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Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 68518

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Prof. Dr. Adriana Grigorescu

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1. Department of Management, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania
2. National Institute for Economic Research “Costin C. Kiritescu” (INCE) Center for Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency, Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania
Interests: management; marketing; educational management; integrated analysis; decision and strategy making; public–private comparative studies; sustainable development; socio-economic ecosystems; knowledge and innovation management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Tsangyao Chang

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Distinguished Professor, Department of Finance, Feng Chia University, College of Finance, Taichung, Taiwan
Interests: international finance; energy economics; applied econometric time series analysis; panel model analysis; public finance and health economics; green finance
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Prof. Dr. Victor Raul Lopez-Ruiz

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Department of Spanish and International Economics, Econometrics and History and Economic Institutions, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 02071 Albacete, Spain
Interests: measurement of intellectual capital at the business and macroeconomic level; regional analysis; divergent growth models; knowledge management and business information systems; quality of life
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Prof. Myeong Hwan Kim

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Purdue University Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
Interests: International Economics and General Economics, Theoretical Aspects of Problem Solving and Critical Thinking, International Trade and Labor Economics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Motto: “A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching.” (Swami Sivananda)

The actual complexity of socioeconomic life requires new approaches and new solutions oriented toward solving the issues that are coming out from the changes and turbulences of society. The research should provide innovative, integrative, inter-, and transdisciplinary analysis for economy, business, and management, considering the effects on the environment and social life. The pillars we are considering the most important and inseparable in assuring a sustainability of humanity are economy–governance–environment. It is obvious that society is facing unexpected transformations and the need to reshape the concept of business; thus, public policies and the environment represent important challenges for field specialists. The new face of the business is related with ethics, cohesion, and corporate social responsibility, and at the same time, it is supported by good governance and education.

This Special Issue is looking for theoretical and empirical analysis, empirical research, qualitative and quantitative studies, as well as new methods, models, and techniques which are useful to address the new challenges of the business and public administration and management, integrating ethics, cohesion, and social responsibility. It will bring together works that bring to light the different facets of ethics, cohesion, and social responsibility from the perspective of sustainable development and enrich the literature with new points of view and approaches. To paraphrase Swami Sivananda, it does not matter how insignificant our contribution is to theory or practice; even the smallest contribution has far-reaching results.

Prof. Dr. Adriana Grigorescu
Prof. Tsangyao Chang
Prof. Victor Raul Lopez-Ruiz
Prof. Myeong Hwan Kim
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainable governance
sustainability of business
economics and environment
ethics, cohesion, corporate social responsibility
sustainable education

Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 646 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ethics and Happiness at Work in the Spanish Financial Sector

by Sonia Castellanos-Redondo, Domingo Nevado-Peña and Benito Yañez-Araque

Sustainability 2020, 12(21), 9268; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219268 - 08 Nov 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3112

Abstract

Happiness at work requires a good working environment, which undoubtedly improves productivity. In this sphere, the concept is closely related to job satisfaction, which is one of the main factors determining individual happiness, along with home ownership, security, and a healthy environment. Innovative policies to improve corporate well-being—organizational ethics—improve the image of the company, and help transfer the concept of ‘happy management’ to all stakeholders. In addition, remote working, which has become essential for many during the COVID-19 pandemic, poses a key issue in terms of human resource management that needs to be taken into account. Using a survey of working-age Spanish citizens, we established a measure of organizational ethics based on the possible discrepancy between citizens’ personal happiness and their happiness at work. The analysis focused on one of the essential economic sectors in the face of the pandemic, the financial sector. These workers demand organizational ethics with clear values in social responsibility and training, going beyond the achievement of a socially acceptable income. A comparative linear model is also used to test the relationships between a number of conditioning variables and organizational ethics. Citizens’/workers’ priorities are found to shift towards quality of life with a healthy environment, rather than sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

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24 pages, 2004 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Poverty—A Challenge for Economic Development? Evidences from Western Balkan Countries and the European Union

by Egla Mansi, Eglantina Hysa, Mirela Panait and Marian Catalin Voica

Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7754; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187754 - 19 Sep 2020

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 13649

Abstract

During the last few decades, economists have tried to find a solution to eradicate poverty, especially since the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals were launched. The target of Goal 1 is to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. While income inequality and unemployment have played a major part in contributing to poor wellbeing in the world, other factors such as political instability, a lack of good investment opportunities, and living conditions have contributed to it as well. Thus, in this work, the authors analyze the factors that impact poverty and compare these results between countries within the European Union and post-communist countries that include the Western Balkan (WB) countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The method used consists of both descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis using the fixed effect model where poverty is taken as the dependent variable. The data used in this study are gathered from the World Bank and Legatum Prosperity, during the period between 2009 and 2018. The results show that income inequality does indeed impact the further progress of poverty for both the EU and WB, while economic development in terms of GDP is shown to have a more significant impact on EU than in WB, where the most significant impact was through income per capita. Other factors such as education, investment environment, and especially unemployment also significantly impacted on decreasing the poverty rate in both economic zones. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

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16 pages, 2199 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Did the Consumption Voucher Scheme Stimulate the Economy? Evidence from Smooth Time-Varying Cointegration Analysis

by Feng-Li Lin and Wen-Yi Chen

Sustainability 2020, 12(12), 4895; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124895 - 16 Jun 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 6589

Abstract

Background: The stimulus coupon plan is one of the economic relief plans used to boost Taiwan’s slumping economy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. In order to obtain prior information to understand whether or not the stimulus coupon plan would effectively revive the economy in advance, the purpose of this study is to learn lessons from Taiwan’s consumption voucher scheme initiated during the 2007–2009 global financial crisis through evaluating the effect of the consumption voucher scheme on private consumption expenditure. Methods: The smooth time-varying cointegration analysis was applied to estimate the income elasticity of consumption, indicating the individual’s reaction to consumption vouchers in terms of private consumption expenditure, and then the multiple structural change model was estimated to identify endogenous regime changes of the income elasticity of consumption. Results: We found that the income elasticity of consumption dramatically decreased after 2007Q1, a period that covered the subprime mortgage crisis in 2007–2009 and the time of issuance of the consumption vouchers in 2009. Conclusions: We concluded that Taiwan’s consumption voucher scheme might have had either no or little effect on stimulating the economy, so policymakers should be cautioned concerning the potential ineffectiveness of the stimulus coupon plan in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

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14 pages, 987 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Yield Spread and Economic Policy Uncertainty: Evidence from Japan

by Mei-Chih Wang, Pao-Lan Kuo, Chan-Sheng Chen, Chien-Liang Chiu and Tsangyao Chang

Sustainability 2020, 12(10), 4302; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104302 - 25 May 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2697

Abstract

In this paper, we adopt the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lags (NARDL) model extended by Shin et al. (2014) to investigate the relationship between the treasury yield spread and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) in Japan. This model helps us to explore the short- and long-run asymmetric reactions of explained variables through positive and negative partial sum decompositions of changes in the explanatory variable(s). In our research, the testing of the NARDL specification reveals the existence of a significant long-run asymmetric equilibrium between the yield spread and EPU in Japan. On the other hand, we find a significant positive nexus between the treasury yield spread and EPU reduction in the long run. We speculate that because of low inflation, a poor economic outlook and the low interest rate environment since 1990, financial agents are markedly sensitive to negative shocks resulting from EPU. This means that when facing a good economy, bond agents are quick to sell, especially with higher-risk long-term interest rate bonds. Meanwhile, because the Bank of Japan announced the Stock Purchasing Plan in October 2002 and from the point view of portfolio management, while the influence of a positive economic outlook dominates the negative outlook, flight from quality has no role in asset portfolio adjustment. The empirical implications are that the long history of unconventional monetary policy supports the demand for both bonds and stock markets. When taking the stock market into consideration, the correlations between the yield spread, EPU and stock market capture the full wealth effects of the low interest rate environment in Japan. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

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13 pages, 290 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Corporate Sustainability Reporting and Financial Performance

by Ionica Oncioiu, Anca-Gabriela Petrescu, Florentina-Raluca Bîlcan, Marius Petrescu, Delia-Mioara Popescu and Elena Anghel

Sustainability 2020, 12(10), 4297; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104297 - 24 May 2020

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 11600

Abstract

In the past few decades, business performance has been approached from a multidimensional perspective, because a pro-active corporate sustainability reporting system for assessing the financial performance of an organization should at least address impacts at the organization and community levels, as well as the resulting associated social impacts. The purpose of this research was to identify the accessibility of corporate sustainability reporting instruments for Romanian managers and their role in increasing the financial performance of organizations. This study concludes that corporate social reporting indicators can be integrated into the reporting of the financial performance of a company and can transform sustainability into tangible value for all interested parties. In addition, the empirical results contribute to the understanding of corporate social responsibility practices; although being non-financial, these seem to be financially meaningful at a certain level after other financial factors are controlled for. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

28 pages, 8831 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Business Models Addressing Sustainability Challenges—Towards a New Research Agenda

by Claudia Ogrean and Mihaela Herciu

Sustainability 2020, 12(9), 3534; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093534 - 26 Apr 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6753

Abstract

From just another buzzword a few decades ago, sustainability has become a hot topic on strategists’ agenda—and it is here to stay. The growing pressures on businesses to address the ever-complex sustainability challenges and to (consequently) assess their performance against a variety of sustainability-related goals are imperatively asking for a new paradigm—grounded on a global business ethics perspective and able to support a fundamental change in the traditional ways of doing business; placed at the heart of any company’s way of doing business, business models are instrumental in these transformative changes, both as triggers (in the short run) and backbones (in the medium to long run). Building on existing literature and capitalizing on the opportunities provided by inter- and trans-disciplinary research, this theoretical analysis aims to (re)frame the (research in) search of the most appropriate business models to address sustainability challenges. Thus, the purpose of the study is: (1) To advocate for a complex yet contingent approach at the business level—able to capture the bigger picture (the sustainability imperative) without missing its idiosyncrasies (the best fitted to the business model context)—when searching for strategic performance; (2) to propose an integrative, multi-level conceptual framework (able to provide widespread synergies for companies and their broader environment) as guidance for this kind of approach, and to suggest specific directions with respect to its implementation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

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31 pages, 4064 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing the Benefits of the Sustainability Reporting Practices in the Top Romanian Companies

by Anca Gabriela Petrescu, Florentina Raluca Bîlcan, Marius Petrescu, Ionica Holban Oncioiu, Mirela Cătălina Türkeș and Sorinel Căpuşneanu

Sustainability 2020, 12(8), 3470; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083470 - 24 Apr 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 7194

Abstract

The concept of sustainability reporting has been addressed by experts worldwide and is defined as the process of communicating the social and environmental effects of the economic actions of organizations to special interest groups within society in general. The main purpose of this research was to identify and analyze the opinions of the real benefits obtained by large companies in Romania following the elaboration of sustainability reports and their contribution to the development of a sustainable economy. A quantitative marketing research was carried out on the sample randomly extracted from a target community of the largest 5750 companies across 35 counties that were active in strategic priority areas of Romania. Both explicitly and implicitly, the research resulted in essential aspects related to the correlation of the sustainability strategy with sustainability reporting, how sustainable development goals contribute to improving all of the processes included in the integrated company management system, how the internal and external benefits can contribute to increasing economic, social, and environmental performance, and building sustainable relationships with shareholders, employees, and stakeholders. In addition, the findings show that aligning a sustainability strategy with a global business strategy and including sustainability reporting requirements (non-financial) are important concerns at the level of the top companies in Romania. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

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15 pages, 302 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Influence of Corporate Governance Systems on a Company’s Market Value

by Ionica Oncioiu, Anca-Gabriela Petrescu, Florentina-Raluca Bîlcan, Marius Petrescu, Melinda Timea Fülöp and Dan Ioan Topor

Sustainability 2020, 12(8), 3114; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083114 - 14 Apr 2020

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3671

Abstract

Recent world events have refocused interest on the link between the existence of corporate governance and an entity’s effectiveness. The aim of this study was to identify the influence of the corporate governance system of an entity in order to measure its effects on market value. To achieve quality corporate governance and to increase an audit committee’s degree of effectiveness, one must take into consideration four core elements: members’ qualifications, authority, the resources necessary to develop the activity, and attention during the development of the activity. Our research methodology included a combination of qualitative analyses on theoretical aspects and a quantitative approach based on multiple regression and the estimation method. The main results showed that there is a solid link between strong corporate governance systems and effective audit committees, although we cannot state that the inclusion of an audit committee represents the key to success for a business. When studying the connection between audit committees and an entity’s market value, we found that this connection can lead to alleviating the problem of allocating power (principal–agent theory). We also found that the contribution of audit committees in corporate governance is to assess both the quality of financial reports and their approval and that creating an audit committee can have beneficial effects that can eventually lead to the consolidation of a company’s corporate governance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

17 pages, 2001 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Convergent Insights for Sustainable Development and Ethical Cohesion: An Empirical Study on Corporate Governance in Romanian Public Entities

by Ionela Munteanu, Adriana Grigorescu, Elena Condrea and Elena Pelinescu

Sustainability 2020, 12(7), 2990; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072990 - 08 Apr 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3168

Abstract

The global financial crisis was decisive in reanalyzing the role of corporate governance based on the accountability and ethics of governance practices and its impact on sustainable development. The study aims to analyze the relevance of and the interdependencies between financial governance assessment indicators and income efficiency with synergetic effects on sustainable development and social cohesion, offering a distinct contemplation on errors in governance and financial reporting. Deviations concerning the accuracy of financial statements, flaws in the process of budget creation and budgetary execution, poor implementation of internal control systems, non-compliance with procedures of public procurement contracts, and ineffectiveness in sound financial management represent barometers for assessing managerial accountability in the public sector. This study is based on data reported by the Romanian Court of Accounts processed with the principal component analysis and proposes a global efficiency index as a benchmark indicator barometer in order to analyze the influence of managerial accountability and sustainable reporting compliance on revenue reported by public institutions in Romania. The results of the study are of empirical importance and explore the constant need to evaluate managerial accountability and ethics, with an emphasis on error, in order to improve public governance and enhance corporate accountability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

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21 pages, 2491 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Responsible Governance and the Sustainability of Populist Public Policies. The Implications of Wage-Led Growth Strategy in Romania

by Alexandru Avram, Flavia Maria Barna, Miruna Lucia Năchescu, Costin Daniel Avram and Roxana Loredana Avram

Sustainability 2020, 12(7), 2975; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072975 - 08 Apr 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2253

Abstract

In the present paper, we focus on the macroeconomic implications of the populist public policies and in particular on the effects of wage led growth strategy, which started to be applied in Romania from January 2017. Such a study is important as a practical example of applying this particular wage related public policy and sets the premises for analyzing its sustainability and its macroeconomic implications and costs. For analyzing the implications of the wage-led growth strategy upon the sustainability of macroeconomic variables, we have used an unrestricted VAR (vector auto regressive) and compared the effect of the impulse response functions with the recent evolutions of the Romanian economy. Thus, we have observed the effect of the wage led growth strategy, by using the average wage, trade deficit, number of employees, inflation rate, labor productivity, and minimum wage as variables. Our study shows that the wage-led growth policy had a strong positive impact on the number of employees and on inflation, increasing it, but a negative impact on productivity. In addition, we have seen a strong positive impact on increasing the trade deficit. These particular evolutions have left the Romanian economy with almost no fiscal and monetary space of maneuver in the face of the exogenous shock produced by the pandemic. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

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16 pages, 2146 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Relationship between Primary Energy Consumption and Real Gross Domestic Product: Evidence from Major Asian Countries

by Wen-Chi Liu

Sustainability 2020, 12(6), 2568; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062568 - 24 Mar 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3394

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between primary energy consumption (PEC) and real gross domestic product (real GDP) in the top four major energy consumers in Asia, namely, China, India, Japan, and South Korea. The study period is from 1982–2018, covering 37 years of data after the second oil crisis (1979–1981). Bootstrap panel Granger causality method is applied to examine the causal relationship between PEC and real GDP. This method is capable of controlling cross-sectional dimension and cross-country heterogeneity. In addition, few studies investigate the relevance of real GDP to energy consumption, although real GDP adjusted by inflation provides an accurate picture of a country’s economic situation. Our results contribute to existing literature in the field of PEC and real GDP. Through rigorous empirical research, we derive the main conclusion as follows. The real GDP and PEC of the top four energy consumers in Asia seem to be affected by the burst of the speculative Internet bubble from 2000–2001. Therefore, this study divides the research period into three periods: 1982–2018, 1982–2001, and 2002–2018. During the 1982–2018 period, an independent causal relationship is observed between real GDP and PEC for all four countries, thus supporting the neutrality hypothesis. During the 1982–2001 period, a unidirectional causal relationship running from PEC to real GDP is observed, thus supporting the energy growth hypothesis. Moreover, the coefficient is significantly negative in India; that is, PEC constrains economic development. Thus, the Indian government should reform its energy efficiency and consumption technologies to reduce energy waste. During the 2002–2018 period, an independent causal relationship is observed between real GDP and energy consumption for all four countries, thus supporting the neutrality hypothesis. This study then changes real GDP into nominal GDP and finds a unidirectional causal relationship running from PEC to nominal GDP in South Korea, thus supporting the growth hypothesis. A unidirectional causal relationship is also observed running from nominal GDP to PEC in India, thus supporting the energy conservation hypothesis. As mentioned above, we find that the relationship between PEC and real GDP adjusted by the GDP deflator is weaker than that between PEC and nominal GDP. Nominal GDP strengthens its relationship with PEC through the effect of prices for all the goods and services produced in an economy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

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16 pages, 554 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Can Stock Investor Sentiment Be Contagious in China?

by Chi-Wei Su, Xu-Yu Cai and Ran Tao

Sustainability 2020, 12(4), 1571; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041571 - 19 Feb 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3154

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of investor sentiment on financial markets in China by taking the quantile causality test. We find that government bond markets, gold markets, and foreign exchange markets are affected by stock investor sentiment, except for in the corporate bond market. In extreme situations, such as excessively optimistic or pessimistic sentiment, these markets will become more vulnerable to suffering from drastic fluctuations. On the contrary, the market return in government bonds, corporate bonds, and foreign exchange also has an influence on stock investor sentiment. Moreover, these links show various asymmetry due to the heterogeneity of different financial markets. Our results are consistent with the noise trader model, which shows the impact of investor sentiment on market returns. Hence, the authorities can sustain the stabilization of financial markets by reducing information asymmetry, guiding the rational sentiment of investors, and increasing effective regulations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Global Economy and Governance—Ethics, Cohesion and Social Responsibility)

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