Performance Measurement and Optimization of Resource Allocation in a Health Care System

Author name used in this publication: Artie W. Ngpublished_fina

World Conference on Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship CSR Practice and Sustainable Business Performance: Evidence from the Global Financial Centre of China

AbstractThe Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (Hong Kong) has long been positioned not only as an international capital market but also as the global financial centre for China. To position themselves for overseas expansions, major enterprises in China are now listed with the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and adopt internationally accepted corporate practices. In particular, there have been emphases by multinationals on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices for the potential benefits of enhanced business performance as demonstrated in prior studies. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between business performance and CSR practices among listed companies in Hong Kong. We have investigated and made comparisons between two groups of listed companies in Hong Kong -- those included in the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability index and the other major ones in Hong Kong not included in the Index. It is found that there is a significant difference between the two groups in the sample. A direct association between adoption of CSR practice and sustainable business performance in financial aspects is observed over an extended period of time. However, we argue that there is not yet sufficient disclosure in relation to the quality of their overall CSR and sustainability performance

A "cap and invest" strategy for managing the intergenerational burden of financing energy transitions

The investment in sustainable energy required to meet the climate change commitments made by 190 countries signatory to the 2015 Paris Accord is in the order of $100 trillion over the next 2 decades. Reducing carbon emissions requires a financing strategy for managing risk that is an intergenerational burden. This paper proposes a "cap and invest" strategy for building up the necessary infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions consistent with national commitments. "Cap and invest" is in sharp contrast to "cap and trade." An economy-wide general environmental tax (GET) on consumption is the basis for financing the energy transition. The GET creates a large "pool of capital" to de-risk investment in emerging low-carbon solutions in support of an energy infrastructure resilient to the threat of climate change. Innovation in governance is an integral part of the policy to leverage the capital markets through public-private partnership in green financing

Sustainable energy policy for Asia: Mitigating systemic hurdles in a highly dense city

Greenhouse gas emission (GHG) has been increasingly a sensitive issue that is across border and impacting global public interests. While the use of renewable energy technology is perceived as a means to enable delivery of emission-free solutions, its penetration into the energy market has not been timely and significant enough as projected in prior studies. This article aims to illustrate some of the critical hurdles as the policy makers start formulating environmentally friendly energy consumption means for the public in Asian economies. In particular, through analyzing the characteristics in the case of Hong Kong, the authors unveil the challenges for this highly dense city to reach a landscape of alternative energy resources for its transition into a sustainable economy. Education and engagement with the public about a sustainable future, alignment of stakeholders' economic interests and absorption capacity of emerging technologies are argued as the three main challenges and initiatives in mitigating the underlying systemic hurdles that remain to be overcome. Observing the current responses to the externalities by the policy makers in Hong Kong, this study articulates the critical challenges to mitigate these specific systemic hurdles embedded in the existing infrastructure of a highly dense city. Possible mitigating measures to enable deployment of integrative sustainable energy solutions in dealing with climate change are discussed.Renewable energy Sustainability Public policy Asia Hong Kong Absorption capacity

Enforcing Double Materiality in Global Sustainability Reporting for Developing Economies: Reflection on Ghana’s Oil Exploration and Mining Sectors

While the development of globally accepted sustainability reporting standards initiated by the IFRS Foundation has largely engaged stakeholders in developed economies, the stakes for developing economies could be compromised without an explicit consideration of their sustainability issues within this standard-setting framework. This paper examines the need to develop global sustainability reporting standards based on the principle of double materiality to warrant that both the target towards carbon net-zero by 2050 under the Paris Agreement and the subsequent promise to accelerate under COP26 are achieved with efficacy. Adopting a multiple-case study approach, this paper reveals the limitations of existing sustainability reporting in the absence of double materiality in a developing economy. Specifically, the analyses reveal limited climate-related disclosures among selected cases in Ghana. Available disclosures connote increasing GHG emissions over the period under consideration. This study also shows weak disclosure comparability across the companies following similar reporting standards. Overall, it argues that enforcement of double materiality to embrace sustainability issues impacting both developed and developing economies is necessary for an effective transformation towards a low-carbon global economy. It contributes to the existing body of knowledge by elucidating double materiality as a pertinent interdisciplinary concept and devising a holistic framework for the emerging global sustainability reporting system to underscore governance accountability for external costs to the environment. Global sustainability reporting standards with a myopic focus on conventional financial matters in the absence of double materiality remain a disclosure system with implausible impact on climate change