ESG performance and financial distress during COVID-1: the moderating effects of innovation and capital intensity

AbstractPurposeThis study examines the relationship between Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices and financial distress in times of uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachThomson Reuters ESG database, Compustat and Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) were used to derive a final sample size of 1,572 firms and 11,618 firm-year observations from 2003 to 2022. Fixed-effects regression was used to analyze the data.FindingsIt was found that increasing ESG involvement leads to an increase in Z score (i.e. lower financial distress), and this impact was more profound during the COVID-19 period and also when firms' innovativeness increased. However, during the COVID-19 period, increases in capital expenditures weaken the positive effect of ESG on financial distress.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the growing body of literature on the impact of ESG performance on financial distress and the nature of this relationship during times of uncertainty such as COVID-19.Practical implicationsThis study offers insights to managers and practitioners when developing their corporate financial strategies, particularly financial distress management, showing the potential benefits of innovativeness and capital intensity during turbulent times similar to COVID-19.Originality/valueLittle knowledge exists on how ESG engagement helps weather financial distress during periods of uncertainty due to external shocks (e.g. COVID-19). This paper looks at the effect of ESG engagement on financial distress and how capital intensity and innovativeness could influence this relationship while giving fresh insights into the impact of COVID-19

The Time Machine Stops

As of this writing, 1653744144847 milliseconds have elapsed since midnight on January 1, 1970, the start of the “Unix Epoch,” so named for the operating system upon which the internet is based. While that date was chosen arbitrarily, it also denotes the onset of “computime,” which Jeremy Rifkin calls “the final abstraction of time and its complete separation from human experience and rhythms of nature.” This chapter explores this notion of computime from within the computer in the form of a dialogue set in the future, which takes place inside of a game that simulates nature. The religious scholar James Carse divided games into two types: “A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.” One has temporal boundaries, the other eliminates them; one is defined externally by “world time,” the other defines time internally through the gameplay. Now the world outside of the computer begins to look finite: the passage of time appears as a form of energy that is progressively being dispersed, and when it has been exhausted, the game is over

Trust and public sector work:How public service motivation helps explain multi-level trust relations

This chapter explores the relationship between Public Service Motivation (PSM) and trust within public organisations. It provides an overview of the existing literature, structuring this around the interpersonal, intergroup, and organisational levels of analysis. The review points to a reciprocal relationship between trust and PSM, highlighting shared theoretical foundations and empirical insights across these two concepts, such as the importance of aligned values and common ground. The challenges and barriers in cultivating PSM and trust are considered within the context of contemporary public sector work, and avenues for further research outlined, namely that of cross-level trickle effects

Fuzzy Logic-based Enhanced Edge Server Selection for Hierarchical Federated Learning

—In the rapidly evolving landscape of federated learning (FL), hierarchical architectures are pivotal for improving computational efficiency and safeguarding data privacy. A key challenge in this research area is the optimal selection of edge servers, crucial for executing distributed learning tasks across multiple clients and servers efficiently. Traditional selection methods falter due to their inability to dynamically handle the uncertainties in network conditions and server capabilities. To addressing this weakness, we propose a fuzzy logic based approach that optimizes edge server selection in a novel smart way, thus enhancing resource allocation by efficiently handling the unpredictable nature of network environments and servers performance. This method is integrated with a previously developed scheme for selecting an optimal subset of clients,thereby establishing a comprehensive framework that significantly boosts the performance and reliability of FL networks.The performance of our approach is validated through real world experiments and the results demonstrate its superiority over existing methods in terms of accuracy and processing tim

Worldviews, religious literacy and interfaith readiness: Bridging the gap between school and university

This briefing paper presents findings from academic research that explores the relationships between UK university students’ religious literacy, their experiences of religious education (RE) at school, and what we call their ‘interfaith learning and development’, a multidimensional concept representing students’ ability to engage with, and relate across, religion and worldview difference. This research represents the first step in exploring how different types of RE might prepare students for the challenges of university, in which they are often faced with a variety of identities different from their own. This briefing is based on data collected from a national sample of UK university as part of the 'Building Positive Relationships among University Students across Religion and Worldview Diversity' project

“I Always Knew I Was Different”:Experiences of Receiving a Diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder in Adulthood—a Meta-Ethnographic Systematic Review

A broadening of diagnostic criteria and increased awareness of autism has led to a large number of individuals whose difficulties remained undetected until adulthood. This systematic review aimed to synthesise empirical evidence of the experience of individuals who received their diagnosis of autism in adulthood. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. A meta-ethnographic approach was used to synthesise the findings. Analysis revealed two meta-themes: feeling “like an alien” and the “not guilty” verdict, each with three associated subthemes. The findings indicate the need for timely diagnosis and provision of post-diagnostic support to alleviate the mental health implications of not having a framework to understand one’s experiences and to support the process of adjustment to the diagnosis