HAL - Audencia Group
Not a member yet
2932 research outputs found
Sort by
Corporate Social Responsibility, Carbon Footprints and Stock Market Valuation
No full textInternational audienceThe emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), within the atmosphere poses serious threats to society and the environment. In this paper, we examine the effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on the association between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stock valuation. Using a sample of listed non-financial US firms from 2002 through 2018, we find that CO2 emission plays a moderating role in reshaping the CSR-stock valuation nexus. Further analysis showed that our results are robust for using alternate proxies of CSR, CO2, additional control, and methods to alleviate endogeneity concerns. Additionally, we explored how increasing carbon footprints reshape this association only for firms with strong governance structures. Overall, our results indicate that the positive impact of CSR on stock valuation is overlaid by corporate CO2 emission. The practical and theoretical insights of this study were explored
Investment in ESG activities and bank performance: does bank ownership matter?
No full textInternational audienceIn this paper, we investigate the relation between Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) activities and bank performance in European markets. Different from existing literature, we also explore whether ESG activities differently affect the performance of foreign-owned banks and domestic-owned banks. The results show that higher involvement in ESG activities is associated with better performance only for foreign-owned banks, and suggest that investment in ESG activities is relevant for foreign banks since it helps to obtain legitimacy in foreign markets, and enhance their reputation on international level. Our findings provide a better understanding of whether a bank’s ESG activities are in the interest of shareholders, and partially explain the contradictory results in previous studies
Package-free products: How to improve pro-environmental buying behaviors among consumers
No full textThe packaging of consumer goods is considered a main cause of household waste. Worldwide institutions are pressing companies to realize solutions that minimize packaging and comply with sustainable development goals (SDGs). Similarly, emerging EU Directives are prompting countries and operators to cut off the packaging of fast-moving consumer goods. The offer of package-free products – alternatively named bulk products – represents an effective solution. Applying a mixed method approach to data collected during and after the pandemic, this paper explores consumers’ propensity for bulk products, identifying potential benefits and barriers consumers face when buying package-free products. We find that consumers are keen to buy bulk products not to conform to society but as they perceive it as a personal contribution to environmental protection. However, greater familiarity with package-free products is necessary for adopting this emerging pro-environmental behavior. Thus, we encourage i) manufacturers to develop and propose new package-free lines, ii) retailers to provide package-free assortment options to attract new consumer targets, iii) institutions and policymakers to promote sustainable behavior among citizens favoring familiarity with this shopping option
The Old Boys’ Club and Board Gender Diversity: Evidence from the Anti-corruption Campaign in China
No full textInternational audienceThis paper reveals that male-dominant social networks through alcohol drinking is an important determinant that hinders women ascending onto corporate boards. Specifically, exploiting China's anti-corruption campaign launched in 2012 as an exogenous shock to the business drinking interactions, we find that the policy-induced reduction in alcohol drinking significantly promotes board gender diversity in Chinese listed firms. Further evidence shows that the effect of reduced alcohol drinking on board gender diversity is more pronounced in cities with a higher intensity of anti-corruption investigations and cities with less severe gender discrimination. Our empirical findings support the "old boys' club" hypothesis, suggesting that male-dominant social networks hamper the access of qualified women to higher positions in the workplace
Comparative clumped isotope temperature relationships in freshwater carbonates
No full textInternational audienceLacustrine, riverine and spring carbonates represent archives of terrestrial climates and their geochemistry has been used to study palaeoenvironments. Clumped isotope thermometry is an emerging tool that has been applied to freshwater carbonates. Limited work has been done to evaluate comparative relationships between clumped isotopes and temperature in different types of modern freshwater carbonates. This study assembles an extensive calibration data set with 135 samples of modern freshwater carbonates from 96 sites and constrains the relationship between independent observations of water temperature and the clumped isotopic composition of carbonates (denoted by Δ 47 ), including new measurements, and recalculates published data in accordance with current community‐defined standard values. For temperature reconstruction, the study reports a composite freshwater calibration and material‐specific calibrations for biogenic carbonates (freshwater gastropods and bivalves), fine‐grained carbonate (e.g. micrites), biologically mediated carbonates (microbialites and tufas) and travertines. Material‐specific calibration trends show a convergence of slopes that are in agreement with recently published syntheses, but statistically significant differences in intercepts occur between some materials (e.g. some biogenics, fine‐grained carbonates). These differences may arise due to unresolved seasonal biases, kinetic isotope effects and/or varying degrees of biological influence. The impact of different calibrations is shown through application to new data for glacial and deglacial age travertines from Austria and published data sets. While material‐specific calibrations may yield more accurate results for biogenic and fine‐grained carbonate samples, the use of material‐specific and the composite freshwater calibrations generally produces values within 1.0–1.5°C of each other, and typically fall within calibration uncertainty given limitations of precision
Media Use, Feelings of Being Devalued, and Democratically Corrosive Sentiment in the US
No full textInternational audienceWe take two approaches to understanding democratically corrosive sentiment (DCS) in the US, which we operationalize in terms of populist attitudes, conspiracy beliefs, and expectation of fraud in the next election. Our first approach is media use, which is not well understood as a correlate of DCS beyond generalities about the harms of social media and partisan news. We distinguish between mainstream news and right-wing media, and between three categories of social media: those facilitating stronger ties among users, those facilitating weaker ties, and extremist Alt-Tech brands. Our second approach to explaining DCS is attitudinal. For this, we introduce a concept called Feelings of Being Devalued (FBD), which we offer as a complement to status threat and sense of material deprivation. Using a survey of our design (N = 2,000) fielded in the US in 2022, we show that: (1) mainstream news use and attention to right-wing media have opposite relationships with DCS; (2) not only Alt-Tech social media but also stronger-tie media such as Facebook are correlated with DCS, while use of weaker-tie social media such as X are uncorrelated in a model with a rich set of controls; and (3) FBD is strongly associated with DCS-more so than right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and ideology
Females wanna-be entrepreneurs need empathic heroes
No full textInternational audiencePurpose Despite the well-documented importance of empathy and mentoring in entrepreneurship, there is a need for a deeper understanding of how empathy influences individuals’ “willingness to be mentored”. Design/methodology/approach This paper investigates gender differences in “Willingness to be mentored” based on the mentor’s types of empathy (cognitive vs affective) and entrepreneurship (social vs for-profit). Drawing on the personal identification and the entrepreneurship literature, we measured the respondents’ “Willingness to be mentored” by manipulating the type of empathy and entrepreneurship and comparing its effect between male and female respondents. Primary survey data were collected from master’s degree students in entrepreneurship from diverse business schools. An explanatory qualitative study on female start-uppers complemented the findings. Findings The results from the quantitative study show that female respondents prefer to be mentored by an entrepreneur who exhibits some affective empathy rather than only cognitive empathy, with a preference for a social entrepreneur. The qualitative study confirms the evidence. This research contributes to the discussion on developing social capabilities to succeed in new ventures. It extends our understanding of the importance of empathic entrepreneurs as mentors to foster entrepreneurship among women. Originality/value Theoretically, we demonstrate the existence of a gender difference in “Willingness to be mentored” based on the type of empathy displayed by the entrepreneur. Additionally, we introduce a new construct in the entrepreneurship literature, “Willingness to be mentored”, and differentiate it from “Attitude toward entrepreneurship”
“Start-up nation”: The making and performativity of an empty signifier
No full textthe article is hybrid in terms of disciplines: it is anchored both in Entrepreneurship and in Communication disicplines. I don't know how to select both disciplines in ACADEMEInternational audienceThe article sheds light on the process of fabrication of a polysemous, ambiguous and mocking French entrepreneurial expression−the “start-up nation”−construed as an empty signifier. The fabrication of such empty signifiers in the discourses of entrepreneurship and management, what creates them and what they create, remain little explored questions. This article addresses the following question: How do repeated quotations of an empty signifier enable it to perform entrepreneurship? We trace the circulation of the expression from its first utterance in the political sphere by Emmanuel Macron, then French Minister of the Economy, through to the media and the scientific sphere, using a communicative analysis of Emmanuel Macron’s speeches (n=4), press articles (n=210) and academic productions (n=30). We show the shifts in meaning and values that take place, in particular the way in which the “start-up nation” takes on denunciatory and pejorative values, and is transformed from a political formula into a pejorative, decontextualized little phrase. Our results enrich the critical literature on management and entrepreneurship, particularly the analysis of the performativity of entrepreneurial discourse. By describing the manufacture of an empty signifier through its circulation in social space, the study reveals the counter-power potential of performativity. The results also highlight the surprising absence of an academic critical dimensio
Technological innovation and its influence on energy risk management: Unpacking China’s energy consumption structure optimisation amidst climate change
No full textInternational audienceIn the context of intensifying climate challenges, adept energy risk management is more pertinent than ever. This research pioneers an in-depth exploration into China’s pronounced reliance on high-polluting fossil fuels, utilising a decade’s worth of provincial data (2010–2020) to shed light on the intricate dynamics between technological innovation and energy consumption structure refinement. Notably, our findings unveil that technological advancements act as catalysts in streamlining energy consumption structures, serving as a bulwark against emergent climate-related risks. Yet, this positive trajectory is not immune to disruptions: volatility in crude oil futures prices has the potential to dampen these benefits, ushering in heightened financial risks. Our work further underscores pronounced regional variances; technological innovation yields diminished returns in the central and western regions compared to their eastern counterparts. An intriguing observation is the resilience exhibited by coal-dependent provinces to technological evolution, pointing towards entrenched energy infrastructure challenges. Crucially, this study is among the first to identify the dual roles of industrial structure evolution and energy pricing dynamics as mediators in energy risk management. Drawing from these insights, we advocate for a proactive harnessing of technological innovation, not merely as a tool, but as an imperative to drive China’s energy transformation, foster sustainable consumption, and lay the foundation for a fortified green and low-carbon technological ecosystem
Social Entrepreneurial Marketing and Innovation in B2B Services: Building Resilience with Explainable Artificial Intelligence
No full textInternational audienceExplainable artificial intelligence (XAI) and other digital technologies are altering the nature of social entrepreneurship, marketing, and other service activities. The structures and strategies of entrepreneurs undergo radical change as a result of the impact of XAI on marketing and innovation. Despite the increased interest in business to business (B2B) literature, there are limitations on how and what circumstances the activities of B2B marketing on social entrepreneurship. Therefore, this study outlines how XAI will impact B2B services by building resilience during and after crisis events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. To develop an in-depth understanding on the theories of social entrepreneurship, B2B marketing, and emerging technologies, this study set apart and conceptualize relevant factors and linkages. The result shows that based on a survey of 295 samples of B2B services entrepreneurial businesses, XAI enhances the establishment of a sustainable resilience for B2B marketing activities and contribute to building social entrepreneurial strategies for B2B marketing innovation