The aim of this study is to discuss the issues relevant to the CSR evaluation and to develop a model of CSR assessment by taking into account SDGs. Based on a critical literature review, the advantages and limits of CSR assessment models were analyzed with the SDGs addressed, and the framework of a novel model of CSR assessment was proposed in this study. The main limitations of CSR in addressing SDGs were defined as follows: the selective implementation of SDGs, greenwashing, the lack of the integration of the stakeholders, the lack of incorporation of SMEs, and the difference in CSR practices among countries. The created model includes all SDGs involved. Moreover, the positive and negative effects of CSR on SDGs were addressed. This proposed CSR assessment model can help to solve the major problems described above: selective implementation of SDGs, greenwashing, and the inability to compare CSR among industries or countries.

Nowadays women often lead teams, hold high positions in top management, plan and make important strategic decisions in firms or groups. However, little attention in scientific literature has been paid to gender difference in implementing CSR practices of firms. Implementing CSR practices successfully in many cases depends on the gender difference of top management. The object of this study is the importance of ‘feminine gaze’ with respect to gender difference in implementing CSR in firms. This study aims at supplementing feminist ethical – and in part, epistemological – concerns with empirical studies considering the role of women in the top management of firms, then the impact of gender on implementation of CSR initiatives was analysed, and the main drivers linked to gender for the implementation of CSR initiatives were assessed in this study based on the comprehensive literature review. The study confirmed the positive impact of woman representation on the development of CSR initiatives in the firm. The number of women in BOD and employee positions from all stakeholders including customers’ perspectives have positive impacts on the penetration of CSR initiatives, and can be considered as an important driver of CSR in the firms.

The development of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative is formed by several cultural, economic, social, political and institutional factors which have an impact on setting the priorities and advancement of CSR practices. The aim of this study is to assess CSR performance at the country level. In order to achieve this aim, the main drivers and barriers of CSR initiatives were identified and systematized based on literature review. The policies to address these barriers were analysed and discussed. The framework for the assessment of CSR performance was developed based on the analysis and assessment of the quality of political-regulatory, economic and social environment, implemented public policies to promote CSR and successes that were achieved by countries in implementing recommendations for public policy advancement. The indicators from Venture Capital and Private Equity Country Attractiveness Index, CSR policies areas reviews and EU recommendations for the improvement of public policies linked to the CSR were applied for assessing the CSR performance. The empirical analysis and the assessment of CSR performance in the Baltic States was performed based on the developed framework and policy recommendations that were developed for other countries, taking into account the priorities of “The Belt and Road” project that was initiated by the Chinese government and aiming at sustainable development and global risk mitigation.

Corporate hypocrisy refers to the phenomenon of inconsistency between words and deeds of a firm in the process of fulfilling its social responsibility. Despite the fact that the literature related to corporate hypocrisy has made some progress, there have been very few attempts to scrutinize the topic systematically. In the light of egoistic and altruistic motivations, and capitalizing on social network theory, this study classifies corporate hypocrisy into three types: direct corporate hypocrisy, indirect corporate hypocrisy, and interactive corporate hypocrisy. Considering the differences in the identification of pro-social motivation attributes between companies and the public in releasing/analyzing hypocritical information, a 2 (companies vs. the public) × 2 (egoism vs. altruism) framework of the formation mechanism of corporate hypocrisy was constructed. Nine differentiated manifestations were defined from the perspective of preevent, during the event, and postevent time dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) behaviors and the type of corporate hypocritical behavior. Based on stakeholder theory, the contagion effect of corporate hypocrisy was also analyzed from the perspective of primary and secondary stakeholders, the "immunityinfection" dual-pathway analysis model of the contagion effect of corporate hypocrisy was constructed, and the intervention measures were proposed. A novel framework to understand corporate hypocrisy in the mode of "sending-receiving" was proposed, which can enrich and deepen our understanding of corporate hypocrisy and possible causes and mitigation measures. Conclusions obtained through our study can help the public, governments, and firms to better understand, track, and oversee the phenomenon of corporate hypocrisy and evolve proper guidelines to minimize hypocritical behavior.

Implementation of strict policies for mitigating climate change has a direct impact on public health as far as the external health costs of electricity generation can be reduced, thanks to the reduction of emission of typical pollutants by switching to cleaner low carbon fuels and achieving energy efficiency improvements. Renewables have lower external health costs due to the lower life cycle emission of typical air pollutants linked to electricity generation, such as SO2, NOx, particulate matter, NH3, or NMVOC (Non-methane volatile organic compounds), which all appear to have serious negative effects on human health. Our case study performed in the Baltic States analyzed the dynamics of external health costs in parallel with the dynamics of the main health indicators in these countries: life expectancy at birth, mortality rates, healthy life years, self-perceived health, and illness indicators. We employed the data for external health costs retrieved from the CASES database, as well as the health statistics data compiled from the EUROSTAT database. The time range of the study was 2010–2018 due to the availability of consistent health indicators for the EU Member States. Our results show that the decrease of external health costs had a positive impact on the increase of the self-perceived good health and reduction of long-standing illness as well as the decrease of infant death rate. Our conclusions might be useful for other countries as well as for understanding the additional benefits of climate change mitigation policies and tracking their positive health impacts. The cooperation initiatives on clean energy and climate change mitigation between countries like One Belt One Road initiative by the Chinese government can also yield additional benefits linked to the public health improvements.