This study empirically examines the effect of corporate governance on the relation between CEO power and firm leverage. Results from OLS and industry fixed effects regressions show that CEO power is positively associated with firm leverage. However, this association is driven by the strength of corporate governance as powerful CEOs tend to choose higher levels of debt only when corporate governance is strong. When corporate governance is weak, CEO power does not seem to have any effect on firm leverage. Overall, results indicate that strong corporate governance mitigates the severity of manager-shareholder conflicts and induces powerful CEOs to choose higher leverage.

This study provides insight into CEO compensation dynamics in the public sector and private sector publicly listed firms in New Zealand. This research uses descriptive statistics, OLS regression, and the difference-in-difference method to analyze the compensation-performance relationship for the period 2005 to 2012. Our findings show that CEOs in the private sector publicly listed firms are receiving higher remuneration benefits. Our results suggest that firm sales and past compensation are the most important determinants of CEO cash-based as well as total compensation. Firms with a larger board size and the presence of a formal remuneration committee are likely to provide higher cash compensation than those without.

This study examines the role of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee (CSRC) in the adoption of strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects that surpass regulatory requirements and basic stakeholder expectations. Our results demonstrate that the establishment of CSRCs enhances all strategic CSR mechanisms, particularly business reputation, stakeholder interaction, risk mitigation, and innovation. Additionally, strategic CSR practices exhibit a strong correlation with CSRC attributes and organizational characteristics. Specifically, the size of the CSRC is positively associated with all dimensions of strategic CSR. Furthermore, CEO membership is likely to impede risk mitigation and innovation capacity, whereas board chair membership enhances business reputation, stakeholder communication, and innovation potential. In terms of gender diversity, female CSRC members show a greater concern for business reputation and associated risks. Regarding committee functioning, increased meeting frequency has the potential to enhance various aspects of strategic CSR.

This paper studies non-compliant firms with gender legislation and why some businesses are taking the risk of not binding the gender quotas. It is conducted on firms listed on the SBF120 index, after the introduction of the gender law of Copé and Zimmermann, in 2011.

Our findings show that gender diversity on advisory committees, unlike monitoring committees, is likely to decrease the non-compliance likelihood. Non-compliant firms have busy members, specifically among men and long-tenured CEOs who are serving in non-dual structures. Regarding women's profiles, non-compliant boards are prone to hire short-tenured and local female candidates. Finally, their financial and social performances are not damaged while their corporate risks are decreased. When penalties are not required against non-compliant firms, refractory businesses do not bear “real” costs.

This study focuses on the impact of trade in environmental goods (green trade) on the environment. We found that green trade can decrease pollution levels by exploiting a panel of 277 Chinese cities from 2004 to 2013 and using the instrumental variable (IV) strategy. However, total trade openness is far less favorable to the environment. We also found that both green imports and exports are conducive to the Chinese environment, while ordinary green trade performs better than green processing trade. Nevertheless, the effects of green trade are restricted by a city's purchasing power and absorptive capacity, as well as the classifications of environmental goods. Furthermore, green trade mainly promotes local green technological progress to benefit the environment.

This paper examines the information content of selected US industries focusing on the dynamic linkages among these industries, the stock market and a number of fundamental variables. The period of investigation spans from January 1960 to December 2021. The empirical strategy includes several methodologies such as regressions, vector autoregressions and volatility models. The idea is to investigate the dynamic linkages among these series at both the mean and the volatility levels. The results point to significant industry returns’ explanatory power for many predictors of economic activity including the stock market. Further, time-varying analysis of the linkages among the industries and the stock market’s returns reveal that certain industries such as Oil and Financials provide consistent information leadership over other industries and across decades. Further, upon assessing the industry–market return volatility spillovers, it was found that a market risk–return profile may not always be economically significant and timely for investors. Finally, crises, financial or otherwise, affect industries but to differing degrees.

Entrepreneurs are important actors in economic activities and creators of social wealth. Excellent entrepreneurs contribute their wisdom to the accumulation of social wealth and the promotion of high-quality economic and social development. The business environment is the main manifestation of the soft power of cities and regional economic development, and a better business environment can effectively attract enterprises and promote their sustainable growth. Using data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009-2019 as a research sample, the following research conclusions were drawn: (1) A better business environment helps enhance entrepreneurship. (2) A better business environment promotes entrepreneurship by reducing rent-seeking expenses and corporate credit costs. (3) Compared to traditional enterprises, high-tech enterprises are better able to enjoy the benefits brought by business environment optimization and further enhance entrepreneurship. When competition is low, entrepreneurs face lower rent-seeking expenses, which is conducive to stimulating entrepreneurship. The businessenvironment can promote fairness and bring more equal financing opportunities for enterprises, which has a higher impact on entrepreneurship for the group facing higher financing constraints. This study meticulously analyzes the impact ofthebusiness environment on entrepreneurship, providing references for the next steps of optimizing the business environment and enhancing entrepreneurship.