Can labor productivity growth reduce carbon emission? Evidence from OECD countries and China

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueli Chen ◽  
Wanshu Ma ◽  
Vivian Valdmanis

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the challenges involved in the trade-offs of labor productivity and per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emission.Design/methodology/approachIn this research, we used a balanced dataset of 36 OECD countries and China between 1990 and 2018. We examined the relationship between labor productivity and per capita CO2 emission for OECD countries and China based on an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Further, the fixed effects model of estimation was employed to examine the impact of variables during the sample period and explore the relationship between predictor and outcome variables within an entity while controlling for all time-invariant differences.FindingsThis study confirmed the existence of the N-shape EKC hypothesis in 36 OECD countries and China. This implies that at the initial development stage, per capita CO2 emission increased with labor productivity; however, after reaching certain threshold, per capita CO2 emission began to fall with rising labor productivity. Then the per capita CO2 emission rises again when labor productivity continually increases.Originality/valueIn this study, we explored the dynamic association between labor productivity and per capita CO2 emissions for 36 OECD countries and China under the EKC framework from 1990 to 2018 by using the labor productivity and per capita CO2 emission as economic and environmental indicators of one country respectively. This study’s contribution showed the following: first, the empirical findings confirmed the N-shape relationship between labor productivity and per capita CO2 emissions for 36 OECD countries and China; second, the findings demonstrated that the association among the underlying variables by testing through the fixed effect model.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Safoura Rouhi ◽  
Mohana Usefi Moghadam ◽  
Faezeh Faramarzi

PurposeSuccess in corporate relative performance is one of the factors for the growth and durability of firms. Since the relative performance is a function of managers' decisions and such decisions are under the influence of behavioral and psychological characteristics, this paper aims to assess the managers’ and auditors’ narcissism's effect on the management team's stability relative to corporate performance.Design/methodology/approachThis paper has used the signature magnitude for examining narcissism and the regression model of Jenter and Kanaan (2015) for assessing relative corporate performance. The logistic regression is used to test the model of the management team's stability, and the multivariate regression is used to test the model of relative corporate performance. Research hypotheses were also examined using a sample of 768 listed year-companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2012–2017 and by employing a panel data approach and fixed effects method.FindingsThe obtained results show a negative and significant relationship between managers' and auditors' narcissism and the management team's stability. The relationship between the narcissism of managers and auditors and relative corporate performance is positive and significant. Moreover, managers' narcissism positively and significantly impacts the relationship between auditors' narcissism and team management stability. A negative and significant relationship is evident between auditors’ narcissism and relative corporate performance.Originality/valueThis study's results can identify the effect of psychological components such as narcissism on people's performance by directing and influencing their decisions. Many studies have been conducted on narcissism, but none of them have examined the impact auditors’ and managers' narcissism has on the management team's stability and the corporate relative performance. Therefore, considering the importance of success in the corporate relative performance and benefits of the management team's stability, this study's results can reveal the importance of such features in accounting research. Also, the results of this research can make it important to know more about financial behavioral theory.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-159
Author(s):  
Jiangtao Li ◽  
Jianyue Ji ◽  
Yanxia Wang

Purpose Efficiency of a commercial bank affects both its competitiveness and the role it plays in the process of economic development. Although great efforts have been exerted in developing the various aspects of banking efficiency, there seems to be a lack of research on examining the impact of the bank efficiency from the employee wage perspective. The mechanism of how employee wage affects commercial bank efficiency and the relationship between the two were analyzed in this paper. Based on the growing body of research on efficiency in banking, the aim of this paper is to examine if competitiveness of employee wages at any commercial bank has any impact on the bank efficiency score. Design/methodology/approach The method used was quantitative analysis, which was based on comparing the evaluated efficiencies of the banks with employee wages published in the bank reports. The empirical data in this paper were based on 16 Chinese listed commercial banks from 2004 to 2012. The per capita wage of commercial banks was selected as the wage indicator, and the efficiency value obtained by the slack-based measure (SBM) model was selected as the efficiency indicator. According to the calculated data, the Tobit regression model was built to analyze the relationship between employee wage and commercial bank efficiency. Findings The research results show that employee wage is the key variable that influences the efficiency of Chinese commercial banks, and the inverted U-shaped relationship between employee wage and commercial banks efficiency shows up. Practical implications The wage structure data of the composition of basic pay and bonus were not available at the time of conducting the research. Per capita wages were used instead to reflect the employee wage levels of Chinese banks. Originality/value This study can provide some help for the banking industry by analyzing the wage levels from the perspective of efficiency and also further enriches the theoretical system of the relationship between employee wage and bank efficiency.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1272-1291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Forte ◽  
José Miguel Tavares

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing literature on the relationship between debt and firms’ performance, by focusing on the influence of the institutional framework on this relationship and on the role of macroeconomic variables in explaining performance. Design/methodology/approach The present work is based on a large sample of 48,840 manufacturing firms from nine European countries covering the 2008–2013 period and uses a fixed effects model. Findings Results show that the impact of debt on a firm’s performance depends on the measure of debt (short-term debt positively affects a firm’s performance, whereas long-term debt presents a negative relationship) and that the institutional framework is indeed affecting the relationship between debt and a firm’s performance: the positive effect of debt on a firm’s performance tends to be higher the greater the “efficiency of the legal system” and the greater the “credit market regulation.” Macroeconomic variables also play a key role in explaining performance. Originality/value Unlike most of the existing studies, which focus only on the relationship between debt and firms’ performance in a single country, the present work uses a sample of firms from nine countries with the purpose of filling a research gap and bringing new empirical evidence to this research area.


Author(s):  
Faris Alshubiri ◽  
Mohamed Elheddad

Purpose This study aims to examine the relationship between foreign finance, economic growth and CO2 to investigate if the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) exists as an empirical evidence in 32 selected Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Design/methodology/approach This study used quantitative analysis to test two main hypotheses: H1 is the U-shape relationship between foreign finance and environment, and H2 is the N-shaped association between economic growth and environment. In doing so, this study used panel data techniques. The panel set contained 32 countries over the period from 1990 to 2015, with 27 observations for each country. This study applied a panel OLS estimator via fixed-effects control to address heterogeneity and mitigate endogeneity. Generalized method of moments (GMM) with fixed effects-instrumental variables (FE-IV) and diagnostic tests were also used. Findings The results showed that foreign finance and environmental quality have an inverted U-shaped association. The three proxies’ foreign investment, foreign assets and remittance in the first stages contribute significantly to CO2 emissions, but after the threshold point is reached, these proxies become “environmentally friendly” by their contribution to reducing CO2 emissions. Also, a non-linear relationship denotes that foreign investment in OECD countries enhances the importance, as a proxy of foreign finance has greater environmental quality than foreign assets. Additionally, empirical results show that remittances received is linked to the highest polluted levels until a threshold point is reached, at which point it then helps reduce CO2 emissions. The GMM and FE-IV results provide robust evidence on inverse U-shaped relationship, while the N-shaped relationship explains that economic growth produces more CO2 emissions at the first phase of growth, but the quadratic term confirms this effect is negative after a specific level of GDP is reached. Then, this economic growth makes the environment deteriorate. These results are robust even after controlling for the omitted variable issue. The IV-FE results indicate an N-shaped relationship in the OECD countries. Practical implications Most studies have used different economic indicators as proxies to show the effects of these indicators on the environment, but they are flawed and outdated regarding the large social challenges facing contemporary, socio-financial economic systems. To overcome these disadvantages, the social, institutional and environmental aspects of economic development should also be considered. Hence, this study aims to explain this issue as a relationship with several proxies in regard to environmental, foreign finance and economic aspects. Originality/value This paper uses updated data sets for analyzing the relationship between foreign finance and economic growth as a new proxy for pollution. Also, this study simulates the financial and environmental future to show their effect on investments in different OECD countries. While this study enhances the literature by establishing an innovative control during analysis, this will increase to add value. This study is among the few studies that empirically investigate the non-linear relationship between finance and environmental degradation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 692-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz Gevrek ◽  
Karen Middleton

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the ratification of the United Nations’ (UN’s) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and women’s and girls’ health outcomes using a unique longitudinal data set of 192 UN-member countries that encompasses the years from 1980 to 2011. Design/methodology/approach – The authors focus on the impact of CEDAW ratification, number of reports submitted after ratification, years passed since ratification, and the dynamic impact of CEDAW ratification by utilizing ordinary least squares (OLS) and panel fixed effects methods. The study investigates the following women’s and girls’ health outcomes: total fertility rate, adolescent fertility rate, infant mortality rate, maternal mortality ratio, neonatal mortality rate, female life expectancy at birth (FLEB), and female to male life expectancy at birth. Findings – The OLS and panel country and year fixed effects models provide evidence that the impact of CEDAW ratification on women’s and girls’ health outcomes varies by global regions. While the authors find no significant gains in health outcomes in European and North-American countries, the countries in the Northern Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Africa, Caribbean and Central America, South America, Middle-East, Eastern Asia, and Oceania regions experienced the biggest gains from CEDAW ratification, exhibiting reductions in total fertility, adolescent fertility, infant mortality, maternal mortality, and neonatal mortality while also showing improvements in FLEB. The results provide evidence that both early commitment to CEDAW as measured by the total number of years of engagement after the UN’s 1980 ratification and the timely submission of mandatory CEDAW reports have positive impacts on women’ and girls’ health outcomes. Several sensitivity tests confirm the robustness of main findings. Originality/value – This study is the first comprehensive attempt to explore the multifaceted relationships between CEDAW ratification and female health outcomes. The study significantly expands on the methods of earlier research and presents novel methods and findings on the relationship between CEDAW ratification and women’s health outcomes. The findings suggest that the impact of CEDAW ratification significantly depends on the country’s region. Furthermore, stronger engagement with CEDAW (as indicated by the total number of years following country ratification) and the submission of the required CEDAW reports (as outlined in the Convention’s guidelines) have positive impacts on women’s and girls’ health outcomes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 536-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Qing ◽  
Moyu Chen ◽  
Yu Sheng ◽  
Jikun Huang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of mechanization services on farm productivity in Northern China from an empirical perspective, with the aim to identify the underlying market and institutional barriers. Design/methodology/approach The authors apply the regression method with the control of village fixed effects to examining the relationship between capital–labor ratio, mechanization service ratio and farm productivity, using the panel data collected in 2013 and 2015 by CCAP. Findings Mechanization services improve farm productivity through substituting labor, but it may generate a less positive impact on farms who do not have self-owned capital equipment. Originality/value It is the first study to investigate how mechanization services affect farm productivity for grain producers in Northern China.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong Feng ◽  
Jiong Sun ◽  
Yiwei Fang ◽  
Iftekhar Hasan

Purpose This paper aims to examine the presence of an executive with customer experience (ECE) in a supplier firm’s top management team (TMT). The role of ECE presence remains understudied in the marketing literature. This study attempts to examine the relationship between ECE presence and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on the resource-based view of the firm and adopts a panel firm fixed effects estimator to test the proposed hypotheses. The empirical analysis uses a sample of 1,974 firm-year observations with 489 unique supplier firms. Selection-induced endogeneity is mitigated through the Heckman procedure. Findings ECE presence improves firm performance. Additionally, firms benefit less from ECE presence if a board member with customer experience (BCE) is also present, if a chief executive officer commands a higher pay slice (compared to other executives), and if a TMT is more functionally diversified. However, ECE presence is particularly beneficial if the overall economy is in contraction. Comparing the functional positions held by ECEs reveals that ECE in the marketing function (as a chief marketing officer) offers the largest benefit to an average supplier firm. ECE presence is also associated with other firm outcomes (e.g. bankruptcy odds, innovation and customer orientation). Research limitations/implications This study makes four contributions to the literature. First, this research contributes to existing studies that investigate marketing expertise in the upper corporate pyramid. Second, the study contributes to the burgeoning body of work across business disciplines that attempt to understand the impact of CxOs on firm performance. Third, the study contributes to the vast literature on customer orientation indirectly. Finally, this paper contributes to the broader literature studying the influence of board and TMT characteristics. Practical implications The findings are of particular importance to business-to-business firms. This paper shows that suppliers can benefit significantly from managers with customer experience. Four contingency factors moderate the relationship between ECE presence and firm performance. Among the various functional positions held by an ECE, the findings suggest that hiring an ECE for the marketing functional area is the most beneficial. ECE stands out as a better option for a company than BCE to improve firm performance. ECE presence is also associated with bankruptcy odds, innovation and customer orientation. Originality/value This paper provides the first empirical evidence regarding how ECE affects firm performance and also extends prior research on the value of human capital in TMT.


2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1021-1034
Author(s):  
Jihad Al-Okaily ◽  
Salma Naueihed

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between audit committee characteristics and firm performance, and whether family ownership and involvement moderate the latter relationship. Design/methodology/approach Following Anderson and Reeb (2003), this paper estimates a two-way fixed effects model. A sub-sample analysis is used by first examining the impact of audit committee effectiveness on firm performance only in non-family firms and then only in family firms. A fully interacted model was also analyzed in the robustness tests. Findings This paper finds that the audit committee characteristics of size, expertise and meeting frequency are positively and significantly related to non-family firm performance, while insignificantly related to family firm performance. Research limitations/implications The evidence reported in this paper may be of use for regulators and policy makers pondering corporate governance reforms, as well as for investors, managers and minority shareholders concerned with firm performance and valuation. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to examine the moderating effect of family control and involvement on the relationship between firm performance and audit committee effectiveness in terms of size, expertise and meeting frequency.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nongnapat Thosuwanchot

PurposeThis study examines the impact of female CEO on firm community engagement. By drawing on the stakeholder-agency paradigm, the author proposes that female CEOs feel more pressure to deliver favorable firm performance, thus resulting in less community engagement in firms with female CEOs. The author also examines circumstances surrounding the CEO as boundary conditions that can promote the extent that female CEOs engage in community initiatives.Design/methodology/approachThe author collected panel data on a sample of firms listed in the S&P 500 index during the years 2009–2013. The author tested the hypotheses using firm fixed-effects models.FindingsThe results show that firms with female CEOs pursue less community engagement. CEO career horizon and CEO unexercisable stock options are boundary conditions that weaken the negative relationship between female CEOs and community engagement, while board independence does not have a significant moderating effect.Originality/valueThis study sheds light on the roles of female CEOs on firm community engagement as a distinct firm strategic action. Furthermore, this study provides a better understanding of the relationship by examining different factors that can promote community engagement by female CEOs, which include CEO career horizon and compensation incentive.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Cortez Reis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between educational mismatch and labor earnings in Brazil, taking into account individual fixed effects. Design/methodology/approach The empirical analysis employs longitudinal data and information provided by job analysts about the schooling required for each occupation. The latter of which is used to classify workers as undereducated, overeducated, or adequately matched. Estimates include individual fixed effects to control for time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity. Findings Evidence indicates that one more year of overeducation increases labor earnings, but only half as strong as one more year of required schooling. The estimated effects on years of undereducation are negative, but undereducated workers earn more than adequately matched workers with the same level of education. Although, in particular, the incidence of undereducation in Brazil is much higher than reported for developed countries, the impact of over- and undereducation does not differ. Research limitations/implications The fixed effects approach only controls for unobservable factors that are time-invariant. Also, much lower impacts using fixed effects may be due in part to attenuation bias as a consequence of measurement errors. Originality/value This study contributes to the scarce literature on the consequences of overeducation and undereducation for labor earnings in developing countries, providing estimates that take into account individual fixed effects.


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