AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings - Academy of International ...

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insights into corporate sustainability efforts of top 395 firms on Dow Jones Sustainability Index. (For more
information, please contact: Carri R. Tolmie, Saint Louis University, USA: creisdor@slu.edu)
Drivers of Investment in Corporate Sustainability Strategies of Retailers and Manufacturers in Developed and
Developing Countries
Kudzai Mukumbi, Michigan State University
Brenda Sternquist, Michigan State University
This study develops a conceptual model for corporate sustainability investment strategies using institutional
theory, transaction cost theory, and the business case perspective. The study seeks to compare institutional
and financial drivers of investment in corporate sustainability for (i) firms using standardized corporate
sustainability reporting guidelines (i.e., the Global Reporting Initiative) versus those that do not and (ii)
developed versus developing country firms. Differences in transaction cost levels and institutional pressures
between firms in developed and developing countries can influence corporate sustainability investment.
Adoption of standardized corporate sustainability reporting may strengthen the relationship between
institutional pressures and investment in corporate sustainability strategy. This is because the adoption can be
used as a tool to increase legitimacy, transparency and credibility of the firm as well as reducing transaction
costs of searching and monitoring firm's corporate sustainability strategies. In addition, institutional pressures
are likely to influence firms from developing rather than developed countries because the institutional drivers
help to reduce the higher transaction costs, uncertainty, and corporate sustainability governance gaps faced by
firms from developing countries. (For more information, please contact: Kudzai Mukumbi, Michigan State
University, USA: mukumbik@msu.edu)
Intellectual Property Rights and Competition Policy on the Development of Entrepreneurship across Countries
Kun Liu, Wayne State University
Kun Fu, Bocconi University
Institutions, as the rules of the game, influence the emergence and development of entrepreneurship in
important ways. Most of the existing studies have investigated entrepreneurship within a given institutional
environment without considering the variations of institutions in different national contexts. In this paper we
study the impact of two economic institutions that are particularly relevant to entrepreneurship — the
intellectual property rights (IPRs) and the enforcement of the competition policy, as well as their interaction
effects on the development of entrepreneurship especially those dealing with technological innovations. We
propose that IPRs is positively associated with entrepreneurial activity and this effect is contingent upon the
enforcement level of competition policy. The hypotheses are examined within a framework of pooling a crosssection
of 60 countries during the periods between 2002 and 2007. The findings show surprisingly that
strengthened IPR protection adversely affects the entry of entrepreneurs adopting new technology and this
relationship is attenuated by the increasing enforcement of competition policy. (For more information, please
contact: Kun Liu, Wayne State University, USA: k.liu@wayne.edu)
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