Changes In Governance Research Articles

Reconnoitering the impact of corporate governance on carbon emission disclosure in an emerging setting

Purpose This study aims to determine the influence of corporate governance characteristics on carbon emission disclosure in an emerging economy. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on S&P BSE 500 Indian firms for the period of 6 years from 2016–2017 to 2021–2022. The panel data regression models are used to gauge the association between corporate governance and carbon emission disclosure. Findings The empirical findings of the study support the positive and significant association between board activity intensity, environment committee and carbon emission disclosure. This evinced that the board activity intensity and presence of the environment committee have a critical role in carbon emission disclosure. On the contrary, findings reveal a significant and negative relationship between board size and carbon emission disclosure. Practical implications The present study provides treasured insights to regulators, policymakers, investors and corporate managers, as the study corroborates that various corporate governance characteristics exert significant influence on carbon emission disclosure. Originality/value The current research work provides novel insights into corporate governance and climate change literature that good corporate governance significantly boosts the carbon emission disclosure of firms. Previous studies examining the impact of corporate governance on carbon emission disclosure ignored emerging economies. Thus, the current work explores the role of governance mechanisms on carbon emission disclosure in an emerging context. Further, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the current study is the first of its kind to investigate the role of corporate governance on carbon emission disclosure in the Indian context.

Review of Asset Management Practice in Indonesian State-Owned Enterprise

This study examines Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) asset management methods, problems, and financial and operational performance effects. The report synthesizes case studies and academic research on how large organizations manage their huge and diverse asset portfolios and how governance, regulatory frameworks, and human resource practices affect their effectiveness. The research begins with case studies of talent management innovations from big Indonesian SOEs. These cases show how proactive human resource approaches can boost company commitment and reduce turnover, improving asset management efficiency. According to the research, governance and legal frameworks influence asset management techniques. Studies show that corporate governance quality affects SOE operational performance. The paper explores how reforms and legislation affect state asset management, highlighting the major changes in SOE governance and legal frameworks, particularly after economic and political reforms. Asset management difficulties for Indonesian SOEs include managing large and diverse asset portfolios, integrating modern management frameworks, and optimizing state asset revenue. According to the study, comprehensive asset management systems, governance transparency, and professional management can address these difficulties. The research examines how asset management strategies affect Indonesian SOE profitability, corporate governance, and performance measures. Strategic asset management boosts financial performance, especially profitability. SOE profitability is greatly affected by current asset and liability management. The study offers advice to Indonesian SOEs and policymakers. Enhancing financial and operational performance requires comprehensive asset management, governance changes, and strategic innovation. These efforts boost Indonesia's economy, demonstrating the importance of asset management in SOE performance.

Empowering Women Leadership for Economic Development & Sustainable Growth -The Role of Women Directors

Through their leadership in corporate boardrooms, women directors play a critical role in promoting sustainable growth and driving economic development. This research explores this relationship. With the growing recognition of the value of gender diversity in society, identify and characterize the distinct contributions made by female directors to Corporate Governance, organizational performance, and overall economic growth. It explores the various ways that women directors influence decision-making processes and add to strategic initiatives. The research highlights the importance of varied viewpoints in augmenting inventiveness, efficacy, and durability in establishments. The report also explores the dynamics of empowerment related to women taking on leadership positions on corporate boards. It looks at the obstacles women must overcome to become directors, evaluates the methods used to get beyond those obstacles, and evaluates the empowerment that results for both the person and the larger community. The analysis highlights the influential function of strong female directors as advocates for gender equality and as agents of good change. The study also looks into how initiatives and policies may support gender diversity in boardrooms and offers insights into the organizational and structural aspects that contribute to fostering an inclusive environment that supports women’s leadership through the analysis of effective practices and case studies. This paper attempts to highlight corporate governance changes, leadership development programs, and mentorship programs that help women advancement to positions of directors and key managerial persons in corporate sector.

Continuing existence: viability and indigenous youth action in Himachal Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT This paper uses field research conducted in Himachal Pradesh in 2021–2022 to analyse the efforts of Kinnauri young people to critique and address social and environmental crises in their region. The expansion of capitalism, poor governance, and climate change are contributing to major environmental loss and social crises in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh. Young people with origins in the region are becoming important in critiquing this process, especially at the everyday level and through social media. They focus especially on how Kinnauri ‘existence’ has been ‘hollowed out’ and fragmented through social and environmental change. At the same time, Kinnauri young people seek to repopulate and integrate ‘existence’, especially through identifying particular symbols – or metonyms – that express the possibility for recuperating social and environmental life. In making these points, we offer a case study in how a marginalised indigenous community is actively and creatively responding to capitalist intensification and climate change through building new viabilities.

The 2023 Turkish election: a tale of two campaigns and the duel of populisms

ABSTRACT The 2023 Turkish elections marked a historic juncture in the nation’s political trajectory. Amidst economic, social, and political upheavals, coupled with a devastating earthquake, the elections served as a decisive evaluation of the newly inaugurated presidential system. With the incumbent Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi – AKP) lagging in polls for the first time in over twenty years, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the People’s Alliance faced formidable opposition yet managed to score a victory in the second round. This article delves into the contrasting campaign strategies of the two leading candidates, Erdoğan and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. We argue that while Erdoğan’s campaign leaned on negative tactics and exclusionary populism, emphasizing counter-terrorism, identity politics, and regime maintenance, Kılıçdaroğlu’s strategy championed positive messaging buoyed by inclusive populism, spotlighting democratization, good governance, and regime change. Within an overarching competitive authoritarian context, these distinct strategies highlighted the intricate dynamics between campaign narratives and voter perception.

Evaluation Practices of Doctoral Examination Committees: Boundary-Work Under Pressure

The doctorate forms the basis for academic careers and the regeneration of academia, and has increasingly become important for other sectors of society. The latter is reflected in efforts on institutional, national as well as supranational levels to change and adapt the doctoral degree to new expectations. As doctoral education is embedded in research, changes in governance and funding of research further affect the doctorate. The evaluation of the doctoral thesis appears, however, to have remained true to the academic tradition: an examination committee exercising their gatekeeping in a ceremonial setting. This study sets out to explore doctoral examination committees’ evaluation practices. Insights were gained through six focus group interviews with experienced examination committee members at three large research-intensive universities in Sweden. Of particular interest is how the object of evaluation is formed, the nature of the boundary-work conducted, and variations in examination practices related to different and changing conditions for research and doctoral education. Our results show how the object of evaluation emerges through a gradual interpretation of the thesis and defence, becoming more complex and nuanced as the process of evaluation progresses from its initial stages to the final closed discussions of the committee. The finalised object of evaluation, only fully present at the conclusion of the closed meeting and hence transient in nature, encompasses the research contribution, educational achievement, and academic competence of the candidate. Furthermore, the boundary-work conducted in this process often transcends the object of evaluation to include also supervision and the local context for doctoral education and research, and hence contributes to upholding, and potential changing, norms in research fields, educational contexts, and academia at large. This extended boundary-work intensified as problems and inconsistencies were discovered during the evaluation process. The ceremonial staging underscored the gravity of the decision and the extended boundary-work. Despite changing conditions for the doctorate, our findings highlight the importance of the practice of evaluation committees, and the disciplinary communities to which they belong, for upholding and negotiating norms in academia.

Regulating smoking in Japan: from manners to rules

Abstract Opinions vary in Japan on whether smoking is deviant today, but the behavior, once widely accepted, faces increasing regulation. Recent reforms, moving beyond reliance on nonsmokers' tolerance and smokers' etiquette, impose stricter and more detailed rules on smoking, along with penalties for noncompliance. As the Japanese government's promotional materials note, the reforms move “from manners to rules” (manā kara rūru e). The evolution of Japan's smoking regulations exemplifies a shift toward more legalistic modes of social control. Historically, Japanese governance relied on non-binding “soft law,” administrative guidance, and societal cooperation. Legalistic governance, in contrast, hinges on formal rules and proceduralized enforcement mechanisms. This article, drawing on twenty-eight interviews and qualitative analysis of policy deliberations, advocacy organization documents, court rulings, and Japanese news coverage, traces how societal actors contributed to this legalistic turn. Tobacco control advocates filed lawsuits, pursued voluntary changes through local activities, and provided information subsidies to policymakers while lobbying for local and national reforms. They thereby helped de-normalize smoking and render it regulatable. By uncovering bottom-up drivers of legalistic governance and the strategies through which societal actors influence regulatory style, this paper contributes to scholarship on governance, policy diffusion, and law and social change.

Accounting in and by the extractive industries: development of a conceptual framework and avenues for future research

PurposeWe develop a conceptual framework as a basis for thinking about the impact of extractive industries and emancipatory potential of alternative accounts. We then review selected alternative accounts literature on some contemporary issues surrounding the extractive industries and identify opportunities for accounting, auditing, and accountability research. We also provide an overview of the other contributions in this special issue.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on alternative accounts from the popular and social media as well as the alternative accounting literature, this primarily discursive paper provides a contemporary literature review of identified issues within the extractive industries highlighting potential areas for future research. The eight papers that make up the special issue are located within a conceptual framework is employed to illustrate each paper’s contribution to the field.FindingsWhile accounting has a rich literature covering some of the issues detailed in this paper, this has not necessarily translated to the extractive industries. Few studies in accounting have got “down and dirty” so to speak and engaged directly with those impacted by companies operating in the extractive industries. Those that have, have focused on specific areas such as the Niger Delta. Although prior studies in the social governance literature have tended to focus on disclosure issues, it is questionable whether this work, while informative, has resulted in any meaningful environmental, social or governance (ESG) changes on the part of the extractive industries.Research limitations/implicationsThe extensive extractive industries literature both from within and outside the accounting discipline makes a comprehensive review impractical. Drawing on both the accounting literature and other disciplines, this paper identifies areas that warrant further investigation through alternative accounts.Originality/valueThis paper and other contributions to this special issue provide a basis and an agenda for accounting scholars seeking to undertake interdisciplinary research into the extractive industries.

A multicriteria approach for assessing the maturity of supply chains regarding the implementation of circular economy practices in Brazil

ABSTRACT This study investigates the extent to which circular economy (CE) practices are adopted within supply chains in the Brazilian context. An expert survey was conducted to assess eight critical factors for the integration of CE practices in supply chains. The collected data was analyzed using a modified version of the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), specifically the Fuzzy TOPSIS class. Sensitivity analyses were performed to validate the robustness of the results. The findings indicated that practices related to economic and risk management, cleaner production, top management support, and knowledge management were categorized as having medium maturity. Conversely, practices associated with governance, product development, infrastructure, and social and cultural changes are still in an early stage. This research provides insights for organizations by identifying areas of strength and areas requiring attention in the adoption of CE practices within Brazilian supply chains. Policymakers can use the findings to design targeted policies and incentives that encourage and facilitate the development of circularity in supply chains, thus promoting CE principles. This research highlights the importance of addressing specific factors related to CE practices within supply chains, providing a framework for further investigations and strategies to bridge the gap between CE and supply chain management. The findings suggest that there are social and cultural challenges associated with the adoption of CE practices, implying a need for awareness campaigns, education, and community involvement to drive positive social change and adoption of CE principles.

Murder in a quarry: violent encounters and distant intimacy on a Cape convict station

AbstractThis article uses a micro-historical approach to examine an escape and murder among convict labourers between Cape Town and Stellenbosch in Southern Africa in the 1840s. It does so to demonstrate how imperial mobilities and legal conceptions of property crime were interconnected within settler colonial capital and the intimacies of colonial social worlds. Reforms in penal practice in the British Empire – in this instance, adopted in the Cape Colony from Tasmanian experiments in convict labour and moral improvement – formed part of post-abolition shifts in labour control and the management of the itinerant poor, increasingly guided by anxieties over race. Michael O’Brien, the murderer, was a suspected escaped convict from Australia, who claimed to have survived violent encounters in the Pacific as a missionary. His narrative contrasts with the predominantly regional mobilities and crimes of the other Cape convicts – notably stock theft and petty robbery – that occurred in the contested spaces of law, colonialism and property. This article discusses convict narratives around crime and redemption across a maritime empire, and the affective relations of coercion and care between convicts, overseers, constables and superintendents on the smaller scale of a convict station. It further contends that changes in criminal justice and governance in Southern Africa were thus contingent on the intimacies of scale and affect, on connections between the local, the global and the biographical.

Archetypal representations of dilemmas concerning invasive alien species management—A case of invasive Lantana camara in the protected areas of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India

AbstractThis multi‐site case study on the invasive alien plant Lantana camara in protected areas of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India, addresses the reasons for inadequate institutional responses from stakeholders in managing the species despite the seriousness. The study uses thematic analysis and qualitative systems approach. The themes are converted into a qualitative‐system‐dynamics model and are then abstracted into system archetypes. The study identified three major themes: the dilemma involving stakeholders, the dilemma of alternative and commercial use of Lantana, and the Lantana management conundrum. The study translated these dilemmas into four generalisable archetypes: ‘drifting goals’, ‘modified‐shifting‐the‐burden’, ‘fixes‐that‐fail’ and ‘substitution rebound’. The latest is a novel contribution to the systems literature. Practically, the study helps understand the recurring undesired behavioural patterns in invasive species management and suggests policy and governance changes to tackle them. The study also points towards building stakeholder relationship protocols, focussing on fundamental solutions and having clear Lantana management targets.

Political economy of sub-national fragility and armed conflict in Northwest Nigeria

ABSTRACT Insecurity in Nigeria’s Northwest region is fast deteriorating due to armed conflict emanating from the activities of jihadist terrorist groups, armed bandits, and other organised criminal gangs. This has claimed the lives of thousands, and displaced many others, resulting in a humanitarian crisis. While previous studies have highlighted the triggers and drivers of armed conflict in fragile states such as poverty, inequality, unemployment, poor governance, weak institutions, and climate change to mention a few, as well as the important role of the nation-state in providing safety and security for its citizens, little attention has been given to the relationship between sub-national fragility and armed conflict. This research draws attention to the less obvious ‘hidden enablers’ of armed conflict within the context of sub-national fragility, and how it inhibits their institutional capacities to guarantee the social welfare and security of their citizens. The absence of which contributes to the deteriorating insecurity situation in Nigeria’s troubled Northwest region. These include the debt crisis and declining internally generated revenue affecting the sub-national states. The research therefore advances the argument on sub-national fragility, by examining how it contributes to manifestations of armed conflict, and its implications for peace and security in Nigeria’s Northwest region.

Environmental pressure and board gender diversity: Evidence from the European Union Emission Trading System

AbstractWe examine how environmental pressure influences board gender diversity. Drawing from resource dependence, strategic adaptation, and gender socialization theories, we develop and test the prediction that firms with worse environmental performance have a higher likelihood of increasing their board gender diversity following a rise in environmental pressure. Focusing on the third phase (2013–2019) of the European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS), we exploit the unexpected increase in emission prices after the European Council's (EC) intervention in 2017 as a quasi‐natural experiment bringing heightened environmental pressure to firms. Our baseline sample consists of 182 polluting firms in 20 different EU ETS‐covered countries. In line with our main hypothesis, we find that board gender diversity increases with firms' industry‐adjusted levels of pollution in the post‐EC intervention period, with the effect being particularly pronounced for firms with a higher exposure to emission prices and lower diversity levels. Inconsistent with a window dressing explanation, highly polluting firms replace incumbent male board members with highly qualified women. Our findings, which survive several robustness tests, suggest that more stringent environmental regulation drives social and governance changes at top corporate levels.

Environmental governance, technological innovation and employment structure change: evidence from China

Environmental governance, technological innovation and employment structure change: evidence from China

Arctic Regional Governance: Actors and Transformations

This thematic issue analyzes recent and ongoing changes in Arctic regional governance in new geopolitical, security, and socio-economic contexts. It places current challenges in the Arctic within a historical context, aspiring to identify solutions, and enhances our understanding of modern processes. It presents three perspectives on Arctic regional governance: the first focuses on the challenges to Arctic environmental governance (marine living resources and Arctic seals); the second looks at the role of large nation-states, such as Russia and China, in Arctic regional governance; and the third one analyses the challenges posed to Indigenous people—in Russia, Finland, and Canada. Many overlapping themes are developed in the articles: historical lessons (e.g., from the Cold War period), challenges to the inclusiveness of environmental governance, and the role of cross-border diffusion and learning. New challenges to Arctic regional governance in the context of the war in Ukraine affect environmental governance, international scientific collaboration, and the lives of Indigenous people. Yet we know little about the depth of these recent transformations. This thematic issue aims to fill in at least some of the outlined gaps.

Research on Regional Industrial Layout and Structural Adjustment and Upgrading under Digital Economy

Digital transformation promotes the change of urban governance. Based on the concept of "system", this paper focuses on exploring the influencing factors and evaluation indicators of the industrial structure adjustment and energy production and consumption structure adjustment of green smart cities in the new era under the promotion of digital economy, providing a strong theoretical basis for the comprehensive evaluation of the influencing factors in the later period.

Many mountain paths: Perceiving change in the management of community forests in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

India's high mountain, van panchayat forests are a long-standing example of community-led forest governance. These provide vital support for mountain communities’ wellbeing, yet little is known about how environmental and social change is currently perceived or addressed, despite many claims that characterize van panchayats to be in crisis due to policy interventions by state forest actors and erosion of local management institutions. This research investigates how changes in forest dependence, governance, and health drive forest management decisions. Using open-ended interviews with 41 forest stewards and knowledge holders in a high mountain valley in Uttarakhand, our analysis describes managers’ perceptions of environmental and social changes and their implications for management choices. We found that van panchayats are currently navigating stewardship pathways in response to: (a) population shifts and changes to historically forest-dependent livelihoods; (b) a shift in governance regimes across van panchayats, affected by both regulatory changes and local institutional capacity; (c) the effects of global environmental change as it intersects with local influences on mountain ecosystems. Forest stewards’ perceptions of the drivers, trends, significance, and appropriate management responses to these changes varied widely. An overall decline in rightsholders’ dependence on forest resources was commonly reported, as was improved forest health in van panchayats in relation to other forest types. However, van panchayat managers disagreed on whether declining dependence positively or negatively affects forest health, whether the state is absent or actively wresting control from communities, and if successful forest restoration efforts will continue. A lack of shared understanding of these issues complicates forest stewards’ efforts to cooperate towards mutually desired ends, exacerbated by a co-management policy which isolates forest councils’ efforts from neighbouring forests. Accordingly, we encourage policy changes to enhance collaborative decision-making and to address implications of diverse perceptions, priorities and practices of care in mountain forests.

Readiness for Change Scale in Higher Education: Adaptation and Validity of the Indonesia Version

Objective: The Readiness for Change Questionnaire was created to assess readiness and ability to face new things and change. It is still being determined whether this scale is also relevant in the context of governance changes in higher education, especially in Indonesia. Method: This study examines the scale of cross-cultural adaptation and assesses the modified version using higher education as an organizational context. Translation, synthesis, back-translation, engagement with subject experts, and an emphasis on readability were all part of the thorough scale adaptation process by the International Test Commission (ITC) Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Test. The researchers performed an anonymous self-administered survey and gathered 534 responses from two samples of non-academic staff working in different universities. Results: Results showed that the scale, consisting of 25 questions divided into four subscales, had acceptable fit indices using CFA and excellent internal consistency. Novelty: The findings show that the scale is appropriate for assessing organizational readiness for change and may contribute to research and practical implications for higher education institutions experiencing governance changes.

Pravni status službenika za usaglašenost - otvorena pitanja

Legislators only sporadically regulate the compliance function within companies, primarily in the financial sector. The primary task of compliance officers (CO) is to ensure that the overall business operations comply with legal norms. When discussing the potential liability of compliance officers, it is necessary to analyze their legal position within the corporation. The liability of compliance officers should primarily be considered as the employee's responsibility towards the employer. From the perspective of corporate law, the theoretical background should focus on whether compliance officers have a distinct legal status within the company. The authors aim to contribute to the discussion on potential changes in corporate governance, where corporate officers such as compliance officers gain more influence, and to raise awareness of the precarious position of compliance officers under current solutions of both the Anglo-American and Continental European models.

Environmental management systems in Greek ports: A transformation tool?

Environmental Management Systems in ports represent an effort to combine high-quality port services and strong environmental performance with modern management strategies and street-level implementation. The broader use of EMS indicates a shift towards more sustainable port organization, operation and development, but also a trend to optimize objectives, means and procedures through a consistent, well-organized and result-oriented effort. This research paper delves into EMS as transformative tools, with a particular focus on their implementation and impact within Greek ports. Our findings suggest that EMS are powerful tools. They have the capacity to set strategic decisions into motion, establish concrete and measurable targets, introduce new processes and procedures, reorganize existing structures or create new ones, mobilize resources effectively, and generate tangible outputs and effects. Concurrently, EMS may have significant externalities by catalyzing changes in port strategy, governance, structure, or organizational culture. EMS reflect a heightened environmental ambition and engagement on the part of port authorities and serve as catalysts for the environmental mainstreaming and sustainability efforts within the port industry. Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that EMS implementation does have certain limits and limitations that should be taken into account when striving for better environmental performance or sustainable port development.