Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue invites contributions investigating the drivers and effects of Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) within businesses. The global pandemic has renewed the relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility as a leading driver for the achievement of sustainable economies. Concurrently, environmental emergencies have attracted the attention of policymakers and academics. The extreme, negative environmental events that have recently occurred in several parts of the world are clearly signalling that the environmental issue has quickly transformed into a source of systemic risk (UN & PWC, 2021). According to the UN 2021 report, the pandemic and climate crises represent a significant threat to achieving the SDGs by 2030.

In this scenario, the environmental issues posed by climate change increasingly impact business practices and strategies. Indeed, due to the pressure exerted by global societies, companies are evaluated more than ever in terms of financial markets based on their environmental performance. Despite our knowledge on strategic drivers and the effects of CER increasing in the last few years, as we proceed toward green transition, new challenges arise for business. Specifically, in line with the shift from a shareholders to a stakeholders perspective, companies are expected to contribute to environmental protection with a set of practices aimed to reduce emission and natural resource depletion, and to promote green product innovation. Hence, the future requires organizations to intensify green efforts in order to reduce their carbon footprint in society.

This Special Issue aims to publish original research, both theoretical and empirical, contributing to our understanding of the risks, challenges, impacts and benefits of CER engagement by businesses. We invite researchers and professionals from universities, enterprises, and governmental units to share new ideas, trends, and experiences relative to the CER engagement. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• CER as a competitive strategy. The call welcomes contributions investigating issues such as strategic approaches to CER; eco-product innovation; CER governance modes: in house, collaboration, outsourcing/donation; CER supply chain; monitoring tools of CER performance.
• The link between Corporate Governance (CG) and CER. The call solicits contributions dealing with the impact of CG on CER engagement. Specific topics may include the link between CG and the CER on SMEs, to investigate whether and to what extent the ownership characteristics can shape CER engagement. Moreover, further topics may be related to the link between CG and CER engagement when institutional investors and governmental participation are present.
• Socially Responsible Human Resources Management (SRHRM). Coherently with the concept of SRHRM, this call urges for deeper analysis related to HR motivation, green intellectual capital, organizational culture and productivity. Moreover, other topics might intercept the link between CER and the selection and retention of best HR.
• Financing CER. The call invites research dealing with financing models of corporate environmental investments, in addition to the link between CER and the cost of debt (banks and bond markets), the cost of equity and the use of novel ways to collect financial resources (e.g., crowdfunding, green bond).
• CER and Company value. The call invites contributions dealing with the effect of CER engagement on busines market value and operative performance, including the potential role of CER in the mitigation of effects from extraordinary negative events (e.g., COVID-19) and the impact of CER controversies.
• Contextual factors affecting CER engagement. Are welcome contributions investigating the role of national and supranational plans (e.g., Next Generation EU; Recovery and Resilience Facility EU) on the CER engagement, as well as macro-level CER drivers such as infrastructure and training and development.

Prof. Dr. Francesco Gangi
Prof. Dr. Eugenio D’Angelo
Dr. Lucia Michela Daniele
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• corporate social responsibility
• corporate environmental engagement
• sustainability
• sustainable development goals
• green transition