掲載種別：研究論文（学術雑誌）   出版者・発行元：Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management  

Japan has been at the forefront of global efforts to accelerate climate change mitigation. Japanese firms have led in the development of decarbonization technologies and have positively disclosed climate change-related information based on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures recommendations to address climate change. We explore the relationship between corporate climate change mitigation actions and the cost of capital for 2100 Japanese listed companies from 2017 to 2021. The results reveal that a higher carbon intensity correlates with an increased cost of equity, debt, and weighted average cost of capital. Interestingly, although climate-related information disclosure is associated with an increased cost of debt, it concurrently lowers the cost of equity and overall capital. This research recommends strategic approaches for firms to reduce their costs of capital while proactively combating climate change, highlighting the divergent responses of equity and bond markets to decarbonization initiatives.

DOI： 10.1002/csr.2853

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掲載種別：研究論文（学術雑誌）   出版者・発行元：Business Strategy and the Environment  

This study quantifies the initiatives of local governments' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and examines their impacts on regional corporate social sustainability practices. Our analysis reveals statistically significant results for corporate action on the following government initiatives on SDGs: BOD/COD effluent standard (6. clean water and sanitation and 14. life below water); number of students per personal computer (PC) (4. quality education); percent of female prefectural assembly members (5. gender equality and 16. peace, justice, and strong institutions); and minimum wage (1. no poverty and 2. zero hunger). These results are robust after controlling for peer effects by other firms in the surrounding regions. The evidence also indicates that these trends are more pronounced in footloose industries than in heavy industries.

DOI： 10.1002/bse.3780

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担当区分：筆頭著者   記述言語：英語   掲載種別：研究論文（学術雑誌）   出版者・発行元：Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management  

Although the consideration of financial materiality is important for securing shareholders' interests, the degree of financial materiality that is considered for existing sustainability ratings is still questionable. In this study, we hand-mapped the financial materiality of environmental information based on Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) industry-specific accounting metrics to reassess environmental performance. Based on the SASB-based environmental score, we tested whether investors price environmental risk. The results show significant pricing anomalies related to environmental risk. Companies with lower SASB-based environmental scores experience higher environmental risk. Additionally, a premium in the cross-section of stock returns compensates for this risk. Our findings suggest that integrating financial materiality based on the SASB could be an effective way to capture corporate environmental risk.

DOI： 10.1002/csr.2524

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担当区分：筆頭著者   記述言語：英語   掲載種別：研究論文（学術雑誌）   出版者・発行元：Scientific Reports  

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in work and lifestyle, impacting occupational mental health. This study examines the time and individual heterogeneity in the pandemic's effects on occupational mental health using panel data from job stress checks spanning 2018 to 2021. On average, there was an initial alleviation of high-stress risk in 2020, followed by a deterioration in 2021. Based on the job demand-resource theory, we identify the group of employees most affected by the pandemic. The findings highlight that employees in unfavorable workplace conditions are more likely to experience substantial adverse impacts. Adequate workplace support, including factors like interpersonal relationships, managerial support, job meaning, control, and work-life balance, is crucial for mitigating high-stress risk. Additionally, during the early phase of the pandemic, engaged employees experienced a slight decline in occupational mental health, while those lacking job resources at their worksite faced higher levels of occupational stress in the subsequent year. These findings offer practical suggestions for person-centered coping strategies to mitigate the pandemic's adverse impact.

DOI： 10.1038/s41598-023-36493-7

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担当区分：筆頭著者   記述言語：英語   掲載種別：研究論文（学術雑誌）   出版者・発行元：Humanities and Social Sciences Communications  

Based on a unique and extensive dataset of top executives, this study explores the effect of top executives’ attributes on firm performance through strategic choices for capital structure and investments. The big five personalities and top executives’ other four essential personal attributes are identified from over 970,000 observations in Japanese firms. We applied structural equational modeling to test the hypothesized mediation models and the differences across large, medium, and small-sized firms. The results show that top executives in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) present stronger linkages with strategic choices, significantly mediating the relationship between top executives’ attributes and firm performance. Specifically, top executives with higher conscientiousness, decisiveness, and financial prudence tend to choose conservative strategies, while those with higher neuroticism, openness, and agreeableness tend to adopt risky and innovative strategies. In contrast, top executives’ attributes can hardly predict firm strategies and outcomes for large firms, and neither fails to predict firm outcomes in SMEs given the inconsistent mediation.

DOI： 10.1057/s41599-023-01628-8

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掲載種別：研究論文（学術雑誌）   出版者・発行元：Frontiers in Sustainability  

During the past two decades, the world has seen exponential growth in the number of companies reporting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data, and various ESG metrics have been proposed and are now in use. ESG metrics play a crucial role as an enabler of investment strategies that consider ESG factors, which are often referred to as “ESG investments”. The ESG metrics and investment market are evolving rapidly, as investors, corporations, and the public are giving more priority to the “S” in ESG, including social equity issues, such as diversity, income inequality, worker safety, systemic racism, and companies' broader role in society. In this critical, systematic review, utilizing in-depth assessments, we investigate and compare the approaches employed in major ESG metrics and studies, then, we shed light on the “S” aspect by reviewing existing approaches used to assess social equity to clarify commensurability with ESG. Through the systematic review, this paper confirms that ESG investments can be expected to provide stable and high returns especially over the long term. This paper also clarifies how elements considered in social equity studies are largely reflected in major ESG metrics.

DOI： 10.3389/frsus.2022.920955

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記述言語：英語   掲載種別：研究論文（学術雑誌）   出版者・発行元：BMC Public Health  

Background: This study provides objective evidence on the impact of COVID-19 based on employee occupational stress reported from 13 different industries, and examines the determinants of employee psychological well-being. As the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue, governments should consider industry-level differences when making support decisions concerning public resource allocation to corporations. However, little evidence exists regarding the differences in occupational stress across industries. Methods: Employee occupational stress data (N = 673,071) was derived from workers in Japan from 2018 to 2020. The sample comprises workers from 13 industries, including civil services, service industry (other), real estate, medical/welfare, wholesale/retail, academic research, and accommodation/restaurant business. A logit model is employed to investigate the differences in employees’ psychological well-being before and during the pandemic. Results: In 2020, 11 out of 12 industries had significantly worse occupational stress compared to employees engaged in civil services. Over 23% of employees from the wholesale/retail and accommodation/restaurant industries were observed as high-stress employees. Improved compensation policies supporting these industries are suggested. In contrast, reduced occupational stress was found among employees in the transportation/postal and information/communication industries. Among the 13 industries, aside from high job demands, tough inter-person relationships in the workplace became the most significant stressors during the pandemic. Conclusions: The results confirm that the pandemic has had a heterogeneous effect on employee occupational stress across industries, thus suggesting that the level of compensation given to different industries during the COVID-19 pandemic should be discussed and approved by the Japanese government. Additionally, support for the wholesale/retail and accommodation/restaurant industries during the pandemic should be improved.

DOI： 10.1186/s12889-022-13257-y

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記述言語：英語   掲載種別：研究論文（学術雑誌）   出版者・発行元：BMC Public Health  

Background: Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) engagement is expected to benefit corporations in terms of their efficiency and sustainability. The transformative change in management practices would not only provide support for employees but also bring about additional workload, which may affect employee psychological well-being. However, the examination of the relationship between corporate ESG activities and occupational stress is scarce; hence, this study aims to fill this knowledge gap. Methods: In total, 110,351 observations were collected from 41,998 employees regarding occupational stress to reflect employee psychological well-being. The data were derived from 11 corporations in Japan from 2017 to 2019. Data on ESG activities were collected from the MSCI ESG database from 2015 to 2017. The effect of 1-year lagged corporate ESG activities on employee psychological well-being was investigated using a lagged variable linear regression model. Results: Positive and negative relationships were found between corporate environmental activities and occupational stress. Activities that reduce water stress during operation and adopt clean technology were found to benefit employees’ psychological well-being. On the contrary, the program for reducing toxic emissions and waste lowered employees’ occupational stress levels significantly. Regarding corporate social activities, the improvement of job satisfaction or work-life balance was associated with occupational stress. However, corporate governance activities were found to have unfavorable effects on employees’ psychological well-being. Conclusion: The effects of corporate ESG activities on employees’ psychological well-being are found. The managerial implications suggest that caring for employees’ occupational stress during the implementation of environmental activities is necessary, and the adoption of social activities could enhance employees’ psychological well-being. Notably, corporate governance activities are a stressor for employees; top management teams should pay attention to it.

DOI： 10.1186/s12889-021-12350-y

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担当区分：筆頭著者   掲載種別：研究論文（学術雑誌）  

DOI： 10.1002/csr.1945

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担当区分：筆頭著者   掲載種別：研究論文（学術雑誌）   出版者・発行元：Wiley  

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between corporate efficiency and corporate sustainability to determine whether firms concerned about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues can also be efficient and profitable. We applied data envelopment analysis to estimate corporate efficiency and investigated the nonlinear relationship between corporate efficiency and ESG disclosure. Evidence shows that corporate transparency regarding ESG information has a positive association with corporate efficiency at the moderate disclosure level, rather than at the high or low disclosure level. Governance information disclosure has the strongest positive linkage with corporate efficiency, followed by social and environmental information disclosure. Moreover, we explored the relationship between particular ESG activities and corporate financial performance (CFP), including corporate efficiency, return on assets, and market value. We found that most of the ESG activities reveal a nonnegative relationship with CFP. These findings may provide evidence about voluntary corporate social responsibility strategy choices for enhancing corporate sustainability.

DOI： 10.1002/bse.2224

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記述言語：日本語  

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出版者・発行元：Research Square Platform LLC  

Abstract

Human capital is widely acknowledged as an inclusive resource that encompasses the knowledge and expertise of citizens, which propels economic development. This research integrates education data with demographic, health, and socioeconomic factors to construct a cross-country human capital monetary accounting framework. We evaluate the levels of educational attainment and the total adult population by stage of life expectancy. Subsequently, we assess education returns based on lifetime income and educational attainment. This accounting tracks the level and changes of human capital in 166 countries from 1990 to 2020, providing multiple indicators to measure human capital for sustainability. The primary findings indicate that globally, the growth trajectory of human capital has declined over the past decade, suggesting a threshold for human capital growth under current investment levels. Based on these findings, it is recommended that policymakers consider this shift and align long-term human capital investment with sustainable growth paths.

DOI： 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2594686/v1

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その他リンク： https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-2594686/v1.html

出版者・発行元：{UNESCO} {MGIEP}  

DOI： 10.56383/qknp4119

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