Business Strategy and The Environment最新文献

{"title":"Beyond Disclosure: Sustainable Finance Regulation and the Pricing of ESG Performance in Mature Capital Markets","authors":"Nicola Del Sarto","doi":"10.1002/bse.71692","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.71692","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines whether and under what conditions Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance becomes financially meaningful in mature capital markets. Using a longitudinal transatlantic panel of large firms listed in the EURO STOXX 50 and S&amp;P 100 over the period 2015–2024, we analyse the within‐firm association between lagged ESG performance, market valuation, and accounting profitability. We further examine whether this relationship changes around the 2018 EU Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth and the 2021 implementation of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, and whether ESG controversies moderate the financial relevance of ESG performance. Firm and year fixed‐effect models show that improvements in ESG performance are positively but only weakly associated with Tobin's <jats:italic>Q</jats:italic> , whereas no systematic relationship emerges with accounting profitability. Policy interaction models and a dynamic event study provide no evidence of a discrete strengthening of the ESG–valuation relationship for EU‐domiciled firms relative to US‐domiciled firms following the selected regulatory milestones. ESG controversies are directionally associated with weaker ESG value relevance, although the evidence is more pronounced for profitability than for market valuation. Moreover, the Environmental, Social, and Governance pillars are not statistically distinguishable from one another. Among large and highly visible firms, sustainable finance regulation may operate as institutional codification and credibility infrastructure rather than as an abrupt valuation shock, although the evidence is equally consistent with limited statistical power and with measurement error in a domicile‐based indicator of regulatory exposure. The results highlight the conditional and statistically fragile nature of ESG value relevance and should be generalized cautiously beyond institutionally mature capital markets.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149198918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sustainability as a Selective Safeguard: ESG, Earnings Management Types, and Financial Distress in an Emerging Market","authors":"Vibha Tripathi, Vinodh Madhavan","doi":"10.1002/bse.71672","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.71672","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines whether environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance is associated with lower financial distress arising from earnings management in an emerging market and whether this association differs for accrual‐based earnings management (AEM) versus real earnings management (REM). While prior research generally treats ESG as a uniformly effective governance mechanism, it largely overlooks differences in strategies adopted by managers for earnings management and the conditions under which ESG can constrain such actions. Addressing this gap, this study conceptualizes ESG as a selective governance safeguard whose effectiveness depends on the nature of earnings management. Drawing on agency, stakeholder, and signalling theories, we argue that ESG may attenuate the negative risk arising from accounting‐based opacity but not from real operational manipulation. Using a panel of 569 Indian nonfinancial firms from 2019 to 2023 and fixed effects regressions, we examine the interplay between AEM, REM, and financial distress proxied by the emerging‐market Altman <jats:italic>Z</jats:italic> ‐score. The results show that ESG attenuates the negative association between AEM and financial health but does not moderate the relationship between REM and financial health. Results are robust to winsorization and GMM estimations. These findings identify a key boundary condition in ESG's governance role, suggesting that ESG is not a comprehensive safeguard against all forms of managerial opportunism.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149172952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sustainability Reporting on Biodiversity and Ecosystems in the European Forest‐Based Sector: An Institutional Analysis","authors":"Andreas Barth, Tobias Stern, Kurt Christian Schuster, Lea Ranacher, Stefanie Linser","doi":"10.1002/bse.71680","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.71680","url":null,"abstract":"The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) emphasises the importance of corporate sustainability reporting on biodiversity and ecosystems, particularly specified in the European Sustainability Reporting Standard E4 (ESRS E4). This study examines how the European forest‐based sector operationalises ESRS E4 through mandatory disclosures and explores the institutional pressures shaping these practices. Using a qualitative content analysis method on 23 sustainability reports, we assess ESRS E4 disclosures and coercive, mimetic and normative pressures. Overall, these pressures manifest in responses ranging from isomorphism and substantive adaptation to tendencies towards means‐ends decoupling related to specific disclosure obligations. The results reveal a contrast between converging transition plans and policies and diverging practices in terms of actions, targets and metrics. Few disclosed financial effects from biodiversity‐related risks were detected. The findings also indicate that effective biodiversity reporting depends not only on regulatory requirements but also on the development of shared reporting and measurement infrastructures.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149172949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Impact of Strategically Involved Middle Managers on Green Outcomes","authors":"Thu Anh Le Dang, Bo van der Rhee, Richard Janssen","doi":"10.1002/bse.71677","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.71677","url":null,"abstract":"There has been extensive research on the determinants of green outcomes, particularly from a management perspective. Despite the crucial roles of middle managers (MMs) in management theory, the existing literature emphasizes top managers as the primary managerial drivers of green outcomes. This study addresses this gap by examining whether and how MMs involved in strategy (MMIS) contribute to firms' green outcomes. A total of 107 valid responses were collected through an online cross‐sectional survey with a structured questionnaire. Hierarchical linear regression and bootstrap analyses were used to test the model. The empirical results reveal that MMIS can significantly affect green innovation (GI). Additionally, for MMIS to contribute to environmental performance (EP), green dynamic capabilities (GDCs) act as an effective mediator. The results further indicate that regulatory stakeholder pressures (RSPs) moderate the relationship between MMIS and GI, whereas no moderating effect of RSPs is observed between MMIS and EP. The study suggests that while strategically involved MMs can effectively improve short‐term green outcomes (GI), enabling them to drive long‐term green outcomes (EP) requires cultivating appropriate organizational capabilities. With a unique dataset collected exclusively from MMs, the study extends the green management literature and informs practitioners about MMs as “green champions.”","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"53 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149172758","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Competencies for Sustainable Development in Entrepreneurship: A Bibliometric Analysis","authors":"Ana Martín‐Schubert, M. Carmen Pérez‐López, María José González‐López","doi":"10.1002/bse.71651","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.71651","url":null,"abstract":"Sustainability has become one of society's main concerns and, with it, the development of the competencies necessary to achieve and contribute to sustainable development. In this sense, the entrepreneur as an agent of change toward a sustainable world is fundamental. This paper contributes to the knowledge on competencies for sustainable development in entrepreneurship by conducting a bibliometric analysis. The results show significant growth in the literature, especially since 2017, and reveal five thematic clusters linked to individual and strategic capabilities for sustainable performance, sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystems, education for sustainable entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and digital transformation in emerging economies, and women's empowerment and well‐being. This study demonstrates that competencies for sustainable development are a key element enabling entrepreneurs to transform social and environmental challenges into opportunities for innovation, value creation, and transition toward more sustainable business models. Furthermore, future research lines are suggested to further explore entrepreneurship based on sustainable competencies.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149172759","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"When and How Do Women Directors Matter for Corporate Sustainability? The French Case","authors":"Amandeep Mattoo, Pascal Nguyen","doi":"10.1002/bse.71668","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.71668","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines when and how board gender diversity matters for corporate sustainability. Using a sample of French listed firms over 2006–2024, we combine dynamic system GMM estimations with difference‐in‐differences tests around France's phased board gender quotas. The results show that greater female board representation is associated with stronger ESG performance, but that this relationship is highly contingent. It becomes substantially stronger once women attain meaningful representation, with the clearest evidence emerging around 30% of board seats and approximately four women directors. Consistently, the 20% regulatory threshold produces no significant ESG effect, whereas the 40% requirement is followed by significant improvements among initially non‐compliant firms. Decomposing ESG performance reveals particularly strong associations with social performance, stakeholder engagement, and product responsibility, but a negative association with environmental innovation. Finally, the relationship is concentrated among financially stronger firms and firms with powerful CEOs. Overall, the findings show that the sustainability consequences of board gender diversity depend on representation, the ESG dimension considered, and organizational context.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149172761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Barriers to Engagement in Circular Business Models Among Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: Evidence From the Irish Construction, Manufacturing and Retail/Wholesale Sectors","authors":"Gordon Sirr, Bernadette Power, Geraldine Ryan, John Eakins","doi":"10.1002/bse.71605","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.71605","url":null,"abstract":"Although circular business models (CBMs) are central to the circular economy (CE) transition, their adoption among small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) remains limited, and evidence on barrier variation across CBMs and sectors is scarce. This study examines barriers to engagement in five CBM activities, spanning secondary raw material use, takeback, repair/maintenance, remanufacturing/refurbishment and leasing/rental, using a survey of 452 Irish SMEs in construction, manufacturing and retail/wholesale, in which respondents rated barriers for each activity. Barrier importance proves strongly contingent on CBM activity and sector, with variation also evident across firm characteristics. Only two barriers, secondary raw material costs and upfront costs of leasing/rental, are high‐priority in all sectors; several recur across sector pairs, while most bind in single activity–sector combinations. Resource‐based, institutional and contingency perspectives help explain this patterning. The findings move CBM barrier research beyond descriptive classification, provide systematic evidence on SMEs and inform more effective CE policymaking.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149172760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An Application of Machine Learning and Textual Analytics for Visualisation and Enhanced Interpretation of Sustainability Disclosure","authors":"Tarek Rana, Peter Öhman, Jan Svanberg, Mohammad Saiedur Rahaman, Faruk Bhuiyan, Md. Hafij Ullah, Parvez Mia","doi":"10.1002/bse.71658","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.71658","url":null,"abstract":"Social and environmental accounting provides accountability mechanisms through which organisations communicate their sustainability practices to stakeholders. However, the increasing volume, complexity and diversity of sustainability disclosures make manual content analysis both labour‐intensive and susceptible to subjectivity. Machine learning and textual analytics offer promising approaches for systematically processing and visualising large qualitative datasets with greater consistency and transparency. This study explores how machine learning‐based textual analytics can be used to collect, analyse and visualise sustainability disclosure data in ways that enhance public accountability. More specifically, it focuses on how local governments use language to construct and communicate their sustainability commitments and performance. The empirical material consists of 237 annual reports from 79 local government areas in Victoria, Australia, covering the period 2015–2017. Drawing on a realist constructionist ontology, machine learning theory and stakeholder theory, the authors develop a machine learning‐based approach that transforms unstructured qualitative data into measurable insights. The methodology integrates VADER sentiment analysis, Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modelling and Doc2Vec embeddings with cosine similarity to assess the comprehensiveness of sustainability disclosures. The analysis reveals that sustainability disclosures exhibit predominantly positive to neutral sentiment, with the dominant themes relating to financial and environmental challenges. The reports were categorised into three comprehensiveness levels, with the majority demonstrating a medium level of sustainability disclosure. Temporal analysis further suggests distinct patterns in how local governments frame sustainability initiatives and indicates that sustainability is conceptualised as a multidimensional construct. The study makes a methodological contribution by demonstrating how machine learning can enhance the rigour, scalability and transparency of sustainability accounting research. It also extends realist constructionist ontology into the domain of computational analysis and provides practical benchmarking tools for local governments. For stakeholders, the proposed visualisation techniques offer methods for assessing public sector sustainability accountability.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"158 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149172858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Circular Economy Disclosure in Europe's Automotive Sector: An Analysis of Reporting Patterns","authors":"Johannes Bauer, Johanna Marie Kunsmann, Peter Letmathe","doi":"10.1002/bse.71665","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.71665","url":null,"abstract":"According to the European Circular Economy Action Plan, the automotive industry plays a key role in Europe's transition to a circular economy (CE). Industry‐specific legislation and upcoming reporting guidelines raise the question of the current CE implementation level, which is still an underexplored research field. Based on 77 corporate reports from European automotive companies, a content analysis is conducted using a mix of a deductive and inductive code system to examine CE disclosure in terms of its reporting patterns. Overall, a wide range of CE practices are already being pursued. However, the automotive industry focuses on more easily implementable practices such as reduce and recycle activities. Frequently disclosed CE practices are generally described in more detail than those reported less often. Furthermore, the reports lack specific targets and quantitative statements. Lastly, supply chain position, compliance with voluntary reporting guidelines, and external assurance are associated with CE disclosure.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149172762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dual‐Audit Governance and Sustainability Reporting for Environmental Innovation: International Evidence","authors":"Ahmed Kouki, Anis Omri","doi":"10.1002/bse.71695","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.71695","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines how external sustainability assurance (EA) and internal audit reporting (IA) relate to sustainability reporting (SR) and environmental innovation (GI). Using 10,092 firm‐year observations from 1937 firms across 18 countries over 2010–2024, we employ LASSO‐guided two‐way fixed‐effects models supplemented by fixed‐effects instrumental‐variable estimation, clustered bootstrap path analysis, interaction tests, multiway clustering, and propensity‐score methods. Results show that EA and IA are positively associated with SR, while SR is positively associated with GI. Both contemporaneous indirect associations are also positive and remain stable across alternative control sets and richer fixed‐effects structures. However, the preferred within‐firm interaction is insignificant, instrumental‐variable estimates do not support causal interpretation, and entry into a positive external assurance score predicts stronger reporting but not subsequent innovation. The findings position external assurance and internal audit as additive governance mechanisms linked to reporting within observed firms, rather than evidence of causal mediation, substitution, complementarity, or hierarchical dominance.","PeriodicalId":9518,"journal":{"name":"Business Strategy and The Environment","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.4,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149172806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}