The link among board characteristics, corporate social responsibility performance, and financial performance: Evidence from the hospitality and tourism industry

The aim of this study is twofold: to explore whether board characteristics (i.e. a sustainability committee, board independence, board diversity, and board diligence) lead to greater corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, and to test whether CSR performance enhances firms\u27 financial performance in the hospitality and tourism (H&T) industry. Data were collected from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database for the H&T firms listed there between 2011 and 2018. We employed panel data analysis, after which we ran robustness tests. The results indicated that having a CSR committee and female directors on the board are robust factors driving firms to show superior CSR performance in all dimensions, including environmental, social, and governance (ESG). Independent directors and directors\u27 diligence selectively enhance the overall CSR score and individual pillars of CSR. Investigating the relationship between CSR performance and firms\u27 financial performance did not produce a significant outcome. The findings propose a straightforward roadmap for H&T firms and policymakers to identify characteristics of CSR-friendly boards

Does investment stimulate or inhibit CSR transparency? The moderating role of CSR committee, board monitoring and CEO duality

open access articleThis study examined the potential relationship between different facets of firm investment (i.e., sales growth, R&D intensity, and total tangible and intangible assets) and CSR reporting, assurance and GRI adoption. Also, it further explored the conditions under which investing firms can encourage or discourage their CSR transparency. Our sample included 44,996 firm-year observations from 2004 to 2019 across 61 countries. Using a random-effects logistic model, our results indicate that corporate investments reduce firms’ CSR reporting and assurance tendency, which implies that a tradeoff exists between these two aspects of firm investment worldwide. Our moderation analysis outlined the contingent role of board-specific characteristics in the link between firm investment and CSR transparency. It appears that the CSR committee generates greater moderating effects on the firm investment–CSR transparency nexus than board monitoring and CEO duality. This empirical evidence also suggests several practical implications and future research agendas

Can CSR mechanisms spur GRI adoption and restore its lost value relevance?

Purpose This paper focuses exclusively on the drivers and consequences of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) adoption in sustainability reports with a particular focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR) mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach The sample includes 63 countries with 4,625 unique firms in these countries and 29,054 firm-year observations between 2002 and 2019. The empirical methodology is logistic and linear regression analyses with country and year fixed effects. Findings The findings show that CSR committees and executive CSR compensation stimulate firms' GRI adoption. Furthermore, while GRI adoption enhanced firm value in the earlier period of 2002–2010, it weakened firm value in the later period between 2011 and 2019 implying a loss of value relevance. However, the moderating effect of CSR committees and executive CSR compensation on GRI adoption has led to higher firm value in recent times. A more in-depth investigation of polluting versus non-polluting sectors and weak and strong institutional environments reveals both convergence and divergence respectively among these sub-samples. The results are robust to alternative samplings, alternative methodology and endogeneity concerns. Research limitations/implications The main limitations of the study are the binary nature of key variables, such as CSR committee, executive CSR compensation and GRI adoption, due to the availability of binary data but not continuous data. Practical implications Firms allocate substantial funds for SR and following GRI guidelines; hence, the findings guide them on how to ensure the return on this investment. Social implications Shareholders who particularly pursue socially responsible investment can shape their investment portfolios in firms that engage with sustainability reporting (SR) and GRI adoption practices. Originality/value It is not clear in the literature if CSR committees will adopt the GRI for SR because of any incentive. Thus, we examine if the CSR committee and executive CSR compensation can play a direct role in GRI adoption and play a moderating role between GRI adoption and firm value. Moreover, whether GRI adoption and its value relevance might change across periods, sectors (polluting versus non-polluting) and varying institutional environments (investor protection) are addressed in this study

Measurement of the Higgs boson inclusive and differential fiducial production cross sections in the diphoton decay channel with pp collisions at s \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

The measurements of the inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections of the Higgs boson decaying to a pair of photons are presented. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collisions data recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{−1}$. The inclusive fiducial cross section is measured to be $σ_{fid}$=73.4$^{+5.4}_{−5.3}$(stat)$^{+2.4}_{−2.2}$(syst) fb, in agreement with the standard model expectation of 75.4 ± 4.1 fb. The measurements are also performed in fiducial regions targeting different production modes and as function of several observables describing the diphoton system, the number of additional jets present in the event, and other kinematic observables. Two double differential measurements are performed. No significant deviations from the standard model expectations are observed

Measurement of the Dependence of the Hadron Production Fraction Ratios fs/fuf_s / f_u and fd/fuf_d / f_u on BB Meson Kinematic Variables in Proton-Proton Collisions at s=13TeV\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

The dependence of the ratio between the $B^0_s$ and $B^+$ hadron production fractions, $f_s/f_u$, on the transverse momentum $(p_T)$ and rapidity of the $B$ mesons is studied using the decay channels $B^0_s→J/ψϕ$ and $B^+→J/ψK^+$. The analysis uses a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment in 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $61.6  fb^{−1}$. The $f_s/f_u$ ratio is observed to depend on the $B$ $p_T$ and to be consistent with becoming asymptotically constant at large $p_T$. No rapidity dependence is observed. The ratio of the $B^0$ to $B^+$ meson production fractions, $f_d/f_u$, is also measured, for the first time in proton-proton collisions, using the $B^0→J/ψK^{*0}$ decay channel. The result is found to be within 1 standard deviation of unity and independent of $pT$ and rapidity, as expected from isospin invariance

Proton reconstruction with the CMS-TOTEM Precision Proton Spectrometer

The Precision Proton Spectrometer (PPS) of the CMS and TOTEM experiments collected 107.7 fb-1 in proton-proton (pp) collisions at the LHC at 13 TeV (Run 2). This paper describes the key features of the PPS alignment and optics calibrations, the proton reconstruction procedure, as well as the detector efficiency and the performance of the PPS simulation. The reconstruction and simulation are validated using a sample of (semi)exclusive dilepton events. The performance of PPS has proven the feasibility of continuously operating a near-beam proton spectrometer at a high luminosity hadron collider

Search for new physics in multijet events with at least one photon and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV

A search for new physics in final states consisting of at least one photon, multiple jets, and large missing transverse momentum is presented, using proton-proton collision events at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb−1, recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC from 2016 to 2018. The events are divided into mutually exclusive bins characterized by the missing transverse momentum, the number of jets, the number of b-tagged jets, and jets consistent with the presence of hadronically decaying W, Z, or Higgs bosons. The observed data are found to be consistent with the prediction from standard model processes. The results are interpreted in the context of simplified models of pair production of supersymmetric particles via strong and electroweak interactions. Depending on the details of the signal models, gluinos and squarks of masses up to 2.35 and 1.43 TeV, respectively, and electroweakinos of masses up to 1.23 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level

Measurement of the Higgs boson inclusive and differential fiducial production cross sections in the diphoton decay channel with pp collisions at s \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

The measurements of the inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections of the Higgs boson decaying to a pair of photons are presented. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collisions data recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{−1}$. The inclusive fiducial cross section is measured to be $σ_{fid}$=73.4$^{+5.4}_{−5.3}$(stat)$^{+2.4}_{−2.2}$(syst) fb, in agreement with the standard model expectation of 75.4 ± 4.1 fb. The measurements are also performed in fiducial regions targeting different production modes and as function of several observables describing the diphoton system, the number of additional jets present in the event, and other kinematic observables. Two double differential measurements are performed. No significant deviations from the standard model expectations are observed