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Research summary: We explore the effect of the interplay between a firm's external and internal actions on market value in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Specifically, drawing from the neo-institutional theory, we distinguish between external and internal CSR actions and argue that they jointly contribute to the accumulation of intangible firm resources and are therefore associated with better market value. Importantly, though, we find that, on average, firms undertake more internal than external CSR actions, and we theorize that a wider gap between external and internal actions is negatively associated with market value. We confirm our hypotheses empirically, using the market-value equation and a sample comprising 1,492 firms in 33 countries from 2002 to 2008. Finally, we discuss implications for future research and practice. Managerial summary: Companies often accumulate intangible assets by taking internally and externally oriented CSR actions. Contrary to popular beliefs, the data show that they undertake more internal than external ones: firms do more and communicate less. How does a potential gap (i.e., a misalignment) between internal and external CSR actions affect a firm's market value? We find that although together (the sum of) internal and external actions are positively associated with market value, a wider gap has negative implications. In other words, firms do not realize the full benefits of their internal actions when such actions are not externally communicated to key stakeholders, and to the investment community in particular. This negative association with market value is particularly salient in CSR-intensive and the natural resources and extractives industries.

PurposeThe metaverse has garnered increasing attention from researchers and practitioners, yet numerous firms remain hesitant to invest in it due to ongoing debates about its potential financial benefits. Therefore, it is crucial to analyze how the implementation of metaverse initiatives affects firms’ stock market value – an area that remains underexplored in the existing literature. Additionally, there is a significant lack of research on the contingency factors that shape the stock market reaction, leaving a noticeable gap in managerial guidance on the timing and benefits of investments in the metaverse. To narrow these gaps, we examine whether and when the implementation of metaverse initiatives enhances firms’ stock market value.Design/methodology/approachBased on 73 metaverse implementation announcements disclosed by Chinese listed firms during January 2021–August 2023, we employ an event study approach to test the hypotheses.FindingsWe find that metaverse implementation announcements elicit a positive stock market reaction. Moreover, the stock market reaction is stronger for technology-focused announcements and smaller firms, or when public attention to the metaverse is higher. Nevertheless, firms’ growth prospects do not significantly alter the stock market reaction.Originality/valueThis study extends the nascent literature on the metaverse by applying signaling theory to offer novel insights into the signaling effect of metaverse implementation announcements on stock market value and the boundary conditions under which the effectiveness of the signal varies. Besides, it provides managers with important implications regarding how to tailor the investment and information disclosure strategies of the metaverse to more effectively enhance firms’ stock market value.

Information security (infosec) breaches are becoming increasingly common, putting businesses at risk. These could have a long-term impact on the financial performance and, consequently, publicly traded firms’ market value (MV). Despite its significance, prior research has concentrated mainly on the short-term effects of breached firms’ MV. In addition, a paucity of literature explores what can be done to mitigate the negative impact on MV of breached firms. Employing a novel method of 'one-to-one matching,' this study’s primary objective is to examine the long-term effect of infosec breaches on the MV of breached firms. Furthermore, in today’s knowledge-based economy, a lack of efficient intellectual capital (IC) that results in effective infosec risk mitigation strategies in the event of an infosec breach may amplify the loss of market value for breached firms. Hence, this research establishes a knowledge management indicator based on 'Value-Added Intellectual Capital' (VAIC™) to reflect firms' infosec risk management and resiliency. Thus, the secondary objective of this research is to examine the moderating influence of VAIC on the relationship between infosec breaches and the long-term MV of breached firms. Specifically, we envision how the firm’s efficiency in IC, which encompasses human capital efficiency, structural capital efficiency, and capital employed efficiency, mitigates this effect. A long-term examination of 220 infosec breaches demonstrated a significant negative impact on the MV of breached firms within 1 year of the breach and from 1 year prior to 2 years after the breach. However, firms with a higher level of IC will experience a less severe negative impact on MVs. In addition, firms with greater human and structural capital efficiencies are anticipated to recover from information security breaches more rapidly. The study is anticipated to greatly assist investors, managers, and scholars comprehend the long-term relationship between security breaches and firms' MV. In addition, managers are expected to be provided with sophisticated information that enables them to create and expose their firms' IC to investors to represent efficient infosec-risk management and resilience practices.

Planning for cost-effective conservation requires reliable estimates of land costs, spatially-differentiated at high resolution. Nolte (2020) provides a county-by-county, parcel-level estimation approach that dramatically improves estimates of fair market value for undeveloped land across the contiguous Unites States. Much undeveloped land of conservation interest is under threat of conversion to agricultural use or is already agricultural. This paper demonstrates the value of accounting for additional variables that affect agricultural productivity and demand for undeveloped land, as well as the benefit of modeling at scales corresponding to regional agricultural markets. We find that countywide median home value, climatic variables, and several parcel-level soil type variables contribute substantially to predictive power. Enlarging the set of predictors and the geographical scale of modeling improves accuracy by approximately 15 percent and, relative to a more restricted modeling benchmark adapted from Nolte (2020), extends coverage into 376 counties occupying 1.35 million km 2 . To assess the practical benefits of our modeling approach, we simulate the protection of 30 percent of US lands via government purchasing, modeled after the Biden administration’s “30x30” initiative. Using our proposed modeling strategy, the purchasing agency saves approximately $15 million per year, or 4 percent of the USDA’s annual land easement budget.

PurposeDrawing on the stakeholder theory, this study aims to empirically analyse the impact of platform enterprises’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) announcements on corporate stock market value. This study also estimates the moderating effect of stakeholder orientation and responsibility categories of CSR announcements, the platform enterprise type and the degree of CSR disclosure.Design/methodology/approachThe event study method is used to analyse the change in stock market value of 191 CSR announcements from 137 Chinese platform enterprises. In addition, a case analysis is presented for two platform enterprises with the best practices to validate and complement study findings.FindingsCSR announcements improve platform enterprises’ stock market value. Specifically, CSR announcements responding to platform enterprises’ external stakeholders, and CSR announcements with economic responsibility, have obvious positive impacts on stock market value. Furthermore, the maker platform’s CSR announcement has a more positive impact on stock market value than the exchange platform.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to identify the link between platform enterprises’ CSR announcements and stock market performance by empirical evidence, and it contributes to new knowledge of operating and evaluating platform enterprises’ CSR.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine if there is a link between corporate shareholder value creation and economic growth. The first objective of this paper is to determine which specific shareholder value measurement best explains shareholder value creation for a particular industry. The next objective of the study is to establish, for each of nine different categories of firms examined, a set of value drivers that are unique and significant in expressing shareholder value for that particular category of firms. Lastly, the relationship between shareholder value creation and economic growth is tested. Design/methodology/approach To quantify and measure value creation, the paper investigates the various value creation measurements that are being applied. The next step is to ascertain whether various industries have different value creation measures that best explain value creation for the respective industries. Then, the value drivers of these specific value creation measures can be determined and their relationship with economic growth tested. Findings The results of this study indicate that each industry does have a specific shareholder value creation measurement that best explains shareholder value creation for that industry; for example, for five of the nine categories (industries) that were analyzed, market value added was found to be the best shareholder value creation measurement, but for capital-intensive firms and manufacturing firms, the Qratio is the best measure, while for the food and beverage industry, the market to book ratio was found to be a better measure of shareholder value creation than other measures tested. It was further found that an increase in corporate shareholder value creation is to the detriment of economic growth. Originality/value The contribution of the present study is its determination of a unique shareholder value creation measurement for particular industries. In addition, a specific set of variables per industry that create shareholder value is identified. Lastly, the important link between shareholder value creation and economic growth is exposed.

Purpose This study aims to investigate how carbon risk affects corporate market value, offering empirical evidence on its value implications and transmission mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach Using data on Chinese A-share firms for the period 2008–2023, this study empirically examines the impact of carbon risk on firm value, performing robustness, mechanism and heterogeneity analyses to identify transmission channels and differential effects. Findings Carbon risk significantly reduces firm value, a result that is confirmed even after robustness checks. The mechanism analysis shows that this effect operates through operational volatility, financing constraints and investor sentiment, while the heterogeneity analysis indicates that a stronger digital and green transformation mitigates this effect. Research limitations/implications Unlike prior research, this study explicitly examines the mechanisms – operational volatility, financing constraints and investor sentiment – through which carbon risk affects firm value. However, findings are constrained by China’s specific institutional context. Practical implications This study has important implications to understand how carbon risk affects environmental outcomes, firm value, investment behavior and, indirectly, economic welfare. Originality/value This study constructs a composite carbon risk index, identifies the mechanisms through which carbon risk affects firm value via operating volatility, financing constraints and investor sentiment and characterizes heterogeneity from the perspectives of digital transformation and green transformation, providing new evidence on carbon risk pricing in China under its institutional characteristics and proposing related policy implications.

There has been significant interest and debate on the impact that a firm’s investments in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and initiatives have on its market value. In this paper, we target an area that is relatively under-researched: the relevance of CSR practices and initiatives for firms in the emerging economic region of mainland China and Hong Kong, where market development and the institutional environment lag that of developed economies. Using independent CSR assessment data on a sample of large mainland Chinese and Hong Kong firms listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, we evaluate the impact of six CSR dimensions on the firms’ adjusted stock market value over a three-year period. We found support for the influence of only two of the six dimensions considered, namely, the CSR practices and initiatives focused on community investment through philanthropy and, to a lesser extent, the CSR practices and initiatives focused on enhancing workplace quality, to be significant predictors of firm value. This suggests that social and people-centric dimensions of CSR are more relevant than technical and process-centric dimensions of CSR for mainland Chinese and Hong Kong firms. Furthermore, we found support for the hypothesis that the impact of CSR practices and initiatives on firm value follows an inverted U-shaped relationship over time, suggesting that the effect of these initiatives on firm value steadily increases during the initial years after their adoption to reach a maximum and then gradually fades away in subsequent years. To this end, this study advances our knowledge of the specific CSR dimensions that contribute to firm value and their relevance for Chinese and Hong Kong firms.

Invasive species are known to cause significant negative impacts to ecosystems and to people. In this paper, we outline the nature of these economic impacts, and then present a range of approaches for estimating the economic costs of invasive species (including impacts on biodiversity), and thus the benefits of management programmes. The importance of thinking clearly about the most appropriate context for valuation is stressed. We provide examples of the application of non‐market valuation approaches to invasive species management, and show how such methods can be used to measure public preferences over how control is undertaken. We discuss some important problems in applying economic valuation methods in this context.

Southeast Asian tropical forests are vital sources of high‐value timber and non‐timber forest products (NTFPs). This study investigates the relationship between plant traits, wood density, and timber market value within the Dipterocarpaceae family, a critical contributor to the global tropical timber trade and a key structural component of many forests in Southeast Asia. Using a phylogenetic approach, we explored the correlation of morphological and life‐history traits with timber price. Our results show that wood density is significantly associated with higher timber prices, and this relationship is strongly influenced by phylogenetic dependence. We found no evidence linking timber value to the conservation status of dipterocarp species, suggesting that economic exploitation does not necessarily correlate with species endangerment. These findings emphasize the importance of understanding the evolutionary patterns driving economically valuable traits in timber species, which can guide sustainable forest management and conservation strategies in Southeast Asia. This study examines how plant traits and wood density influence timber market value in Southeast Asia's Dipterocarpaceae family. Using a phylogenetic approach, it finds that higher wood density is linked to greater timber prices, while conservation status does not correlate with market value. The results highlight evolutionary influences on economically valuable traits, with implications for sustainable forest management.