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The economy's improvement through industrial success is also leading to environmental problems such as the production of greenhouse gases and other chemicals. Since global warming has caught the attention of researchers and authorities, environmental issues are receiving more attention. In this vein, the pressure of sustainable development goals explains the status of corporate sustainable development. Particularly, corporate green practices including green innovation and green total factor productivity have become hot topics. Therefore, how green innovation can be beneficial to green total factor productivity is a major point of concern in this study. For that, corporate factors such as the role of board capital are a new light for developing green innovation. Moreover, this study also takes the competition factor into account for green innovation. This study considers agency theory and the Porter hypothesis as the theoretical base, and the results give distinctive conclusions by using fixed effects, generalized moments methods, and feasible generalized least squares on Chinese manufacturing corporations from 2011 to 2020. After a series of tests, we highlight the benefits of board capital, particularly human capital and social capital, that help to produce firm green innovation. Additionally, we explain that market competition compels corporations to make green innovations. Further, we importantly show that market competitiveness plays a critical role in fostering relationships between green innovation and board capital. It is crucial to note that by enhancing green innovation, the goal of green total factor production can be reached. These findings shed light on the imperative environmental concerns and can be a good example for authorities and governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the environmental dynamics in the Union for Mediterranean (UFM) countries by considering education, urbanization, green innovation, and other key factors for the period 2001–2016. The data are divided based on the income level of UFM countries and analyzed with panel quantile regression, panel unit root tests, panel co-integration test, ordinary least squares method, and fixed effects model to evaluate the nexus between variables. A generalized method of moments (GMM) is employed to deal with the endogeneity issue in the panel data. The results of the study confirm that the urban population has an inverted U-shaped association with environmental degradation in the lower-middle and high-middle income countries. It further comes out that increased education levels decrease environmental degradation in the high-income countries. Hence, green innovation reduces environmental degradation in the upper-middle-income and high-middle-income countries. The study validates an inverted U-shaped relationship between GDP and environmental degradation in all income-based groups of countries, which supports the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms in developing economies generally find ways to enhance their reputation and growth in the international market. In this context, an Audit Committee (AC) is composed of multiple skilled members that control and monitor auditing activities and present a transparent image of their firm, which automatically attracts investors and builds investor confidence. Therefore, this study used CEO power and ownership concentration as moderating factors to examine the connection between AC and firm performance. For this purpose, this study used the data of Pakistani manufacturing firms for the period 2008 to 2018 and applied the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method, the Fixed Effect (FE) model, and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). To check the robustness of the results, this study used a Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) model. The findings of this study contended that AC and firm performance have a positive association with each other. Moreover, the findings revealed that CEO power positively influenced firm performance. Furthermore, lower ownership concentration is a valuable approach to maximize a firm's performance. Importantly, the outcomes concluded that AC and firm performance have a positive connection with the moderating effects of CEO power. Moreover, AC and firm performance also have a positive association with the moderating effect of ownership concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Audit quality (AQ) is a crucial instrument for ensuring transparency and accountability in both the public and private sectors. If the AQ is responsible for the maximization or minimization of profit, then what are the circumstances that make these possible? In this study, we examined the role of the product market competition (PMC) in the relation between the AQ and firm performance (FP). The PMC on the manufacturing firms of Pakistan was divided into two categories—low product market competition (LPMC) and high product market competition (HPMC). This division was calculated using the Herfindahl–Hirschman index (HHI). Then, we used ordinary least squares (OLS), the fixed-effect model, and the generalized method of moment (GMM) to examine the role of PMC on the association between the AQ and FP. The results of the study revealed that the financial performance of firms was enhanced with the quality of the audit. Highly competitive firms demonstrated higher chances to capture the maximum profit and have a positive relationship with FP, while less competitive firms were negatively associated with FP. Furthermore, the HPMC played a vital role in boosting the profit of the firms. On one hand, the connection between the AQ and FP was positively affected by the HPMC. On the other hand, the connection between the AQ and FP was negatively affected by the LPMC. Thus, the findings of this investigation have various implications for owners, investors, shareholders, and governments. This study can help the governments of developing economies to enhance economic conditions by focusing on the industrial sector. This study also contributes to the literature by supporting the agency theory that PMC can mitigate the agency issue between owners and agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) are the activities of firms that are not only considered for economic profit but also include the social welfare returns. To find the key drivers that affect the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm performance, we investigated the moderating effects of CEO power and ownership structure. Ownership structure is classified into two parts: managerial ownership and ownership concentration. We selected a sample of firms from eight manufacturing sectors of the Pakistani economy for the analysis. We collected data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), and companies' annual reports over the period 2008 to 2017. We employed the Fixed Effects model and Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) to investigate the association between CSR and firm performance. The empirical analysis of this study highlights the following conclusions: First, CSR has a significant positive association with firm performance. Second, the relationship between CSR and firm performance shows the same results with the interaction of CEO power. Thirdly, interaction of the managerial ownership with CSR has a significant positive relationship with firm performance. Fourth, the interaction of the ownership concentration with CSR has a positive effect on firm performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]