Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is part of the larger debate on whether firms engage in CSR to promote social interests or strictly to achieve legitimacy and thus are implicitly involved in some form of greenwashing. This paper investigates the effect of CSR on tax avoidance. Based on a sample of French listed companies, the results show that firms engaging in CSR adopt tax avoidance practices. The results also show that the disciplinary roles of debt and corporate governance mitigate this positive effect. Additional evidence shows that family-owned firms overinvesting in CSR are unlikely to engage in tax avoidance for socioeconomic wealth purposes. The results are robust to alternative measures of tax avoidance and endogeneity concerns.

This study investigates whether AI-driven ethical procurement systems enhance firms’ circular supply chain orientation and how governance mechanisms affect supplier cost performance. Using survey data from 393 Indian firms and structural equation modeling, the research confirms that AI-based ethical systems significantly strengthen circular supply chain orientation. Circular orientation promotes both relational and contractual governance, but only relational governance—built on trust and collaboration—improves supplier cost performance. Contractual governance shows no significant effect. The findings extend transaction cost economics by revealing that, in circular supply chains, cost efficiency depends more on flexible, trust-based relationships than on formal contracts. Managerially, the study highlights that AI and relational governance together are critical for achieving ethical, sustainable, and cost-effective procurement in the circular economy.

As environmental sustainability gains prominence, institutional investors are increasingly recognized for their influence on corporate environmental practices. This study investigates how institutional investors' ownership and investment horizon affect corporate waste management in France. The results reveal that long-term (short-term) institutional investors negatively (positively) affect waste generation. We also show that the effect of long-term institutional investors on waste generation has accentuated after the adoption of the French Law on the Energy Transition in 2015 , especially for firms with high environmental performance and strong corporate governance and those operating in environmentally sensitive industries. These results offer actionable insights for policymakers, investors, and managers seeking to promote sustainable waste management practices.

Companies face the challenge of combining economic and environmental objectives. An obvious, recurring question is whether, and under what circumstances, an improvement in the environmental performance of a company leads to higher profits. By examining the data on innovation, this study addresses the question of whether environmental innovation (EI) is synergistic with other types of innovation.

Loneliness is a widespread concern among older adults, profoundly affecting their well-being. Social robots—designed to engage in social interactions and form emotional connections—are increasingly perceived as social actors in human-robot relationships and offer promising potential to alleviate loneliness. This study examines how older adults interact with social robots to address different forms of loneliness and enhance their subjective well-being. Across a pilot correlational study and two experiments, the results reveal two distinct mechanisms through which social robots improve well-being: attachment for individuals experiencing emotional loneliness and social integration for those facing social loneliness. This research contributes to the literature on loneliness, transformative consumer research, and human–robot interaction.

The existing literature on the legitimacy of daughters in the succession process of family businesses tends to separate the analysis between, on the one hand, the role of successor daughters and, on the other hand, the networks that activate and validate their legitimacy. This separation sustains a dualism in the conceptualization of relationships between successor daughters and the various stakeholders. This study addresses this gap by drawing on Strong Structuration Theory and the analysis of five cases of successor daughters. The results highlight that the social legitimacy of successor daughters in family businesses is the result of a continuous interaction between individual agency and social structures, within a logic of duality. It proposes a conceptualization of legitimacy as a dynamic process of social co-construction. The study reveals the interdependence between personal legitimacy and entrepreneurial legitimacy, which mutually reinforce each other through intertwined structuration cycles. This articulation contributes to the progressive co-construction of social legitimacy, emphasizing its evolving and adaptive nature.

The video examines how businesses are affected when a populist leader comes to power.

It highlights the political and economic uncertainties companies may face.

The discussion focuses on how firms can adapt their strategies and governance.

It emphasizes the importance of understanding the broader political and social context.

The video reflects on the role and responsibilities of businesses in a populist environment.

This research develops a new conceptual framework based on use intention for classifying purchases. Accordingly, it moves past the dominant material vs. experiential dichotomy as well as adding a third purchase type: activity engagement purchases, which are defined as purchases that support sustained consumer activities overtime. This new typology is empirically examined to understand how different purchase types contribute to consumer happiness. Activity engagement purchases emerge as a conceptually and empirically distinct type of purchase that consumers can readily classify and recall. Activity engagement purchases also generate greater happiness than material or experiential ones – which is found to be driven by their ability to fulfill consumers’ competency needs and facilitate value expression.

This research compares student entrepreneurial ecosystems in France and Norway, focusing on how students access support, resources, and networks. In France, the system is centralized, driven by key actors like Student Hubs for Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship, called PEPITE. In Norway, it is open and collaborative, with strong student associations and community ties. Using interviews and social network analysis, I explored the access and the circulation of information among actors in student entrepreneurial ecosystems. The results reveal different paths to innovation shaped by culture, policy, and education.

Supporting student entrepreneurship is not just about funding or training. It’s about building inclusive ecosystems where students, mentors, and institutions work together.

Sustainability depends less on consumer choices and more on how supply chains are structured. Research on Brazil’s beef sector shows that, despite the BRSL initiative to improve sustainability, results fell short. Four types of distance geographical, organizational, cultural, and relational hindered collaboration. These gaps created communication problems and weakened trust among stakeholders. Real progress requires external mediators, such as governments or NGOs, to reconnect the entire supply chain.