A quantitative study into perceptions and attitudes of corporate social responsibility and sustainability developments in international shipping

In recent decades the international community has demonstrated a growing concern and tendency to halt adverse environmental impacts generated by business activities. Among a plethora of regulatory initiatives and collaborations, the 2030 Agenda, and incorporated 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), represent United Nations recent remarkable development toward this direction. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), as the United Nations (UNs) specialized Agency to deal with safety at sea and protection of the marine environment has been, actively, engaged and harmonized its strategy with global sustainability mandates. Similarly, a great deal of research and motivation has been placed on corporate social responsibility (CSR), as a business operating model that goes beyond regulatory compliance and integrates sustainability challenges. In view of the limited amount of related research in the tanker and dry bulk sector, the purpose of this paper is to investigate and provide a better understanding against perceptions and attitudes of CSR and sustainability in shipping. Research data collected via a questionnaire survey conducted in 50 shipping companies, based on 14 countries worldwide and managing tankers and/or dry bulk carrier ships. Hence, Chi-square test of independence and Spearman’s correlation coefficient measures are employed to test the statistical significance and strength of association between selected variables, verifying, thus, our formulated hypotheses. Findings show that shipping companies perceive CSR as a voluntary and beyond regulatory compliance businesses approach that, furthermore, shares current sustainability aspects. Moreover, shipping companies have been, increasingly, integrating into their safety management system (SMS) provisions of CSR and sustainability principles, while, at the same time, seek to remain compliant with statutory maritime legislation. However, certification against an official CSR Standard and, subsequent, adoption of standardized CSR measurement and reporting methods, has not yet been the case in shipping

Recent Developments and Trends in Accounting Information Systems

This study examines the relationship between management accounting and integrated information systems by investigating the existing literature on the subject. The current research has been uncovered, classified and interpreted in order to provide an understandable illustration of the findings of previous studies and to show in what aspects more research is required. This paper also provides a new theoretical framework which enables a structured classification of the reviewed literature

Productivity, Product Differentiation And Profitability In The Greek Chemical Industry: An Empirical Analysis, 1991 And 2001

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the profitability of the firm and its R&D expenditures. We separate R&D expenditures in two main categories, R&D that focuses on the product differentiation and R&D that concerns improvements in production process. The latter leads to more efficient production, which can be measured by labour productivity. We estimate our model using cross section analysis and test the significance of each one of rhe R&D expenditures in firms profitability. Our model was applied to the Greek chemical industry, for a data set of 124 enterprises, in two distinct years, 1991 and 2001. Our findings support that the role of productivity is growing within time

Capital Structure, Corporate Governance, Equity Ownership and Their Impact on Firms’ Profitability and Effectiveness in the Energy Sector

This paper aimed to research the interrelation between capital structure, corporate governance, equity ownership, and how they affect firm performance. The sample used consisted of 10 leading-energy-sector companies traded in the NYSE, most of which rank among the largest companies in the world by market capitalization, while the US-based ones are also Fortune 500 companies. Over the eleven-year period examined, from 2009 to 2019, a sampling frame of 110 data series was gathered and analyzed using panel data methodologies. The impact of the key parameters of capital structure, corporate governance, and equity ownership was tested using regression analysis (panel data method) on firm performance, measured by profitability. Our results support a significant relation among major capital structure and corporate governance parameters and firm performance, whereas no evidence was found to support a significant impact of equity ownership on the dependent variable found ascertained. Furthermore, our findings support that in our sample firms, pecking order and agency cost theories play an important role in the financing of these firms, while static trade and irrelevance theory find no support

Capital Structure, Corporate Governance, Equity Ownership and Their Impact on Firms’ Profitability and Effectiveness in the Energy Sector

This paper aimed to research the interrelation between capital structure, corporate governance, equity ownership, and how they affect firm performance. The sample used consisted of 10 leading-energy-sector companies traded in the NYSE, most of which rank among the largest companies in the world by market capitalization, while the US-based ones are also Fortune 500 companies. Over the eleven-year period examined, from 2009 to 2019, a sampling frame of 110 data series was gathered and analyzed using panel data methodologies. The impact of the key parameters of capital structure, corporate governance, and equity ownership was tested using regression analysis (panel data method) on firm performance, measured by profitability. Our results support a significant relation among major capital structure and corporate governance parameters and firm performance, whereas no evidence was found to support a significant impact of equity ownership on the dependent variable found ascertained. Furthermore, our findings support that in our sample firms, pecking order and agency cost theories play an important role in the financing of these firms, while static trade and irrelevance theory find no support