information which is expedient to other researchers since there is lack of studies in management commentary which relates the attributes of corporate and human governance mechanisms as key drivers in providing management commentary information. Importantly, this study will stimulate the interest of academics in research activities concerning the attributes of governance mechanisms and corporate and human governance on management commentary activities.

The governance of the relationship between humans and the biophysical world has been based on a paradigm characterized by dualistic thinking and scientism. This has led to the Anthropocene. The purpose of this paper is to reframe human-biosphere governance in terms of “cyber-systemics”, a neologism that is useful, the authors argue, not only for breaking out of this dualistic paradigm in human-environmental governance but also of the dualism associated with the use of systems and cybernetics.

In this paper the authors draw on their own research praxis to exemplify how the intellectual lineages of cybernetics and systems have been mutually influencing their doings, and how new forms of governance practices that explore different framing choices might contribute to building innovative governance approaches attuned to the problematique of the Anthropocene, for instance through institutional designs for cyber-systemic governance.

The growing popularity of the Anthropocene as a particular framing for the circumstances, if it is to transformative and thus relevant demands informed critique if it is to help change the trajectory of human-life on earth. The authors offer arguments and a rationale for adopting a cyber-systemic perspective as a means to avoid the dangers in pursuing the current trajectory of our relationship with the biophysical world as, for example, climate change. The essay frames an invitation for a systemic inquiry into forms of governance more suited to the contemporary circumstances of humans in their relationships with the biophysical world.

The research essay challenges many taken-for-granted epistemological assumptions within the cybernetics and systems intellectual communities. A case for radical change is mounted; the means to effect this change, other than through changes in discourse remain unclear though it is apparent that changes to praxis and institutional forms and arrangements will be central.

Cyber-systemic capabilities need to be developed; this requires investment and new institutions that are conducive to cyber-systemic understandings and praxis.

Understanding the global environmental crisis as an emergent outcome of current commitments to dualistic governance choices demands a reframing of much of what humans have done, re-investment in cyber-systemics offers a moral and practical response.

The role of urban forests and urban trees in creating vibrant and resilient cities is widely recognised. Urban forest governance as the strategic decision and rule making for urban tree resources is no longer solely the domain of governmental actors, but occurs rather often as network governance also involving businesses and civic society. However, governance theory usually does not consider the role of non-human agency, which can be considered problematic due to, for example, the important role of urban trees in place making. The purpose of this paper is to provide further insight into the importance of considering tree agency in governance.

Taking an environmental governance and actor network theory perspective, the paper presents a critical view of current urban forest governance, extending the perspective to include not only a wide range of human actors, but also trees as important non-human actors.

Urban forest governance has become more complex and involves a greater range of actors and actor networks. However, the agency of trees in urban forest governance is seldom well developed. Trees, in close association with local residents, create places, something which needs to be better recognised in governance. Case studies show that this type of non-reflexive agency of urban trees often has emerged in the case of acute threats to urban trees or woodlands. New approaches such as those of biophilic urbanism and biocultural diversity can assist with better integration of tree agency in governance.

Urban forest governance is an emerging field of research which has seldom addressed tree agency. Thus the perspective on urban forest governance is enriched, beyond the dominant post-neoliberal and anthropocentric perspective.

The literature that explores the relationship between human capital and economic growth has produced mixed results. It highlights the puzzle on the correlations between human capital and economic growth. This study contributes to this debate by offering an explanation of the puzzling effects.

Using the threshold model proposed by Kremer et al. (2013), the results document that there is a threshold effect in the human capital–growth nexus.

The findings illustrate that the relationship between human capital and economic growth is weakly positive up to a certain threshold level of governance; however, the relationship turns out to be positive once the threshold level has been achieved.

The mixed evidence on the human capital–growth relationship can be explained through institutional quality differences. The findings recommend that better governance is complementary to contribute to the productive use of human capital in achieving higher economic growth.