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We use the 2015 Chinese stock market crash to study the effects of government stock purchases. The Chinese government purchased stocks to stabilize the markets through state-owned financial institutions known as the "National Team." We find that the intervention led to reduced volatility and price informativeness. These impacts are driven by the disclosure of government portfolios. Consistent with investors having a stronger incentive to acquire government intervention information instead of fundamental news, we find reduced information production and information asymmetry following intervention disclosure. The article suggests that government stock purchases involve a trade-off between stability and informational efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the analysis of theoretical approaches and judicial practice of vindicatio defense of rights to land plots. Reforming social relations requires periodic rethinking of legal categories and the practice of their application. Therefore, periodic comparison of scientific positions in the field of land rights defense with judicial practice in this field is extremely necessary. The research is focused on highlighting the issues of correlation of vindicatio defense with other remedies of defense: restitution, condictio, recognition of land rights, recognition of acts of public authorities as invalid, negatorio method of defense, etc. A special feature and problem of the defense of rights to land is the correctness of choosing a vindicatio or negatorio defense, since modern judicial practice has made its corrections in this matter. In this vein, the article pays special attention to defense in case of arbitrary occupation of land. The only form of defense in case of arbitrary occupation of lan d plots, which is directly indicated in the legislation, is a judicial one. At the same time, the remedy of defense is not specified in the law, which created a scientific discussion on this matter outlined in the article. Taking into account the systematic conclusions of judicial practice regarding the cases of choosing vindicatio or negatorio defense, arbitrary occupation of a land plot is an indirect temporary illegal possession. In the case of violations of legal ownership by such a temporary illegal owner of a plot of land, both the owner and the temporary legal user must apply negatorio defense. Summing up, we can conclude that modern judicial practice has mainly determined the ways of defensing land rights. In not all cases, such approaches are supported by legal science. But at the same time, it brings some certainty to the regulation of land relations and creates a relatively stable basis for the defense of land rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Economic nationalism has been on the rise for the past two decades. Scholars have also noted the shift away from globalization and deregulation toward a more prominent role of the state in the economy. I explore the role played by populist governments in the increased adoption of economic nationalism and in this return of the state. I argue that the populist worldview lends itself naturally to a consolidation of power—not just political, but also economic. This consolidation of economic power results in a more prominent state even in countries where the populist regime is a right‐leaning one. Methods: I test this argument quantitatively by analyzing governments in 30 European countries since 1990, levels of state ownership in the economy, and a battery of economic and political controls. Results: The election of a populist government is associated with a strengthening of state ownership in the economy. Conclusion: I conclude with a discussion of the prospects for the future study of this populist economic agenda both domestically and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the determinants of corruption in Russia based on an original survey of 1,376 businesspeople in 39 regions. Regression analysis reveals economically and statistically significant correlations between bribes, development, and state intervention in the economy. Using the instrumental variable of geographical location, this paper provides supportive evidence for a causal (negative) relationship between prosperity and bribes. It finds a positive correlation between regional corruption and state ownership and a negative one between corruption and the size of the bureaucracy. These results hold for both perceived and experiential corruption. This paper contributes to the investigation of corruption in Russia and post-communist countries. It illustrates the importance of economic development, effective bureaucracy, and the reduction of state property for mitigating corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proponents of the conventional detrimental view contend that government ownership results in efficiency losses, which suggests that it has a negative effect on corporate green innovation at private firms with government shareholders. The beneficial view that we propose in this study is that government ownership helps private firms to acquire the external resources that are needed for green innovation and to share the risks that attend on it, which suggests that government ownership has a positive effect on corporate green innovation at private firms with government shareholders. In this study, we use a large sample of privately controlled enterprises (PCEs) with government shareholders in the Chinese A‐share market to examine the beneficial view. The baseline results show that government ownership of PCEs is positively associated with corporate green innovation. These results are robust to a set of sensitivity tests and endogeneity concerns. Furthermore, the channel analyses show that government ownership of PCEs promotes corporate green innovation through the acquisition of external resources and the sharing of risks. Additionally, the cross‐sectional analyses show that the positive effect of government ownership of PCEs on corporate green innovation is stronger at firms that face more financial constraints, at firms that are subject to greater economic policy uncertainty, and at firms that are located in areas with poorer protection of intellectual property rights. Overall, the results confirm our beneficial view that government ownership has a positive effect on corporate green innovation at private firms with government shareholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the determinants of anti-corruption disclosures by construction firms in Asia-Pacific countries. Design/methodology/approach: The sample comprises construction companies from seven Asia-Pacific countries from 2015 to 2019. The authors hand-collected data on anti-corruption disclosures by using content analysis. Findings: This study provides empirical evidence that government ownership, country-level accounting competence and high-quality auditors increase companies' anti-corruption disclosures. Meanwhile, this study finds that uncertainty avoidance does not affect companies' anti-corruption disclosures. Practical implications: This study has a number of implications. First, government and professional accountant organizations need to improve accountants' knowledge and competence through education, training and continuous professional development. Second, public accounting firms need to ensure the quality of their auditors, particularly in the technical competence in financial and nonfinancial reporting. Finally, universities must improve and update their curriculum regarding nonfinancial reporting issues. Originality/value: This study is among the first to examine anti-corruption disclosure practices in the most corrupted settings, i.e. the construction industry in Asia-Pacific countries. It uses the isomorphism perspective to explain the influence of government ownership, country-level accounting competence and high-quality auditors on anti-corruption disclosure transparency. The number of prior studies investigating this association is very limited. Moreover, disclosures of anti-corruption information are complex and sensitive; thus, coercive, normative and mimetic pressures are required to achieve higher transparency and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Government involvement plays a significant role in fostering entrepreneurship. We examine how government involvement in venture capital (VC) investments shapes the decoupling between risk‐taking and investment returns. We distinguish government involvement through state ownership (GVC) and personal political connections (connected VC). We theorize that government involvement through GVC is associated with the downside risk–return paradox, that is, concurrent higher risk‐taking and lower‐than‐expected returns. In contrast, government involvement through connected VCs is linked to the upside risk–return paradox, that is, concurrent lower risk‐taking and higher‐than‐expected returns. Our theoretical predictions receive general support from analyses using longitudinal data from VC firms in China. Our study sheds light on the heterogeneity in the decoupling between risk and return and the underlying mechanisms through which governments influence entrepreneurship. Managerial Summary: Governments often seek to promote entrepreneurship; yet, their involvement in start‐ups tends to deviate from the conventional wisdom of a positive risk–return association. Government‐owned venture capital (VC) firms tend to take greater risks and invest in earlier‐stage start‐ups, but yield lower returns from their investments. Conversely, VC firms that have personal ties to government officials tend to take lower risks and prefer later‐stage start‐ups, yet achieve higher returns. These intriguing findings reveal the complexities of government participation in entrepreneurial activities and offer valuable insights for policy formulation. In addition, our findings highlight the importance for entrepreneurs to recognize diverse goals and resources in government involvement. Considering this when seeking external financing is helpful in positioning start‐ups for growth and success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antecedents of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance have been extensively studied, yet the impact of supplier behavior has been overlooked. By analyzing data from China's manufacturing industry (2013–2020), we find that suppliers' financial violations enhance the overall ESG performance of client firms, with state ownership further reinforcing this relationship. By further examining the ESG dimensions, our study reveals an asynchronous pattern in firms' performance enhancements. Specifically, supplier financial violations significantly boost client firms' social and governance performance, while state ownership attenuates the positive relationship between supplier financial violations and governance performance. Ultimately, our study establishes a crucial link between the conduct of stakeholders within the supply chain and the firm ESG performance. Our findings also facilitate a more comprehensive assessment of the risks associated with supplier financial violations, aiding decision‐makers in shaping and implementing ESG‐related strategies for firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a sample of Chinese listed A-share firms from 2006 to 2017, we find that firms with more rookie independent directors have less corporate innovation. The result is more pronounced in private firms and firms located in lower intellectual property right protection provinces. We argue that firms with more rookie independent directors have lower corporate governance and tend to hold more cash, thus reducing corporate innovation activities. Our results have important implications from the practice, academic, and public policy perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was conducted to prove that the economic welfare of the community is related to and has an influence on the existence of corporate social responsibility activities. The findings in this study assume the existence of the Covid-19 as a period that has an impact on the global crisis. The effects of the global crisis caused companies to experience a decline in net sales, and policies on corporate social activities changed. This study tries to link the variables of public ownership and net sales of companies to disclosure of social responsibility and the economic welfare of the community. The sampling design in this study uses a list of manufacture companies included in the Kompas 100 index list for two consecutive years, namely 2020 and 2021, which is the period when the health crisis in Indonesia began. The results of this study are that the variables of public ownership structure and net sales index have a significant relationship with social responsibility disclosure. However, the disclosure of social responsibility is not significant to economic welfare. Public ownership brings the company more attention from the surrounding community. Meanwhile, sales growth is used as a company measure to satisfy company owners and benefit the community. With company policies that benefit the community, supporting the government improves economic welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on critical capitalism theory and the social responsibility theory of media, this paper explores the role of the state as a news media owner in contemporary European media systems and the capitalist context. It focuses on accountability and the relationships between the state, state-owned media outlets, and the public. Academic research to date has predominantly examined public service media (PSM) and the dichotomy of private versus public media, thereby overlooking other models of state ownership. The lack of clear regulations on the state's accountability as a media owner outside PSM at the EU level, along with uncertainties in national regulatory frameworks (such as those seen in Slovenia, and the recent reinstatement of state ownership of media in Serbia) raise concerns about the potential for abuse of power. These issues are particularly relevant in the current context of illiberal and authoritarian tendencies within modern European capitalist societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The privatization of public utilities marked a turning point in European capitalism, reshaping the relationship between the public and private spheres of the economy. However, the extent of state disinvestment varies greatly from country to country. While in some countries direct state ownership has disappeared, in others the state still acts as a reference shareholder in strategic companies. Despite their institutional similarities, Italy and Spain provide a puzzling example of this divergence. While Spain completed the privatization of all public utilities, the Italian state retains a controlling stake in many of them. Through historical case studies based on official documents, legal texts, archival research of newspaper articles, secondary sources and memoirs, this paper explains this divergence. Contributing to recent debates on patient capital and state-business interactions, it is argued that Spain completed the privatization process because the state was able to orchestrate the creation of shareholder alliances among private investors. Crucially, these investors were willing to ensure that management prioritizes long-term investment plans over the distribution of short-term financial profits. In the absence of domestic private providers of patient capital, the Italian state had to keep the role of anchor investor for itself after unsuccessfully experimenting with various privatization strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Robert Nozick's refusal to concede the moral high ground to socialist ideologies, as advised by his mentor David Schmidtz. Topics include the contrast between socialism's historical failures and capitalism's successes, the paradox of socialism's moral appeal despite its track record, and the differing interpretations of socialism among millennials.

Changes in politicians may significantly alter the economic environment and bring uncertainty and unpredictable risk for firm's outcomes. To assess such effects, this paper proposes a theoretical framework to explore the effect of politician turnover on firm innovation and the underlying mechanisms of this effect. With a sample of China's listed firms from 2008 to 2017, the findings show that: politician turnover significantly and negatively affects firm innovation; the mediating effect of financial constraints on this relationship is significant, such as politician turnover may hinder firm innovation via miring the firm in financial constraints; the mediating effect of financial constraints is moderated by state ownership, as the mediating effect of financial constraints on the relationship between politician turnover and firm innovation is weakened in a state-owned enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wealth of evidence has shown the positive effects of better management practices on firms. More recent evidence has highlighted that ownership matters for several developing and advanced economies. However, this relationship has not been studied extensively for economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a region where the presence of the government in the productive sphere looms large. This study addresses a gap in the literature by exploring how partial government ownership can influence management practices of medium and large formal firms in the MENA. Using two waves of Enterprise Surveys undertaken in 2013 and 2019/2020, the evidence points at a negative relationship between partial government ownership and management practices in the developing MENA region. The findings pass several robustness checks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This ethnographic study explores the life histories of 12 key informants of Siamese descent who were living in Myanmar but illegally fled into Thailand following civil unrest and thus became a diaspora in their motherland. The study was conducted from 2018 to 2022 in the Singkhon diaspora community of Ban Rai Krao village near the Thai-Myanmar border, in Prachuap Kiri Khan province, Thailand. It used the Critical Medical Anthropology (CMA) perspective, the concept of social suffering, and borderland anthropology to illustrate the traumatic experiences of the Singkhon and their participation in social movements for citizenship rights, land ownership and, particularly, public healthcare access. Although they have cooperated with Thai Nationality Reintegration Networks for decades, they have run into difficulties as a result of power relations within capitalism and bureaucratic delays. Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic made it more difficult for those without ID cards to access government assistance and healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of trade-related illicit financial flows (IFFs) on tropical deforestation. To adjust for pre-exposure differences in deforestation rates between countries exposed to IFFs and their counterfactuals, this study adopts propensity score matching and doubly robust weighted regression estimators. The results suggest substantial increases in forest loss in countries exposed to large IFFs. Specifically, the treated countries exposed to IFFs experience an annual increase in forest loss of approximately 10,344.167 hectares compared to their counterfactual controls. This finding is largely driven by macro-financial instability resulting from real currency depreciation and tax revenue losses due to illicit financial outflows. The results highlight the merit of capital controls and state ownership of assets in mitigating the impact of exposure to IFFs on forest loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the factors that contribute to the size of governments in different countries. It discusses Wagner's law and the resource curse as explanations for large government size and categorizes countries based on their government size. The article explores the relationship between government size and economic performance, political institutions, and natural resources. It concludes that most countries with large governments can be explained by Wagner's law or the resource curse, while the remaining countries are ruled by autocratic governments with left-wing or incoherent political ideologies. The article also provides a table with characteristics of countries with large governments, but does not offer a roadmap for reducing government size. The author acknowledges uncertainties in reducing government size and provides rough estimates for figures. [Extracted from the article]

AbstractThrough Target 4.7 of SDG4 on ‘quality education’, Agenda 2030 invites governments to take ownership of progress towards ensuring ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ (ESD) becomes embedded into all levels of education. However, conceptual analysis suggests an ongoing blindspot related to the significance of systems literacy in fostering the many learning outcomes associated with the broader sweep of ‘education for the Sustainable Development Goals’. These include (i) the challenges of providing learners with explicit support for key cross-cutting sustainability competencies that integrate cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioural domains, and (ii) ensuring citizens can move beyond acquiring basic familiarity with elements of systems thinking towards engaging in authentic lifelong learning about ‘healthy’ and ‘problematic’ systems, including their prominence and sustainability within society at large. The analysis offered in this ‘long form’ article helps address such challenges by reviewing key conceptions of systems literacy. It also proposes a model based on weaving together three literacy elements familiar to environmental and sustainability education (ESE): the functional, cultural, and critical. The article concludes with illustrations of the model in terms of its implications for practices of ESE, and a discussion of the model’s potential for supporting efforts that further constructive engagement by educators with the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Four Years of Joe Biden: The old man who reconciled with Europe" describes Joe Biden's presidency as US President from 2021 to 2025. Biden was elected as the Democratic Party candidate to overcome the division in the country. His presidency was characterized by a strong focus on Europe and transatlantic relations. Domestically, Biden focused on a "nationalization" of the USA with extensive investment programs that led to record debts. Despite some successes in foreign policy, such as supporting Ukraine, relations with China and the failed withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan remained challenges. [Extracted from the article]

To what extent are local races across the country being increasingly driven by politics at the national level? In this article, we examine the nationalization of elections for state executive branches' primary front line legal actors in the criminal courts—local prosecutors. We seek to better understand the factors influencing prosecutor election outcomes and why these types of elections have become more nationalized in recent years. More specifically, we aim to evaluate what effect this greater nationalization has had on the electoral fates of incumbent prosecutors seeking re-election. To date, there is a paucity of scholarship on prosecutor election outcomes within political science despite their importance historically and in light of recent events. This article seeks to fill an important gap in our understanding of what drives prosecutor elections in the United States. More broadly, we believe this research helps us better understand how even these local elections can be impacted by national events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firm pollution is a top concern for both the public and the government. Previous studies on firm pollution mainly focus on formal environmental regulations, but rarely explore informal mechanisms such as political connections, a significant informal means for government intervention. The research explores how political connections affect firm pollution, and tests the moderating effects of market competition, state ownership and environmental regulation on this relationship from the perspective of institutional logics. Using empirical data of the most polluting publicly listed enterprises in China, the research demonstrated that politically connected firms participate in pollution remarkably less probably compared to non-connected firms. Moreover, market competition and state ownership significantly strengthen the focal relationship, while the moderating effect of environmental regulation is insignificant. The study provides novel insights into political connections research, institutional logics perspective and corporate unethical behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Australian Accounting Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the extent to which audit committee (AC) members who are formally independent are truly independent in practice, and what challenges they face that undermine their independence. Design/methodology/approach: The study utilizes semi-structured interviews with 18 members of the AC in Jordan. Findings: The responses indicate that AC is mostly labelled as independent but fails to play an effective monitoring role due to different institutional factors. These factors include family ownership, government ownership, culture, compensation package and the lack of qualified directors. Research limitations/implications: This research addresses this gap by presenting qualitative evidence from a civil law jurisdiction, featured by a developing financial market, a prevalence of family businesses, limited investor protection and a low risk of litigation. Additionally, this study aims to rectify the current imbalance between qualitative and quantitative studies on AC and bridge the gap between research conducted in developed countries and their developing counterparts. Practical implications: This study offers valuable insights for regulatory authorities to engage in a more profound contemplation of extant governance regulations. Also, this study offers useful feedback for nomination committees of public companies, and it also has an implication for shareholders as they rely on independent directors to protect their investment. Furthermore, implications of the findings derived from this research possess the potential for generalization to other developing nations characterized by akin institutional contexts, notably encompassing the countries situated in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Originality/value: This research introduces novel qualitative empirical evidence from a distinctive jurisdiction governed by civil law, thereby enriching the existing scholarly discourse. It also contributes to the AC literature by suggesting that it is not only the existence of conventionally independent ACs that affect the integrity of financial statements, but also the absence of social ties and other contextual obstacles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The lack of transparency contributes to the growing corruption problem in various spheres of society. This paper aims to analyse the sustainability report disclosures published by Czech companies in 2021 and registered by the Association of Social Sustainability of the Czech Republic. Design/methodology/approach: Based on three hypotheses, the relationships between the level of disclosed anti-corruption information and selected variables related to the corporate environment are tested using content analysis and the Mann–Whitney test. Findings: This paper reveals that Czech firms provide more information if they operate in a higher-risk environment (energy, materials and financial services) or are state-owned (or with a state ownership stake). It also reveals that companies participating in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives (UN Global Compact and Global Reporting Initiative) increase their credibility and social responsibility with more disclosed information. Research limitations/implications: A limitation of this paper is the smaller number of selected companies matching the chosen criteria. In addition, a certain degree of subjectivity is likely to have manifested in the process of coding the reports and in the use of the content analysis method. Originality/value: The paper contributes to research that addresses the fight against corruption and CSR issues with a specific study in a small, Central European country and provides new empirical data on the anti-corruption fight problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the challenges faced by progressive organizations, such as 38 Degrees, under a progressive government. The author emphasizes the need for these organizations to advocate for the causes their supporters care about, while also engaging with the new government. They highlight the importance of pushing the government to go further and celebrating progress, rather than solely opposing the government. The article also mentions the need to mobilize public opinion and maintain a focus on the battle for public opinion in a politically volatile time. The author concludes by stating that progressives will continue to demand change while also celebrating success and defending progress. [Extracted from the article]

This study delves into the influence of banks' governance and ownership structures on green lending. To examine this, we utilized the two-step system GMM and PCSE methods on the panel data of Vietnamese commercial banks spanning from 2010 to 2023. The findings suggest that board characteristics, precisely board size, board independence, and gender diversity, play a significant role in encouraging banks to provide green credit. The study highlights the importance of ownership structure in green lending. Banks with a high percentage of government ownership tend to fund more green projects, while foreign counterparts are reluctant to fund green finance. A mechanism test is also conducted to point out that banks' disclosure of their green loan commitments is an influential channel whereby corporate governance and ownership structure impact green loans. Additionally, this research finds that the issuance of the Green Loan Principles in 2018 can facilitate banks' governance of sustainable lending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing literature on the impact of ownership structure on corporate social responsibility (CSR) showed inconsistent results and disregarded the possibility of non‐linear patterns in the relationship. The present study examines the non‐linear relationship between ownership structure (family, foreign, institutional, and government) and CSR expenditure of listed non‐financial service sector firms in India. Further, the moderating effect of board variables, including board size, board independence, multiple directorships and gender diversity, is explored in the ownership structure‐CSR nexus. Based on a balanced panel dataset of 243 non‐financial service sector companies listed in India, the study observed an inverse U‐relationship between institutional ownership and CSR. The study also found that family, foreign, and government ownership positively influence the firm's social engagement. However, the study could find partial support for the moderating role of the four board characteristics; board size, board independence, multiple directorships and gender diversity in ownership‐CSR association. The study contributes to existing CSR and corporate governance literature by exploring one of the major factors (ownership structure) impacting CSR and the role of board variables in the association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between ownership structures and dividend policies for 46 Islamic and 75 conventional banks from 12 MENA and Asian countries between 2012 and 2020. Logit regression is employed to estimate the regression equation, centering on the moderating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and national culture. Our findings remain robust as we tackle the endogeneity issue using probit and logistic regression models. Asset growth and GDP growth serve as proxies for investment opportunities. Additionally, dividend per share acts as a proxy for dividend policy. Our findings emphasize how the ownership structure impacts dividend payouts in both banking systems. We observed positive relationships between dividend payouts and foreign ownership, bank size, age, and performance. Conversely, concentration of ownership and leverage negatively influence dividend payouts. The COVID-19 pandemic directly boosts the dividend policy for conventional banks and alters the relationship between foreign ownership and distribution policy in Islamic banks. Specifically, COVID-19 interacts with foreign and state ownership to reduce dividend payouts, but concentration of ownership does not show this effect. This study furnishes evidence affirming the significance of the ownership structure in shaping the dividend payout policy within Islamic and conventional banking. The results maintain their reliability across various estimation approaches. Moreover, this study accounts for the crisis period as a moderating factor influencing dividend payments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the impact of board attributes, ownership structures and other bank-specific factors on bank risk-taking. Using a sample of 220 banks in 16 sub-Saharan Africa countries for the years 2007–2018, the findings of the study are fourfold. First, the findings indicate that independent directors who are financial experts reduce bank risk-taking. Second, the study finds that the number of board meetings has a negative impact on bank risk-taking. Third, the estimation results suggest that government and foreign ownership encourage banks to take more risks. Finally, the study observes that institutional shareholder ownership influence bank risk-taking negatively. We observe that an increase in the ownership stake held by long-term institutional investors is associated with a decrease in risk-taking. Furthermore, we show that the predicted relationships vary across different periods. The findings are robust to different types of endogeneities and alternative measures of bank risk-taking. The study concludes that different corporate governance characteristics have different implications for banks' risk-taking in the region. The findings have key policy implications for banking practitioners, regulators, and policy makers in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States over the past 40 years national issues and allegiances have increasingly displaced state and local concerns and identities in shaping the preferences of voters and the internal processes of political parties. This study finds that such nationalization has also manifested itself in health-related behaviour, specifically in the takeup of Covid-19 vaccines. Despite the heterogeneities of US states, counties, and towns, the share of the vote that Trump received in the 2020 US presidential election is found at each level to be a strong and robust predictor of a lower June 2022 Covid-19 vaccination initiation rate, even after adjusting for sociodemographic composition, spatial effects, and diverse provisioning- and takeup-related factors. At each of the three subnational levels, the Trump 2020 vote share was also correlated more closely than the Trump 2016 vote share or the Romney 2012 vote share with the June 2022 Covid-19 vaccination initiation rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Global Sport Management is the property of the Global Alliance of Marketing & Management Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Planning Education & Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research contributes to the literature on the relationship between board social ties and the complexity of institutional environments. It remains unclear what reactions a firm needs to take in response to the complexity of interconnected changes in multiple institutional dimensions. We seek to understand the changes of social ties on corporate boards due to the asynchronicity across dimensions of pro-market institutional changes—an overlooked type of institutional uncertainty. We address the gap in understanding firm responses to institutional environmental complexity by analyzing changing board social ties as a response to the asynchronicity of pro-market institutional changes in emerging markets. Based on a sample of 8205 firm-year observations during 2005–2016 in 15 emerging markets, we find that firms increased the presence of directors with both corporate interlocks and political ties in response to asynchronous pro-market institutional changes. This increase appeared less salient when the firm already had a greater presence of the other type of social ties on board or a higher percentage of state ownership. Finally, we find that the performance consequences of such board changes depend on the existing level of pro-market institutional developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the correlation between state-owned capital and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance, with a nuanced exploration of the moderating influence of political connections. Drawing on data from publicly listed Chinese companies in a political-oriented developing nation over the span of 2013–2022, panel regression analyses unveil a noteworthy positive association between state-owned capital and ESG performance. Companies endowed with investments from state-owned capital demonstrate their commitment to sustainable practices, leveraging the resources provided by the government to enhance their ESG performance. Intriguingly, the affirmative impact is more pronounced for high market maturity provinces and heavy polluting industries compared to low market maturity provinces and non-heavy polluting industries. Moreover, political connections exhibit a positive moderating effect between the state-owned capital and ESG performance, with a particularly discernible impact on firms in high market maturity provinces and heavy polluting industries. The robustness of these findings persists through sensitivity analyses employing alternative metrics and estimation methodologies. These outcomes carry implications for investors, management, analysts, and policymakers, offering invaluable insights for companies and markets keen on fortifying their ESG policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the role of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance in shaping shareholder value during mergers and acquisitions (M&A) processes. Drawing on data from Chinese publicly traded companies, we demonstrate that firms with robust ESG performance exhibit a heightened ability to fulfill their commitment to maximizing shareholder value. These findings align with stakeholder theory, which posits that organizations prioritizing ESG considerations are more likely to generate greater returns for their shareholders. Moreover, our analysis reveals that the positive impact of high ESG performance on valuation is magnified in cases where the acquiring firm is either a non-family business or a state-owned enterprise (SOE). Additionally, we find that the influence of corporate ESG performance on value creation becomes more pronounced when the acquiring firm boasts higher levels of transparency and a favourable reputation. This research contributes to the limited body of literature exploring the connection between ESG initiatives and M&A practices, as well as enriches our understanding of firm investment behaviour and value creation, particularly within emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are mainly interested in the impact of acquisition, ownership structure, and national governance quality on accrual earnings management (AEM) in the GCC listed companies' context. Our sample is composed of 3210 firm-year observations for the period from 2007 to 2017. We employ panel data models in investigating the determinants of AEM for acquiring and non-acquiring firms. The findings reveal that acquiring firms involve more in earnings management than non-acquiring firms and that acquiring firms involve in AEM through income increasing rather than income decreasing. Institutional and state ownership are found to be an efficient tool in restraining companies' engagement in earnings management whereas foreign ownership is shown to have no impact. National governance quality is found to be an efficient mechanism to reduce the companies' engagement in earnings management. The study has both organizational and policy implications. In the organizational context, the GCC listed companies could benefit from attracting institutional and state owners to mitigate earnings management and therefore enhance firm performance. In the legislative context, policy makers are encouraged to concentrate on developing national governance systems to mitigate AEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do forms of state ownership and politically connected senior management affect the incidence of financial statement fraud? In this study, we consider these questions and provide new evidence as to the factors influencing fraud commission and detection for Chinese listed firms between 2007 and 2018. Six major types of financial statement fraud activities are identified. Using a bivariate probit model, developed to address partial observability concerns, we report state ownership lowers the likelihood of fraud detection, while increasing a firms' propensity to commit fraud. In addition, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) controlled by local government are more likely to engage in fraud and escape regulatory punishments, relative to SOEs controlled by central government. The effect of politically connected senior management over fraud commission or regulatory detection is also diluted by the presence of state ownership. Moreover, the role of state ownership in encouraging fraud commissions and escaping from regulatory punishments is more pronounced for the local non-politically connected SOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting is a communication channel between companies and stakeholders. As the literature has largely been confined to exploring privately-owned enterprises, state-owned enterprises (SOEs)—a typical example of public sector organizations—warrant further investigation. This study examines SOEs' accountability structures and reporting features, which are dominated by state owners and mainly driven by non-financial objectives. Through a content analysis of the CSR reports of 49 SOEs and 111 non-SOEs in China, we analyze the stakeholders and CSR domains involved in the reporting. The findings demonstrate that SOEs disseminate the full coverage of stakeholders and a wider scope of CSR domains in disclosure. We extend the debate on CSR-reporting research by demonstrating how state ownership influences hybrid organizations' self-expression and accountability frame through our finding of a distinctive specialized sub-organization with strong ties to the state that drives CSR internally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

REDD+ aims to mitigate climate change by reducing deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries while ensuring social and environmental benefits through the involvement of diverse stakeholders. While several studies evaluate stakeholder participation in various aspects of REDD+, such as the level and type of stakeholder participation at both the project and national context level, there is a lack of research on how the government conducted the consultation meetings across all administrative levels. The objective of this study is to evaluate the participation of different stakeholders in REDD+ in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), or Laos, funded by the World Bank, with a focus on analyzing government consultation processes to identify drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. The study applied both a literature review and online interviews, conducted with government officials and representatives of CSOs, which took place from March to April 2020. The results indicate significant involvement from cross-sectoral stakeholders. However, central government agencies and development partners dominated stakeholder participation, potentially influenced by government ownership. Non-state stakeholders, though invited to the consultations, had limited participation, highlighting the need for greater emphasis on their roles to ensure the integration of diverse interests and views in the REDD+ initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the relationship between bank competition and stability within a transitioning economy, focusing on Vietnamese banks from 2007 to 2018. Set against the backdrop of a transformative banking landscape post the collapse of the socialist bloc, the article utilises the Lerner Index to measure bank competition. The Z-score is used as a measure of bank stability. Panel fixed effects and difference GMM estimations suggest that heightened competition correlates positively with bank stability. Notably, these dynamics hold true even after omitting state-owned banks, signifying that government-controlled banks do not exclusively drive the observed relationships. Policymakers, hence, face the crucial task of balancing liberalisation efforts with safeguarding bank stability and emphasising the need for robust risk management and strong corporate governance in transitioning economies dominated by public ownership. This article thus offers valuable insights for policy refinement in similarly poised nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates ways in which major recessions have impacted individuals' views about the role of the state in the economy across the world. We build on three complementary sources of data. We analyse experiences during the COVID-19 crisis using a survey of more than 39,000 adults across 14 economies as well as during the global financial crisis using a representative survey covering 34 economies. Exploiting variation across individual experiences during these crises, we find that support for state ownership and redistribution of income is significantly higher among individuals who experienced job losses and, to a lesser extent, among those who experienced an income shock. We show that policy preferences may become self-reinforcing: those who only experienced an income shock are relatively more likely to support benefits for the working poor, while those who experienced job losses favour unemployment benefits. To track the longer-term effects of crisis experiences, we rely on six waves of the World Value Surveys spanning over 100 economies and exploit differences in lifetime exposures to crises by country, year of birth and survey year. Individuals who lived through a major recession during adulthood express a stronger preference for state ownership and redistribution of income. Moreover, we show that the impacts of multiple recessions on attitudes can accumulate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractWhile states have accelerated the energy transition in some sectors, they have also obstructed fossil phase-out in other sectors. Aviation has an outsized and rapidly growing climate impact, and associated policy decisions have perpetuated fossil fuel use. Since aviation is dependent on high energy density that only fossil fuels can (currently) provide, the industry faces fundamental constraints to green its capital. Yet, the industry does not operate in isolation. In this paper, we show how the state performs a variety of roles that benefit from and support aviation, creating conflicts with the state’s climate targets. We analyze state–industry relations as they relate to the emergence of air transport and its ongoing carbon-dependent formulations. Combining a relational account of the state and the method of critical problem-solving, we characterize the roles of the state vis-à-vis the industry as owner, sponsor and customer and point to strategies of how the associated capacities can be leveraged to drive fossil phase-out in aviation. Since a rapid and comprehensive phase-out of fossil fuels is required for climate stabilization, we argue that political economists can make important contributions by focusing on the socio-material relations that constrain state agency to phase-out fossil fuels in specific sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study is the first to analyze the influence of CEO power and ownership structures on earning manipulation. This study also clarifies whether different ownership structures discourage powerful CEOs from manipulating earnings in family businesses. The sample data is a balanced panel with 985 observations of 116 family businesses in Vietnam from 2005 to 2020. We primarily employ the dynamic system Generalized Method of Moments with cross-sectional fixed effect to overcome endogeneity and heterogeneity issues. Our findings indicate the negative relationship between CEO power and earning manipulation. Higher state or institutional ownership restrains powerful CEOs from manipulating earnings in family businesses. However, Powerful CEOs in family businesses with higher participation of blockholders increase the earning manipulation. Our robustness results show that CEOs from 50 to 70 years old reduce earning manipulation the most in family businesses. Our findings support agency theory, stewardship theory, resource dependency theory, monitoring and accountability theory, legal framework theory, reputation theory, monitoring theory, Maslow's need hierarchy, and prior literature. Our study contributes practical policy and management implications to sustainably reduce earning manipulation in family businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the efficacy of government control in the context of financial constraints and earnings quality, focusing on Vietnam's listed companies. Employing a dynamic approach and utilizing the System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) to mitigate endogeneity concerns, the study examines annual data from non-financial Vietnamese firms listed on the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HNX & HOSE) spanning 2012 to 2022. Non-financial firms are the study's main focus because their operational dynamics, capital structures, and strategic priorities markedly differ from their financial counterparts. Moreover, non-financial companies in Vietnam contend with multifaceted challenges arising from government control including potential bureaucratic hurdles, regulatory constraints, and strategic limitations, directly affecting their financial flexibility, and consequently their ability to ensure earnings quality. Earnings quality is assessed through the average values of four key characteristics—persistence, predictability, variability, and smoothness—while financial constraints are proxied by firm size, foundation years, financial leverage, and dividend pay-outs. Findings reveal a deleterious impact of financial constraints on earnings quality, with state ownership exhibiting varying effects at different levels. Remarkably, the optimal range for state ownership, specifically State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) rates from 35% to 50%, is identified as pivotal in ameliorating the adverse consequences of financial constraints on earnings quality. The research acknowledges limitations in the exclusive focus on specific earnings characteristics and the potential multicollinearity issue arising from the interaction variable in the SGMM model. Practically, the study proposes policies emphasizing the need for investors to discern financial constraint signals, companies to mitigate financial constraints, and governments to play a pivotal role in alleviating financial constraints to enhance earnings quality. Socially, the research underscores the imperative nature of earnings quality in investment decisions, cautioning against investing in companies masking inefficiencies with manipulated profits, thereby posing risks to individual investors and the overall financial market. The originality of this study lies in its alternative representations of financial constraints, nuanced examination of state ownership at different levels, and its elucidation of the moderating role of state ownership in the relationship between financial constraints and earnings quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to demonstrate that the Data Envelopment Analysis method can be employed to evaluate the operational efficiency of public utility enterprises under state ownership or local government jurisdiction, such as cities and municipalities. These enterprises are tasked with delivering high-quality public services to citizens at affordable prices. Achieving this goal necessitates efficient management and judicious use of public resources. The research evaluated the efficiency of public water utility enterprises in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina using the Data Envelopment Analysis method. Three indicators were used as inputs in the model: asset value, number of employees, and total expenses. The output indicator was total revenue, which reflects the number of users under relatively uniform service tariffs. The findings reveal that 92.31% of these public utilities exhibit technical efficiency levels above 90%. Additionally, 53.85% demonstrate 100% technical efficiency in input utilisation. The results highlight enterprises that inefficiently use assets incur above-average costs or employ more workers than necessary. The study concludes that the Data Envelopment Analysis model effectively identifies state-owned public utility enterprises that consume above-average resources to deliver the same scope and quality of services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public-private partnership (PPP) is a popular form of port investment in developing countries. Collaboration with the government can be critical to the success of a port PPP, which may also eventually affect a firm's risk and performance. This study empirically investigates the impact of project-specific and company-specific factors on government ownership in a port public-private partnership in developing countries. Results show that a higher proportion of government ownership in port PPPs is associated with a larger PPP investment amount, a higher historical proportion of government ownership, and presence of both foreign and other types of private investors. On the other hand, presence of bidding, local private investors, and vertical and horizontal integration are negatively correlated with the proportion of government ownership. This study can provide private investors with a reference framework to identify potential port PPP projects to enter based on their preferences, capabilities, and portfolios. It can also assist inexperienced port authorities in analysing when to take ownership of port PPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the longer-term consequences of premigratory experiences on the political attitudes of those who migrate out of extremely authoritarian regimes? In this paper, using data from an original survey of North Korean defectors in South Korea conducted in 2022, we examine whether attitudes on executive power, self-sacrifice for the sake of the national community (postmigration), state ownership, and the duty to participate politically, vary among North Korean defectors, and whether those attitudes are based on their individual experiences in North Korea. Although we find little evidence that defectors express a greater willingness to sacrifice for the nation, former members (especially male members) of the Workers' Party of Korea are significantly more likely than nonparty members to express support for a strong unchecked leader. Some other indicators of elite status (such as higher education and organizational leadership) also suggest that defectors who were elites are more likely than defectors with less elite backgrounds to retain elements of the authoritarian socialization they experienced in North Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]