Examinando por Autor "Forcadell, Francisco Javier"

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A purpose-action framework for Corporate Social Responsibility in times of shock
(Elsevier, 2021) Forcadell, Francisco Javier; Aracil, Elisa
Extreme events undermine progress towards social sustainability and urge an immediate and broad response from the private sector. Nevertheless, corporate interventions in the face of a shock differ from traditional Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) actions in some essential aspects not addressed by the literature. To solve this gap, we propose a purpose-action framework to examine and categorize 218 post-shock CSR interventions from 111 companies operating in Spain during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The framework allows assessing their heterogeneous social sustainability impact. We identify a set of firm dynamic sustainability capabilities -leadership, intentionality, prior stakeholder engagement, and partnership building-underpinning corporate purpose and action to develop an effective and efficient post-shock CSR. This exploratory study extends the literature on the company–society interface and provides a guide to foster social sustainability through CSR in times of shock.
Do formal and informal institutions shape the influence of sustainable banking on financial development?
(Elsevier, 2022) Ubeda, Fernando; Forcadell, Francisco Javier; Suárez, Nuria
This paper explores the moderating role of formal and informal institutions on the sustainable banking and financial development link. We compute an aggregated measure of sustainability in the banking sector for a sample of 46 countries for the period 2010-2018. Our results indicate that sustainable banking positively influences financial development only in countries with strong formal institutions. Nevertheless, informal institutions can generate the necessary trust in the banking sector, allowing the positive effect of sustainable banking on financial development in countries with weak formal institutions. The results are robust after controlling the potential endogeneity issues.
Effects of environmental corporate social responsibility on innovativeness of Spanish industrial SMEs
(Elsevier, 2021) Forcadell, Francisco Javier; Úbeda, Fernando; Aracil, Elisa
This study analyzes how environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) strategies contribute to enhancing innovativeness among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by developing technological resources. We test our hypotheses over an eight-year period using a panel of 2,405 industrial SMEs in Spain. We empirically find that ECSR drives the building of firms’ technological resources, which results in an enhancement of their technological effort or R&D and outcomes in terms of product and process innovation. ECSR intensifies innovation for innovative firms and catalyzes the inception of innovation for previously non-innovating firms, and the resultant effects are sustained over time. We contribute to the literature by analyzing the effects of ECSR in promoting the innovation of firms beyond the well-known influence on green innovation. Further, we examine the neglected research area of the environmental strategies of SMEs. Our findings strengthen the instrumental innovative value of ECSR, specifically for SMEs.
How socially sustainable multinational banks promote financial inclusion in developing countries
(Elsevier, 2024-08) Ubeda, Fernando; Mendez, Alvaro; Forcadell, Francisco Javier; López, Belén
This paper investigates the impact of multinational banks (MNBs) implementing socially sustainable practices on financial inclusion in developing countries. We argue that the specific characteristics of the MNBs, when combined with socially sustainable practices, contribute to building trust and reducing risks in developing countries where they operate. This positive externality causes improvements for the underprivileged in three dimensions of financial inclusion: their demand for bank accounts, their propensity to save, and their access to credit. A sample of 152 multinational banks in 32 developing countries and 37,952 individuals proves the positive effect of sustainable practices
How sustainable banking fosters the SDG 10 in weak institutional environments
(Elsevier, 2022) Ubeda, Fernando; Forcadell, Francisco Javier; Aracil, Elisa; Méndez, Alvaro
The role of the financial sector is central in reducing income inequality – the goal of SDG 10 – by facilitating economic opportunities. However, institutional weaknesses may also undermine this effect. We argue that sustainable banking generates bidirectional trust to overcome institutional weaknesses, particularly the weak rule of law. Empirical evidence from 46 countries aggregating data of 1060 banks over 2010–2017 shows that sustainable banking lessens income inequality in weak rule of law settings. The results are robust after including the effects of bank digitalisation. This study has important implications for sustainable banking expansion into weak institutional environments and demonstrates banks’ efforts in their commitment to reducing inequality.
Individual entrepreneurial orientation and performance: the mediating role of international entrepreneurship
(Springer, 2021) Forcadell, Francisco Javier; Ubeda, Fernando
This paper analyses the role that individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) plays in the success of international entrepreneurship moves. We focus on the mediation effect of international entrepreneurship in the relationship between IEO and firm performance. We argue that entrepreneurial experience constitutes an important source of IEO and propose an objective measure of IEO. The hypotheses are empirically analysed using a 22-year panel of family SMEs. Our results confirm the hypotheses and provide a better understanding of the role of IEO in the success of corporate strategies such as internationalisation. Specifically, IEO is found to improve firm performance indirectly by increasing the speed of internationalisation, and this effect is non-linear. Our study contributes to the literature by extending international entrepreneurship literature by offering a more complete view of the causes and consequences of IEO. Finally, our results also contribute to the literature on family firm heterogeneity.
Initial resource heterogeneity differences between family and non-family firms: Implications for resource acquisition and resource generation
(Elsevier, 2018) Forcadell, Francisco Javier; Ubeda, Fernando; Zúñiga, José Angel
A fundamental, but overlooked stream of resource-based theory (RBT) is the analysis of combinations of initial heterogeneous resource endowments with homogeneous resources that are acquired in the market. These combinations can generate heterogeneous, specific non-tradable resources, which are a potential source of superior competitive advantage and, hence, performance. In order to operationalize this idea empirically, we analyse the development of internationalization resources (considered a specific category of nontradable resources) within family and non-family firms. Compared to non-family firms, we argue that family firms are able to combine a particular type of heterogeneous initial resource (i.e. familiness) with homogeneous tradable resources acquired in the market. This question is tested using a panel of family and non-family Spanish manufacturing firms for the period 1990 to 2010. As a result, this study contributes to the literature on RBT, extending previous theoretical and empirical research in this stream.
Is the restructuring-performance relationship moderated by the economic cycle and the institutional environment for corporate governance?
(Elsevier, 2020) Forcadell, Francisco Javier; Sanchez-Riofrio, Angélica; Guerras-Martín, Luis Angel; Romero-Jordán, Desiderio
cycle have on the relationship between the business portfolio restructuring (BPR) strategy and corporate performance. For this purpose, we use institutional theory, incorporating the notion of organizational slack to highlight the differences in firm performance between institutional settings along the different phases of economic cycle. We found that market-oriented corporate governance systems generate, during a period of economic growth, a smaller positive effect of each particular BPR movement on company performance, compared to network-oriented systems. Additionally, market-oriented corporate governance systems contribute to counteract part of the negative effect of the economic crisis. In contrast, network-oriented corporate governance systems are not able to avoid the potentially negative effect of an economic crisis on this relationship, amplifying the negative effect of the economic crisis on performance. We use data from 15 European countries for the period 1998–2015.
Russia–Ukraine crisis: China’s Belt Road Initiative at the crossroads
(Springer, 2022) Méndez, Alvaro; Forcadell, Francisco Javier; Horiachko, Kateryna
China’s Belt Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious programme to connect Asia with Europe, Africa, and Latin America via transport networks on land and sea in hopes of advancing economic integration, increasing trade, and stimulating growth. Ukraine occupies a strategic location in the BRI, near the intersection of Europe and Asia, rendering it a potential “gateway to Europe.” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is having a disruptive effect and poses numerous challenges for the Initiative, as it has affected some of the pillars and overall goals of the BRI. As it stands, however, infrastructure connectivity is being set back by three developments: fewer funding options, less international cooperation, and geopolitical shocks. Second, unimpeded trade via the BRI is being affected as the war causes disruptions to global value chains, weakens free trade, and sharpens food and energy insecurity. But where there are risks, there are also potential favourable circumstances for the BRI, including opportunities for China to get involved in the reconstruction of a war-ravaged Ukraine.
Sustainable banking: A literature review and integrative framework
(Elsevier, 2021) Aracil, Elisa; Nájera-Sánchez, Juan-José; Forcadell, Francisco Javier
The literature on sustainable banking has been prolific since the beginning of the century. This context prompts the need to understand and categorize an increasingly heterogeneous body of sustainable banking literature. We perform a literature review using bibliometric techniques of 676 articles published between 1995 and 2019 in the Web of Science (WoS) database. Our results provide a perspective on the evolution of the sustainable banking literature over time and across academic categories and journals. An integrative framework emerges from the review, providing a comprehensive perspective of the nine clusters or thematic areas in sustainable banking literature embedded in three domains: Ethical Foundations, Sustainable Products, and Business-Case. The framework integrates the rich literature on sustainable banking, maps the predominant research areas, and highlights the primary research gaps. Finally, the literature review demonstrates a progressive convergence of the instrumental and ethical approaches to sustainable banking. This convergence highlights the importance of both the vivid societal debate around the role of banks in the advancement toward sustainability and the business rationale for banks to engage in sustainable strategies.
The firm under the spotlight: How stakeholder scrutiny shapes corporate social responsibility and its influence on performance
(Wiley, 2022) Forcadell, Francisco Javier; Lorena, Antonio; Aracil, Elisa
Since stakeholders cannot directly observe corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, companies attempt to back up their increasing sustainability claims by sending CSR signals. The environment in which signaling takes place influences the credibility of the signals. Among the factors that make up the signaling environment, the overall exposure of the company to different stakeholders (i.e., stakeholder scrutiny) has been neglected by the literature. Using signaling and stakeholder theories, we argue how stakeholder scrutiny shapes CSR signals' credibility. We empirically analyze a sample of 5762 firms across several sectors from 23 developed countries from 2013 to 2017. Stakeholder scrutiny exercises a positive effect on the credibility of CSR signals through a mediated-moderated impact of CSR (across environmental, social, and governance dimensions) on firm performance.
The impact of corporate sustainability and digitalization on international banks’ performance
(Wiley, 2020) Forcadell, Francisco Javier; Aracil, Elisa; Ubeda, Fernando
We analyse the implications for international banks of two contemporary megatrends: corporate sustainability (CS) and digital-ization. The digital environment and the availability of massive data from customers generate asymmetric information forbanks to the detriment of customers, who experience individual vulnerabilities such as privacy rights. This can hinder the posi-tive influence of digitalization in banks’performance, with relevant managerial and political implications. In this context, thereputation generated by CS strategies can constitute a credence factor that reduces customers’fears of opportunistic behaviorand information asymmetries. We test andfind support for our hypothesis over a panel data of large international banks fromdeveloped countries. Ourfindings shed light on the mutual reinforcement of CS and digitalization strategies in enhancingbanks’market performance and efficiency
The sustainable practices of multinational banks as drivers of financial inclusion in developing countries
(Elsevier, 2023) Ubeda, Fernando; Méndez, Alvaro; Forcadell, Francisco Javier
Lack of access to banking generates inequality in the developing world; therefore, financial inclusion is a crucial objective of the Sustainable Development Goals. We investigate the impact of sustainable practices of multinational banks (MNBs) on financial inclusion. A sample of 275 MNBs, 16 developing countries, and 16,618 individuals yield robust evidence confirming the positive effect of such practices on financial inclusion. Specifically, we find that as MNBs become sustainable, the use of mobile banking intensifies. This finding is consequential because mobile banking is one of the most powerful means to achieve financial inclusion in the developing world.
Using reputation for corporate sustainability to tackle banks digitalization challenges
(Wiley, 2020) Forcadell, Francisco Javier; Aracil, Elisa; Úbeda, Fernando
The new landscape in the financial sector, characterized by fierce competition and the entrance of new technological players, has forced banks to speed up their digital transformation. However, for banks, digitalization entails challenges that can hinder the potential benefits and compromise their survival. In this context, we argue that the reputation generated by corporate sustainability (RCS) may offset these digitalization drawbacks. In particular, we find that the combination of RCS and digitalization facilitates in transforming the organizational nature of banks by simultaneously narrowing their boundaries and expanding their scope. We empirically confirm our hypotheses by analyzing a panel of 110 multinational banks from developed countries.