Are Sustainability Reports Informative About Firm Value and Performance? A Text Mining Approach

A corporate social responsibility (CSR) report is an important tool for disseminating a company’s sustainability efforts. The informativeness of CSR reports in relation to key performance indicators (KPIs) of companies is not well studied. We define eight different attributes to characterize textual disclosure and identify six topic distributions across 1233 CSR reports submitted by 196 major US firms during 2005-2017. We analyze the association of these attributes and topics with firm performance and firm value using hierarchical Bayesian modeling. Our results show that while multiple topics and textual attributes are related to firm value, only word length is significantly linked to the performance of firms in general. Our study informs firms about best practices in sustainability reporting and notifies investors and regulators about present practices in CSR reporting

Factors Contributing To Women\u27s Venture Success In Developing Countries: An Exploratory Analysis

Although the body of literature on female entrepreneurs is relatively small when compared to that of men; the majority of articles that have focused on female entrepreneurs and issues surrounding them center on women in developed countries. Few studies place emphasis on female entrepreneurs in developing countries. Guided by the resource-based view of human and social capital, the article explores the relationship among individual and entrepreneurial factors, institutional factors and women\u27s venture success in developing countries. Hypotheses are tested with a sample of 350 female entrepreneurs using individual and country level data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database and the Heritage Foundation\u27s Index of Economic Freedom. Female entrepreneurs were chosen from six developing countries: Argentina, Brazil, Hungary, India, Mexico and South Africa. Results indicate certain factors (i.e. household income, knowing an entrepreneur, and country of origin) play a role in venture success for female entrepreneurs in developing countries. Secondary analyses demonstrated that the developing country\u27s economic freedom, cultural norms, financial support and government supportiveness may also impact women\u27s venture success

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO WOMEN’S VENTURE SUCCESS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS

Although the body of literature on female entrepreneurs is relatively small when compared to that of men; the majority of articles that have focused on female entrepreneurs and issues surrounding them center on women in developed countries. Few studies place emphasis on female entrepreneurs in developing countries. Guided by the resource-based view of human and social capital, the article explores the relationship among individual and entrepreneurial factors, institutional factors and women\u27s venture success in developing countries. Hypotheses are tested with a sample of 350 female entrepreneurs using individual and country level data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database and the Heritage Foundation\u27s Index of Economic Freedom. Female entrepreneurs were chosen from six developing countries: Argentina, Brazil, Hungary, India, Mexico and South Africa. Results indicate certain factors (i.e. household income, knowing an entrepreneur, and country of origin) play a role in venture success for female entrepreneurs in developing countries. Secondary analyses demonstrated that the developing country\u27s economic freedom, cultural norms, financial support and government supportiveness may also impact women\u27s venture success

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)