The 2030 Agenda in local entities: Does gender matter in reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals?

This study analyses the influence of the gender of elected officials on the level of disclosure of information about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by Spanish local governments, using a binary gender classification (man/woman). The results obtained from the websites of 102 municipalities from 2016 to 2021 reveal that the fact that the mayor is a woman has a positive and significant effect on the disclosure of SDG information, while the effect of the gender diversity of the councillors is positive, but not significant. Furthermore, the tendency to disclose SDG information is higher in those municipalities led by a woman with a higher percentage of women councillorsXunta de Galicia [Grant/Award Number: 2020 GPC GI-2016]S

Assurance of corporate social responsibility reports:Does it reduce decoupling practices?

Recent research shows the existence of a selective corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure strategy that creates a gap between CSR disclosure and actual performance. These CSR decoupling practices compromise the credibility of CSR reports and have triggered a demand for the adoption of credibility enhancement mechanisms, such as adherence to the global reporting initiative (GRI) reporting guidelines, and the external assurance of CSR reports. The effectiveness of such mechanisms is not clear, however. This paper draws on legitimacy theory and addresses the issue of symbolic versus substantive use of assurance, and compliance with GRI reporting standards, by analysing their effect on CSR decoupling using an international sample of 1,939 companies (15,219 observations from 2002 to 2017). Analysis of a sub-sample of 708 firms (3,730 observations from 2011 to 2017) also shows that the application of GRI guidelines and the specific characteristics of the assurance provider—accountant, experience and specialisation—reduce CSR decoupling practices. The results provide researchers, managers, assurance providers, investors, stakeholders and regulators with additional insight into the value of the external assurance of sustainability reports and have important managerial and policy implications

Employee-Related Disclosure: A Bibliometric Review

Academic research specifically focused on employee-related disclosure practices is needed to enhance understanding on CSR reporting. This paper aims to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art in research on employee-related disclosure, analyzing the characteristics of the scientific production on this topic. A bibliometric analysis is conducted on the papers specifically focused on employee-related disclosure published from 2000 to 2019 in journals indexed on the Web of Science database. The findings show that relatively few studies specifically focused on employee-related disclosure have been published over the last two decades (63 papers). Most articles were published during the last 8 years (93.6%), although the highest interest in the study of employee-related disclosure among scholars concentrates on a short period around 2017. Six journals concentrate 31.75% of the publications on the subject. Most papers are empirical studies, using the content analysis technique to analyze corporate reports. Papers are spread over three research subtopics: (1) extent, quality and drivers of human resource disclosures, (2) occupational health and safety disclosures, human rights disclosures and employee-related disclosures as a legitimization tool, and (3) diversity reporting. In all research subtopics, most of the papers have been published during the last four years, confirming that employee-related disclosure is a topic of current interest to researchers. The studies found that the overall level of employee-related disclosure is low, with an increasing or irregular tendency over time. Furthermore, not all items/categories got the same attention by firms. It can be concluded that this research subject is still far from reaching the level of research on environmental reporting and important issues remain to be resolved, both theoretically and empiricallyThis research was funded by Xunta de Galicia, grant number GI-2016 (Proxecto de Investigación Consolidación 2020 GPC GI-2016 -Creación de valor sostenible en las organizaciones—CVSO)S

La respuesta de las entidades públicas al desafío del desarrollo sostenible: el papel de los indicadores de gestión ambiental

Texto dispoñible en galego e españolPartindo da premisa de que o sector público non pode manterse alleo á crecente preocupación pola conservación do medio natural que se evidencia na sociedade e, en consecuencia, debe incorpora-la consideración das variables ambientais no seu ámbito de decisión (analizando as repercusións e os impactos que teñen sobre a contorna as actividades realizadas polas propias entidades públicas e favorecendo e impulsando a adopción por parte das empresas privadas de actuacións compatibles coa protección e conservación da contorna), o presente artigo ten como obxectivo presentar algunhas ideas acerca da problemática relacionada coa dimensión ambiental da actuación das entidades públicas e do papel que os indicadores de xestión ambiental poden desempeñar como instrumentos de apoio a aquelaPublic sector can not ignore the growing social preoccupation about protection and conservation of the environment. Accordingly, it is necessary that public entities have to consider environmental variables in their decision-making process in order to analyze and monitor the environmental consequences of their activities and to promote the adoption by private organizations of decisions and politics that are compatible with the environment protection. The objective of this paper is to present and discuss some ideas about the different initiatives and techniques that public entities could implement to manage environmental issues. In short, our attention is fo-cused in the study of the role that the environmental management indicators could play in order to monitor the degree of efficiency and effectiveness with which public entities carry out their ac-tivities from the environmental point of view and to support the environmental management and to evaluate the environmental consequences of management decisionsPartiendo de la premisa de que el sector público no puede mantenerse ajeno a la creciente preocupación por la conservación del medio ambiente que se evidencia en la sociedad y, en consecuencia, debe incorporar la consideración de las variables ambientales en su ámbito de decisión (analizando las repercusiones y los impactos que tienen sobre el entorno las actividades realiza-das por las propias entidades públicas y favoreciendo e impulsando la adopción por parte de las empresas privadas de actuaciones compatibles con la protección y conservación del entorno), el presente artículo tiene como objetivo plantear algunas ideas acerca de la problemática relacionada con la dimensión ambiental de la actuación de las entidades públicas y el papel que los indicadores de gestión ambiental pueden desempeñar como instrumentos de apoyo a aquéllaS

El logro del value for money en la gestión pública: consideraciones en torno a los indicadores de eficiencia, eficacia y economía

Entre los instrumentos y técnicas de gestión privada que han sido objeto de atención prioritaria por parte de la literatura sobre el tema, al considerar que su implantación en el sector público podría favorecer el cambio hacia la Nueva Gestión Pública se encuentran los indicadores de gestión o medidas de rendimiento de diversa índole que permitan evaluar las distintas actividades y políticas llevadas a cabo por una entidad a lo largo del tiempo. Sin embargo, dentro de dicho conjunto de indicadores el foco de atención prioritaria de los investigadores y organismos internacionales interesados en el tema así como el trabajo de los gestores públicos se han centrado en el desarrollo de los indicadores de eficiencia, eficacia y economía, cuyo uso se ha universalizado como elementos básicos del value for money estrechamente vinculados a los distintos tipos de responsabilidad pública. En esta línea, el objetivo del presente trabajo es profundizar en las características de los indicadores diseñados para medir las tres E's de la actuación de las entidades públicas (eficiencia, eficacia y economía) así como la problemática asociada a su diseño y definición.Among the private management instruments and techniques that have been the subject of great attention by the literature about this issue, considering that their implantation in the public sector could favor the change towards New Public Management, we find various kinds of management indices or efficiency measures that allow for the evaluation of the different activities and policies realized by an entity over time. Nevertheless, among this set of indices, the main focus of attention of researchers and international organs interested in the issue, as well as the work of public managers have focused on the development of efficiency, efficacy and economic indices, whose use has become widespread as basic elements of the value for money, closely linked up with the different kinds of public responsability. In accordance with this line, this study aims to look into the characteristics of the indices designed for measuring the three E's of public entities' performance (efficiency, efficacy and economy) as well as the problematics associated with their design and definition

Women leaders and female same-sex groups: the same 2030 Agenda objectives along different roads

Based on a sample of 4,089 multinational companies over the period 2015–2018, this study analyses the role that women leaders play in relation to the implementation of sustainability strategies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and whether this role depends on the proportion of female presence in management teams. The results show that the commitment to the 2030 Agenda is higher in companies with a woman as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and/or chairperson of the board of directors, as well as greater gender diversity in both, management teams and the monitoring body. However, the incongruity in the phenomenon of female leadership stereotypes hinders the existence of a complementary relationship that reinforces it. We showed that, consistent with the social role theory, prejudices act as barriers to achieve synergic effects among women in different management positionsS

Sell recommendations by analysts in response to business communication strategies concerning the Sustainable Development Goals and the SDG Compass

This paper has two main aims: firstly, to examine the effect of pessimistic (sell) recommendations made by analysts to investors on the implementation of business communication strategies in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through the adoption of the SDG Compass. Secondly, it considers the possible corrective effect produced by these strategies on analysts’ recommendations, i.e. modifying their perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an agency cost. Based on a sample of 989 international companies which disclose CSR information, obtained by merging the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Thomson Reuters databases, our analysis of the results obtained shows that the companies receiving most sell recommendations were among the first to adopt the SDG Compass in a given year or in the year immediately following it. Nevertheless, this effect is limited, because the long-term implementation of CSR strategies has a relatively trivial impact on analysts’ recommendations, since there is little likelihood of change in these strategies

The benefits of climate tech: do institutional investors affect these impacts?

info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia/ECO2013-43838-P/ES/DISCRECCIONALIDAD DIRECTIVA Y RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL CORPORATIVA: EFECTO EN LA REPUTACION Y EL COSTE DE CAPITALThis study analyses the impact of investment in climate change mitigation innovations and technologies on companies, both from a financial and reputational viewpoint, as well as in terms of their environmental performance. We also investigate the moderating effect of institutional investors on the relationship between climate change mitigation investments and firm performance, considering their presence in shareholdings and their typology. We argue that the time horizon and objectives of their investments determine the approach to the integration of environmental criteria in the companies in which they invest. The results obtained for an international sample of 38,666 observations for the period 2010–2020, indicate that investment in climate-change mitigation technologies shows an increasing evolution, focusing especially on clean technologies and, to a lesser extent, on green building. The presence of shareholding by institutional investors with a long-term time horizon and strategic objectives enhances the impact of these projects on the company's image, market value, and profitability. At the environmental level, their effects are particularly associated with the responsible management of resources, and has a limited effect on emissions. The results are robust to different methodological specifications, validating the theoretical and practical implications of this researchThis work was supported by Consejería de Educación, Junta de Castilla y León [Grant/Award Number: SA069G18]; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación [Grant/Award Number: ECO2013-43838P]; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades [Grant/Award Number: RTI2018-093423-B-I00]; Universidad de Salamanca [Grant/Award Number: USAL2017-DISAQ]; and Xunta de Galicia [Grant/Award Number: 2020 GPC GI-2016]S

Algumas reflexões sobre a necessidade de aproximar a contabilidade pública à contabilidade nacional: especial referência a Portugal e Espanha

Dada a relação de dependência existente entre a contabilidade nacional e a contabilidade pública, a elaboração da informação macroeconómica de acordo com os critérios estabelecidos pelo SEC 95 requer, por sua vez, que a informação que proporciona a contabilidade pública também seja elaborada em consonância com estes critérios. Tal pressupõe a necessidade de se introduzirem alterações nos sistemas de contabilidade pública dos distintos países da União Europeia a fim de incorporar os critérios do SEC 95 e favorecer a comparabilidade da informação. O presente trabalho faz uma especial referência a Portugal e Espanha.The dependence relationship between national accounting and public accounting, the elaboration of the macroeconomic information in accordance with ESA 95 requires, in turn, that the information that provides the public accounting is also elaborated in consonance with these requirements. This supposes the need of to introduce changes in public accounting systems of the European Union countries in order to incorporate the requirements of ESA 95 and favour information comparability. The aim of this paper is to analyse the present situation in Portugal and Spain

La integración de los ODS en la formación inicial de futuros directivos mediante la metodología del estudio de casos y una prueba piloto basada en el aprendizaje-servicio

Memoria ID2022-094. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2022-2023