social responsibility in the electricity sector

In recent years, corporate social responsibility has become a key factor in business management. Thus, new principles and business practices have emerged to ensure sustainable development, taking into account the environmental and social problems. In this respect, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the voluntary information disclosure by the electricity sector´s companies in their corporate social responsibility reports. Given that the main impacts of electrical energy production affects the environment, the analysis of an international sample composed of 40 electrical corporations reveals that sector improvements in environmental performance are superior to the economic and social developmentEn los últimos años, la responsabilidad social corporativa se ha convertido en un factor clave de la gestión empresarial. Así, han surgido nuevos principios y prácticas empresariales encaminadas a procurar el desarrollo sostenible atendiendo a la problemática medioambiental y social. En este sentido, el objetivo del trabajo es analizar la información voluntaria que divulgan las organizaciones del sector eléctrico en las memorias de responsabilidad social corporativa. Dado que las principales repercusiones de la producción de energía eléctrica afectan al medioambiente, el análisis realizado a una muestra de carácter internacional compuesta por 40 corporaciones eléctricas revela que las mejoras del sector en el desempeño ambiental son superiores al económico y socia

Determinantes de la información sostenible divulgada por las empresas de electricidad: un estudio internacional / Determining factors of sustainable information disseminated by electric power companies: an international study

Resumen El objetivo del artículo es examinar los factores que afectan a la información voluntaria suministrada por las organizaciones del sector eléctrico en sus memorias de sostenibilidad. La metodología utilizada consiste en aplicar un modelo de regresión Tobit, para medir la influencia de las variables independientes sobre un indicador de sostenibilidad. La muestra objeto de estudio la constituyen 40 corporaciones eléctricas, fundamentalmente europeas y americanas, incluidas en el listado de la Global Reporting Initiative. Los resultados sugieren que; la rentabilidad, la participación en el mercado y la evaluación de la información emitida, influyen en la información que figura en las memorias de sostenibilidad.The aim of this article is to examine factors affecting to the voluntary information that electricity sector organizations provide in their sustainability reports. The methodology involves the application of Tobit regression model to measure the influence of independent variables on an indicator of sustainability. The study sample consists of 40 electrical corporations, mainly European and American, including in the list of the Global Reporting Initiative. The results revealed that the market share, return on investment and the evaluation of the information are variables that influence, significantly, on the information contained in sustainability reports

Determinantes da divulgação de responsabilidade social corporativa no setor financeiro espanhol

Firms have chosen to make known their commitment with sustainable economic development as a result of the rejection of those organizations with behaviors that violate human rights, or cause environmental damage. It's a study about the disclosure of social responsibility presented by credit institutions. We seek to identify the factors that determine the supply of information. The results of the study show that reports on sustainability of the entities analyzed contain a high volume of information, on emphasizing the economic and social aspects. Determinants, trading on the stock market, type of entity and implementation of the framework GRI3 are the variables that are more related to the publication of information on corporate social responsibility. The research findings are important in the context of "Spanish financial crisis".Las empresas han optado dar a conocer su compromiso con el desarrollo económico sostenible, como resultado del rechazo a aquellas organizaciones con conductas que atentan contra los derechos humanos o, bien provocan daños medioambientales. En el presente trabajo se realiza un estudio acerca de la divulgación de información sobre responsabilidad social que presentan las entidades de crédito y de los factores que determinan este suministro de información. Los resultados del trabajo muestran que las memorias sobre sostenibilidad de las entidades analizadas contienen un volumen elevado de información, destacando la relativa a aspectos económicos y sociales. La cotización en el mercado de valores, tipo de entidad y la aplicación del marco de recomendaciones GRI3 son las variables que están más relacionadas con la publicación de información sobre responsabilidad social corporativa. Los hallazgos de la investigación son importantes en el marco de la crisis del sector financiero español.As empresas têm optado por dar a conhecer o seu compromisso com o desenvolvimento econômico sustentável, como resultado da rejeição destas organizações, com comportamentos que violam os direitos humanos, ou causar danos ambientais. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre a divulgação da responsabilidade social apresentados por instituições de crédito. Procuramos identificar os fatores que determinam o fornecimento de informações. Os resultados do estudo mostram que os relatórios sobre sustentabilidade das entidades analisadas contêm um grande volume de informações, em enfatizando os aspectos econômicos e sociais. A listagem na bolsa de valores, tipo de entidade e implementação das GRI3 são as variáveis que estão mais relacionadas com a publicação de informações sobre responsabilidade social corporativa. Os resultados da pesquisa são importantes no contexto de crise "do sector financeiro espanhol

A indústria farmacêutica diante a demanda de responsabilidade social corporativa

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the pharmaceutical industry. This is due to the impact of CSR on the society’s quality of life, along with the criticism regarding the economic interests of the industry. From a Spanish context, this article pursues a twofold objective. Firstly, we undertook to analyze the information published by pharmaceutical companies in their sustainability reports. Secondly, we examined the determinants of disclosure of CSR-related information by these companies. The results indicate that pharmaceutical companies in Spain are highly committed to sustainable economic development – especially in the case of the most profitable and experienced pharmaceutical companies – and they prepare their sustainability reports in pursuance of the Global Reporting Initiative.En los últimos años ha aumentado el interés por la responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) en la industria farmacéutica. Esto se debe a su impacto en la calidad de vida de la sociedad, junto con las críticas recibidas en relación con los intereses económicos de la industria. Desde un contexto español, este artículo tiene un doble objetivo. En primer lugar, analizar la información que publican las empresas farmacéuticas en sus informes de sostenibilidad. En segundo lugar, examinar factores determinantes de la divulgación de información sobre RSC que realizan estas empresas. Los resultados obtenidos indican que, en España, las empresas farmacéuticas se muestran muy comprometidas con el desarrollo económico sostenible, especialmente en el caso de las farmacéuticas más rentables, con más experiencia, y que elaboran sus informes de sostenibilidad conforme a la Global Reporting Initiative.  Este artigo tem como finalidade descrever, na abordagem dos sistemas de custos, os processos de distribuição de custos utilizados nas grandes empresas fornecedoras de medicamentos no estado de Mérida, concentradas em sua maioria na cidade de Alberto Adriani, e suas consequências na tomada de decisões nas operações. Se desenvolveu uma pesquisa descritiva, em campo, baseada num plano não experimental de um estudo de caso. Se conclui que o cálculo da rentabilidade por lojas, baseado do sistema de custos totais utilizado por estas empresas, é arbitrário devido à distribuição de gastos indiretos, com base no nível das vendas por unidades físicas partindo da unidade central à loja, o qual distorce as utilidades. Recomenda-se, para fins externos, distribuir os custos de acordo com bases geradoras observáveis ou geradoras de custos que meçam o consumo de recursos ou dos esforços da unidade central sobre uma loja, baseado no sistema de custeio absorvente. Para avaliar internamente a gestão das lojas, recomenda-se não colocar gastos indiretos, segundo exposto no sistema de custeio direto

Análisis de las memorias de sostenibilidad de la banca internacional

La imagen del sector bancario ha quedado dañada con la última crisis financiera sufrida a nivel global, siendo patente la desconfianza generada hacia las entidades financieras por parte de los diferentes stakeholders. La responsabilidad social corporativa, y particularmente la divulgación del desempeño socialmente responsable, es una herramienta al servicio de la recuperación de la imagen y confianza en el sector. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar la divulgación de información sobre responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) en el sector bancario internacional mediante el análisis de contenido de las memorias de sostenibilidad y la estimación de un índice de responsabilidad global. El estudio concluye que la información divulgada es heterogénea, siendo la dimensión económica la más divulgada, seguida del enfoque de gestión, para situarse como las dimensiones con menor presencia en las memorias de sostenibilidad, la ambiental y soci

Determinantes de la información sostenible divulgada por las empresas de electricidad: un estudio internacional

The aim of this article is to examine factors affecting to the voluntary information that electricity sector organizations provide in their sustainability reports. The methodology involves the application of Tobit regression model to measure the influence of independent variables on an indicator of sustainability. The study sample consists of 40 electrical corporations, mainly European and American, including in the list of the Global Reporting Initiative. The results revealed that the market share, return on investment and the evaluation of the information are variables that influence, significantly, on the information contained in sustainability reports.El objetivo del artículo es examinar los factores que afectan a la información voluntaria suministrada por las organizaciones del sector eléctrico en sus memorias de sostenibilidad. La metodología utilizada consiste en aplicar un modelo de regresión Tobit, para medir la influencia de las variables independientes sobre un indicador de sostenibilidad. La muestra objeto de estudio la constituyen 40 corporaciones eléctricas, fundamentalmente europeas y americanas, incluidas en el listado de la Global Reporting Initiative.Los resultados sugieren que; la rentabilidad, la participación en el mercado y la evaluación de la información emitida, influyen en la información que figura en las memorias de sostenibilidad

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Exploring determining factors of web transparency in the world’s top universities

This paper aims to analyze the online transparency of the top 100 Universities in the world and determinewhich factors influence the degree of online transparency achieved by these institutions. To this end, aglobal transparency index was developed comprising of four dimensions (“E-Information”, “E-Services”,“E-Participation” and “Navigability, Design and Accessibility”). From the analysis of the various dimen-sions, it is worth noting that universities are aware of the importance of having a web page with adequate“Navigability, Design and Accessibility”. In contrast, “E-information” is the least valued dimension dueto universities focusing their attention on the disclosure of general information rather than on morespecific issues. In addition, a multivariate regression equation was used to test the relationship betweenthe online information disclosed and a particular set of factors. As main findings, younger universities ofgreater size and which are privately funded are the ones most interested in utilizing web pages.Este trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar la transparencia online de las 100 mejores universidades del mundo y, a continuación, establecer los factores que influyen en su grado. Para este fin se ha desarrollado un índice de cuatro dimensiones de transparencia global (“E-información”, “E-Servicios”,“E-Participación” “y” “Navegabilidad, diseño y accesibilidad”). A partir del análisis de las distintas dimensiones, se puede señalar que las universidades son conscientes de la importancia de tener una página web con una adecuada “navegabilidad, diseño y accesibilidad”. En cambio, “E-información” es la dimensión menos valorada ya que las universidades centran su atención en la divulgación de información general y no en cuestiones más específicas. Además, se ha aplicado regresión multivariable para comprobar la relación entre la divulgación de información online y una serie de factores. Como resultado principal se puede destacar que aquellas universidades más nuevas, de mayor tamaño y privadas son las más interesadas en el uso de páginas web