scholarly journals Examining the Relationship between Social Inefficiency and Financial Performance. Evidence from Wisconsin Dairy Farms

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3635
Author(s):  
Theodoros Skevas ◽  
Ioannis Skevas ◽  
Victor E. Cabrera

Although social sustainability is an important component of sustainable agricultural production, little research has been conducted to assess social sustainability performance at the farm level. This study measures farmers’ social sustainability performance using (in)efficiency measures derived from a non-parametric dynamic directional distance function approach. It further examines the relationship between social (in)efficiency and financial performance measured by profitability, which is crucial to understand the financial impact of engaging in socially responsible activities. The empirical application focuses on a sample of Wisconsin dairy farms over the period 2007–2017. Results show that sample farms could have (decreased/)increased their social (in)efficiency by an average of 14%. Social (in)efficiency was found to be (negatively/)positively related to farm profitability, implying that social objectives can be achieved in tandem with economic goals.

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 646-665
Author(s):  
Jing Yi ◽  
Jennifer Ifft

Purpose Dairy farms, along with livestock and specialty crop farms, face a tight labor supply and increasing labor costs. To overcome the challenging labor market, farm managers can increase labor-use efficiency through both human resource and capital investments. However, little is known about the relationship between such investments and farm profitability. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between dairy farm financial performance and labor-use efficiency, as measured by labor productivity (milk sold per worker equivalent); labor costs (hired labor cost per unit of milk sold and hired labor cost per worker); and investment in labor-saving equipment. Design/methodology/approach Cluster analysis is applied to partition dairy farms into three performance categories (high/middle/low), based on farms’ rate of return on equity, asset turnover ratios and net dairy income per hundredweight of milk. Next, the annual financial rank is fitted into both random- and farm-level fixed-effects ordered logit and linear models to estimate the relationship between dairy farms’ financial performance and labor-use efficiency. This study also investigates the implications of using a single financial indicator as a measure of financial performance, which is the dominant approach in literature. Findings The study finds that greater labor productivity and cost efficiency (as measured by hired labor cost per unit of milk sold) are associated with better farm financial performance. No statistically significant relationship is found between farm financial performance and both hired labor cost per worker and advance milking systems (a proxy of capital investment in labor-saving technology). Future studies would benefit from better measurements of labor-saving technology. This study also demonstrates inconsistency in regression results when individual financial variables are used as a measure of financial performance. The greater labor-use efficiency on high-performing farms may be a combination of hiring more-skilled workers and managerial strategies of reducing unnecessary labor activities. The results emphasize the importance of managerial strategies that improve overall labor-use efficiency, instead of simply minimizing total labor expenses or labor cost per worker. Originality/value This study examines the importance of labor productivity and labor cost efficiency for dairy farm management. It also develops a novel approach which brings a more comprehensive financial performance evaluation into regression models. Furthermore, this study explicitly demonstrates the potential for inconsistent results when using individual financial variable as a measure of financial performance, which is the dominant measurement of financial performance in farm management studies.


Author(s):  
Nur Hanisah Razali ◽  
Nizam Jaafar ◽  
Ismail Ahmad

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities can lead the company to gain better recognition from citizens and investors. CSR has become one of the added values for a company in increasing competition from global and domestic. However, there are some critics who contend that the CSR benefits surpass the actual cost and some also claim that for the company to be socially responsible is too expensive. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) impacts on the Islamic Banks' financial performance, specifically in Malaysia. This study used Fixed Effect Regression Model to achieve the objectives of this study. The independent variables used to determine CSR comprise of environment, community, and workplace and marketplace expenditure ratio. Meanwhile, to measure the financial bank performance that is the dependent variable, Return on Asset (ROA) is used in this study. Based on this model, the researcher concluded that CSR’s elements which are environment, community, and marketplace have significant impacts on banks financial performance. This is consistent with Stakeholder Theory which states that the firm financial performance is determined by external stakeholders. In order to enhance the study future research may segregate the focus of the study specifically on Islamic Bank or conventional banking. Future research may also conduct research on the different industries.


Author(s):  
Mauro Pelozatto Reilly

ResumenEsta investigación se propone caracterizar las unidades productivas del Buenos Aires rural entre 1726-1759, desde la extinción del ganado vacuno cimarrón y las vaquerías, y la división de la campaña bonaerense oriental entre Buenos Aires y Montevideo, hasta la separación del espacio rural entre las jurisdicciones de los cabildos de Buenos Aires y Luján, y la consolidación de las distintas prácticas como recogidas de ganado y de la cría este tipo de hacienda en las estancias. A partir de estadísticas y descripciones sobre padrones rurales, sucesiones y testimonios del cabildo, se desarrollan y ponen en discusión temas como la evolución de la ganadería vacuna, la cría de otras especies, sus características y alternativas económicas, la relación con la agricultura y la existencia de distintos tipos de unidades productivas. Se sostiene la idea de que existieron múltiples posibilidades para la ganadería diversificada y las explotaciones mixtas en los mercados coloniales.Palabras clave: Ganadería, unidades productivas, producción agrícola,mercados coloniales.Livestock and mixed production units incolonial Buenos Aires, 1726-1759AbstractThis research aims to characterize the production units at rural Buenos Aires between 1726 and 1759, from extinction of bighorn cattle and dairy farms and the division of the eastern Buenos Aires province between Buenos Aires and Montevideo, to the separation of rural space between jurisdictions of the town halls of Buenos Aires and Lujan and the consolidation of the different practices as collecting and breeding livestock in such farms. From statistics and descriptions of rural records, inheritances and testimonies from the townhalls, the study develops and discusses issues such as the development of beef cattle, breeding of other species, their characteristics and economic alternatives, the relationship with agriculture and the existence of different types of production units. The idea is that there were many opportunities for diversified livestock and mixed farms in colonial markets.Keywords: Livestock, production units, agricultural production, colonial markets.Pecuária e unidades de produção mistas em Buenos Aires colonial, 1726-1759ResumoEsta pesquisa tem como objetivo caracterizar as unidades de produção de Buenos Aires rural entre os anos 1726-1759 rural, desde a extinção do gado de carne de vaca selvagem e as leiterias, e a divisão da campanha bonaerense oriental entre Buenos Aires e Montevidéu, até a separação do espaço rural entre as jurisdições dos cabildos de Buenos Aires e Luján e a consolidação das diferentes práticas como a coleta de gado e da cria, neste tipo de fazenda nas estâncias. A partir de estatísticas e descrições de padrões rurais, sucessões e testemunhas dos cabildos, se desenvolvem e colocam em discussão temas como a evolução do gado, da cria de outras espécies, suas característicase alternativas econômicas, a relação com a agricultura e a existência de diferentes tipos de unidades de produção. Se mantem a ideia de que havia muitas possibilidades para a pecuária diversificada e as explorações mistas nos mercados coloniais.Palavras-chave: unidades de produção pecuária, produção agrícola, mercados coloniais.


Author(s):  
Neda Vitezic

This paper aims to explore the relationship between corporate reputation and social responsibility (CSR) in selected large Croatian companies. The research is based on the theoretical framework that supports a thesis of their positive relationship. CSR is measured through economic, environmental, and social aspects and is primarily based on testing the relationship between CSR and financial performance to determine whether the relationship is positive, neutral or negative. Many researchers have concluded that it is generally positive, depending on which measures of financial performance are used. At the same time, corporate reputation is considered as a key mediator in the relationship between a firm's CSR and financial performance. In this concept of CSR, reputation is a global perception of a group of stakeholders, its assessment of the credibility of the organization's projection. Company reputations may vary from one stakeholder to another depending of their expectations, which are dynamic and likely to change over time. It is within this context of company relationships with its stakeholders that determines the level of reputation a company will develop over time. Thus corporate reputation will be directly and significantly related to CSR. Based on this hypothesis, they are a few objectives of this research. The first is to analyze the significance of the proposed corporate attributes according to company and customer perspective. For that purpose, seven practical and theoretical background attributes are selected and ranked - quality of products and services, corporate vision and strategy, quality of management leadership, labor force, financial performance, social and environmental responsibility, and corporate governance. Second is to propose indicators for each reputation attribute and rank them according to their significance collected by surveying large companies executives. Third is to analyze the correlation between socially responsible companies and their reputation. The research results show that one of the corporate attributes CSR - is ranked very low from the point of view of company executives and employees, but very high from the perspective of consumers. Among the indicators which represent socially responsible performance, financial performance is ranked first, followed by ecological and social performance. A positive relationship between financial performance and corporate reputation has been statistically confirmed; i.e., socially responsible Croatian large companies have better financial results measured by ROA, ROE, margin profit and EPS.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shernaz Bodhanwala ◽  
Ruzbeh Bodhanwala

Purpose The study aims to investigate the relationship between aggregate and individual dimensions of sustainability and financial and stock market performances of the firms in the travel and tourism industry (TTI) across different geographies. Design/methodology/approach The sample under study consists of 146 firms belonging to TTI that have consistently obtained environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating over the period 2011–2017 as a part of Thomson Reuters Asset 4 ESG database. An empirical multivariate panel data model is developed to analyse the impact of sustainability (ESG) on firm profitability and market value within three tourism-related industries (transportation, hotel and leisure). Findings The study extends the existing literature by investigating the impact of each of the vital dimensions of sustainability performance – ESG – and examines how each dimension would affect financial performance and market value among firms within three tourism-related industries (transportation, hotel and leisure). Among the three tourism industries, hotel industry is observed to have the highest ESG compliance, followed by the transportation industry. Based on the agency and stakeholder theory, the authors hypothesized all ESG components to have significant positive effect on the financial and stock market performance; however, the results reveal that each dimension has different impact on financial performance and market value of firms in the tourism industry. Research limitations/implications The study could help firms in the travel and tourism industries to understand which of the dimension of ESG activities is significantly important for their financial and stock market performance. Originality/value The unique contribution of this study is that it considers wider definition of the term “Sustainability” and examines the relationship between financial and stock market performances of the firms and each component of ESG. This is one of the few studies at the global level that provides much needed evidence in the area of sustainability performance by the travel and tourism firms.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenxiang (Lucy) Lu ◽  
Martin E. Taylor

ABSTRACT The relationship between corporate sustainability performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP) has long been debated. Ullman (1985) pointed out that the conflicting results could be influenced by many factors, such as sample size, industrial context, inconsistent measurement of CSP and CFP, research methodologies, and procedures for data collection and analysis. This paper addresses Ullman's (1985) concerns by providing a more methodologically rigorous review of the CSP-CFP relationship than prior research studies. A meta-analysis of 198 studies yields a total sample size of 31,514 observations. The meta-analytic findings suggest that sustainability performance likely increases a firm's financial performance, especially in the long run. Compared to social sustainability, environmental sustainability, to a larger extent, contributes to the positive CSP-CFP relationship. In addition, CSP appears to be more highly correlated with accounting-based measures of CFP than with market-based indicators. Multi-industry, pre-2000 studies, and non-U.S. sample firms seem to show a stronger impact on the positive relationship between CSP and CFP than other sample indicators. A final finding is that the methodology used in the analysis has a significant impact on the results.


2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 1097-1118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwang-Ho Kim ◽  
MinChung Kim ◽  
Cuili Qian

We attempt to provide a more nuanced view of the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm financial performance using a competitive-action perspective. We argue that competitive action should be considered as an important contingency that determines the effects of CSR activities on firm financial performance. Using data for 113 publicly listed U.S. firms in the software industry between 2000 and 2005, we found that socially responsible activities (positive CSR) enhance firm financial performance when the firm’s competitive-action level is high, whereas socially irresponsible activities (negative CSR) actually improve firm financial performance when the competitive-action level is low. By introducing competitive action as an important contingency, this study contributes to the literature on CSR and strategic management.


Author(s):  
Prema Latha Subramaniam ◽  
Mohammad Iranmanesh ◽  
Kavigtha Mohan Kumar ◽  
Behzad Foroughi

Purpose In the literature on sustainable supply chain management, the social pillar of sustainability has received relatively little attention, especially in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to test empirically the impacts of supplier development practices on suppliers’ social performance. Furthermore, the impact of suppliers’ social performance on MNCs’ social performance was investigated and corporate reputation was proposed as a potential explanation for the relationship between MNCs’ social and financial performance. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained from a survey of 141 multinational companies (MNCs) in Malaysia which were listed in the Federation of Malaysia Manufacturers’ directory 2017. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that among the four proposed practices, supplier development and supplier collaboration have significant effects on suppliers’ social performance and consequently on the multi-national companies’ social performance. According to these results, multi-national companies’ corporate reputation mediates the relationship between their social and financial performance. Practical implications These results will be useful in helping managers of MNCs to realize that simply monitoring suppliers and giving them incentives are not effective ways of enhancing social responsibility among suppliers; instead, supplier development and collaboration such as technical support and training are needed. Originality/value The results extend the literature on socially responsible supplier development practices by testing empirically the impacts of four popular practices in the literature and showing that supplier monitoring and incentives have no effect.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Parul Munjal ◽  
Deergha Sharma

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine managerial perception on social and environmental performance and its effect on financial performance in the Indian banking industry. In addition, the study tests moderating role of gender and experience of bank managers in influencing the association between the constructs. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study is conducted using survey methodology. Responses were collected from 182 bank managers covering the private sector, public sector, foreign, regional rural and cooperative banks. Structural equation modelling technique was used to test hypothesized relationships between the constructs using Smart partial least squares software (3.3.2 version). Findings Results of the study endorse the stakeholder perspective. Bank managers perceive that involvement in socially responsible practices strengthens the relationship between stakeholders and banks, which eventually improves financial performance. Conversely, results indicate that environmental practices by banks do not influence financial performance, thereby sustaining shareholder perspective. Further, results suggest that gender and experience of bank managers are not effective moderators in determining the relationship between the constructs. Practical implications Findings would be valuable for investors to better assimilate social and environmental performance along with its effect on the financial performance of banks. The study would also facilitate policymakers and regulators to outline pertinent policies and rules to uphold financial strength and integrity in the banking industry. Further, bank managers’ perception would have a marked influence on customers’ understanding of social and environmental activities that might shape customer satisfaction, trust, engagement and loyalty. Originality/value The study underscores the eminence of endorsing socially responsible practices in the banks. This would facilitate in improving the sustainability in the Indian banking industry.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document