This study investigates the association between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure and diversity of the board of directors (BoD) in Italian listed companies. Diversity of BoD in terms of gender diversity, CSR committees, board average, and independent directors are examined as to their influence on voluntary ESG disclosure. This rating is highly relevant to managers and investors considering ESG issues in their decision‐making process. The factors that drive or hinder ESG disclosure are gaining importance. Despite the relevance of the topic, in Italy there is a scarce amount of literature regarding diversity in the BoD. The data set includes ESG data for more than 54 Italian companies for the period 2011–2014. The results indicate that firm's CSR disclosure is associated with independent director and committee CSR. In addition, women on BoDs is negatively correlated while the age of the board is not significant. Based on this study, shareholders and policymakers will have a deeper knowledge on the significant roles that board diversity is playing as a determinant of ESG disclosure. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

This paper provides, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first meta-analysis of evidence about the influence of the corporate governance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure, in a setting where the disclosure of information is voluntary but not discretionary. We apply meta-analysis to a sample of 24 empirical studies to clarify the relationship of board size, board independence, women on board, number of board meeting, CEO duality, and company ownership with ESG disclosure. Our results show that board independence, board size, and women directorship visibly enhance ESG voluntary disclosure; board ownership and CEO duality do not improve the level of ESG disclosure; and some hesitations remain in respect of the number of board meetings and institutional and family ownership.The paper contributes to the ongoing debate on the corporate governance mechanisms that lead to more ESG disclosure and highlight the need of new approach on these issues.

A vast literature supports the notion that green human resource management leads to superior environmental performance. This study argues that green innovation, environmental strategy and pro-environmental behaviour facilitate the relationship between green human resource management and environmental performance in the manufacturing industry of developing countries. To test the mediating effect of green innovation and pro-environmental behaviour alongside the moderating role of environmental strategy in the proposed model, we collected and analysed data from 410 manufacturing firm managers operating in Pakistan using partial least square structural equation modelling. The mediating and moderating results highlighted the significance of green innovation, environmental strategy and pro-environmental behaviour to excel in environmental performance through operational efficiency, appropriate environmental strategy and human willingness to indulge in environmental activities. The findings also suggest implications for theory and practice in similar developing countries. The study offers generalisability in developing countries sharing the same economic and social structure.

Corporate sustainability (CS) is receiving considerable attention from emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs), playing an important role in the globalized market. However, theoretical and empirical knowledge about how EMNEs address CS is still scant, and the relationship between internationalization and CS has not been widely explored. This study aims to fill this gap, evaluating the relationship between an international ambidexterity strategy and CS in EMNEs, which highlighted the paradox perspective. Then we develop three hypotheses in which we argue how the dynamic capabilities underpinning international ambidexterity could be considered a driver of CS in EMNEs. We test the developed hypotheses against data from 300 Chinese EMNEs obtained by a survey. Our results contribute to shape ambidextrous international strategies and to consider CS as a springboard for the strategic intent to systematically and recursively outperform global competition. Testing a measurement scale of international ambidexterity, we suggest structural ambidexterity as a strategic option of internationalization that allows the achievement of economic, social, and environmental sustainability objectives.

No abstract

Evaluating the determinants of environmental, social and governance (ESG) score is significant for topic for academics and regulators and companies. Despite its importance, little attention has been paid to non-financial strategy disclosure and how to communicate non-financial information. However, in the recent years, attention to the topic has considerably increased as demonstrated, in the European context, by the introduction of the non-financial reporting directive in 2014. Therefore, it is important to analyse how the quantity and quality of disclosure influence the ESG score. To explore this relationship, a configurational analysis aimed at 31 Italian listed companies was studied by fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The results showed that there were three path types driving the ESG score and that integrated reporting played a highly significant role in promoting a high ESG score. Specifically, we show the importance of assessing the combinations of quality and quantity disclosures for ESG score through configurational thinking. These results provide a first theoretical basis for the effectiveness of disclosure measurements on ESG score, charting the future direction for environmental management studies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide comprehensive mapping of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) applications in business and management research and to examine the sub-fields of corporate governance research in this context. Design/methodology/approach Through a systematic literature review of 22 articles, the paper describes and analyses how QCA is used in the corporate governance field, what can be learned from the methodology’s implementation in corporate governance studies and why authors justify its use. Findings The findings highlight that QCA in corporate governance is still at an early stage of development. The paper encourages governance scholars to use this method to transform QCA from a niche into a mainstream method because it is appropriate for understanding both complex phenomena of social reality and issues of corporate governance that require an approach able to capture configurations of conditions, asymmetric patterns and equifinal explanations. Originality/value This is the first complete overview of the existing literature concerning QCA’s application in corporate governance research and reveals implications for its future use. In this way, it extends the previous work on QCA’s benefits to management researchers and other critical reviews of applications in QCA. This study encourages scholars to renew their understanding of corporate governance issues through a new analysis method that can help to discover conceptual and empirical relations among case-oriented and variable-oriented analyses in terms of interrelations to examine corporate governance practices holistically.

No abstract