Purpose This research aims to explore the cultural enablers and barriers affecting women leaders’ engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China, a large emerging country with distinctive social-economic and cultural contexts. Design/methodology/approach The case study method involving interviews with female directors in ten companies, supplemented by document analysis, is used for this investigation. Findings This study reveals that the social gender role of women leaders and their active promotion of CSR are deeply shaped by cultural traditions in China such as the pursuit of harmony and reciprocity in Confucian philosophies, family-centric relationships and empathic caring values and collectivism for the common good. While the harmony approach, family centrality and collectivism philosophy may encourage female leaders’ CSR engagement, these cultural elements also have paradoxical effects and undermine the contributions of female leaders to CSR. Practical implications Findings from this study suggest that policies aimed at increasing female representation need to be culturally relevant and specific. Although culture can enhance female leadership in CSR development by providing a framework of social cohesion and collective values, it can also hinder progress when traditions and norms become barriers to inclusivity and diversity. Balancing the preservation of cultural traditions with the need for social progress is a complex but essential task for empowering women leaders to engage more effectively in CSR. Originality/value Despite considerable evidence showing that female leadership can benefit company growth and CSR performance, there is little understanding as to how women leaders’ engagement with CSR is established at the business level in different cultural contexts. Previous studies relying on large empirical data to verify the relationship between female representation at the senior level and CSR performance have mostly overlooked the underlying rationale and challenges, particularly the influence of culturally informed social roles on women leaders’ engagement with CSR.

Drawing upon social identification theory and stakeholder theory, the current study examines the contextual effect of job insecurity on the indirect relationship between general corporate social responsibility facilitation-human resource management (HRM) and employee job engagement through the mediation of organizational pride. Our analysis of a two-wave dataset with a sample of 255 full-time employees in the banking sector reveals that job insecurity negatively moderates the impact of general CSR-facilitation HRM on organizational pride, which in turn is positively related to employee job engagement. This study advances the socially responsible HRM literature by providing insights into the underlying mechanisms and the contextual conditions under which general CSR-facilitation HRM influences employee workplace outcomes in the presence of conflicting interests among stakeholders.

Adopting the event study method, this paper examines how the stock market reacts to the public release of environmental performance rankings of heavy polluters. Specifically, we explore the impact of the public release of the 100 best and 100 worst companies in terms of environmental performance on the stock prices of companies involved, and the potential moderation of ultimate controllers. We find that the stock prices of the companies on the lists were negatively affected by the event. However, stock price changes are not significantly related to the relative rankings on the list. Furthermore, companies whose ultimate controllers possess a larger control–ownership wedge experienced a less severe fall in stock prices than did their counterparts. This study sheds light on the nuances of the financial implications of negative environmental publicity.

This study examines how organizational factors interact with individual factors in influencing female leaders' intentions to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) through the lens of planned behavior. Through in‐depth interviews with 20 female corporate leaders from Australia and China, seven themes emerged as factors shaping their CSR engagement. We examined those factors using the theory of planned behavior (TBP) conceptual framework, and found that organizational factors, especially corporate culture and peer influence, dominated female leaders' intentions to engage in CSR. Power interacts with culture and affects female leaders in two countries in different manners: in China, the distance to top corporate power determines female leaders' intentions toward and the way they engage in CSR, while lack of critical mass is often cited by their Australian counterparts as the main factor deterring their CSR engagement. This study demonstrates how organizational factors shape leaders' CSR decisions, reveals the nuances behind the gender–CSR link, and posits for different remedies to unleash the power of female leaders in different cultures.

As an emerging concept, green human resource management (green HRM) has been conceptualized to influence employee workplace green behavior. This research empirically tested this link. We first developed measures for green HRM, and then drew on the behavioral HRM and psychological climate literature along with the supplies-values fit theory, to test a conceptual model integrating the effects of psychological green climate and individual green values. Results revealed that green HRM both directly and indirectly influenced in-role green behavior, but only indirectly influenced extra-role green behavior, through the mediation of psychological green climate. Individual green values moderated the effect of psychological green climate on extra-role green behavior, but it did not moderate the effect of either green HRM or psychological green climate on in-role green behavior. These findings indicate that green HRM affects both employee in-role and extra-role workplace green behavior; however, this occurs through different social and psychological processes. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Previous research predominantly used quantitative data to examine the relationship between female representation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. Little is known as to how female leaders drive CSR changes in practice. This study explores the complexities and paradoxes of gender roles in CSR engagement based on 20 in-depth interviews with female leaders. We find that although gender traits from social roles are relevant, women leaders face considerable challenges in navigating the power dynamics prevalent in boardrooms when driving CSR initiatives. The pronounced power imbalance compels them to reframe CSR within the dominant board discourse and mobilise rhetorical and narrative strategies to acquire authority and alter power dynamics within board CSR decisions.

China is posited to become the country with the largest older population in the world with rising longevity and declining fertility. Its myriad retirement schemes and retirement age rules date back to the 1950s and are not suited to the fast-rising ageing population. Its myriad retirement schemes and retirement age rule traced back in the 1950s are struggling to cope with the fast-rising ageing population. There is limited understanding on what motivates people to work at an older age in China. This study examines how access to different types of pensions, human capital and economic factors influence the propensity of people aged 50 and above to work in China. Data sourced from the 2013 and 2015 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitude Survey (CHARLS) are utilised for the analysis. We find a distinct gender difference in terms of working decisions at an older age: not only are men more likely to work than women, but financial pressure and marriage are correlated with a man's propensity to work. However, these factors have very little impact on women. Contrary to findings reported in previous literature, care responsibilities for parents does not have a statistically significant impact on an individual's working decision. In addition, the impact of caring responsibilities for grandchildren, while statistically significant, does not differ between men and women in China.

We analyze the evolvement of education inequality and the gender gap in Ghana before and after two major education reforms. Using different measures of inequality, our findings suggest that the gender gap at the basic school level has closed following the introduction of the education expansion policies, but inequalities persist at the postbasic school levels and across regions. We further demonstrate that the educational expansion-schooling inequality nexus is best illustrated by an inverted U-shaped Kuznets curve. We find that after an average of 6 years of schooling has been reached, inequality starts to decline, and gender equality can be achieved when the average years of schooling reach 9.

While socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) has received markedly growing research attention, research is lacking on how the general CSR facilitating SRHRM-employee workplace attitudes and behavior relationship is weakened or strengthened by contextual factors. Drawing upon stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984), in the current study we examine the conditional effect of job insecurity on the indirect relationship on between SRHRM and employee job engagement through the mediation of organizational pride. A high level of job insecurity is perceived to be a lack of organizational support. The analysis of the two-waved data with a sample of 255 fulltime employees in the banking sectors in Pakistan revealed that job insecurity and SRHRM interactively affect employee job engagement through the mediation of organizational pride. This study advances the understanding of the contextual condition under which SRHRM affects employee work attitudes and behavior.

ABSTRACT This study uses data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey to examine the link between women’s bargaining power and children’s schooling outcomes. It employs a principal component analysis to generate an index measuring women’s bargaining power based on a couples’ education gap and age gap when their child reaches age 6. It then uses women’s age at first marriage as an instrument to identify women’s bargaining power. The results show that women’s bargaining power holds no significant association with late school enrollment. However, it has a negative and significant association with the probability and intensity of grade repetition (the number of times the same grade is repeated), especially for firstborn children. Girls tend to benefit more from the mother’s bargaining power compared to boys. The study further shows that women’s bargaining power is linked with school enrollment and attainment, which confirms previous findings in the literature. Highlights • Slow school progression caused by late enrollment and grade repetition is a problem worldwide, especially in developing countries. • This study examines the impact of women's intrahousehold bargaining power on children's schooling outcomes in Ghana. • Increased women's bargaining power has no effect on the timing of school enrollment but reduces the chances of grade repetition and how many times the same grade is repeated. • Girls benefit more from their mothers' bargaining power compared to boys. • Women's bargaining power has a larger impact on the education of firstborn children than on subsequent children. • Policies aimed at empowering women will improve children's schooling outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process through which socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) affects employees' affective commitment. Drawing on Social Exchange theory and Social Identity theory, we argue that the link between SRHRM and affective commitment (AC) can be direct and indirect through the mediation of organizational trust (OT) and organizational pride (OP). Using data collected from the banking sector in Pakistan, we tested the mediating role of OT and OP between AC and three components of SRHRM: legal compliance HRM (LCHRM), employee-oriented HRM (EOHRM) and general CSR facilitation HRM (GFHRM). We found that EOHRM significantly influences affective commitment directly and through organizational trust. On the other hand, the effect of GFHRM on affective commitment is only through organizational trust. LCHRM, however, has no significant effect on affective commitment either directly or indirectly. Organizational pride was found to mediate GFHRM and affective commitment relationship. Our findings shed light on the social and psychological process of SRHRM influencing employee's affective commitment and provide insights for practitioners in selecting suitable HR policies to achieve CSR goals while enhancing employee's organizational commitment.

This article presents an analysis of the determinants of Chinese commercial banks' income diversification decisions. Using a panel dataset comprising 88 Chinese domestic banks from 2003 to 2010, we find that bank diversification reflects a variety of managerial abilities: insolvency risks, cost, capital position, asset scale and ownership structure. A larger ratio of banking assets to gross domestic product and lower interest spread lead to a higher level of diversification. Moreover, national banks and regional banks have different strategic responses to the macroeconomic, and indeed, regulatory environment. Resisting shocks from the banking sector and the macro economy, and supplementing liquidity shortages from intermediation business seem to be the driving forces of national banks to operate in non-banking sectors.

Drawing on social capital theory, social exchange perspective and organizational support theory, the study proposes that 'familiness' can be utilized to enhance employees' organizational commitment. It examines a family business's practices of embedding it through corporate culture, reward and compensation, training and development and socialization. Using focus groups, interviews and a review of organizational documents in a single case study in China, it argues that family firms can gain comparative advantage by embedding such familiness in their human resource management practices. Decent work conditions, career development and a corporate culture that integrates employees into a large community, it concludes, maybe helpful in attracting and retaining the new generation of migrant workers.

This study explores the usefulness of academic research to engineering practitioners. Issues such as knowledge transfer, the research-practice gap and the changing social/political environment are discussed. An empirical survey of practitioners is analysed to better understand the engineering professions use of academic material, such as research journals, with the medical profession acting as the benchmark. The study also examines the future role for academia from the perspective of practitioners, with areas such as engagement, relevance, dissemination and education highlighted. While the study found there was a reasonable level of utilisation of academic material, there are still some significant gaps. The study brings to the fore the issue of relevance in applied research fields and highlights the need to evaluate the usefulness of our research to practitioners and the betterment of society.

Many within and outside of academia argue that research conducted in our universities should have impact on society, especially research from the applied fields. One discipline attracting disproportional criticism over the relevance of its research is business schools. While anecdotal evidence surrounding the practical usefulness of business schools research is growing, empirical support for the problem is limited. This study explores the issue from the perspective of accounting practitioners by examining their sources of information, including the use of articles from academic accounting research journals. The issue is further examined by comparing accountants with practitioners from two other applied disciplines, engineering and medicine. A survey of 560 practitioners was undertaken and the data analysed using both descriptive and regression methods. The study found that accounting practitioners' perception of academia and use of academic research is very low, and when compared with engineers and medical practitioners, the differences were found to be statistically significant. Due to a disconnect from the real-world of practice, academic business researchers and business schools become increasingly vulnerable to adverse research funding decisions in the future.