Governance Issues Research Articles

Media coverage as a moderator in the nexus between audit quality and ESG performance: Evidence from China.

In response to growing pressure on companies to manage and improve their reputation regarding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, the audit is regarded as a vital resource for ensuring ESG risk management, improving transparency, mitigating opportunistic constraints, and guaranteeing accurate reporting. The objective of this paper was to investigate the role of audit quality in improving ESG performance, as well as to examine the role of media coverage represented by ESG controversy score in moderating these relationships. We analyzed 303 Chinese companies with 2,121 observations covering the period from 2017 to 2023. The results suggest that the effects of audit quality as measured by the Big 4 and audit fee on improving ESG performance are positive but not significant. On the other hand, the results reveal that media coverage serves as a positive, albeit non-significant, moderating variable between audit quality measured by the Big 4 and ESG performance, while it has a significant negative effect when audit quality is evaluated based on audit fees. The results indicate that improving ESG performance is significantly linked to auditors intensifying their practices and implementing their work more stringently. More importantly, media coverage is an important additional driver and economic incentive that encourages companies to steer clear of poor ESG-related practices.

A policy framework on AI usage in developing countries and its impact

The rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents both significant opportunities and challenges for developing countries. A well-structured policy framework is crucial to maximize the benefits of AI while mitigating its risks. This review proposes a comprehensive AI policy framework tailored to developing countries, emphasizing the need for robust infrastructure, capacity building, ethical governance, and economic incentives. Key elements include the development of digital infrastructure, education and training programs to enhance AI literacy, and ethical guidelines to ensure fairness and transparency in AI applications. Data governance and privacy protections are critical, particularly in countries where regulatory frameworks are underdeveloped. Furthermore, international cooperation is highlighted as a necessity for aligning local policies with global AI standards, facilitating cross-border data sharing, and ensuring equitable access to AI innovations. The potential impact of AI on economic growth, job creation, healthcare, education, and public service delivery is profound, yet challenges such as workforce displacement, increased inequality, and the digital divide must be carefully managed. The proposed framework addresses these challenges, providing strategies to overcome barriers to AI adoption, including financial constraints, governance issues, and unequal access to technology. Moreover, it stresses the importance of fostering public-private partnerships and ensuring that AI development is inclusive, benefiting all segments of society. By implementing a comprehensive AI policy framework, developing countries can harness AI’s transformative power to drive sustainable development, improve social outcomes, and strengthen their economic standing in the global landscape. This review concludes by recommending continuous policy evaluation and adaptation to keep pace with AI's rapid evolution.

Evolution and Elements of Collaborative Governance Theory

With the advancement of globalization and the formation and development of a network society, there have been governance issues that cross departments, organizations, regions, and national borders, including environmental protection, immigration, international trade disputes, and digital government construction. Such a “thorny” problem is difficult to solve by a single organization, so cross-border collaborative governance has become increasingly important. In such an interdependent world, collaborative governance has begun to be widely concerned by academic circles. The attention to the theory of collaborative governance reached its first peak at the third Minobrook Conference and has gradually become a hot topic in the field of public administration in the last ten years. This paper focuses on the historical background of the evolution and development of collaborative governance theory, sorts out the definitions of collaborative governance by scholars at home and abroad, and introduces the main components of collaborative governance in the initial stage, process stage, and result stage. These achievements have certain reference significance for understanding collaborative governance.

Exploring the Social Media Practices of Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (ENGO): A Qualitative Approach

This study aims to enhance the understanding of how Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (ENGOs) use social media to engage their audiences in the causes they advocate. By incorporating elements from the Uses and Gratification theory and other sources, the researchers conducted one-on-one interviews with 20 ENGOs. Data were analysed through textual analysis using NVIVO software. The results indicate that ENGOs leverage social media, particularly Facebook, to raise awareness about climate change and biodiversity, with positive impacts on fundraising and lobbying, depending on resource availability. However, limited budgets and corporate governance issues pose challenges to social media use. This study provides managerial recommendations for developing more engaging and effective communication strategies on social media, as well as further exploration of environmental communication trends.

Determinants of Tax Avoidance Intentions in Tourism SMEs: The Mediating Role of Coercive Power, Digital Transformation, and the Moderating Effect of CSR

Tax compliance and avoidance are critical issues for governments and businesses worldwide, especially as businesses often use legal methods to minimize taxes, which can impact public revenue and equity within the tax system. This study focuses on understanding the factors influencing tax avoidance behaviors among SMEs in Greece’s tourism sector, a sector that has received limited research attention. To this end, a quantitative cross-sectional design was employed, using a structured questionnaire to explore potential factors influencing tax avoidance behavior. Data were collected from 534 SME managers and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to assess the impact of key factors and their interrelationships, including coercive power, digital transformation, tax knowledge, firm performance, and perceived fairness, on tax avoidance. In addition, corporate social responsibility (CSR) was included as a moderator variable, while coercive power and digital transformation were assessed as mediators. Furthermore, Multi-Group Analysis (MGA) was conducted to explore the differences between small and medium enterprises, as well as different ownership structures. The results indicate that all key determinants, except perceived fairness, are significantly and positively related to tax avoidance intention. Additionally, it was revealed that coercive power increases tax avoidance through firm performance and tax knowledge, while digital transformation mediates the influence of firm performance on tax avoidance by curtailing avoidance intentions. While CSR mitigates the negative influence of coercive power, digital transformation has a dual role: that of promoting transparency and strategic efforts to reduce the tax burden. These findings have important policy implications, as policymakers seek to promote digital adoption and enhance CSR engagement while formulating specific regulatory strategies to reduce tax avoidance among SMEs.

Environmental and social impacts of shifting park-use patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from state and local park managers

Parks and protected areas offer a variety of ecosystem services and promote opportunities that enhance human health and well-being. However, these benefits may be jeopardized when overcrowding degrades environmental and social conditions in parks. The COVID-19 pandemic is assumed to have been associated with substantial increases in visitation to parks and protected areas, but patterns in use and degradation varied by site type (e.g., state versus local parks; urban versus rural). In this study, we aimed to understand how changing recreational use patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted parks, and how those changes differed between state and local parks across urban-rural gradients. We distributed a survey asking state park superintendents (n = 36) and local park managers (n = 84) in the state of North Carolina to estimate the extent of environmental and social impacts in their parks both before and during the pandemic. We discovered that, based on managers’ responses, state parks were approximately 12 times more likely to experience heightened environmental impacts and 23 times more likely to experience heightened social impacts than local parks during the pandemic, even when controlling for impact levels prior to the pandemic. We found no significant differences between urban and rural parks. These findings suggest regional parks may be the most vulnerable to environmental and social disturbances during times of heightened visitation, and thus highlight a need for both more resources and more attention to governance issues for these parks. Management implicationsThis study found that state parks in North Carolina experienced more frequent social and environmental impacts, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to local parks. This highlights the need to explore measures that can maintain state parks as sources of resilience and recovery during future crises while mitigating park impacts. Proposed strategies include:•Directing park usage to more resilient areas.•Establishing strategic partnerships between parks to enhance capacity.•Education and outreach to minimize visitor impacts.•Establishing emergency funds for parks most likely to be impacted during times of heightened visitation.•Expanding accessible greenspace in anticipation of increased visitation.

A Comparative Study on ESG Information Disclosure by Multinational Corporations and Analysis of Influencing Factors

Abstract: As globalization and the concept of sustainable development continue to deepen, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are increasingly becoming the focus of global attention. Multinational corporations, as key players in the global economy, have significant roles in promoting sustainable development and enhancing corporate transparency through ESG information disclosure. By collecting and analyzing ESG reports from multiple multinational corporations, this study finds that there are significant differences in ESG information disclosure among these corporations, and many factors have substantial impacts on such disclosures. Consequently, domestic and international institutions and organizations need to further strengthen cooperation and exchange to establish information disclosure standards that align with practical development needs, thereby constructing an ESG information disclosure framework that meets social development requirements.

Construction of ESG Performance and Corporate Competitive Advantage: A Case Study of Poly Development Holding Group Co., Ltd.

In recent years, the attention to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues has been increasing, accompanied by the enrichment and improvement of related policy systems. The advantages brought to enterprises by corresponding ESG policies have gradually become evident. Therefore, this paper takes the development of Poly Development Group from 2021 to 2023 as a sample to study the advantages that enterprises have gained in response to ESG-related policies. Through the analysis of existing data, it is found that the advantages established by ESG for enterprises mainly include: (1) enhancing corporate economic benefits, (2) reducing corporate operating risks, and (3) promoting corporate innovation and development. Based on these findings, it is proposed to accelerate the improvement of the ESG-related policy system, increase the attention of enterprises to ESG performance and disclosure, and contribute to the construction of a favorable development ecosystem for both academia and industry, thereby effectively improving production and development efficiency.

Land Governance and Environmental Management in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region

The importance of governance arrangements for access, use and control of land and resources is being increasingly recognized by international institutions. This paper overviews land governance initiatives being promoted by UN Habitat, and the growing importance of rapidly developing geospatial technologies. The paper next addresses land governance issues in the MENA region, particularly the Arab Land Governance initiative, and presents a brief case study of Oman’s land governance, and its effects upon society, urban settlement patterns, and land markets. Issues of education and training for better land governance are discussed. Recommendations and conclusions address the issues and ways forward for the region.

Acts of gender activism in Stephen Chifunyise’s selected plays

This article explores Stephen Chifunyise’s portrayal of empowering identities of women which are considered as ‘gender activist’. Many of Chifunyise’s plays deal with gendered issues of space, democracy, governance and citizenship. The plays are rooted in African culture which attempts to balance the gendered nature of African communities to effectively advocate for the adoption of critical changes that have happened within these communities. The article views Chifunyise as a gender activist who uses theatre to bring to the fore issues which highlight the plight of women. The article utilizes an Africana Womanist perspective to analyse how Chifunyise includes women in society and more importantly, structures the way in which they are to be included as partners to the development of societies. Africana Womanism acknowledges men as part of this experience and as being key in its construction and in the deconstruction of women’s oppression. The article will analyse Chifunyise’s Waiting for Constitution (2010) and 365 (2011).

Algorithmic governance or extortion? Everyday experiences of fintech for loans in Nigeria

ABSTRACT This paper aims to understand the everyday experiences of financialised inclusion amongst fintech users in Nigeria. Concerns about the use of fintech to drive financial inclusion in the global south have led social scientific scholars to argue that it extends processes of financialisation by employing opaque algorithms to extract the behavioural data of users in order to inundate them with unsecured credit and monetise their data through resale. The consequences of these practices are not fully understood across various contexts. Using a variety of ethnographic methods, this paper examines patterns of fintech adoption and usage in Jimeta, Nigeria. It demonstrates that while fintech allows people to sort out their personal issues amidst precarity, it is also entangled in algorithmic governance issues that facilitate algorithmic extortion to the detriment of user populations. Ultimately, the paper argues that fintech, contrary to claims about its potential to unlock prosperity, is one that opens up novel possibilities for profit making and accumulation, albeit with severe consequences on user populations.

Access to Medicines in Low- and Middle-Income Countries – Is the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to blame?

This paper argues that the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement is not solely responsible for the lack of access to medicines (ATM) in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). ATM is a complex global health governance issue influenced by various factors, including intellectual property laws, trade agreements, domestic policies, and manufacturing capacity. While the TRIPS Agreement provides flexibilities to address public health concerns, such as compulsory licensing and parallel imports, their effective implementation is hindered by several challenges. This paper emphasizes the need for a multifaceted approach to address ATM, involving domestic policy reforms, international cooperation, and investment in domestic manufacturing capacity. By leveraging these strategies, LMICs can enhance access to essential medicines and improve health outcomes for their populations.

Sustainability nexus AID: infrastructure resilience

Infrastructure resilience advanced through nexus thinking is pivotal for societies to handle disruptions and ensure sustainable functionality. This interconnected approach understands infrastructure as an interdependent complex system and enables cooperative planning to achieve resilience. However, challenges like data inadequacy, financial limitations and governance issues impede its adoption, especially in developing regions. The United Nations University (UNU) Sustainability Nexus Analytics, Informatics and Data (AID) Programme strives to promote integrated resource management for sustainable development and fulfilling the UN 2030 Agenda. Through its Infrastructure Resilience Module, the initiative provides tools, data platforms and localised capacity building to empower professionals and communities for evidence-based, collaborative decision-making accounting for intersectoral relationships. By supporting context-specific analytical capabilities, bridging data gaps, and governance silos, the programme aims to pave the way for resilient and sustainable infrastructure development, particularly across vulnerable regions in the Global South, which face disproportionate infrastructure service disruptions.

The impact of rural health insurance on vulnerability to chronic poverty among rural residents in China: analysis using Probit and IVprobit models

IntroductionPoverty is a global problem, and combating it is a major governance issue worldwide. In China, poverty management efforts have shifted from eliminating absolute poverty to managing relative poverty. One of the most important tasks in managing relative poverty in the post-poverty reduction era is to prevent recurring poverty due to illness. Rural health insurance is an important method of preventing and mitigating disease risk and a key part of China’s poverty reduction policy, including among rural residents. However, the mechanism by which basic health insurance alleviates vulnerability to poverty, the causal effect of rural health insurance on vulnerability to poverty, and differences based on having a second health insurance policy and by age and income have not been sufficiently explored. Therefore, this study examined the impact of rural health insurance on vulnerability to long-term poverty among rural residents in China. In addition, this study evaluated the impact of having a second health insurance policy and differences in the effects of rural health insurance by age and income.MethodsThis study used data from the 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 China Family Panel Studies. Household-related characteristics, such as finance, education, and healthcare, were retrieved from the household database; while data on healthcare expenditures, healthcare insurance, and personal-related characteristics were retrieved from the adult database. Robustness tests were conducted with Probit models, and endogeneity tests were conducted with IVprobit models.ResultsVulnerability to poverty was significantly lower among residents with rural health insurance than those without any health insurance coverage, and this difference was observed across age and income groups. These findings were consistently robust and significant after controlling for endogeneity, considering sample selectivity, and eliminating measurement bias in the core variables.ConclusionThe findings indicate that rural health insurance is an important tool for poverty alleviation. The current results could effectively reduce the economic vulnerability of rural households facing health risks, ensuring broader economic security. Moreover, these findings provide policy references for managing relative poverty in China.

U.S. against the world: Authoritarianism among American public servants

AbstractWhat is the prevalence of authoritarianism among public servants in the United States, and what are its resulting consequences? Several underlying psychological traits are associated with both authoritarianism and a desire to work in the public sector, such as an aversion to ambiguity and a preference for order and security. Scholarship also suggests that those with high authoritarian attributes may see the world through an ‘us versus them’ prism; in this case, the ‘them’ may be represented by other countries. Therefore, it is hypothesised that those with higher authoritarian attributes are more likely to work in the public sector and that public servants with higher authoritarian attributes are more likely to be sensitive to potential threats to the country. Using six surveys that cover a 20‐year period from the American National Elections Study, both hypotheses are supported. Authoritarian attributes are associated with an increased likelihood of government employment. Additionally, authoritarian public servants tend to support government wiretapping and express greater concern about terrorism. The presence of authoritarianism among public sector employees has implications for a range of governance issues, which makes it important to understand where and to what degree it is prevalent.Points for practitioners More attention should be devoted to the division and prevalence of authoritarian attributes within public servants . Checks and oversight mechanisms should be implemented for public sector employees in sensitive areas to help counterbalance potential authoritarian impulses. Organisational cultures that value openness, evidence‐based policymaking, and tolerance for dissenting viewpoints should be fostered as a counterweight to authoritarian preferences for conformity.

Transboundary Governance Issues in The Coastal Habitats of Cambodia and Vietnam’s Coastal Zone

Cambodia and Vietnam make up 30.6% of the total area of the Gulf of Thailand Large Marine Ecosystem (LME). Mangroves, seagrass, and coral reefs interact to create a transboundary habitat for migratory species in the area. With its potential for ecosystem services and multiple uses in the zone, transboundary governance issues need to be considered. The study aims to review current transboundary issues, existing governance indicators of engagement, integration, and completeness using a qualitative research approach for systematic review, key informant interviews, focus group discussion, and conducts risk ranking from very low, low, medium, high to very high. Based on systematic review and analysis, both countries’ coastal zones have an average level of risk ranking for transboundary coastal zone governance with medium risk (40%) for engagement for each of the agreements in place, with high risk (0.4) for integration across different arrangements, and with high risk (20%) for completeness of all formal arrangements in places. The zone was found to be at a high risk of biodiversity loss and degradation, marine pollution, ecosystem fragmentation, and climate change, as well as the absence of binding bilateral collaboration agreements, integration frameworks, the coastal habitat leads to be risky without transnational collaboration for coastal zone conservation. To distinguish the perspective of the holocoenotic environment from the sensitive administrative boundary of sovereign rights requires political will.

The Role of International Cooperation in Sustainable Development in Nigeria: An Overview

Sustainable development in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is an urgent priority due to the interplay of rapid urbanization, environmental degradation, and socio-economic challenges. Nigeria has adopted global frameworks such as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and various partnerships, including those with the African Union (AU), the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO), to address these concerns. International cooperation has played a pivotal role in Nigeria’s development by facilitating technical expertise and financial support across critical sectors like agriculture, health, energy, and environmental management. This paper employs the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) and Results-Based Management (RBM) to analyze how such collaboration has driven progress and highlights the challenges Nigeria faces in achieving sustainable development, including governance issues, over-exploitation of natural resources, and poverty. While international partnerships have catalyzed efforts toward Nigeria’s development goals, significant gaps remain that require attention, such as corruption, environmental degradation, and inadequate infrastructure.

Information Stratification: An Understanding of Rural Governance in the New Media Era

Current research on media governance emphasizes the technological aspect of information as a tool but lacks sufficient attention to the digital transformation of information subjects. This paper aims to focus on the internal information characteristics of rural governance in the digital age, thus understanding the changes of rural governance subjects in the information society under new media contexts. Based on more than a decade of fieldwork in rural areas of Beijing conducted by the research team, this study employs in-depth interviews and participant observation in a multi-case study, exploring the structural representation of rural governance from an information perspective. The research reveals that in the new media era, rural society, under multiple governance bodies, generates differentiated information stratification, specifically manifesting as instrumental rational information in the formal governance layer, proxy implementation information in the semi-formal governance layer, and livelihood-adaptive information in the informal governance layer. Among these, the authority-driven governance information in the formal layer is the core part of the rural governance system. The subjects and structures of information under multiple governance bodies are interconnected and coexist within the internal field of rural governance, subsequently driving the centralization of formal governance information, the collaboration of semi-formal governance information, and the alienation of informal governance information. This leads to the emergence of orderly information stratification within the multi-layered governance structure. Information stratification deepens the explanatory pathway of multi-layered governance in rural social studies and proposes new perspectives for understanding rural governance issues in the new media era.

Is Capital Structure Irrelevant with ESG Investors?

Abstract This paper examines whether capital structure is irrelevant for enterprise value and investment when investors care about environmental, social, and governance issues, which we refer to as “ESG-Modigliani-Miller” (ESG-MM). Theoretically, we show that ESG-MM holds with linear pricing and additive ESG. ESG-MM means that issuing low-yielding green bonds does not lower the overall cost of capital because it makes the issuer’s other securities browner. Hence, a firm’s incentive to make a green investment does not depend on its financing choice. We provide suggestive evidence of failure of ESG-MM, implying that firms and governments can exploit inconsistent ESG attribution or segmented markets. (JEL E22, G12, G32, G4, H23, Q56)

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.