scholarly journals The relationship between corporate profitability and ESG performance with GMM-IV method

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 454-473
Author(s):  
Máté Fain

This study aims to find the answer to the question how the ESG performance of the companies in the MSCI ACWI Index affects short-term profitability. The dependent variables of the analysis are the return on sales and the ROC/WACC ratio measuring added value. The ESG scores are the S&P Global SAM ratings. As the goal of the study is to assess the short-term effects, the 2019 profitability-ESG relation is examined along with several control variables. In studies analysing sustainability, measurement, specification errors and endogeneity are frequent which we manage by applying GMM procedure with robust instrumental variables. Based on our calculations, the relationship between financial and ESG performance is mostly neutral in the specific industries, which may help the achievement of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations in the long run.

Author(s):  
Andrew Harmer ◽  
Jonathan Kennedy

This chapter explores the relationship between international development and global health. Contrary to the view that development implies ‘good change’, this chapter argues that the discourse of development masks the destructive and exploitative practices of wealthy countries at the expense of poorer ones. These practices, and the unregulated capitalist economic system that they are part of, have created massive inequalities between and within countries, and potentially catastrophic climate change. Both of these outcomes are detrimental to global health and the millennium development goals and sustainable development goals do not challenge these dynamics. While the Sustainable Development Goals acknowledge that inequality and climate change are serious threats to the future of humanity, they fail to address the economic system that created them. Notwithstanding, it is possible that the enormity and proximity of the threat posed by inequality and global warming will energise a counter movement to create what Kate Raworth terms ‘an ecologically safe and socially just space’ for the global population while there is still time.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Bonilla ◽  
Helton Silva ◽  
Marcia Terra da Silva ◽  
Rodrigo Franco Gonçalves ◽  
José Sacomano

The new evolution of the production and industrial process called Industry 4.0, and its related technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data analytics, and cyber–physical systems, among others, still have an unknown potential impact on sustainability and the environment. In this paper, we conduct a literature-based analysis to discuss the sustainability impact and challenges of Industry 4.0 from four different scenarios: deployment, operation and technologies, integration and compliance with the sustainable development goals, and long-run scenarios. From these scenarios, our analysis resulted in positive or negative impacts related to the basic production inputs and outputs flows: raw material, energy and information consumption and product and waste disposal. As the main results, we identified both positive and negative expected impacts, with some predominance of positives that can be considered positive secondary effects derived from Industry 4.0 activities. However, only through integrating Industry 4.0 with the sustainable development goals in an eco-innovation platform, can it really ensure environmental performance. It is expected that this work can contribute to helping stakeholders, practitioners and governments to advance solutions to deal with the outcomes emerging through the massive adoption of those technologies, as well as supporting the expected positive impacts through policies and financial initiatives.


Author(s):  
Nur Farhah Mahadi ◽  
Nor Razinah Mohd. Zain ◽  
Shamsuddeen Muhammad Ahmad

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of Islamic social finance towards realising financial inclusion in achieving nine of the seventeen goals of sustainable development goals (SDGs) which are SDG1, SDG2, SDG3, SDG4, SDG5, SDG8, SDG9, SDG10, and SDG17 in the 2030 agenda for SDGs, as propagated by United Nations Member States in 2015. Then, a critical analysis is made to explain the possible contribution of Islamic social finance in achieving financial inclusion which is aligned with SDGs that brings balanced to the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual of the community in supporting overall economic growth which finally combats the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further research and empirical studies can be conducted to explore the relationship between Islamic social finance, financial inclusion, and SDGs which in tandem with Maqᾱṣid al-Sharῑ῾ah to equip ourselves in unpredictable economic hiccups during COVID-19. The results may also motivate the financial industries to promote Islamic social finance products and corporate social responsibilities as well as enhance the development of Islamic social finance towards achieving financial inclusion in fulfilling SDGs which soon will provide significant social impacts as the results will enable new initiatives by industries and policy makers to develop Islamic social finance in attaining financial inclusion to achieve SDGs which is seen as being parallel with Maqᾱṣid al-Sharῑ῾ah especially in resolving economic issues of COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 838-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bojie Fu ◽  
Junze Zhang ◽  
Shuai Wang ◽  
Wenwu Zhao

Summary It is an urgent task to advance Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on different scales in the world. We propose a systems approach to combat this issue, namely `classification–coordination–collaboration'. This approach allows SDGs to realize key breakthroughs over the short-term while achieving sweeping progress over the long run.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-90
Author(s):  
Mariana Strenitzerová ◽  
Katarína Štalmachová

The postal sector has a leading position and many innovations in global corporate sustainability. Thanks to the success of the Environmental Measurement and Monitoring System (EMMS), the sector is considered a pioneer in carbon management. In order to maintain this position, the program must extend and align its program and goals with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). 19 postal companies, as program stakeholders, launched the next phase of the program - The Sustainability Measurement and Management System (SMMS). In response, many postal companies have already set strategies and started working on topics that support sustainable development goals. The paper presents best practices of postal companies in meeting the sustainable development goals.


Author(s):  
Débora de Macêdo Medeiros ◽  
Rodrigo Guimarães de Carvalho

Thinking about sustainable development is increasingly necessary for the continuity of all species in the biosphere. Over time, natural resources become scarcer, enabling conflicts and wars to be generated. Thus, this study aims to show the relevance of conservation units as territories that are necessary and supported by Law 9,985/2000 for the promotion of a sustainable culture in the country. But also, the aim was to prove the relationship of conservation units with the Sustainable Development Goals, proposed by the United Nations in 2015. For this study, the bibliographic and documentary research technique was used. At the end of the analysis, we can observe that the existence of conservation units and knowledge about them stimulates economic development linked to environmental care, facilitating the maintenance of social homeostasis and ecosystems. In addition to being directly linked to the SDGs and the concern for current and future generations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 323
Author(s):  
Oksana Buturlina ◽  
Serhii Dovhal ◽  
Heorhii Hryhorov ◽  
Tetiana Lysokolenko ◽  
Vadym Palahuta

The conceptual and generalizing experience of STEM education implementation presented in Ukraine reflects the realization of the sustainable development goals through educational innovations. The study is based on the premise that STEM is a component of education for sustainable development. This educational trend focuses on the goals of Education for All (EFA), conforms to the ideas of the education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and relates to solving societal challenges in the long run. It is argued that the concept of STEM seeks to offer non-standard solutions to global issues in the field of sustainable development, and STEM education should be seen as a mechanism to accelerate the achievement of all sustainable development goals (SDG) and a strategy to obtain each of them. The specifics of STEM key ideas as global educational trends in the national Ukrainian public space are demonstrated. The consideration of STEM education as a component of the strategy for sustainable development through the detailing of the structure and implementation principles as well as STEM competencies, which are defined as the expected result and key for the person of the XXI century, is proved. The experience of Ukrainian research initiatives in the field of STEM education in the context of sustainable development is summarized. A full-fledged programme complex for comprehensive, equitable and high-quality education is presented, which combines the following links: research and experimental work of different levels, teacher’s professional development, museums and science centres work, implementation of various educational programmes, festivals and projects to attract young people to STEM, ensuring equal access for girls and boys.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 69-95
Author(s):  
Renske Jongsma ◽  
Bart Jan (Bartjan) Pennink

Aim: Building upon stakeholder and institutional theory, this paper investigates the relationship between product diversification and corporate social performance (CSP), thereby attempting to make essential contributions to the current literature. Based on an extensive literature review, it was expected that related, unrelated and total product diversification are positively related to CSP. Moreover, it was hypothesized that the exposure to weak institutional host country environments negatively affects the relationship between diversification and CSP, and that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have a positive effect on the relationship. Design / Research methods: The sample selected for this research is the non-renewable energy industry, since the industry shows great divergence in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. In addition, the industry is highly susceptible to regulatory changes, while the Sustainable Development Goals have an enormous focus on the reliability and sustainability of energy, making it a highly relevant industry to study. This study analyzed 40 a 40 non-renewable energy firms over a time frame of seven years, by using OLS regression. Conclusions / findings: The results reveal that unrelated diversification is positively related to CSP, while the other forms of diversification show insignificant results. Contrary to expectations, the Sustainable Development Goals negatively affect the relationship between product diversification and CSP, while the moderating effect of exposure to weak institutional environments is insignificant. Originality / value of the article: Research on the relationship between product diversification on corporate financial performance is well-established, but the way in which product diversification influences a firm’s behavior towards stakeholder demands and social concerns remains largely unexplored. Accordingly, the results of this study challenge existing theories while adding more context to the existing relationship, and in turn provide promising avenues for future research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 693-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole-Anne Sénit

Spaces for civil society participation within intergovernmental negotiations on sustainability have multiplied since the 1992 Earth Summit. Such participatory spaces are often uncritically accepted as a remedy for an assumed democratic deficit of intergovernmental policymaking. I argue, however, that civil society’s capacity to democratize global sustainability governance is constrained by the limited influence of these spaces on policymaking. The article explores the relationship between the format of participatory spaces and their influence on the negotiations of the Sustainable Development Goals. It finds that civil society is more likely to influence within informal and exclusive participatory spaces, and when these spaces are provided early in the negotiating process, at international and national level. This reveals a democracy–influence paradox, as the actors with the capacities to engage repeatedly and informally with negotiators are seldom those that are most representative of global civil society.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 916-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl P. Sauvant ◽  
Howard Mann

Abstract Reaching the Sustainable Development Goals has become the lodestar of development policymaking. Increased sustainable Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows to developing countries can contribute to reaching the Goals. This article analyzes 150 instruments (treaties, standards, codes) prepared by key stakeholder groups in the FDI space bearing on the relationship between host countries and foreign investors, to identify FDI sustainability characteristics along the following four dimensions: economic, social and environmental development and governance. These instruments indicate especially the contributions government expect multinational enterprises (MNEs) to make to host countries and those MNEs expect to make to host countries. The analysis yields a set of indicative ‘common FDI sustainability characteristics’, and ‘emerging common FDI sustainability characteristics’. These characteristics can guide various stakeholder groups that seek to increase the contribution of FDI to development; the World Trade Organization’s Structured Discussions concerning an investment facilitation framework for development; and to arbitrators seeking to take the development dimension into account when deliberating investor-state disputes.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document