Editorial: COVID-19, corporate governance, sustainability, and the post-neoliberal world

The five papers in this special issue reflect the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in its first year, on corporate governance and sustainability. What is common throughout these papers is how the pandemic has created disequilibria for many organisations. The question continues to be posed as to the new forms of organising and managing as the world reorientates or pivots in a pandemic and post-pandemic world

Corporate social responsibility in the time of COVID-19 pandemic: An exploratory study of developing country corporates

COVID-19 pandemic has long-lasting consequences on the health, economic and social life of a country (He & Harris, 2020). In a developing country like India, the socio-economic disruption has led to collaborative action between the central government and state government machinery together with the development sector to curb the impact caused by the virus. Academia substantiates the symbiotic relationship existing between the business and the society (McGuire, 1963; Carroll & Shabana, 2010). The corporates are contributing towards alleviating the pandemic situation through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities (Mahmud, Ding, & Hasan, 2021). This article provides insights into the CSR strategies adopted by corporates in India during the COVID-19 pandemic through exploratory research. The study is based on semi-structured interviews of 27 CSR managers involved in strategizing and implementation of CSR activities in their respective organizations. The results outline the commitment shown by corporates towards alleviating the consequence of the virus by multiple CSR strategies. Thus, this research furthers the understanding of CSR and forms a base for future research on COVID-19 and CSR

Estimated impact of COVID-19 on the Jordanian economy

This study aims to estimate the negative effects of COVID-19 on the Jordanian economy. These effects are expected to coincide with the results of studies carried out by international institutions. For example, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated indicate an increase in the number of unemployed to 5.3 million (the “low” scenario) and 24.7 million (the “high” scenario), from a baseline of 188 million in 2019 (ILO, 2020a). Experts from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed that the global economic downturn (caused by the coronavirus pandemic) is the largest in the past eight decades, which will lead to an increase in poverty and inequality and harm economic growth in the long term. (News 18, 2020). To measure the impact of COVID-19 on the Jordanian economy, the following indicators were adopted: an economic growth, an unemployment rate, a foreign trade (imports and exports), public revenues, public spending, a public debt, and a budget deficit. The study relied on data contained in reports issued by international institutions and official institutions in Jordan. The results indicate a slowdown in the rate of economic growth, an increase in the unemployment rate, a decrease in exports and imports, an increase in the public debt and the budget deficit

Effect of corporate governance practices on bank performance: The perspective of board members

The lingering poor financial performance by banks and bank failure in the past three decades, despite various regulatory actions, has led to a debate on the efficacy of the various regulatory actions and the effectiveness of the practices of corporate governance in Nigerian banks (CBN, 2014; Berger, Imbierowicz, & Rauch, 2016). The study seeks to understand how corporate governance practices influence banks’ performance. The qualitative approach purposively selected three banks and three board interview respondents. Using thematic analysis, the results show that, large board size is not sufficient to improve performance but the broader expertise and other resources the directors bring are the critical elements. The study finds consensus that, outsider directors were desirable, as they provide additional expertise, and assist in making strategic input to improve management decisions. Enhanced monitoring and oversight responsibilities and access to information of board committees improve board effectiveness with favourable effects on bank performance. While the moderating effect of female representation with other governance characteristics on bank performance is subject to the female complementary expertise and their proportion of the board, that of foreign directors appear to be negligible. Bank boards are recommended to be of the right caliber and quantity with adequate resources to offer enhanced monitoring and oversight responsibilities

Corporate governance, institutional investor type and firm performance: Evidence from an emerging market

The study analyses the role of institutional investors in improving firm performance. Unlike in developed economies where firm ownership is widely dispersed, firms in emerging economies such as India have substantial promoter shareholdings (often in a majority or close to a majority). Given the promoter control of Indian companies, the role of institutional investors as external monitors is analysed. Following Brickley, Lease, and Smith (1988) and Almazan, Hartzell, and Starks (2005), the study categorises institutional investors as pressure-sensitive and pressure-insensitive institutional investors. Panel data for non-financial firms from India included in National Stock Exchange (NSE) 500 over the period 2008–2017 is studied using fixed-effects models. The study finds that the increased ownership of pressure-insensitive institutional investors is positively associated with firm performance. Also, the increased ownership of pressure-sensitive institutional investors is negatively associated with firm performance. These findings are consistent with the view that pressure-insensitive institutional investors are more effective monitors compared to pressure-sensitive institutional investors. The study offers insights into the role of institutional investors in economies where firms have a substantial promoter shareholding. The study documents that even with a substantial promoter shareholding and control, pressure-insensitive institutional investors aid in enhancing firm value

Corporate governance and financial performance of listed companies: A case of an emerging market

Corporate financial performance (CFP) is a key benefit that comes with the adoption and implementation of a good corporate governance structure in organizations. The objective of this paper is to analyze the effect of the six (6) broad corporate governance structures (board composition, board committees, separation of CEO/chairman, size of board, number of board meetings held, and shareholder concentration) on CFP measured by ROA, ROE, EPS, and Tobin’s Q among Ghanaian companies. The target population for the study was the companies that were listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) for the period 2015–2020 and purposive sampling methods were deployed in the sample selection. The study found that using ROA as a performance indicator, corporate governance variables affected CFP by 18.95% whilst it influenced ROE by 29.71%. Additionally, corporate governance mechanisms impacted EPS by 52.53% when it was used as a performance indicator and 18.01% when Tobin’s Q was the performance index. The paper concludes that companies that implement the corporate governance guidelines on best practices stand a better chance of enhancing CFP especially with performance targets that integrate shareholder value maximization.

Do Egyptian listed companies support SDGs? Evidence from UNCTAD guidance on core indicators disclosures

This paper provides an exploratory analysis of the extent of Sustainable Development Goals disclosure (SDGD) by the top 30 Egyptian companies. We use the 33 core indicators of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which span economic, institutional, social, and environmental areas. Overall, the results suggest that SDGD in Egypt is still gaining traction, as indicated by a relatively low average disclosure score of only 25%, which translates to approximately eight indicators. We also document a variation in SDGD among the four areas, where disclosure addressing economic and institutional indicators is higher than that of social and environmental areas. This variation could be attributed to the differential regulatory and legal intensity. Disclosure is most noticeable for taxes, employment, women empowerment, financial transparency, corporate governance, and energy. We argue that Egypt has the legislative infrastructure and clear political will from the state to support sustainable development. However, there is a need for coordinated awareness efforts to establish a culture of sustainable development among various stakeholders, including businesses. Finally, there should be a stronger conviction regarding the importance of information sharing as well as comprehensive reporting standards and enhanced regulatory enforcement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to address the status of SDGD in Egypt. Accordingly, there is a need for future research that analyzes both the determinants of SDGD and its consequences

Towards the improvement of the sustainability in sustainable HRM: The role of system strength

With the growing interest in sustainability, its incorporation in business management, and its inevitable intersection with the management of human resources, some scholars and practitioners have highlighted the potential benefits of successful implementation of sustainable human resource management as a source of competitive advantage. While this may denote a corporation’s capacity to respond to a wider range of needs and requirements beyond economic targets, researchers draw on different theories to point out the possible adverse consequences of adopting such multiple bottom-line approaches for employees. This study builds on ideas from previous research, particularly the works of Bush (2018), Bowen and Ostroff (2004) to 1) examine if the perceived degree of emphasis on a triple-bottom-line (TBL) approach is related to role ambiguity and role conflict; 2) investigate if the elements of human resource management system strength are related to role conflict and role ambiguity and, if these elements can moderate the relationship between the perceived degree of emphasis on TBL approach, role ambiguity, and role conflict. While the findings support the link between taking a TBL approach and role ambiguity and role conflict, it offers evidence that a strong human resource management system may reduce the role ambiguity and role conflict resulting from taking such approaches. Managerial implications and future research directions conclude this research

Reaffirming trust in social enterprise in the COVID-19 era: Ways forward

COVID-19 has overwhelmed and stretched existing healthcare infrastructure in both developed and developing economies and pushed governmental response mechanisms to the brink. Globally, governments elicited the call for corporate support, asking social entrepreneurs and social business ventures to organise efforts to build voluntary support for the large-scale response needed during the sudden lockdown disruptions. By April 2020, 26.5 million jobs were lost in the US alone (Lambert, 2020), global stocks plummeted at least 25% and gross domestic product (GDP) contracted significantly for all countries. With reduced domestic demand for non-food goods, reduced foreign demand for US goods exports, supply-chain disruptions, and plant closures, the manufacturing sector saw a huge decline (Reinicke, 2020). Governments all over the world announced massive stimulus packages. The US has approved $2 trillion financial support to combat the economic downturn so far (Emma & Scholtes, 2020) and EU finance ministers have recently approved €500 billion in stimulus measures (Riley, 2020). It is estimated that the global economy will grow at -3 percent in 2020. This article sheds light on the role of social enterprises in addressing the societal problems caused by COVID-19. The authors highlight the efforts of virtual and collaborative associations who seek to swiftly recognise issues and develop solutions, which create social value and alleviate the plights of suffering communities. This article sheds light on the role of social enterprises in addressing the societal problems caused by COVID-19. The authors highlight the efforts of virtual and collaborative associations who seek to swiftly recognise issues and develop solutions, which create social value and alleviate the plights of suffering communities. The authors place emphasis upon the role of the social entrepreneur in developing a way forward in these challenging times and present a contemporary conceptualisation of the social entrepreneur in the form of an “avatar” and the impact that this may have on social enterprise.

US-China trade war: Impact on chemical exporting firms from India to US

With the onset of the US-China trade war in July 2018, the trade patterns between China, the US, and India have undergone a tremendous change. The number of products in which China had a competitive advantage in terms of exports to the US has declined in the last 9 months. A number of developing countries may be benefitted from the ongoing tariff war between the US and China, like Vietnam, Brazil, India, and Korea. In the present study, an attempt has been made to analyse the impact of the US-China trade war on exports of India to the US. The sector which has been selected is the chemical sector comprising of organic and inorganic chemicals as chemicals are one of the top-exported products from India to the US. To analyse the impact, the difference-in-differences technique of regression has been applied. The results indicate that after July 2018, i.e., the commencement of the US-China trade war, the impact on firms exporting chemicals from India to the US has been significant and firms in India may be a potential source for chemicals for the US provided the right policy measures are exercised in India. The results indicate that the trade war between the US and China has had a positive impact on the chemical exports from India to the US. The chemical exports from India to the US have increased post-July 2018, though not at a steep rate. This indicates that India has the potential to export chemicals to the US