In this paper, we have studied the factors that influence the environmental disclosures of Italian\ud listed companies. We also aimed to verify the effects produced by the introduction of specific\ud legislation (albeit of a voluntary nature) on environmental disclosures. The analysis has the\ud advantage of including all of the informational documents produced by the company. The analysis\ud shows an (excessively) low level of disclosure of environmental information by the companies\ud examined. The econometric analysis then shows, contrary to our hypothesis and the\ud results of previous analyses carried out in other countries, a negative and statistically significant\ud relationship between environmental disclosures, the presences of minority shareholders and\ud large auditors and the listing of the company, including in foreign markets. We lastly observed\ud that the introduction of ad hoc legislation as purely voluntary only affects the contents of quantitative\ud environmental disclosures, which are unsuitable for a highly industrialized developed\ud country

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze within the knowledge management (KM) stream the relationship between KM and intellectual capital (IC) and entrepreneurship (E). IC is a pivotal intangible resource to firms to generate knowledge. Knowledge and information are strategic for today’s company life. IC is generated and dynamically recombined by knowledge, produces knowledge and is feed by knowledge itself, both codified and tacit. For those reasons, the paper is motivated to understand how IC can represent valuable knowledge and how it can turn into innovation, through KM and practices. It is also voted to stimulate literature on understanding how innovation can serve E capabilities for firms’ business models, as innovation is not necessarily linked to a technological breakthrough. IC is functional to KM practices, as entrepreneurs can use IC and knowledge as a strategic management toolbox to innovate. Design/methodology/approach The main aim of the paper is to understand the state of the art on these central issues in KM literature. The paper uses a structure literature review (SLR) methodology, gathering papers by Scopus database for the period 2000–2019, on the relationship between KM and IC and E. The second aim is to understand for future research how do managers use IC as an opportunity to innovate and as a vehicle to transfer knowledge. The authors wondered about the qualification/quantification of “knowledge” as a crucial component of IC, which is in turn the riskier, but the more representative, a component of intangibles assets in the era of knowledge. Findings As for the first research question, the findings show that, actually, as the research has been started, IC, KM and E are still engaged separately by scholars, even if few efforts to match them together have been performed. The results depict a general fragmented and unsystematic vision of the relationship between the three topics. As for the future of the research about these topics, the authors found that scholars should catch the opportunity to go beyond the traditional theoretical mainstream on these issues. There is an urge to move the focus of KM and IC research toward new models of their interconnection, by including the social capital, namely, knowledge capabilities (explicit or not), etc., which are able to turn knowledge in innovation and competitive advantage, from an accounting perspective (recognizing IC’s components affecting the performance of firms, among which knowledge is the most important) and from a theoretical point of view (reducing the misalignment between the epistemological concept of KM requirements and the effective perception of organizational KM activities to extract value from KM initiatives). Research limitations/implications The results, even if suffering from some limitations due to the performing of the methodology, offers several implications for academic research. The future of KM of the IC resources is clearly likely to lie on the recognition of the component of knowledge, as well as on the recognizing of new forms of social capital such as entrepreneurial capital, which is connected to innovation and creativity and firm value. An integrative framework of IC measurement should be built to link IC with KM and E. This is to guarantee that the measurement of IC does contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of KM. Practical implications Practical contribution to accounting perspective. In fact, the relations between these three topics could be highly beneficial to validate, in the dynamic societies and organizations, how it is important the entrepreneur’s learning process and its content is fundamental in the quest for new business opportunities/innovations, stated that learning is a crucial factor for entrepreneurial activity and has a structural impact on business models of industrial organizations. The difficulty to recognize in the balance sheet human capital relation could be limited by the introduction of the component of KM practices codification and E attitude and influence to operate this transformation of human capital in organized structural capital. The authors would not give the solution to that problem. The authors just want to address the discussion. Social implications The inspiring conclusion from previous studies is to think in a new way at the role of knowledge-based IC in organizational E. Starting from the assertion that knowledge-based process of innovation and E are linked, it can be tested, also from case studies help or empirical application that organizations with a pleasant level of IC are more likely to be more innovative and in conclusion, have a higher market value. Originality/value The main contribution of this paper is to afford for the first time, to the best knowledge, an SLR on the interaction in literature among KM, IC and E, simultaneously, to understand where literature research actually is focusing and to lead future thoughts, at a managerial level, toward the interacting implications of KM and IC on value creation by innovation, which is one stream E literature. Although recently scholars have been concerning more empirically about the relationship between KM, IC and E, they are more focused on theoretical aspects than about new ways to look at IC. The future of KM and IC research is clearly likely to lie on the recognition of the component of knowledge, as well as recognizing new forms of social capital such as entrepreneurial capital, which is connected to innovation and creativity. An integrative framework of IC measurement through KM should be built to link IC measurement with KM. This is to guarantee that measurement of IC does contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of KM practices.

Abstract:We propose to investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosure and institutional/environmental factors among a sample of European listed companies. We find that, by using several traditional explicative variables, institutional factors affect the level of CSR disclosure, in a context where the EU Commission has been paying growing attention to social and environmental accountability of listed companies (see the EU Dir. 95/2014). Our findings are further supported by multivariate regression, where ESG score (measure of CSR disclosure) is regressed on nine variables which represent the expression of institutional factors. By looking at the institutional determinants of CSR disclosure, we are seeking to pose a challenge for future research agenda, in order to understand whether CSR does actually reflect an effective commitment of firms to accounting practices and rules, as a form of social behavior, or whether it is just a tool to manage stakeholders' perception and to comply with regulation.

We propose an alternative firm-level measure for innovation activities-R&D elasticity-and we analyse its effects on the Tobin's Q of listed companies on the Euronext 100 Index. We find that R&D elasticity is positively related to market appreciation by stakeholder investors. Moreover, we analyse the role of default risk in the relationship between innovation activities and market value, and find that firms' default probabilities are negatively related to Tobin's Q. These findings are supported by OLS regressions, wherein Tobin's Q is regressed on R&D elasticity, five-year default probability, and controls such as ESG voluntary disclosure. These results further the research aimed at developing a conceptual framework for integrating at a policy level the R&D elasticity indicator as a type of innovation disclosure among the non-financial disclosures released by companies.

Purpose - This study aims to verify the presence, evolution and determinants of voluntary environmental disclosure from companies listed on the Milan Stock Exchange. The authors examined documentation of listed firms from 2006 and 2009. These years immediately precede and follow Italian legislative decree n. 32/2007, which introduced (albeit on a voluntary basis) disclosure of environment-related company information. Design/methodology/approach - The authors’ approach utilizes multivariate regression analysis. The disclosure index of the years 2006 and 2009 represents the dependent variable. Independent variables include firm size, business industry, public shareholders, legislation and environmental performance. Findings - The results show positive effects on environmental disclosure related to legislative decree n. 32, the presence of government shareholdings in firms’ ownership structure, business industry and firm size. The interrelation between firm size and environmental performance shows that large companies give more information only if they produce more environmental pollution, to legitimize themselves to stakeholders. Research limitations/implications - Despite the authors’ contributions concerning environmental information described in the Introduction, they must express two limitations of their analysis. First, the sample analyzed is quite small (only 44 firms). Second, carbon dioxide emissions was chosen as an indicator of atmospheric pollution, yet emissions information has not been provided by Italian firms (even those that are listed on the Milan Stock Exchange), despite being accepted internationally as a measure of environmental performance in business. In addition, in Italy, there is no database ranking firms on corporate social responsibility (CSR). Practical implications - There are many reasons behind the weak or even negative roles of managers regarding social and environmental disclosure. These reasons include a dearth of resources, the profit imperative, lack of legal requirements, insufficient knowledge or awareness, poor performance and fear of bad publicity. What seems to be a real obstacle is the lack of knowledge about non-financial disclosure - in particular, how to gauge, produce and release information when it comes to a firm’s interaction with environment and society, and this void causes low levels of disclosure and even the absence of such action. Some of the reasons for non-disclosure might be attributed to a lack of awareness and knowledge among corporate managers regarding CSR reporting, in general, and disclosure on eco-justice issues, in particular. Originality/value - The first contribution of this work is to realize, for the first time, a specific analysis on Italian firms’ environmental disclosures. Moreover, the study extends this analysis to all entities’ informative documents. This paper also allows an examination of effects of new legislation that encourages environmental information in a corporation’s financial annual report. Finally, this is the first paper to con...