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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 April 2023

Carlo D'Augusta, Francesco Grossetti and Claudia Imperatore

The authors study the effect of increasing environmental awareness on shareholders' activism. Specificallly, this study aims to examine whether growing environmental awareness is…

1695

Abstract

Purpose

The authors study the effect of increasing environmental awareness on shareholders' activism. Specificallly, this study aims to examine whether growing environmental awareness is reflected in more aggressive environmental shareholder proposals.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster as an exogenous event that increased shareholders' environmental awareness. This study analyzes the spill’s effect on the tone of proposals about environmental issues and nonenvironmental topics.

Findings

After the disaster, the tone of environmental proposals (i.e. the treatment group) is significantly more negative. In contrast, the tone of nonenvironmental proposals (i.e. the control group) is unaffected. This study interprets this finding as direct evidence that the oil spill led to increased shareholder environmental activism through proposals that targeted the environmental risks surrounding the business more aggressively. By contrast, this study finds no effect of the oil spill on the tone of managers' responses to the proposals, consistent with managers refraining from emphasizing environmental threats.

Originality/value

Anecdotal evidence and recent studies suggest a link between environmental disasters and shareholder pressure for corporate change. However, no prior research has investigated the channel through which shareholders could have exerted such pressure or has looked for direct evidence of it in the negotiations between shareholders and managers. By finding such evidence in shareholder proposals, this study fills in this gap.

Details

Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-0701

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 2 February 2024

Abstract

Details

Ecofeminism on the Edge: Theory and Practice
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-041-0

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 August 2019

Ola Ashraf Kubbara

This paper aims at a qualitative investigation and analysis of the complicated situation of the four German Political Foundations (GPFs) – Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Konrad…

1506

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims at a qualitative investigation and analysis of the complicated situation of the four German Political Foundations (GPFs) – Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Friedrich Naumann Foundation and Hanns Seidel Foundation – as actors of democracy assistance in Egypt post 25 January 2011 revolution. It explores the relation between the restrictive political circumstances and the weakness and potential failure of the GPFs while considering their internal structural and operative misconducts as intervening variables.

Design/methodology/approach

The researcher uses the qualitative research method and its interpretive practices of data collection. The backbone of this study are the field visits and extensive interviews with the resident representatives of the GPFs in Egypt, and the representatives of the international departments of their headquarters in Germany. These interviews were complemented by further interviews with members of related organizations in Germany, as well as Egyptian professors, diplomats and experts on Egypt and the broader Middle East. The interviewing method is semi-structured in nature and audio-recorded. In Germany, interviews and information were gathered throughout a four-month field-research stay in Germany.

Findings

The paper concludes that the restrictive regime and political limitations were determining variables undermining the success of the GPFs in the area of democracy assistance in Egypt post 2011 revolution, while the GPFs’ own operative malfunctions and lack of adaptation to the political reality post 2011 were contributing factors in the process.

Research limitations/implications

Owing to security concerns and trust issues, many interviewees were reluctant to give information openly and freely; also requesting complete anonymity in the study. Some information and documents were denied to the researcher out of security concerns.

Originality/value

The added value of this paper lies in the qualitative research, investigations and personalized views on the functions and situation of the GPFs as international actors of democracy assistance in Egypt post 25 January 2011 revolution, considering the restrictive political landscape in which they exist. The study can assist scholars and researchers who explore the processes of democratization during transitional periods and the harsh grip of restrictive regime.

Details

Review of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2356-9980

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 2 April 2024

William A. Smith and Laurence Parker

Abstract

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 43 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 July 2023

Anthony W. Dunbar

This paper is an extension of a panel presentation delivered in response to a joint call for panels by the Social Informatics and Information Ethics and Policy Special Interest…

1226

Abstract

Purpose

This paper is an extension of a panel presentation delivered in response to a joint call for panels by the Social Informatics and Information Ethics and Policy Special Interest Groups for the 2022 Association for Information Science and Technology conference. The purpose is to introduce critical race frameworks and tenets as a lens to develop, assess and analyze the social informatics (SI) within information science (IS) research, professional discourse, praxis and pedagogical paradigms. This paper spotlights one of the presentations from that panel, an iteration of Critical Race Theory (CRT) designed specifically for information studies: CRiTical Race information Theory (CRiT).

Design/methodology/approach

Just as importantly, using SI as part of the context, the paper also includes a discussion that illustrates research and theory building possibilities as both counter and complement to the technocratic advances that permeate society at every level (macro, mezzo and micro), which can also be reasonably framed as the information industrial complex. Thus, CRiT joins other forms of critical discourse and praxis grappling with deconstructing, decolonizing, demarginalizing and demystifying the influence and impact of information technologies. While CRiT has global intentions and implications, this specific discussion has an extensive American focus.

Findings

If we consider the rapid pace in which techno-determinism is moving toward the vise grip of techno-fatalism controlled by frameworks generated from the information industrial complex, we can reasonably consider that humanity on a global basis is living within a meta-large technocratic crisis moment. This crisis moment is both acute and chronic. That is, the technocratic crisis is continuously moving quickly while simultaneously worsening over an extended period of time with no remedies and few responses to substantively address the crisis.

Research limitations/implications

Part of the nature of information and data is measurability. Thus, identifying compatible nomenclature connecting the descriptiveness of intersectionality (a seminal CRT tool) as a qualitative research method to the measurability of data connected to quantitative research, a mixed method approach moves from possible to plausible. Additionally, within IS, there are often opportunities to measure human engagement, such as social media content, search engine use, assessing practices of categorizations, and multiple forms of surveillance data as a short list. Hence, the descriptiveness of intersectional qualitative research “mixed” with the measurability of quantitative research within information settings implies exponential methodological possibilities.

Practical implications

CRiT is multilayered, on the one hand, with the intention of being a discipline-specific, information-specific form of CRT. On the other hand, CRiT theory building is interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary based on information as omnipresent phenomena. An ongoing challenge for CRiT theory building is identifying and working within a balance between, practitioners who typically throw anything and everything at practical problems, while scholars often slice problems into such small segments that practical understanding is severely limited. Embracing and integrating the dynamic interplay between developing ideas and using them is the key to evolving CRiT within the social sciences.

Social implications

There is plenty of room as well as a need for additional narrative discussing or challenging the use or appropriation of information from a technocratic approach, a counter to the information industrial complex.

Originality/value

CRiT is emerging and cutting edge in discussion that addresses the technocratic determinism found in most scholarly discourses.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 April 2020

Steffen Lehmann

The “unplannable” is a welcomed exception to the formal order of urban planning. This opinion article explores some examples of informal urbanism and discusses its ambiguous…

Abstract

The “unplannable” is a welcomed exception to the formal order of urban planning. This opinion article explores some examples of informal urbanism and discusses its ambiguous relationship to public space and unplanned activities in the city. The informal sector offers important lessons about the adaptive use of space and its social role. The article examines the ways specific groups appropriate informal spaces and how this can add to a city’s entrepreneurship and success. The characteristics of informal, interstitial spaces within the contemporary city, and the numerous creative ways in which these temporarily used spaces are appropriated, challenge the prevalent critical discourse about our understanding of authorised public space, formal place-making and social order within the city in relation to these informal spaces.

The text discusses various cases from Chile, the US and China that illustrate the dilemma of the relationship between informality and public/private space today. One could say that informality is a deregulated self-help system that redefines relationships with the formal. Temporary or permanent spatial appropriation has behavioural, economic and cultural dimensions, and forms of the informalare not always immediately obvious: they are not mentioned in building codes and can often be subversive or unexpected, emerging in the grey area between legal and illegal activities.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 February 2023

Jody Heymann, Sheleana Varvaro-Toney, Amy Raub, Firooz Kabir and Aleta Sprague

While only one aspect of fulfilling equal rights, effectively addressing workplace discrimination is integral to creating economies, and countries, that allow for everyone's full…

6319

Abstract

Purpose

While only one aspect of fulfilling equal rights, effectively addressing workplace discrimination is integral to creating economies, and countries, that allow for everyone's full and equal participation.

Design/methodology/approach

Labor, anti-discrimination, and other relevant pieces of legislation were identified through the International Labor Organization's NATLEX database, supplemented with legislation identified through country websites. For each country, two researchers independently coded legislation and answered questions about key policy features. Systematic quality checks and outlier verifications were conducted.

Findings

More than 1 in 5 countries do not explicitly prohibit racial discrimination in employment. 54 countries fail to prohibit unequal pay based on race. 107 countries prohibit racial and/or ethnic discrimination but do not explicitly require employers to take preventive measures against discrimination. The gaps are even larger with respect to multiple and intersectional discrimination. 112 countries fail to prohibit discrimination based on both migration status and race and/or ethnicity; 103 fail to do so for foreign national origin and race and/or ethnicity.

Practical implications

Both recent and decades-old international treaties and agreements require every country globally to uphold equal rights regardless of race. However, specific national legislation that operationalizes these commitments and prohibits discrimination in the workplace is essential to their impact. This research highlights progress and gaps that must be addressed.

Originality/value

This is the first study to measure legal protections against employment discrimination based on race and ethnicity in all 193 UN countries. This study also examines protection in all countries from discrimination on the basis of characteristics that have been used in a number of settings as a proxy for racial/ethnic discrimination and exclusion, including SES, migration status, and religion.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 42 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 May 2023

Husam Ananzeh

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of Corporate Philanthropic Donations (CPD) on the Corporate Economic Performance (CEP) of a group of Jordanian public…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of Corporate Philanthropic Donations (CPD) on the Corporate Economic Performance (CEP) of a group of Jordanian public shareholding companies.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample includes 94 companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange between 2010 and 2016. Manual content analysis is employed to collect the quantitative-related data needed for this study.

Findings

Our findings show that CPD is relevant, with a significant impact on financial performance. More specifically, CPD has a positive impact on the performance indicators measured by Tobin’s Q (TQ), return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA).

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the research debate on CPD and CEP, especially in developing countries. It emphasizes the importance of such practices in increasing corporate profitability.

Practical implications

The study’s findings highlight the importance of CPD for Jordanian corporate managers. A greater emphasis on donations is likely to attract investor attention, government attention, media attention and humanitarian activism, all of which will enhance corporate goodwill.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates the positive relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and CEP in an emerging economy, with a focus on one aspect of CSR, namely donation, that is underrepresented in developing countries. The study employs multiple methods for analyzing profitability as proxied by TQ, ROE and ROA, given the presence of multiple proxies to measure profitability. A further interesting aspect is examining the topic of CPD in the Jordanian context, where listed companies exhibit a uniform understanding of CPD.

Details

Journal of Business and Socio-economic Development, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2635-1374

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 23 November 2023

Martina Topic

209

Abstract

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 28 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 September 2023

Kabir Md Shahin and Moyenul Hasan

This paper aims to examine the prevailing Rohingya refugee crisis from political and humanitarian perspectives and explores the political and humanitarian aspects of the Rohingya…

1912

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the prevailing Rohingya refugee crisis from political and humanitarian perspectives and explores the political and humanitarian aspects of the Rohingya refugee crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

Relevant literature has been reviewed for conceptual understanding. This study is descriptive and qualitative in nature and based on secondary sources of data.

Findings

The main causes of the Rohingya crisis such as political and humanitarian aspects. Issues such as discrimination and homelessness, and national security concerns that regional politics scapegoated the Rohingya to exacerbate regional tensions. Moreover, armed conflicts, political radicalization, security concerns, human rights violations and low media attention compared to other displaced families have made the future of the Rohingyas very uncertain.

Practical implications

The Rohingya crisis has far-reaching implications for domestic and regional politics as well as for relations with major world powers. In the context of regional security and geopolitics, this study provides insight into the polarization and politicization of the Rohingya minority.

Originality/value

This research offers a vital exploration of the Rohingya refugee crisis, delving into its multifaceted political and humanitarian dimensions, contributing fresh insights to address a pressing global concern.

Details

Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1819-5091

Keywords

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