ESG and performance in public health-care companies: the role of disclosure and director liability

Purpose: The seepage of companies' capital accommodated by weak country-level institutions is inconducive to building sustainable businesses. Companies' performance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is still a challenging question. This study aims to test the predictability of ESG on the performance of the health-care industry from a global perspective, while accounting for the country disclosure and director liability indices and performing robustness tests. Design/methodology/approach: This study relies on panel data of 912 companies operating in 38 different countries for 2012–2020. This study controls for firm-level variables (leverage, size and loss), macroeconomic variables (COVID, gross domestic product and inflation) and institutional variables. Findings: Findings indicate that countries with different levels of disclosure exhibit different patterns. Distinctly, the environmental pillar has a concave impact on return on assets, and the role of the disclosure index greatly manifests with the environmental pillar. Practical implications: This study ponders the impact of country disclosure on sustainability practices from a global health-care perspective. Originality/value: This paper is original, as it addresses the relationship between ESG performance and financial performance while accounting for the impact of institutional factors such as the business disclosure and director liability indices. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Did the intensity of countries' digital transformation affect IT companies' performance during covid-19?

This study explores the impact of the intensity of countries' digital transformation on the performance of 3961 global companies in the Information Technology sector in 2020. We analyse the impact of e-government index, e-participation index, and cybersecurity commitment on firms' performance (enterprise value, book value per share, and cash flow from operation per share) using OLS regression. A structural equation modelling was further employed to explain the mediating role of cybersecurity commitment. Results suggest that e-government has a positive linkage with cybersecurity commitment and performance. However, there is preliminary evidence that cybersecurity measures initiated by e-government will drive performance. The e-participation index has a positive association with cybersecurity commitment and a heterogeneous impact on performance, suggesting the need to differentiate between development and participation. Finally, results highlight the pivotal role of e-government and cybersecurity commitment in boosting the profitability of companies and supporting the influence of the surrounding technological environment on companies' performance.

ESG and performance in public health-care companies: the role of disclosure and director liability

Purpose: The seepage of companies' capital accommodated by weak country-level institutions is inconducive to building sustainable businesses. Companies' performance on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is still a challenging question. This study aims to test the predictability of ESG on the performance of the health-care industry from a global perspective, while accounting for the country disclosure and director liability indices and performing robustness tests. Design/methodology/approach: This study relies on panel data of 912 companies operating in 38 different countries for 2012–2020. This study controls for firm-level variables (leverage, size and loss), macroeconomic variables (COVID, gross domestic product and inflation) and institutional variables. Findings: Findings indicate that countries with different levels of disclosure exhibit different patterns. Distinctly, the environmental pillar has a concave impact on return on assets, and the role of the disclosure index greatly manifests with the environmental pillar. Practical implications: This study ponders the impact of country disclosure on sustainability practices from a global health-care perspective. Originality/value: This paper is original, as it addresses the relationship between ESG performance and financial performance while accounting for the impact of institutional factors such as the business disclosure and director liability indices. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

The impact of green supply chain management practices on environmental performance during COVID-19 period: the case of discretionary companies in the G-20 countries

Purpose This study investigates the impact of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices on environmental performance in firms operating in the discretionary sector in the G20 countries. The sample covers 749 firms for the period 2010-2020. Design/methodology/approach This study combines qualitative and quantitative data to examine the impact of the implementation of GSCM on accounting performance measured by the operating margin (OM) and return on assets (ROA). The authors also moderate the effects of Six Sigma and quality management (QM) and ISO 9000 and control for firm variables and COVID 19. Findings Using a panel data regression and structural equation modeling (SEM), results indicate that discretionary firms with internal solid GSCM practices combined with external environmental monitoring of suppliers are likely to outperform their peers in environmental issues. Using hierarchical regression, results indicate that both ISO 9000 and S&QM have moderating effects at some level of performance. Furthermore, environmental performance is positively correlated with accounting performance. This study contributes to the literature by addressing the impact of GSCM and the importance of reinforcing green and social regulations to protect the planet. Originality/value The paper is one of the first to measure GSCM triple components and account for COVID-19 in the context of discretionary companies and G20 countries. It highlights the impact of green initiatives to cope with major disruptions and decrease pollution and environmental disasters.

Modelling COVID-19 effect on the performance of MENA Health-care sector

Purpose This study models the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of the private health-care sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. This paper aims to address the economic, societal and sustainability of the health-care sector. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from Bloomberg and the sample consists of 534 firm-year observations from 55 firms listed over 2010-2020. The authors apply panel data and control for the country and governance effects. Findings The authors found heterogeneous results regarding the three sub-sectors. The pandemic has a negative effect on the accounting and market performances of the "Pharmaceutical companies" and an insignificant impact on "Healthcare Management and Facilities Services." Moreover, the impact of COVID-19 on health-care firms' performance depends on the country's economic classification and the degree of regulatory and governance frameworks. Research limitations/implications Further studies may consider a larger sample and other regions. It is recommended to address the health-care sector's challenges to invest in new technologies such as "digital twin" and predictive and personalized medicine. It is worth testing model development theory and its effects on speeding up and designing models to ensure the proper functioning and developing mathematics to determine uncertainties in patient data and model predictions. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is novel as it is unique in modeling the impact of COVID-19 on the health-care public companies in the MENA region. The findings pinpoint firms' and countries' heterogeneous impacts on financial and market performances.

Role of ICT for workers' safety at the workplace during pandemics: evidence from global data

Purpose This study contributes to the extant literature on ICT firms by investigating the interrelationship between the health and safety (H&S) measures, market performance, and the coronavirus (COVID-19). Design/methodology/approach To conduct the confirmatory analysis by testing our hypotheses, data have been collected from Bloomberg of all ICT firms from five countries. The authors gathered from 2010 until 2020 as the research sample to examine the pandemic impact on market performance and H&S measures. Findings First, our results reveal a significant and positive relationship between market performance (proxied by Tobin's Q) and the H&S measures of information technology (IT) firms. Second, the authors find that the IT firms have significantly increased the H&S measures during the COVID-19 period and were dynamic in linking employees' adaptive capabilities to positive attributes. This has contributed to business success, resiliency, and sustainability. Research limitations/implications The authors used a quantitative method of testing our hypotheses. Future studies may consider checking the robustness using qualitative methods such as structural or semi-structural interviews. Practical implications The study offers valuable insights to academics, practitioners, stakeholders, policymakers, and international entities by fostering knowledge about responses to crises, integrating digital solutions, and disseminating digital information. The study also has implications on the health, social, business, and economic levels. This study is a call for international and local humanitarian organisations such as United Nations High Commission, Care international and many more to understand the gravity of safety of the workers in the workplace during the pandemic period and introduce a firm-level policy accordingly. Originality/value This paper is novel considering that the paper is unique in evaluating ICT firms' market performance and H&S from a global perspective, considering the context of this historical pandemic.