Circular economy at the company level: An empirical study based on sustainability reports

Saizarbitoria, Iñaki Heras; Boiral, Olivier; Testa, Francesco

doi:10.1002/sd.2507

Cited by 22 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…In order to address the research questions, an exploratory empirical study was planned based on a qualitative content analysis of GE standards. This “research method for the subjective interpretation of the content of text data through systematic classification process of coding and identifying themes or patterns” (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005, p. 1278), has been used extensively in the literature to empirically analyze sustainable reports, corporate certifications, and standards (e.g., Boiral & Heras‐Saizarbitoria, 2017; Heras‐Saizarbitoria et al, 2016; Heras‐Saizarbitoria et al, 2023).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corporate social responsibility as a framework for gender equality: Mapping of gender equality standards for sustainable development

Velasco‐Balmaseda,

de Celis,

Izaguirre

2023

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

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Corporations address gender equality issues in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development. As in other areas of CSR, various standards, certifications, and similar initiatives have been proposed to promote gender equality. Despite an increasing number of self‐regulation and signaling schemes being proposed, their study has been overlooked by the scholarly literature. This article tries to shed light on these standards through a two‐stage exploratory study. First, the main worldwide initiatives that focus on gender equality standards are scrutinized and mapped. Second, their main characteristics are analyzed, based on a content analysis of the information disclosed by organizations that foster the most relevant initiatives. A systematic analysis of relevant gender equality standards is provided. This work highlights a dispersion and lack of uniformity in terms of missions, results, measurement, and even the definition of gender equality or the term used to refer to it. No framework has prevailed. Gender equality standards lack gender mainstreaming and intersectionality is invisible. The business case appears to be the main driver of gender equality standards. The present study is one of the first attempts to thoroughly examine the institutional design of gender equality standards, their standard‐setting process as well as their enforcement. We suggest a rethink of the policies that promote the gender equality standards in organizations, as well as a need for collaborative work between managers and policymakers towards the use of common terminology, indicators, and uniformity regarding the terms to be certificated.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corporate social responsibility as a framework for gender equality: Mapping of gender equality standards for sustainable development

Velasco‐Balmaseda,

de Celis,

Izaguirre

2023

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

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“…Tallentire and Steubing (2020) provide an interesting study to identify the best‐performing waste collection methods for packaging and packaging waste, measuring the recovery potential and environmental benefits. Meanwhile, Heras‐Saizarbitoria et al (2023) focused on clarifying information about companies' Circular Economy activities. The main findings indicate that the concept of Circular Economy is mostly associated with conventional practices such as waste management and recycling; reduction, reuse, and remanufacturing are rarely considered.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental commitment, sustainable development, and regional efficiency in waste collection activities

Alberca,

Parte

2023

Sustainable Development

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Waste management industry is key to achieve environmental commitment, clean production, and Circular business models; as well as to promote sustainable development. The aim of this study is to contribute to the Circular Economy measuring business performance and firm efficiency of waste collection activities and their determinants, with emphasis on sustainable development and environmental challenges. The main research goals of this study are as follows: first, to examine firm efficiency scores in waste collection activity (dangerous and non‐dangerous waste); second, to analyze the main fluctuation patterns of business efficiency; third, to evaluate the differences in the average efficiency according to region; finally, to examine the relationship between efficiency score and environmental challenges (investment in environmental protection and COVID‐19 pandemic impact). The efficiency of firms is estimated using non‐parametric production frontiers in a sample of 5441 observations for the period 2010–2020. We used several non‐parametric tests, such as the Mann–Whitney U test and the Kruskal–Wallis test; as well as several regression models (Tobit and bootstrapping regressions) to test the relationship between efficiency scores and environmental variables. The main findings of this study provide new empirical evidence and go a step further, not only at the firm level, but also at the regional level.

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“…In relation to this, corporate disclosure can be a tool that encourages companies to spread their strategic vision and management of circular economy models. By doing this, companies legitimize their role in the context in which they operate, engaging with stakeholders and maintaining public support [6]. Corporate disclosures reduce information gaps on sensitive issues like the CE and provide information on emerging issues that could be relevant for stakeholders to make economic decisions.…”

Section: Introduction 1the Reason For a New Study On Circular Economy...mentioning

confidence: 99%

How Circular Economy Disclosure Responds to Institutional Determinants Empirical Evidences in Non-Financial European Firms

Pozzoli,

Nastari,

Pisano

et al. 2023

Sustainability

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Despite the increasing attention that the circular economy (CE) has received at the international level in recent years, the literature has paid limited attention to the importance of institutional factors that may influence firms’ disclosure of CE. Thus, there is a gap in the study of CE disclosure, especially when compared with other studies dedicated to environmental disclosure. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating the institutional pressures, in terms of coercive, normative, and mimetic factors, that influence firms’ behavior with respect to CE disclosure. This research focuses on a sample of 366 nonfinancial firms, operating in 14 EU countries between 2015 and 2020. The results show that coercive and mimetic institutional pressures positively influence the level of CE disclosure issued by the firms. More specifically, the stringency of the environmental policy (coercive pressure) and the belonging to an environmentally sensitive sector (mimetic pressure) have a positive impact on the CE disclosure provided. With respect to normative pressure, the results are mixed. In fact, only the adoption of Global Reporting Initiatives’ (GRIs) standard requirements is positively and significantly related to CE disclosure. The presence of an external assurance, as well as the commitment to the SDGs, is not significantly related to the CE disclosure. The absence of an analytical standard that organically addresses the issue of CE, by guiding companies in their disclosure, may explain the irrelevance of these factors in the process of convergence of the information produced. This research contributes to this area by filling a gap in the CE literature, providing some insights into the determinants of disclosure and the role of institutional pressures in influencing the level of CE information. In addition, the research adds to previous studies on disclosure by measuring the CE information provided by companies with an indicator developed based on specific environmental items collected from the Refinitiv Eikon database, which could be used in future research. The findings of this paper have some important practical implications. In particular, the results confirm to policymakers that stricter regulations have a positive impact on disclosures related to the CE. Thus, a new specific European regulation should promote more homogeneous and analytical CE disclosure, increasing the sensitivity among firms and practitioners on this topic. A similar approach may be followed for the same purpose by other regional or local policymakers. The paper also emphasizes the necessity of introducing more stringent regulations on assurance and SDGs by the regulatory or professional bodies to achieve greater uniformity of behavior by firms.

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Circular economy at the company level: An empirical study based on sustainability reports

Cited by 22 publications

References 65 publications

Corporate social responsibility as a framework for gender equality: Mapping of gender equality standards for sustainable development

Corporate social responsibility as a framework for gender equality: Mapping of gender equality standards for sustainable development

Environmental commitment, sustainable development, and regional efficiency in waste collection activities

How Circular Economy Disclosure Responds to Institutional Determinants Empirical Evidences in Non-Financial European Firms

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