General Governance Research Articles

Environmental Discourse and Firm Value: Evidence From Conference Calls

We examine environmental discourse in conference calls and the relation between this discourse and firm value. We measure the amount of environmental discourse as the frequency count of environmentally-related topics in the transcripts of conference calls. We argue that greater environmental discourse in conference calls indicates firms’ prioritization of environmental issues. Evidence indicates that greater amounts of environmental discourse are associated with lower share price and higher cost of capital, which we interpret as reflecting the relatively higher costs of environmentally responsible operations in excess of firm-specific benefits. Additional analysis examining general environmental, social, and governance (ESG), especially social and governance, discourse shows that it is associated with lower cost of capital and higher share price, suggesting that prioritization of social and governance issues does not imply higher operational costs and indeed may signal firm-specific value creation.

Media Coverage of Treasury Single Account Introduced by Abia State Government and Its Effect on Abia State University, Nigeria

This research brief focuses on the analysis of the media coverage of the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the Abia State Government and its impact on the Abia State University in terms of autonomy, salaries, research and academic activities. The implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) has been the subject of intense media scrutiny, with attention focused on its implications for the autonomy of Abia State University. This study examines how the centralization of financial resources through the Treasury Single Account (TSA) framework can affect university decision-making processes, academic freedom and general governance autonomy. In addition, the research examines the effects of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) on the timely payment of salaries to university staff. By analyzing media reports and conducting interviews with stakeholders, the study aims to assess whether the implementation of the TSA has had an impact on the payment of wages, financial stability and employee morale in the university Furthermore, the study explores how the introduction of Treasury Single Account (TSA) has affected research activities in Abia State University. By examining media stories and academic publications, the research seeks to understand whether changes in financial management practices have affected the university's research output, funding opportunities and collaborative initiatives. Finally, the impact of Treasury Single Account (TSA) on academic activities in Abia State University is a major focus of this research. Through content analysis of media coverage and interviews with teachers and students, the study aims to assess whether financial reforms have improved or hindered the quality of teaching, learning experiences and the academic programs in the university. By examining the media coverage of the introduction of Treasury Single Account (TSA) and its effects on autonomy, salaries, research and academic activity in Abia State University, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the implications of financial reforms in higher education institutions and provide policy makers with information. university administrators and stakeholders in the education sector.

The synergetic effect of economic complexity and governance on quality of life: policy thresholds

This study aims to bridge the empirical research gap in governance-modulating effects on the link between a country’s productive structure and individuals’ well-being. In doing so, this study utilizes the economic complexity index to quantify a country’s productive structure and the social progress index to measure quality of life. The empirical strategy relies on the system-GMM approach, covering 75 developing countries from 2011 to 2021. The following conclusions were drawn from the empirical analysis. (1) Economic complexity and governance consistently and unconditionally improve quality of life. (2) Governance substantially modulates economic complexity to enhance quality of life, generating an overall positive net effect. (3) The results remain robust and consistent across several GMM specifications, regardless of whether the six governance indicators compiled by the World Bank were clustered using principal component analysis into four categories (i.e., general, political, economic, and institutional) or used individually. (4) Of the six governance indicators, government effectiveness, the rule of law, and control of corruption were found to be particularly significant, as were economic and institutional governance. (5) An additional threshold analysis was implemented to identify the critical governance levels that further improve quality of life. The thresholds for complementary policies are then established as follows: 0.8435, 1.846, and 1.717 for government effectiveness, rule of law, and corruption control, respectively, and 5.59, 3.14, and 3.32 for general, institutional, and economic governance, respectively. Consequently, economic complexity and governance are necessary and sufficient to improve well-being below these thresholds. Complementary policies are, however, necessary to sustain the overall positive impact beyond these thresholds. The findings of this study provide insights into complementary policies for leveraging economic development to improve the well-being of developing countries.

The Visual Governance of Canadian Migration Agencies

Despite increasing attention to images in the study of world politics, the role of visual representations in transnational governance processes in general and migration governance, in particular, has received less attention. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining the visual representation of migration governance by the two Canadian government institutions responsible for it: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Through a multi-modal analysis of their X (formerly Twitter) images, the paper shows how they tend to shy away from a visual representation of people on the move, privileging a technical communication in an aspiration toward a “neutral” representation of migration issues. Secondly, it sheds light on the discrepancies between the policies directed toward Afghani and Ukrainian refugees and the unexpectedly undifferentiated visual communication about the two groups. Finally, the paper explores what the pictures accompanying X (formerly Twitter) posts of IRCC and CBSA can tell about how these government institutions represent themselves. Findings showed that government institutions’ esthetic practices are not always in line with the institutional migration policies and text narratives, suggesting that different government implementation tools (i.e., regulations, practices, textual discourses) may not reinforce each other but advance alternative perspectives.

EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF GOVERNANCE INDICATORS ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA: AN ARDL APPROACH

The effects of certain governance indicators on economic growth in an African country (Nigeria) have been researched in this study. Governance indicators such as institutional quality, and rule of law are analysed to understand their effect and direction on economic growth. The data are from the World Development and Governance Indicators (WDI & WGI) and cover the years 1996 to 2016. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to estimate the relationship, we discovered that the coefficient of governance indicators produces mixed results, even though the index of governance has a negative influence on economic growth. Furthermore, uni-directional causality was evident between certain governance indicators and trade openness. Significant policy implications suggested by the findings include the government of this African country should put in more effort into improving the general governance structure toward stability. Hence, this will lead to increased investor confidence in the countries’ economies.

Sustainable Urban Clean Water Governance in Indonesia: Problems, Institutions, and Future Solutions

This study aims to explain the urban community-based clean water provision in Bandung City, in terms of general problems, institutional and governance aspects. Community-based clean water governance should be developed so that communities are independent and ready to produce clean water. When clean water is available, the time and money spent on obtaining clean water can be used for other more productive purposes and can improve community welfare. The method used in this research is a qualitative approach with a descriptive approach. Data collection was done through literature review, in-depth interviews and several site surveys. The results of this study indicate the low performance of Regional Water Supply Company in managing clean water supply and the absence of local regulations related to urban community-based clean water governance. In addition, the implementation of clean water provision in Bandung City has not integrated community-based governance. The conclusion of this research is that urban clean water governance in Bandung City and other cities in Indonesia using a community-based system for the current condition is very relevant. Furthermore, it is important to draft a local regulation on urban community-based water governance that aims to protect water resources as well as to create a clean and healthy environment, and sustainable.

Governing communal diversity as good governance

AbstractThis study asks whether existing standards of good governance have incorporated ideals and measures to manage communal diversity. The context is an intellectual landscape in which the efficacy of heterogeneity policies has typically been compared through their impact on the likelihood of violent conflict. Alternate approaches would fine‐tune the outcome variable and/or enlist new independent variables. The Ethnic Power Relations project provided measures of the groups' co‐determination position (egip, excl) and measures of empowerment through self‐governing start to follow suit, such as improved indicators of territorial autonomies, decentralization, and language use rights. We also crafted a measure of functional autonomies, based on the ENTA Network's case‐study collection. With the exception of territorial autonomies, all existing measures of policies that accommodate the difference tend to improve the group's relationships with other groups and with the country as a whole. They also correlate well with the general good governance indicators.

Do ESG ratings inhibit corporate leverage manipulation? The moderating effects of internal and external supervision

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings and leverage manipulation and the moderating effects of internal and external supervision. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on a sample of Chinese non-financial A-share-listed firms from 2013 to 2020 to explore the effect of ESG ratings on leverage manipulation. Robustness and endogeneity tests confirm the validity of the regression results. Findings ESG ratings inhibit leverage manipulation by improving social reputation, information transparency and financing constraints. This effect is weakened by internal supervision, captured by the ratio of institutional investor ownership, and strengthened by external supervision, captured by the level of marketization. The effect is stronger in non-state-owned firms and firms in non-polluting industries. The governance dimension of ESG exhibits the strongest effect, with comprehensive environmental governance ratings and social governance ratings also suppressing leverage manipulation. Practical implications Firms should strive to cultivate environmental awareness, fulfil their social responsibilities and enhance internal governance, which may help to strengthen the firm’s sustainability orientation, mitigate opportunistic behaviours and ultimately contribute to high-quality firm development. The top managers of firms should exercise self-restraint and take the initiative to reduce leverage manipulation by establishing an appropriate governance structure and sustainable business operation system that incorporate environmental and social governance in addition to general governance. Social implications Policymakers and regulators should formulate unified guidelines with comprehensive criteria to improve the scope and quality of ESG information disclosure and provide specific guidance on ESG practice for firms. Investors should incorporate ESG ratings into their investment decision framework to lower their portfolio risk. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature in four ways. Firstly, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is among the first to show that high ESG ratings may mitigate firms’ opportunistic behaviours. Secondly, it identifies the governance factor of leverage manipulation from the perspective of firms’ subjective sustainability orientation. Thirdly, it demonstrates that the relationship between ESG ratings and leverage manipulation varies with the level of internal and external supervision. Finally, it highlights the importance of governance in guaranteeing the other two dimensions’ roles by decomposing overall ESG.

Business responsibility and government complicity in environmental conflicts: a quali-quantitative analysis of global patterns

ABSTRACT Our paper aims at widening political ecology research on business’ responsibility and public governance conditions in cases of violation of Environmental-related Human Rights (ERs), by adopting a quantitative perspective. We focused on a subset of socio-environmental conflicts (SECs) that directly connect with the violations of ERs. We propose a quali-quantitative analysis to explore the country distribution of the incidence of violations of ERs leading to SECs (VERCs) worldwide; the extent to which these can be associated with the involvement of business companies; and the general governance conditions spatially associated with the emergence of VERCs, regardless of the involvement of businesses. Through statistical regression analysis, we showed that the evidence of business’ implication in VERCs and of the lack of adequate public governance conditions suggest the need to complexify our perspective with a more nuanced understanding of the patterns of liability and complicity between diverse actors involved in SECs.

The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on employment and economic growth in BRICS: Does the moderating role of governance Matter?

The BRICS countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, are committed to achieving and sustaining Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 of the United Nations, which focuses on sustainable economic growth and productive employment and decent work for all. However, the empirical research question on how to effectively harness the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the presence of governance dynamics is yet to be addressed in the literature, particularly concerning the BRICS economy. Hence, it is crucial to examine the impact of AI investment on employment and economic growth in the BRICS countries from 2012 to 2022, taking into account the moderating role of overall governance as well as specific governance indicators such as political governance, institutional governance, economic governance etc. Cross-Sectional Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) technique is used to analyze the data. The findings of the study suggest a long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables analyzed in both the employment and growth models. The causality results for our main variables of interest differ in the employment-growth models. Based on the CS-ARDL results, the study recommends that BRICS governments and policymakers prioritize and enhance the integration of AI into their governance systems to promote employment and stimulate growth in both the short- and long-term. However, the study cautions against overlooking interaction between AI and general governance as it did not demonstrate support for growth, it is crucial to implement robust measures to mitigate any potential negative effects arising from AI's interaction with political and institutional governance. Therefore, the study proposes the formulation of AI-friendly governance policies among BRICS nations to stimulate employment and growth, recognizing the embryonic status of AI as a pivotal technology in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

SFDR Article 9: Is it all about impact?

We investigate more than 1,000 investment funds that are classified under Article 9 of the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). Using the G7’s new typology of sustainable investments, we show that Article 9 funds pursue varying degrees of ambition: while 60 % follow an impact-oriented strategy, we identify 40 % that instead pursue a general Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy. We do not find significant differences in ESG scores between ESG-related and impact-related funds. Yet, impact-related funds have higher SDG impact scores and higher management fees. Downgraded funds that changed SFDR status, however, tend to be less focused on impact.

The impact of social capital on the public general education governance

Scientists from a variety of disciplines have recognized social capital as a valuable resource in Vietnam since the early 2000s; nevertheless, this kind of capital can only exist when it is observable and the benefits of social capital can be quantified (Uphoff & Wijayaratna, 2000). As seen by the poor engagement in social activities and social media networks, social capital is actually very restricted in Vietnam’s state general education schools. This makes it difficult to raise the standard of instruction and learning objectives. This study aims to investigate the influence of social capital on the advancement of public general education. By analyzing the structural equation model (SEM), the study’s survey method uses a questionnaire with a scale of 488 teachers and employees in public general education. As shown in the result, social capital impacts not only directly and positively but also indirectly on the development of public general education through intermediary factors such as in-school knowledge transfer, school brand, and training service quality. The study makes several recommendations to increase social capital in order to set the groundwork for the growth of public general education in Vietnamese schools, based on these findings.

Strategies for the Sustainable Development of Tourism in the CIPCA: Zoning and Conservation of Resources

This project, carried out at the Amazon Research, Postgraduate and Conservation Center, focused on carrying out a local tourism diagnosis. The tourism potential, functional tourist areas were identified according to territorial characteristics and environmental use and protection actions. The documentary and descriptive research provided general data, service offering, basic infrastructure, governance, receiving community and demand. The results indicated that the site has optimal conditions in terms of physical characteristics, services and tourist facilities.
 Through the SWOT analysis, offensive strategies were generated for adequate tourism development. The inventory of attractions revealed four natural and fourteen cultural, classifying them into hierarchies II (65%), hierarchy I (34%), and resources (1%). Georeferencing and documentary research allowed us to establish three zones: Preservation (primary forest) for scientific tourism and ecotourism, Conservation (secondary forest) for adventure tourism and ecotourism, and Development (productive area) for agrotourism and scientific tourism. Specific tourist activities were defined for each site, with strategies and actions for the proper use and management of its components.
 In summary, the project proposes a zoning approach with specific tourist activities, turning the site into a destination conducive to alternative tourism aimed at a demand with special interests that seeks to combine learning, environmental conservation and fun.

Enforcing Disclosure Compliance in Mergers and Acquisitions: Evidence from China

This study examines how enforcement of acquisition disclosure regulation affects investors’ assessment of the transactions’ quality at merger and acquisition (M&A) announcements. Using a novel sample of comment letters on acquisition filings by public companies in China, we document that regulatory requests for disclosure enhancement and clarifications are more common on lower quality transactions obfuscated by weaker disclosure as evidenced by (i) a lower likelihood of the deal closing, and if the deal does close, lower post-deal firm profitability; and, (ii) a greater likelihood of subsequent goodwill impairment. Using entropy balancing matching, we document that transactions that receive comment letters associate with significant negative bidder announcement returns suggesting that regulatory actions reveal new information that aids investors to identify lower quality deals. The negative price effect is greater when comment letters have more acquisition-specific comments, compared to letters with more comments on general accounting and governance issues. Our results showcase that enforcing disclosure compliance in M&A filings aids investors in assessing the quality of M&A transactions at the time when the filings are made public.

Collaborative Governance Concept on Youth Football Governance in Indonesia

Purpose: The study aimed to demonstrate general governance study development leading to collaborative governance related to youth football development to map the position of collaborative governance studies for youth football development Theoritical framework: This study used the general governance concept leading to the collaborative governance concept related to football development. The correlation is that experts consider collaborative governance to be the exit of chronic social issues (Muslim et al., 2021). Although Indonesian football is not a chronic social issue, minimum national achievements with the resources are ought to have serious measures. Moreover, the public’s expectation for national football achievements is astronomical. Method: This Study Literature Review (SLR) will use the Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) method. It aimed to summarize scientific evidence available concerning the research topic, identify gaps in related studies, and recommend future studies regarding the objective and results of various articles. For substance analysis use Nvivo 12, which was described in the form of a word cloud and cluster analysis. Research mapping was conducted using the Vos Viewer analysis to display the research map of football governance and its interrelationships. Results and Conclusions: The study results showed that football governance studies are abundant in developed football countries, particularly Europe, and mostly focused on club governance, competition governance, and involvement of parties leading to football as an industrial commodity. In Indonesia, football publications merely emerged in 2000, discussing football technical issues and recommending the importance of governance studies. Further governance study development mainly discusses the relationship between the government and the federation. Thus, it is often observed from the conflict perspective. Research implications: There are plenty of opportunities to conduct research with various study focus or concern. Several studies are recommending implementing more extensive involvement and suggesting the importance of various parties in football governance, i.e., conceptually, such studies continuously shift to be closer to the collaborative perspective. Orginality/value: There is no study on youth football development collaborative governance. From the institutional aspect, relationships between related parties are often observed from the conflict perspective. Thus, prioritizing the collaborative governance perspective is urgent.

Optimization of Public Services

The article discusses the importance of public service as a crucial policy issue with strategic significance, acting as an indicator of an organization's performance. It emphasizes the government's responsibility to improve the quality of public services, ensuring they adhere to principles of general governance and protect all citizens. The article delves into the implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in government agencies and the need for accountability, equal rights, responsiveness, and optimization of services. It also highlights the role of human resources and social media in enhancing public service quality. By combining these elements, the article aims to achieve better and more efficient public services that cater to community needs and expectations

Economic Governance Quality and Effective Taxation System in Africa

Abstract The study aims at examining the effect of Economic governance institutions on tax revenue mobilization using an empirical panel dataset from 30 African countries for the period 1996–2018. The empirical estimation methods employed in this study is based on Quantile Regression techniques. To this end, one bundled economic governance institution indicator (i.e., general economic governance) is employed. The inspiration for this estimation technique is based on two fundamental reasons. First, the argument that the effect of governance quality on taxation effectiveness is contingent on the existing level of tax revenue mobilization. Second, the economic governance – tax revenue mobilization policies, to be effective, need to be tailored differently across countries with low, intermediate and high levels of tax mobilization effort. The general findings are as follows: First, development in economic governance institutions promotes tax mobilization effort. Second, the effect of economic governance is stronger in terms of significance and magnitude for direct taxes than for indirect taxes. Third, in most of the cases, the impact of economic governance institutions is higher in terms of magnitude in the upper quantiles of the economic governance distributions. The results remain robust over alternative econometric estimation techniques.

How To Prepare a Protocol

Nowadays it is necessary to facilitate clinical trial development. It seems difficult to assure the appropriate items to outline a protocol for a clinical trial appropriately. Therefore, clarity helps to rise comprehensive clinical trial protocol development structures. Conciseness and clarity are necessary to facilitate the process of clinical trial protocol preparation. The article aims to guide the reader to fulfil correctly all the requirements for the best protocol lending. Template applies easily to the aim of this facility. Nevertheless, the article “How to Prepare a Protocol for a Clinical Trial? 5 Step Advice” sketches clearly five steps to ensure the quality to your protocol outlines. Administrative information, inclusion/exclusion criteria, ethic principles, general governance and data management are basic for a successful protocol approval. No doubt the process of preparation needs a careful filling The appropriate elements can satisfy the requirements for a careful drafting. The article outlines a guide for readers on the appropriate skills. Thus, the article makes possible to get forward on the preparation process promptly. In conclusion the article is a guide can satisfy your basic question on protocol trail structuring.

Achievements and Challenges of Human Rights Protection Policy in Realizing Good Governance in Indonesia and China

The protection of human rights in public service institutions faces challenges in its effectiveness to achieve maximum protection. This is because there are many units and ranks of the bureaucracy that need to be given oversight and protection. A regional head cannot be given the entire burden of supervising the protection of human rights. This study aims to explore the policies of the Ombudsman Institute in Yogyakarta, Indonesia regarding the Protection of Human Rights, their relation to the achievements and challenges so as to realize good governance. The research is compared with the policies to protect human rights in Beijing, China. This quantitative research analyzes the legal gap from the problem of protecting human rights in work units with the principles of good general governance and the supervisory model in the institution. Finally, this research finds the effectiveness and success of the role of the Ombudsman Institute in Indonesia in protecting human rights in maintaining good governance. To address the problem of protecting human rights, the pattern of oversight by the Indonesian Ombudsman Institute uses an ideal pattern, namely extra-parliamentary synergy, parliamentary oversight, a social audit system and the use of technological facilities so that good governance is realized. Meanwhile, China still gets notes from the international world for human rights violations. Even so, reform of the Ombudsman bureaucracy in China is expected to resolve existing human rights protection issues.

The importance of trust and transparency in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence from sixteen EU member states

ABSTRACT During the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union’s (EU) member states operationalized different methods to control the virus. By April 2022, the EU countries recorded considerably different COVID-19 related deaths. In this study, we investigate whether trust in government and in the medical staff, COVID-19 related transparency, and different mixes of these two, influenced the capacity of sixteen EU countries to manage the pandemic. To substantiate our inquiry, we utilize a modified version of the Trust-Transparency Matrix. Our study suggests that trust and transparency, in the context of the pandemic, operate as contextual variables of effective public management. The value of the trust-transparency framework is to elucidate general governance dynamics and to identify those that are the most pertinent in terms of the response to the pandemic.