Independent directors and organizational performance: New evidence from a meta-analytic regression analysis

This study not only revisits, from a meta-analytic perspective, the influence of firms'' boardroom independence on corporate financial performance, but also addresses the way that countries'' social and institutional contexts moderate that connection. A meta-regression covering 126 independent samples reveals that firms'' boardroom independence has a positive and negative effect on accounting and market-based measures of corporate financial performance, respectively. Further analyses reveal that while the firms'' board independence-financial performance connection is stronger in non-communitarian societies, that relationship becomes weaker in countries with greater developed mechanisms to protect the interest of minority investors. These results are robust to different model specifications and to the presence of a set of methodological control variables. Our results are of outstanding relevance for companies'' board composition processes by suggesting the way that corporations should actively re-balance the proportion of independent directors across different social and institutional contexts to ensure their financial success

Sustainability, corporate governance and organizational performance: five essays.

Esta tesis doctoral pretende contribuir en tres campos de conocimientoestrechamente vinculados: i) el gobierno corporativo; ii) la sostenibilidadempresarial; y, iii) el desempeño organizacional. Esta tesis consta de cinco estudiosde investigación, de modo que la tesis se presenta bajo el modelo de compendiode publicaciones. La tesis analiza, desde una perspectiva internacional, lainfluencia de los diferentes mecanismos de gobierno corporativo sobre eldesempeño de las empresas en materia de sostenibilidad. Además, incluye dosestudios que profundizan en el estudio de la sostenibilidad empresarial al abordarlos determinantes de la eco innovación y analizar el efecto de las certificacionesmedioambientales sobre el comportamiento medioambiental de las empresas.Esto ayudará a los directivos de las empresas a la hora de adoptar decisionesestratégicas para lograr un mejor desempeño social y medioambiental.De esta manera, el objetivo principal de la tesis es evaluar si los diferentesmecanismos y procesos de gobierno corporativo y diversas estrategiasmedioambientales proactivas permiten a las empresas realizar contribucionesespecíficas a los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODSs) de las Naciones Unidas(Schönherr, Findler y Martinuzzi, 2017). La metodología principal aplicada en estatesis es el meta-análisis y la meta-regresión. Estos enfoques brindan la oportunidadde obtener evidencias empíricas adicionales basadas en la revisión sistemática detrabajos empíricos previamente publicados sobre un campo o tema (Borenstein,Higgins y Rothstein, 2009; Lipsey y Wilson, 2001). Con ese objetivo en mente, estatesis se estructura de la siguiente manera. El primer artículo presenta el estadodel arte de la investigación sobre temas comunes en el desempeño de los negociosy el gobierno corporativo, con el fin de presentar un marco básico para el posterioranálisis de la relación entre las prácticas de buen gobierno, la sostenibilidad y eldesempeño organizacional. El segundo estudio analiza el efecto de la independenciadel consejo de administración sobre el desempeño social y ambiental de las5empresas de una muestra de más de 100.000 empresas (agrupadas en 87 artículosempíricos). El tercer estudio analiza la asociación entre el tamaño del consejo deadministración las empresas (como medida de la diversidad) y el desempeñosocial y medioambiental de las empresas. El cuarto estudio se centra en unaherramienta estratégica que promueve la sostenibilidad, la eco-innovación. Enconcreto, este capítulo pretende captar los principales determinantes de lasprácticas de eco innovación de las empresas. Finalmente, el último estudio tratade clarificar las implicaciones sobre el desempeño medioambiental de otraherramienta estratégica que promueve la sostenibilidad empresarial -lacertificación voluntaria de los sistemas de gestión ambiental -.Los principales resultados de la tesis permiten contribuir a ampliar elconocimiento actual en el campo de las siguientes maneras. En primer lugar,encontramos que la incidencia de la independencia y el tamaño de los consejosde administración influye positivamente en el desempeño social y ambiental delas empresas. Más interesante aún, encontramos que las conexiones antesmencionadas están condicionadas por moderadores tanto metodológicos comoteóricos, tales como:i) medidas de protección de los inversionistas minoritarios; ii) sistemas degobierno corporativo de los países; y, iii) indicadores de desempeño social yambiental de las empresas, entre otros. Esta conclusión concuerda con la opiniónsobre la interdependencia entre los mecanismos de gobierno corporativopropuesta por el "bundle of corporate governace"(Rediker & Seth, 1995). Ensegundo lugar, esta tesis concluye que las empresas con redes de colaboración y/omayor implicación ambiental son más propensas a la eco-innovación, enfatizandoel papel del "empuje tecnológico" como factor determinante principal,independientemente del tipo de eco-innovación analizada. Finalmente, semuestran los impactos positivos de los sistemas de gestión ambiental sobre eldesempeño ambiental, y se aborda y contextualiza el papel moderador de lasformas de medición del desempeño medioambiental de las empresas y del gradode madurez de los sistemas de gestión ambiental.This PhD dissertation aims to contribute to three knowledge fields that are closely linked: i) corporate governance; ii) business sustainability; and, iii) organizational performance. This thesis comprises five research studies, so that the dissertation is constructed under the publications compendium model. The dissertation analyze, from an international perspective, the influence of different corporate governance mechanisms on companies’ sustainability performance. Furthermore, it provides two studies that go deeper in that relationship by addressing the determinants of Eco- innovation and voluntary environmental certifications effect over Environmental performance. This will bring some help to companies’ managers at the time of adopting strategic decisions to achieve enhanced social and environmental performance. In this way, the main objective of the dissertation is to evaluate whether several corporate governance mechanisms and processes and proactive environmental strategies make it possible for companies to make specific contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Schönherr, Findler, & Martinuzzi, 2017). The main methodology applied in this thesis is the meta-analysis and the meta- regression. These approaches provide the opportunity to obtain additional empirical evidence based on the systematic review of previously published empirical works on one field or topic (Borenstein, Higgins, & Rothstein, 2009; Lipsey & Wilson, 2001). With that goal in mind, this dissertations is structured in the following way. The first article presents the state of the art of research on common issues in business performance and corporate governance, in order to present a basic framework for the subsequent analysis of the relationship between good governance practices, sustainability, and organizational performance. The second study analyses the effect the board of directors’ independence on the corporate social and environmental performance of companies of a sample of more than 100,000 firms (grouped in 87 empirical articles). The third study analyzes the association between firms’ boardroom size (i.e., diversity) on corporate social performance. The fourth study focuses on a strategic tool that promotes sustainability –eco-innovation in particular–. Specifically, this chapter aims to capture the main determinants of companies’ eco-innovation practices. Finally, the last study focuses on shedding light on the performance implications of other strategic tool that promotes sustainability –the adoption of voluntary environmental certifications on corporate environmental performance–. The main results of the dissertation allow contributing to expand the current knowledge in the field in the following ways. Firstly and foremost, we found that the incidence of board independence and size positively influences companies’ social and environmental performance. More interestingly, we found that the aforementioned connections are conditioned by both methodological and theoretical moderators such as: i) minority investors’ protection measures; ii) countries’ corporate governance systems; and, iii) corporate social and environmental performance proxies, among others. This finding is in accordance with the view that the interdependence between corporate governance mechanisms proposed by the "bundle of corporate governance". Secondly, this dissertation address that companies with collaborative networks and/or more environmental involvement are more prone to eco-innovation, emphasizing the role of "technology push" as the main group of determinants, regardless of the type of eco-innovation analyzed. Finally the positive impacts of environmental management systems on environmental performance is captured, and the moderating role of corporate environmental performance measures and environmental management certifications maturity and internalization is addressed and contextualized.<br /

Editorial letter. Sustainability accounting, accountability and disclosure in a Circular Economy

There is an urgent need to reduce the climatic and environmental impact of both human production and consumption activities, with the aim of reaching carbon neutrality, decreasing the need for resources and protecting biodiversity, thus advancing towards a fully Circular Economy (CE) (Bocken et al., 2016; Geissdoerfer et al., 2017)..

Non-financial disclosure: isomorphism effect in the face of new regulation

The purpose of this paper is to study the mimetic isomorphism process among firms in a context of expectations of further non-financial disclosure regulation. From the new institutionalism theory approach, we study the effect that the 2014/95/EU Directive transposition into the Spanish law had on 120 companies over an eight-year period and the isomorphism determined by their activity and leadership in reporting before (expectations period) and after the law enactment. Before the law, a trend to increase disclosure was observed, especially among environmentally sensible sectors and low-level reporting firms, while afterwards, the trend was reversed except for leading companies, highlighting the prevalence of the mimetic and normative isomorphism. This work deepens understanding of the adoption processes of coercive norms based on mimetic behaviors and coercive isomorphisms and helps in predicting the effect of a given norm after its announcement and approval, supporting more efficient designs for future legislation

Non-Financial Disclosure: Isomorphism Effect in the Face of New Regulation

The purpose of this paper is to study the mimetic isomorphism process among firms in a context of expectations of further non-financial disclosure regulation. From the new institutionalism theory approach, we study the effect that the 2014/95/EU Directive transposition into the Spanish law had on 120 companies over an eight-year period and the isomorphism determined by their activity and leadership in reporting before (expectations period) and after the law enactment. Before the law, a trend to increase disclosure was observed, especially among environmentally sensible sectors and low-level reporting firms, while afterwards, the trend was reversed except for leading companies, highlighting the prevalence of the mimetic and normative isomorphism. This work deepens understanding of the adoption processes of coercive norms based on mimetic behaviors and coercive isomorphisms and helps in predicting the effect of a given norm after its announcement and approval, supporting more efficient designs for future legislation

Academic research on sustainability reporting : a systematic review of the Spanish literature

En las dos últimas décadas se ha producido una creciente contribución a la contabilidad ambiental y social de la comunidad académica española e hispanoamericana, tanto en español, como en inglés —idioma dominante en la producción y difusión de este tipo de conocimiento académico especializado—. En esta extensa producción académica la relacionada con la emisión de memorias de sostenibilidad ha sido la más abundante, debido entre otros aspectos a la accesibilidad de este tipo de información voluntaria emitida por las empresas. Desde una posición por lo general periférica al núcleo central de producción del conocimiento, esta comunidad parece que ha tratado de integrarse en las principales corrientes —convencionales y alternativas— de producción y difusión de conocimiento académico, marcadas por un proceso de homogeneización. Con todo, existen grandes lagunas de conocimiento sobre la incidencia de este proceso. Tratando de aportar una contribución al respecto, este trabajo tiene como fin realizar una revisión sistemática de la literatura académica sobre memorias de sostenibilidad llevada a cabo en español en las últimas décadas. El estudio constata un desarrollo de la producción académica dominado por trabajos descriptivos, positivistas, publicados por autores con filiación académica en universidades españolas y en revistas mayoritariamente ajenas al ámbito contable.In the last two decades there has been a growing contribution to environmental and social accounting from the Spanish and Latin American academic community, both in Spanish and in English - the dominant language in the production and dissemination of this type of specialised academic knowledge. In this extensive academic production, the one related to the issuing of sustainability reports has been the most abundant, due, among other aspects, to the accessibility of this type of voluntary information issued by companies. From a position that is generally peripheral to the central core of knowledge production, this research community seems to have tried to integrate itself into the main trends - conventional and alternative - of academic knowledge production and dissemination, marked by a process of homogenisation. However, there are major gaps in knowledge about the impact of this process. In an attempt to make a contribution in this respect, the aim of this paper is to carry out a systematic review of the academic literature on sustainability reporting carried out in Spanish in recent decades. The study reveals a development of academic production dominated by descriptive, positivist works, published by authors with academic affiliation in Spanish universities and in journals mostly outside the accounting field

Desarrollo de informes de sostenibilidad para explotaciones agropecuarias del País Vasco a través del método Delphi

In recent decades, publications of sustainability reports from a variety of organisations all over the world have significantly increased. Most of these companies are large and belong to the secondary and tertiary sector. This paper uses stakeholder theory to attempt to contribute to the development of sustainability reports specifically related to farming operations. This paper also uses the Delphi methodology to collect information from different stakeholders that, in turn, represent different groups of agents within the organisations involved. The conclusions indicate a difference in the assessments from the three subgroups of experts that comprise the panel.En las últimas décadas, la divulgación de informes de sostenibilidad ha aumentado significativamente en todo el mundo. La mayoría de organizaciones que publican estas memorias son grandes empresas y pertenecen al sector secundario y terciario. Este trabajo, basándose en la teoría de los stakeholders, intenta contribuir a la elaboración de informes de sostenibilidad específicamente diseñados para explotaciones agropecuarias. Utiliza la metodología de Delphi para recabar información de los diferentes actores que representan a su vez diversos grupos de agentes en el seno de las organizaciones involucradas. Las conclusiones indican una diferencia en las evaluaciones de los 3 subgrupos de expertos que conforman el pane

Divulgación de información sobre corrupción: empresas del IBEX 35

El interés por la relación existente entre la corrupción y el sector privado se ha incrementado en los últimos tiempos. El presente trabajo pretende estudiar este asunto con efectos sociales desde una doble perspectiva; por una parte, conocer la realidad actual de la divulgación sobre corrupción en las empresas españolas del Ibex 35 para, posteriormente, tratar de analizar cuáles son las motivaciones subyacentes de tales prácticas y las posibles implicaciones en la gestión interna. Para alcanzar este objetivo, inicialmente realizamos un análisis exploratorio de la información relativa a la corrupción emitida por las empresas del Ibex 35 en sus memorias de sostenibilidad y, posteriormente, –basándonos en la Teoría de la Legitimidad– realizamos una entrevista en profundidad con un ejecutivo responsable de la RSC, con el objetivo de detectar las motivaciones y las implicaciones en la gestión. Las conclusiones alcanzadas son: en primer lugar, la información sobre corrupción aportada por las empresas se puede concretar en tres aspectos generales (política contra la corrupción, auditorías y sistemas de control, y los mecanismos de implementación). En segundo lugar, hemos identificado tres clusters en las empresas, destacando en este agrupamiento por su particular comportamiento, la compañía Telefónica. Por último, al analizar el caso de esta compañía, hemos observado cómo pretende mantener un nivel alto de legitimidad; para ello, intenta cumplir con las normas socialmente establecidas, y emplea la divulgación para continuar con su estatus de “empresa legítima”, e intenta generar valor y confianza. Sin embargo, los procedimientos en relación a la gestión de la corrupción parecen no haber alcanzado el nivel de concreción que en la actualidad se les exige.Interest in the relationship between corruption and the private sector has increased in recent times. This paper aims to explore this issue with social effects from a double perspective: on one hand, knowing the reality of the disclosure of corruption in the IBEX 35 Spanish companies, and later try to analyze what are the underlying motivations for such practices and possible implications for internal management. To achieve this goal, initially conducted an exploratory analysis of information on corruption issued by the Ibex 35 companies in their sustainability reports and then –based on the Legitimacy Theory– conducted an in depth interview with a person responsible for CSR, in order to detect the motivations and implications in management. The conclusions reached are: firstly, the information on corruption provided by the companies can specify in three general aspects (anti-corruption policy, audit and control systems, and mechanisms of implementation). Secondly, we have identified three clusters in the companies, highlighting the company Telefonica because of it particular behaviour. Lastly, when analyzing the case of this company, we have seen how it intends to maintain a high level of legitimacy, for it attempts to comply with rules socially constructed, and used the disclosure to continue its status as a “legitimate business” and try to create value and confidence. However, the procedures relating to the management of corruption not seem to have reached the level of specificity that is currently required