Why won't they listen to us: Stakeholder pressure, managerial discretion and corporate social performance

Public corporations are under immense pressure from their stakeholders to improve the corporate social (including environmental) performance (CSP). But do increased stakeholder demands result in subsequent improvements in CSP? In this dissertation, I argue that stakeholder pressure is successful in enhancing the corporation's sensitivity to stakeholder issues through improvements in the stakeholder governance mechanisms - institutions that safeguard stakeholder interests and maximize stakeholder welfare - within the firm. Using advanced panel-data analysis techniques, I confirm that stakeholder pressure is successful in influencing firms to improve weaknesses in stakeholder governance mechanisms. I also introduce the role of managerial discretion in devising and influencing stakeholder governance mechanisms. I find that stakeholder pressure is less effective in improving weaknesses in stakeholder governance mechanisms in organizational and environmental contexts where managers exercise discretion. Further, stakeholder governance mechanisms partially mediate the relationship between stakeholder pressure and subsequent CSP.In the second part of the study, I focus on the practical implications of discretionary managerial spending on corporate financial performance (CFP). Nearly two decades of research investigating the CSP-CFP relationship has yielded mixed results. I propose and test a set of models that include managerial discretion contexts as moderators of this relationship. Results indicate that the CSP-CFP relationship ceases to be statistically significant when rigorous empirical testing is conducted. Finally, I re-investigate the link between CSP and CFP with a particular emphasis on the discretionary nature of CSP spending. Firms may choose to invest in CSP due to a variety of endogenous pressures, and if there is evidence of self-selection by firms to pursue social performance, omission of these antecedents of CSP from an analysis of the CSP-CFP relationship may provide inconsistent results. I employ statistical corrections for these selection model issues to re-estimate the CSP-CFP link using stakeholder pressure as a predictor of a firm's decision to engage in CSP. I find that once sample selection errors are fixed, CSP is indeed positively related to CFP. Implications, directions for future research and possible extensions are also discussed

Sustainable performance and disaster management in the oil and gas industry: An intellectual capital perspective

In the post-COVID era and amidst the ongoing Ukraine conflict, the natural resource extraction sector, particularly oil and gas, faces unprecedented challenges in maintaining its sustainability. Disasters in this sector, ranging from environmental catastrophes to operational disruptions, further exacerbate these challenges, eroding environmental integrity and aggravating social issues. These events underscore the urgency of strengthening disaster management capabilities in the oil and gas sector to safeguard against future uncertainties and sustain its operational viability. Against this context, this study aims to examine two critical facets of disaster management in the oil and gas sector. The first objective is to assess the role of intangible resources, particularly intellectual capital, in improving an organization's disaster management capabilities. Intellectual capital, encompassing human, relational, and structural capital, is posited as a key driver in managing complex and unpredictable challenges. The second objective is to investigate the role of supply chain risk management in mediating the impact of intellectual capital on disaster management. Data for this study were collected from firms in the oil and gas sector of Pakistan through a structured questionnaire Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed for data analysis. The results reveal a significant impact of intellectual capital on improving both the responsiveness and alertness aspects of disaster management. Further, supply chain risk management emerges as a crucial factor in channeling the influence of intellectual capital on disaster management effectiveness. Findings of the study not only contributes to the theoretical understanding of disaster management in the natural resource sector but also offers practical insights for industry practitioners. The novelty of this study lies in its empirical examination of the interplay between intellectual capital, supply chain risk management, and disaster management capabilities, win the context of the oil and gas sector

Hardy-Copson Type Inequalities on Time Scales for the Functions of “n” Independent Variables

The paper consists of some extensions in Hardy and Copson type inequalities on time scales. The main results are proved by using induction principle, Rules to find derivatives for composition of two functions, H¨older’s inequality and Fubini’s theorem in time scales settings. The related results and examples are also investigated in seek of applications

The Dynamics of Aerotaxis in a Simple Eukaryotic Model

In aerobic organisms, oxygen is essential for efficient energy production, and it acts as the last acceptor of the mitochondrial electron transport chain and as regulator of gene expression. However, excessive oxygen can lead to production of deleterious reactive oxygen species. Therefore, the directed migration of single cells or cell clumps from hypoxic areas toward a region of optimal oxygen concentration, named aerotaxis, can be considered an adaptive mechanism that plays a major role in biological and pathological processes. One relevant example is the development of O2 gradients when tumors grow beyond their vascular supply, leading frequently to metastasis. In higher eukaryotic organisms, aerotaxis has only recently begun to be explored, but genetically amenable model organisms suitable to dissect this process remain an unmet need. In this regard, we sought to assess whether Dictyostelium cells, which are an established model for chemotaxis and other motility processes, could sense oxygen gradients and move directionally in their response. By assessing different physical parameters, our findings indicate that both growing and starving Dictyostelium cells under hypoxic conditions migrate directionally toward regions of higher O2 concentration. This migration is characterized by a specific pattern of cell arrangement. A thickened circular front of high cell density (corona) forms in the cell cluster and persistently moves following the oxygen gradient. Cells in the colony center, where hypoxia is more severe, are less motile and display a rounded shape. Aggregation-competent cells forming streams by chemotaxis, when confined under hypoxic conditions, undergo stream or aggregate fragmentation, giving rise to multiple small loose aggregates that coordinately move toward regions of higher O2 concentration. By testing a panel of mutants defective in chemotactic signaling, and a catalase-deficient strain, we found that the latter and the pkbR1null exhibited altered migration patterns. Our results suggest that in Dictyostelium, like in mammalian cells, an intracellular accumulation of hydrogen peroxide favors the migration toward optimal oxygen concentration. Furthermore, differently from chemotaxis, this oxygen-driven migration is a G protein-independent process

Exploring the Asymmetric Effect of Internal and External Economic Factors on Poverty: A Fresh Insight from Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributive Lag Model

Objective: This study examines the asymmetric impact of both internal (military, education, and health expenditures) and external (trade opening and foreign direct investment) factors that contribute to poverty reduction. Methodology: To find an asymmetric relationship between the proposed variables, we used a non-linear ARDL co-integration approach for the period ranging from 1981-2019. Findings: The findings of the study confirm the asymmetric impact of internal (education, military, health expenditures, quality of governance) and external (foreign direct investment, openness) factors on poverty. The finding confirms that ignoring nonlinear or asymmetric properties of macroeconomic variables may mislead inferences. This study has policy implications for government officials to reduce poverty. Novelty: theeconomic theory of poverty is studied from different perspectives by using internal and external factors that have direct and indirect effects on poverty. Furthermore, for in-depth analysis, a nonlinear approach is used to determine which factor has a strong contribution to eliminating poverty. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-03-07 Full Text: PD

Expressional changes in stemness markers post electrochemotherapy in pancreatic cancer cells

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancers with high metastatic potential and strong chemoresistance. The capability of a tumor to grow and propagate is dependent on a small subset of cells within a tumor, termed cancer stem cells. Cancer stem cells exhibit great tumorigenicity and are closely correlated with drug resistance and tumor recurrence. The aim of our study was to illustrate electrochemotherapy as an effective treatment for pancreatic cancer along with the expression change in stemness genes (Nanog, Sox2 and Oct3/4) in pancreatic cancer cells post electrochemotherapy with bleomycin, cisplatin and oxaliplatin. Our results showed the enhanced expression of Nanog and decreased expression level of Oct3/4 after electrochemotherpy. We thus propose that these stemness markerS may have important roles in the initiation and/or recurrence of pancreatic cancer, and consequently may serve as important molecular diagnostics and/or therapeutic targets for the development of novel treatment strategies in pancreatic cancer patients. In conclusion, targeting these stemness factors could potentially improve electrochemotherapy as a treatment and preventing recurrence

Methyl (2Z)-3-[(4-nitro­phen­yl)carbamo­yl]prop-2-enoate

In the title compound, C11H10N2O5, the amide group is nearly coplanar and the ester group approximately perpendicular to the vinyl C—HC=CH—C group [dihedral angles of 5.0 (2) and 88.89 (5)°, respectively]. This results in a short intra­molecular O =C⋯O=C contact of 2.7201 (17) Å between the amide O atom and the ester carbonyl C atom. The prop-2-enamide fragment and the nitro group make dihedral angles of 20.42 (6) and 13.54 (17)°, respectively, with the benzene ring. An intra­molecular C—H⋯O inter­action between the benzene ring and the amide group generates an S(6) ring motif. Inter­molecular C—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds complete R 2 2(11) ring motifs and join mol­ecules into [100] chains