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We are grateful to participants of the 2017 Royal Economics Society Conference, the 12th Annual Conference-Warsaw International Economic Meeting, and the 15th Annual Media Economics Workshop for comments. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

PurposeThis study aims to empirically investigate the impact of barriers (i.e. organizational and industrial barriers, corporate social responsibility (CSR) characteristics) on CSR practices and the roles of education and government support in mitigating these barriers. In addition, the positive effect of CSR practices on social sustainability performance (SSP) is examined.Design/methodology/approachA framework of hypotheses between barriers, CSR practices and SSP is established. Using a survey questionnaire, empirical data are collected from 17 construction firms in Vietnam. PLS-SEM is used to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicate that organizational and industrial barriers negatively affect CSR practices. This study also finds that education and training and government support could enable construction firms to reduce the impact of such barriers.Research limitations/implicationsThe data are collected in Vietnam; thereby the findings are only applicable in developing countries. Further research should also be conducted in other countries to improve the generalizability of the theoretical framework.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that construction firms could apply several strategies (e.g. providing their employees with CSR training and education; embedding CSR into their firm policy, mission and vision) to mitigate the impact of CSR barriers and, accordingly, ensure the success of adopting CSR practices.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first efforts in the construction industry that empirically investigates the impact of barriers on CSR practices and the moderating effects of training and education as well as government support.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of transformational leadership on green innovation and green learning in construction supply chains.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical framework of research hypotheses between transformational leadership, green learning and green innovation is developed. Using a survey questionnaire, data are collected from construction firms in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling is used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicate that transformational leadership promotes both green learning and green innovation (i.e. green product innovation and green process innovation) while green learning positively affects green process innovation. Furthermore, it is found that green learning mediates the linkage between transformational leadership and green process innovation.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the development of leadership research in construction by showing the significance of leadership at the supply chain level.Originality/valueLeadership is regarded as a key factor for most organizations' success and competitive advantages. In construction, leadership has been widely studied at the project and organizational levels while its important role is also explored at the supply chain level. Nevertheless, in terms of construction supply chains, there has been still very limited evidence about the effects of transformational leadership. Thus, this study fills the gap in knowledge by empirically examining the relationships between transformational leadership, green learning and green innovation.