Study on the Global Sustainability of the Korean Construction Industry Based on the GRI Standards.

This study began with the increasing importance of ESG through sustainable management evaluation across all industries, predicting market demand through the ESG management paradigm and financial environment changes in the global industry, and establishing international strategies for the construction industry. Compared to other industries, the construction industry is in the early stages of ESG formation, and it is unclear how to expand its base by establishing evaluation system standards such as innovation of individual services, interaction of social capital, and definition of stakeholders. Currently, some large construction companies in the construction industry are publishing sustainability management reports at the group level, but given the recently strengthened global sustainability of ESG by GRI Standards, efficient analysis of global construction markets and strategic orders are needed. Therefore, this study focuses on assessing the sustainability strategies and directions of the construction industry from an ESG perspective. To this end, sustainability issues and insights, as well as global issues in Korea and the worldwide construction sector, were analyzed. The analysis showed that global construction companies were highly interested in business management approaches, such as safety and health, as critical issues regarding the construction industry's sustainability strategy. In contrast, South Korean construction companies prioritize business values such as value creation, fair trade, and win-win. Both global and South Korean construction companies have been working on greenhouse gas reduction and energy sustainability. Regarding other issues, cultivating construction specialists, enhancing the job training system, and limiting serious accidents and safety mishaps were all significant from a social standpoint among South Korean construction companies. Conversely, global construction companies appeared to focus on issues related to ethical and environmental management from an organizational standpoint.

Reporting on Sustainable Development Goals in the European Union: what drives companies' decisions?

Purpose>This paper aims to identify the changes in the share of large public interest entities (PIEs) in European Union (EU) Member States providing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) reporting prior to (2017) and after (2019) the implementation of Directive 2014/95/EU and the factors that influence their decisions to provide SDG reporting in 2019.Design/methodology/approach>The authors use the multilevel theory of social change in organizations as the theoretical background. The sample consists of 341 PIEs based in the EU Member States, for which reports published in 2017 and 2019 are available in the global reporting initiative sustainability disclosure database. The authors analyzed the data using the statistical significance test of equal proportions and the logistic regression model.Findings>The study findings allow to identify a significant positive change in the share of companies providing a reference to SDGs in 2019 compared with 2017. The research confirms that companies' engagement in United Nations Global Compact and previous experience in sustainability reporting positively influences the decision to report on SDGs in 2019. Contrary to the expectations, industry, size, SDG implementation score, future orientation of government and corporate governance score do not seem to be relevant factors influencing PIEs' disclosures.Originality/value>The paper adds to the understanding of the differences in SDG reporting within the EU, which is seen as a frontrunner in implementing the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.

Towards a Comprehensive Corporate Sustainability Performance Evaluation in Pakistan. An Investigation into Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Quality and Comparison of GRI and non-GRI Firms

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Pakistani corporate sector for its corporate sustainability initiatives. Over a sample of 80 non-financial firms for the period of 7 years ranging from 2014 to 2020, the study captures comprehensive corporate sustainability scores. The firms' scores have been captured based on both the quality and level of disclosures and a comparison has been made between GRI and non-GRI reporting firms. The study finds that GRI firms are disclosing a greater amount of quality and quantity of sustainability information than non-GRI firms. The GRI guidelines are driving both the quality and level of disclosure. Overall, the disclosure is low, and it is inconsistent. The environmental disclosure is relatively lower than economic and social disclosures among the non-GRI firms. The study also provides evidence of sustainability disclosure at COVID-19 times. The disclosure scores of 21% of firms have been found in a declining trend in the year 2020. The study provides some policy implications that could lead to guide the regulatory authorities in shaping the behaviour of firms toward sustainable initiatives.

The Financial Performance of Football Clubs During Covid-19: Case of Turkey

Futbol endüstrisindeki finansal yönetim yetersizlikleri, COVID-19 sırasında kulüplerin finansal sürdürülebilirliği konusundaki endişeleri artırmıştır. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışma, Borsa İstanbul'da işlem gören dört futbol kulübünün pandemi dönemi finansal performans analizlerini ve performans sıralamalarını önceki beş yıllık dönemle karşılaştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma 2016-2020 yılları arasını kapsamaktadır. Çalışmada Kriterler Arası Korelasyon Yoluyla Kriterlerin Önemi ve Gri İlişkisel Analiz tekniklerini entegre eden bir yöntem kullanılmıştır . Çalışma sonucunda, kulüplerin pandemi döneminde çalışma sermayesi ve sabit varlık yatırımlarını arttırdığı ve finansmanda daha az yabancı kaynağa yöneldikleri görülmüştür. Ayrıca geçmiş yıllara göre ortalama finansal performansı yüksek olan kulüpler, finansal olarak pandemiden daha az etkilenmiştir .Alternate : Financial management inadequacies in the football industry have enlarged concerns about the financial sustainability of clubs during the COVID-19. In this regard, this study aims to compare the pandemic period financial performance analyses and performance rankings of the four football clubs trading on the Borsa Istanbul stock market, with the previous five-year period. The study covers the years between 2016-2020. A method that integrates Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) and Gray Relational Analysis (GRA) techniques was used in the study. It was concluded that clubs whose revenues decreased due to the discontinuance of their activities during the pandemic acted more prudently in monetary terms. Additionally, the club with a high average financial performance over the previous years has financially been less affected by the pandemic.

Equidad de género: un estudio del mercado laboral en Colombia, con análisis en el sector de educación superior en el departamento de Norte de Santander

El acceso a los recursos y las oportunidades es una medida que, en materia de igualdad de género, deben tener hombres y mujeres. En el siguiente estudio cuantitativo, se realizó una caracterización de la población docente en el nivel de formación y contratación en dos universidades públicas del departamento de Norte de Santander, al igual que tendencias de la contratación a nivel nacional donde se evidencia, diferencias de género al acceso del mercado laboral en educación superior, nivel de formación, tasa de participación de ocupación por actividad económica y evidencias en las brechas de género en la contratación docente a nivel nacional. Se evidenció una desigualdad de género en el acceso a labores de tipo, las cuales se profundizan con el tiempo y la pandemia actual de covid-19.Alternate :Access to resources and opportunities is a measure that, in terms of gender equality, must have men and women. In the following quantitative study, a characterization of the teaching population was carried out at the level of training and hiring in two public universities in the department of Norte de Santander, as well as hiring trends at the national level where it is evident, gender differences at access to the labor market in higher education, level of training, employment participation rate by economic activity and evidence of gender gaps in teacher recruitment at the national level. A gender inequality was evidenced in access to type work, which deepens with time and the current covid-19 pandemic.

Corporate social responsibility and COVID-19: Prior reporting experience and assurance

The novel COVID-19 has created an exogenous shock to capital markets and, hence, an ideal opportunity for researchers to assess whether CSR-related activities provide an insurance-like mechanism to protect firms against the shock. Using a large sample of 4361 firms domiciled in 40 countries, we investigate the roles of CSR reporting and assurance in the negative consequences of COVID-19 on firm value. The results confirm that prior CSR reporting experience buffers firms against the adverse effects of the health crisis. The results also support that not only does the assurance on CSR reports create a buffering effect against the health crisis, but it also intensifies the buffering effects of prior CSR reporting experience against the pandemic. Moreover, using difference-in-difference method for testing the link between CSR reporting and firm value, we show that the positive association of reporting and assurance with firm value is more pronounced during the pandemic as compared with the years preceding it. The results of this study are robust to various analyses. Replicating the analyses to the context of the global financial crisis, we find that prior CSR reporting experience and assurance provide similar buffering effects when a market is exposed to various exogenous shocks. The results also hold for the mandatory disclosure regimes. By distinguishing first and subsequent reports and assurance, we show that, unlike subsequent CSR reports and assurance, the initial ones cannot mitigate the negative effects of the crisis on firm value, indicating that stakeholders take into account longer-term CSR reporting experiences. Aside from reporting and assurance aspects of CSR, we analyze the role of CSR report's quality and accuracy and show that the adoption of Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) frameworks can enhance socially responsible firms' resilience against systematic shocks.

Tax Sustainability: Tax Transparency in Latin America and the Chilean Case

This study is based on a sample of the thirty Chilean companies with the highest stock presence and which demonstrate opacity problems in their tax sustainability related to the GRI 207 standard available since 2019 (which emphasizes the disclosure of tax strategies to stakeholders, especially as regards any links with their small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)). The study also explores the literature related to tax transparency and its evolution in Latin America. Significantly different performances were found among the tax sustainability reports. The reasons for these differences are related to the fact that some demand simple declarations of principles, while others require both reporting of evidence in front of the interest groups and revealing of the tax strategy. As a result, taxpayers seem to use their corporate social responsibility activities more to moderate reputation risk than to aim at tax transparency. At the same time, the findings reveal that the actions toward tax transparency which have defined the tributary administrations of Latin American countries since the 2018 Punta del Este Global Forum do not consider the possibility of public disclosure. In this sense, the evidence highlights the need for Latin American policymakers to introduce, at the normative level, integrated tax transparency cooperation mechanisms between state administrations and regulated companies.