PurposeThe aim of this paper is to help management scholars and executives learn from the COVID-19 global crisis by analyzing if and how the level of financial literacy affected stakeholders' sensitivity to corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues during the pandemic, as well as identifying whether financial literacy is an important variable to account for in the postpandemic period. The authors test the relationship between objective (measurable) and subjective (self-assessed) financial literacy, as well as financial happiness (i.e. satisfaction with one's current financial situation) with CSR during the pandemic. High levels of financial literacy cause individuals to reward companies that implement CSR strategies and processes.Design/methodology/approachThe authors designed an online survey and obtained data on objective and subjective financial literacy, financial happiness and COVID-19 infections, as well as on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of a representative sample of 1,334 Italian respondents. From a methodological point of view, the authors perform a factor analysis on the CSR-related questions to extract the principal components (PCs) that were used as dependent variables in the regression models to analyze the effects of explanatory variables (financial literacy, financial happiness and COVID-19 infections) and consider the control variables (demographic and socioeconomic characteristics). The authors follow a theoretical approach merging stakeholder theory with CSR.FindingsRespondents with a high level of financial literacy and financial happiness are highly sensitive to all CSR components (ethical, philanthropic, economic and legal social responsibilities). Being infected by COVID-19 increased participants' sensitivity to ethical and philanthropic social responsibility (SR), but not to economic and legal SR. The more educated and employed respondents were, the more sensitive they were to CSR, especially compared to their less educated and unemployed counterparts.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the sample used is large and representative of the Italian population, Italy is an interesting and useful case to analyze, given that it was the first Western country to be severely hit by COVID-19; since the paper only refers to a specific country scenario, the results cannot be generalized to other countries. A cross-country comparison relating financial literacy and financial happiness to CSR during the COVID-19 pandemic period would be desirable. The research study has theoretical implications for management scholars since the authors show that, during the pandemic period, financial education and financial happiness are relevant in explaining stakeholders' greater sensitivity to CSR issues. The findings may thus help scholars to learn from the COVID-19 period, with the aim of further developing and enhancing stakeholders' theory.Practical implicationsThe research also has practical implications, both for corporate executives and for policymakers, helping them to learn from the COVID-19 global crisis concerning the role of financial literacy and financial happiness on CSR sensitivity and, consequently, how they may consider these important variables in the postpandemic era. On the one hand, executives may improve stakeholders' segmentation and eventually modify CSR policies, considering the higher sensitivity of their stakeholders' due to a higher degree of financial literacy. On the other hand, the findings suggest that policymakers should have a stronger role in supporting employment and education in general and in promoting programs to improve financial literacy to increase stakeholders' sensitivity to CSR, thus further stimulating the inclusion of CSR factors in companies' strategies. Increasing stakeholders' sensitivity to CSR will, in turn, increase the propensity of companies to include SR in their strategies. Thus, increasing financial literacy will have tangible positive effects of increasing CSR. Given the greater role played by companies during the COVID-19 period with respect to societal risk, the findings seem particularly useful.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first that links financial literacy and financial happiness with CSR during the COVID-19 crisis. The large and representative dataset, as well as the use of specific variables related to financial literacy, financial happiness and COVID-19 infections in the CSR assessment model, makes our analysis original, robust and significant by contributing to the CSR literature and to the financial literacy literature from a methodological point of view, as well as by informing corporate executives and policymakers about the role of financial literacy with regard to CSR during the pandemic, which may help them in learning how to improve their decisions and actions in the postpandemic era.
While the importance of insurance is widely recognised, for individuals as well as for society as a whole, the number of individuals actually buying insurance is dramatically low. After stressing this concept in this paper we focus on the critical comparison between three strands of research: financial literacy, insurance literacy, and behavioural insurance literacy and decision-making. Through an in-depth analysis of previous studies and empirical evidence, we set the stage to adapt the various definitions of financial literacy to propose our own definition of insurance literacy as a three-dimensional construct, based on three key pillars: knowledge, skills, and understanding. Finally, we analyse the limits resulting from the lack of insurance literacy and the possible benefits literate consumers can achieve. While our paper is built around our theoretical proposal of a new definition of insurance literacy, it can constitute an incentive for other researchers to analyse more in-depth insurance-related decisions with empirical studies, based on our theoretical foundation. Our final goal is thus to pave the way ahead.
Thanks to fundraising from small investors, principally through social media and online forums, equity crowdfunding (EC) is emerging as an important new financing mechanism for new ventures. However, the literature about equity crowdfunding and social media is still scarce, and no studies have jointly investigated these topics in Italy. As a result, this study aims at investigating, through an exploratory quantitative research approach based on social network analysis (SNA) methodology, the role that equity crowdfunding platforms have on social media, specifically on Twitter. The results of our study indicate that higher numbers of tweets and users spoke about equity crowdfunding following the introduction of Consob Regulation no. 20264 (17/01/2018) on equity crowdfunding and the growth of the use of this instrument in the first quarter of 2019. The study contributes to the literature on crowdfunding and social networks, shedding light on specific aspects typical of an equity model.
PurposeEmployees in the private, public, and third sectors have experienced an increase in stress over the years. Amongst the sectors, people working in hospitals and other healthcare facilities were put under severe stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the World Health Organisation has clearly stated that defending people's mental health at this particular time of restless pandemic growth is an absolute necessity. The purpose of this article is to assess the perceived work-related stress (WRS) of healthcare workers (HCWs) as a result of the spread of COVID-19, as well as how a leadership role can help to reduce WRS.Design/methodology/approachBased on a multiple case study approach applied to two Italian health-care facilities, the questionnaire results were subjected to a regression analysis.FindingsThe results show an association in HCWs between the perception of supportive leadership and the perception of negative psychosocial risks whose exposure can lead to manifestation of WRS during COVID-19 pandemic.Originality/valueThe study addresses the role that the perception of supportive leadership can play in reducing exposure to occupational psychosocial risks in a sample of healthcare professionals.
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