From the philosophy of corporate social responsibility to the market and political realities of ESG

The theory of corporate social responsibility, ideologically formed in the USA in the second half of the twentieth century, significantly influenced both the practice of international business and the views of scientists in the field of economics and sociology. The moral obligation of corporations to participate in solving social problems, in charity, educational and cultural projects began to be perceived as something ordinary, as a kind of voluntary social tax. At the same time, representatives of a number of economic schools have long criticized this approach, believing, firstly, that the principal goal of big business is the growth of shareholders’ capital, and secondly, such a social obligation looks very amorphous, assuming only reputational costs for an entrepreneur in case of his evasion from the implementation of CSR programs. In our opinion, the situation is currently changing dramatically. This approach is being radically transformed under the influence of ESG ideas and practices, whose standards become structured and mandatory for companies in case of their access to premium markets.

Communication Tools to Protect Brand Reputation

The article actualizes the problem of developing a strategy and tactics for protecting a brand’s reputation in a crisis situation. The key elements of a crisis communication plan are described, tools are analyzed that help to reduce the reputational costs of an organization in a crisis. The virtualization of communications and the expansion of network interactions necessitate the use of the potential of modern media for wider coverage of target audiences in order to strengthen brand reputation. It is shown that the effective management of information flows, the use of PR technologies in new media along with traditional methods of organizing crisis communications in new media makes it possible to reduce reputational risks to a minimum. Implementation of the policy of active Internet presence through the organization and management of network communications forms another basis for successfully overcoming crisis phenomena, correcting reputation, increasing awareness, and ensuring a more stable brand position.

Stigmatized Campaign Practices and the Gendered Dynamics of Electoral Viability

What happens when a traditional source of political capital becomes a health hazard? Stigmatized electoral practices, such as vote buying, are a double-edged sword: While these strategies may signal candidates’ electoral strength, they may also entail reputational costs. In normal times, street campaigns are a non-stigmatized electoral practice. During the Covid-19 pandemic, however, they imposed health risks. Employing data from a national survey experiment conducted in Brazil prior to the 2020 municipal elections ( N = 2025), we extend research on the employment of stigmatized campaigns and the gendered dynamics of electoral viability. We find that voters evaluate candidates who engage in face-to-face activities as less electorally viable and report lower intent to support them. These dynamics do not impact all candidates equally: Voters more harshly punish women candidates who conduct street campaigns than men, leading women to lose the advantage they have over men when both employ non-stigmatized campaign practices.

Examining Tax Strategy Choice

Most recent tax research examines the level of firms' effective tax rates (ETRs), focusing on tax avoidance. However, theoretical work and research on book-tax tradeoffs and reputational costs indicate some firms have other tax planning goals. Moreover, anecdotal evidence suggests consistent tax outcomes are important; therefore, the volatility of ETRs may be an alternative aspect of firms' tax planning. In this study, I find some firms utilize a second, distinct approach to tax strategy - maintaining low ETR volatility - by documenting systematic differences in firm characteristics associated with each tax strategy approach and a predictable shift in characteristics when firms change tax strategies. In combination, these results identify at least two distinct approaches to tax strategy. I also find firms exhibiting low ETR volatility earn significantly higher median buy-and-hold returns than firms exhibiting low ETR levels, consistent with benefits to alternative tax strategies.

Needs or Symbols? The Logic of United Nations Counterterrorism Treaty Ratification

Why do states commit to UN counterterrorism treaties? This article posits that state accession to UN counterterrorism treaties is likely informed by the nature of the terrorist threats a state faces, and consequently, the pressures that such threats generate from domestic and international audiences on the state to address (or appear to address) them. As such, we hypothesize that states ratify UN CT treaties for either material, needs-based reasons—to gain external assistance for counterterror capacity building—or for symbolic reasons—to visibly signal their commitment to fight terrorism in order maintain legitimacy, and mitigate reputational costs to both domestic and international audiences. To test these hypotheses, we use a newly compiled dataset of state accessions to the 19 UN counterterrorism treaties from 1970–2016, testing both our needs-based versus symbolic hypotheses, as well as more “traditional” explanations for state treaty accession. Across the universe of 19 UN counterterrorism treaties, our study implies that states may be more likely to ratify treaties as mechanisms to signal intent to address terror threats rather than to build threat-specific counterterrorism capacity. This research thus broadens both academic and policy-related understandings of state counterterror treaty ratification.

Exploring the Role of Islam in Mali

The absence of Islamist parties or religious candidates in Mali conceals the important role that Muslim leaders have played in politics during the multiparty era. Unlike other contexts, where religious leaders have leveraged networks of service provision to launch mass parties, Islamic service provision fuels personalist networks for major religious figures in Mali, who exist in varying degrees of complementarity with the secular state. This chapter examines clerics’ roles in politics and governance in Mali. As trusted providers of social services, including education and justice provision, Muslim clerics also offer patronage networks that are an alternative to those embedded in the secular state. Rather than explicitly challenge the regime, the country’s leading clerics have struck a delicate balance between competition and complementarity with the state. They use their close proximity to the state to influence politics, gain power, and engage in contentious politics, but minimize reputational costs associated with running for office. The chapter demonstrates that the introduction of jihadist groups, and their repertoires of service provision, which explicitly challenges the state, is a strong departure from existing patterns of political engagement by Muslim clerics and their networks. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the ways that jihadist presence, with its explicit challenge to the secular state, could challenge existing patterns of accommodation between religious leaders and the state.

Rebel Primary Commodity Markets, Price Shocks, and Supplier Victimization

Rebel organizations often benefit from the sale of primary commodities. However, producing these commodities may require labor from noncombatants. Rebels provide security and payment to civilian suppliers, but their ability to do so depends on consistent profits. How, then, do price shocks to labor-intensive primary commodities undermine rebel–supplier relationships? I hypothesize that negative commodity price shocks lead cash-strapped rebels to ensure suppliers’ loyalty by substituting coercion for positive incentives. Conversely, states seek to limit rapid increases in rebels’ profit while avoiding the reputational costs of civilian victimization. Thus, victimization of rebel suppliers from groups such as pro-government paramilitaries is hypothesized to increase after positive commodity price shocks. I test these hypotheses with a new dataset covering 1999–2007 that combines monthly US STRIDE (System to Retrieve Information from Drug Evidence) data on cocaine price with municipal-level data from the Colombian Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica about the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) and paramilitary groups’ use of civilian victimization.

Voluntary Disclosure Responses to Mandated Disclosure: Evidence from Australian Corporate Tax Transparency

In order to deter aggressive tax planning, the Australian government mandated public disclosure of three line items from large corporations' tax returns. However, there is no evidence that the mandated disclosure led public firms to pay more taxes (Hoopes, Robinson, and Slemrod 2018). Instead, I find that firms strategically offset expected reputational costs by voluntarily issuing supplemental information. Specifically, when managers expect new reputational costs from the mandated tax return disclosure (wherein the disclosure reveals an unexpectedly low tax liability) and low proprietary costs from a supplemental voluntary disclosure (wherein the firm discloses its nonaggressive tax planning), firms are likely to voluntarily disclose information that both preempts and supplements the government's mandatory disclosure. Thus, when mandatory disclosures are incomplete, firms will voluntarily issue additional information to remain in control of their disclosure environments.

PEDDLING OR PERSUADING: CHINA'S ECONOMIC STATECRAFT IN AUSTRALIA

With the globalization of Chinese capital, economic statecraft has become an increasingly prominent component of China's foreign policy. In this article, I examine China's use of economic inducements in developed democracies, a topic of growing concern for policymakers, focusing on the case of Australia. I show how Beijing's attempts to coopt public voices and influence Australia's foreign policy using non-transparent political donations and academic funding generated a strong backlash. At the same time, economic interdependence has provided a buffering effect, with key domestic actors in Australia advocating for cooperative relations, although this effect can in turn be limited by Beijing's coercive economic tactics. My findings underline the reputational costs of certain approaches to economic statecraft, the value of building supportive coalitions, and the challenges faced by China's authoritarian state capitalist model. They also highlight the impacts of globalized Chinese capital in developed democracies, including the resilience and vulnerabilities inherent in democratic political processes.