Activity Based Costing around the World: Adoption, Implementation, Outcomes and Criticism

The purpose of this article is to provide systematic and critical literature review of studies related to activity-based costing around the world. The literature review covers articles from developed and developing countries and is organised to provide insights on four major aspects of ABC adoption, implementation, outcomes and criticism. The adoption of ABC is generally greater in developed countries as compared to developing countries. Among the key benefits of using ABC include better product costing that ultimately increases the profitability and competitiveness of a company. Using ABC results in greater transparency of costs which have implications for planning, controlling and decision making. Successful implementation of ABC is to deal effectively with the specific behavioral, technical and organizational factors. Most of the problems found in the literature were related to the practical, technical and system difficulties of ABC. Due to cultural and organizational issues many companies fail as techniques need modification when used in different settings

The Governance of Corporate Sustainability in the Middle East: Preliminary Insights

This paper explores the extent to which companies incorporate best practices for the governance of sustainability in the Middle East. The empirical content in this paper is based on the analysis of company’s disclosures in the annual and sustainability reports of fifteen companies from the Middle East that are listed in the S&P/Hawkamah Pan Arab ESG Index. The research presented in this paper shed the light on some of the practices currently being employed in Middle Eastern companies to govern and manage their sustainability strategies. This study found that top Middle Eastern companies are catching up the global best practices in incorporating sustainability into some structures and processes. However, sustainability governance structures and processes where middle eastern companies are lagging include sustainability committee at board-level, sustainability related mission, vision and values, sustainability assurance, sustainability related trainings and separate sustainability department. In addition, this paper provide several illustrations of how top middle eastern companies are exhibiting sustainability governance structures and processes in their sustainability reports. This information can be used to better understand the state of play of sustainability governance in the middle east and can inform the policy makers for the possibility of regulation in this area. This research is equally beneficial for companies and managers in benchmarking their practices against sustainability leaders and to learn how to embed sustainability into their business practices.   &nbsp

Corporate Sustainability Performance and Firm Value through Investment Efficiency

This study investigates the influence of corporate sustainability performance (CSP) on firm value through investment efficiency. By applying a panel regression analysis using a large sample of 26,838 firm-year observations that represent 9218 Asian listed companies over the period of 2012–2019, we illustrate that high corporate sustainability performance (CSP) increases investment efficiency. This result coincides with both stakeholder theory and information asymmetry theory where economic, environmental, social, and governance involvements play a fundamental role in improving firm value. Our results further show that the social dimension significantly improves investment decisions, unlike dimensions associated with environment and governance, which show no significant effect on investment efficiency. These insights about the impact of CSP on investment decisions will be useful to stakeholders, decision-makers, policymakers, as well as academics to improve their awareness of the importance of corporate sustainability practices. Particularly, the positive relationship between the social dimension of CSP and investment efficiency should motivate managers to improve their corporate social responsibility policy formation and implementation, and the management of investment portfolios in enhancing firm value

Determinants of Corporate Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting among Asian Firms

Departing from previous studies, which have mostly focused on Western countries, our work investigates the determinants of the corporate environment, social and governance (ESG) reporting among Asian firms. Examining Asian public listed firms from 2005 to 2017, our cross-sectional model results indicate that firm characteristics (economic performance, profitability, leverage and size) are found to disclose additional ESG information. The outcome is consistent with the legitimacy theory, which posits that firms provide higher ESG reporting to legitimize and justify the firm’s continuous existence. The findings are important for firms, stakeholders and policymakers. While firms may formulate ways to improve ESG reporting to compete in the international market, the stakeholders may pressure firms to disclose more information on ESG and policymakers to designalegal framework on ESG that suits firms in Asia

Corporate Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability Performance Transformation through ESG Disclosure

Within the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure–corporate sustainability performance (economic, environmental and social; EES) framework, our empirical analysis examined the impact of ESG information disclosure on EES sustainability performance among Asian firms from 2005 to 2017. The positive ESG disclosure–EES sustainability performance relationship found in this study provides evidence that disclosing the implementation of environment and social strategies within an effective system of corporate governance in the organization strengthens corporate sustainability performance. The results also show that environmental performance and social performance are significantly positively related to economic sustainable performance, indicating that the corporation’s economic value and creating value for society are interdependent. In line with the stakeholder theory and the shared value theory, ESG information disclosure to all stakeholders is an important factor in creating a competitive advantage for enhancing corporate sustainability performance

Corporate Sustainability Performance and Firm Value through Investment Efficiency

This study investigates the influence of corporate sustainability performance (CSP) on firm value through investment efficiency. By applying a panel regression analysis using a large sample of 26,838 firm-year observations that represent 9218 Asian listed companies over the period of 2012–2019, we illustrate that high corporate sustainability performance (CSP) increases investment efficiency. This result coincides with both stakeholder theory and information asymmetry theory where economic, environmental, social, and governance involvements play a fundamental role in improving firm value. Our results further show that the social dimension significantly improves investment decisions, unlike dimensions associated with environment and governance, which show no significant effect on investment efficiency. These insights about the impact of CSP on investment decisions will be useful to stakeholders, decision-makers, policymakers, as well as academics to improve their awareness of the importance of corporate sustainability practices. Particularly, the positive relationship between the social dimension of CSP and investment efficiency should motivate managers to improve their corporate social responsibility policy formation and implementation, and the management of investment portfolios in enhancing firm value

The Role of Sustainability Reporting and Governance in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals: An International Investigation

This article explores the role of sustainability reporting and governance in achieving national sustainable development goals. Sustainable development goals focus on economic, societal, and environmental issues and have been set up to address issues regarding environmental degradation, global imbalances, economic instability, social instability, and political instability. Using data from 42 countries over six years, the authors apply panel regression techniques and find a positive relationship between national governance and sustainability reporting; sustainability reporting and national sustainable development goals; sustainability governance and sustainability reporting. We found a negative relationship between national governance and sustainable development goals. Sustainability reporting is also found to mediate between national governance and sustainable development goals. Thus, this paper contributes to the body of existing knowledge by highlighting the role of governance and sustainability reporting in the achievement of sustainable development goals. The findings have several implications for governing bodies and decision-makers in government, including changing the governance model and taking strict actions against companies that fail to focus their attention on sustainability reporting. The findings involve society, business, and other stakeholders in sustainability reporting measures to achieve sustainable development goals