The present research examines both the relationship between green innovation and green entrepreneurship and the mediating role of firm strategies in the relationship between green entrepreneurship, green innovation, and competitive advantage. A total of 225 managers responsible for the environmental strategy of medium and large-sized firms operating in Greece were used as a sample for the study. To measure the research variables, a structured questionnaire was used. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inductive statistics, including principal components analysis, correlation analysis, a multivariate generalized linear model, and a structural equations model. The empirical results indicate a positive influence of green entrepreneurship in green product innovation and green process innovation. Furthermore, the mediating role of firm strategies in the relationship between green entrepreneurship, green innovation, and competitive advantage is confirmed.

The challenges of the world economy and their societies, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic have led policy-makers to seek for effective solutions. This paper examines the oil price volatility response to the COVID-19 pandemic and stock market volatility using daily data. A general econometric panel model is applied to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 infection and death announcements with oil price volatility. The paper uses data from six geographical zones, Europe, Africa, Asia, North America, South America, and Oceania for the period 21 January 2020 until 13 May 2021 and the empirical findings show that COVID-19 deaths affected oil volatility significantly. This conclusion is confirmed by a second stage analysis applied separately for each geographical area. The only geographical area where the existence of correlation is not confirmed between the rate of increase in deaths and the volatility of the price of crude oil is Asia. The conclusions of this study clearly suggest that COVID-19 is a new risk component on top of economic and market uncertainty that affects oil prices and volatility. Overall, our results are useful for policy-makers, especially in the case of a new wave of infection and deaths in the future.

Integrated reporting (IR) contains a lot of important information for firms, such as income, cash flows, risks, uncertainties, intellectual capital, social capital and environmental capital. Based on the relevant literature it is found that the adoption of integrated reporting affects the firms’ value in the short, medium and long term and, at the same time affects its environmental, social and governance performances. The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of integrated reporting in European energy firms’ value relevance. To do so, the panel data concerning 38 European energy distribution listed firms are analyzed, using statistical and econometrical methods including OLS, WLS, fixed effects and random effects models. The paper’s main novelty is that it concerns a sector that plays a key role in the economic development of countries and, at the same time only a few studies are carried out concerning the examined subject in this sector. The research results have revealed that integrated reporting, book value and earnings per share have a statistically significantly effect on energy firms’ market value. Thus, it is proposed that energy firms adopt IR.

The increasing integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices into corporate strategy has raised important questions about their financial implications. This study examines the relationship between ESG performance and financial outcomes in the tourism industry, an industry that is both highly visible and environmentally sensitive. To achieve this, this study analyzes the impact of the three ESG dimensions on financial performance, measured by Return on Assets (ROA). Using panel data econometric techniques, this study examines a balanced panel dataset of 154 listed tourism services firms between 2017 and 2021 to assess how each ESG pillar influences profitability. ESG data were sourced from Refinitiv Eikon, a widely validated provider in ESG-financial research. The analysis employs panel data econometric techniques with firm size and leverage as control variables. Our findings indicate that the Environmental, Social, and Governance scores each have a statistically significant negative effect on ROA, while the ESG controversies score is not statistically significant. These results suggest that despite the reputational value of ESG engagement, its short-term financial impact may be limited or negative in capital-intensive service sectors, such as tourism. This study contributes to the literature by providing sector-specific, post-crisis empirical evidence and highlights the need for a nuanced understanding of ESG–financial dynamics across industries.

This paper investigates the interrelations between stock returns and crude oil prices for European oil-importing/exporting countries. A vector autoregression (VAR) model is applied to estimate the significance of stock market responses to changes in oil prices during the pandemic period 2019–2021. A Granger causality test is applied to find the direction and the intensity of the relation between crude oil and the indices of the European stock markets. The findings of this paper hold with or without the COVID-19 pandemic episode and reveal the interaction between the European stock markets and the crude oil prices. The results indicate that in steady periods, before the COVID-19 outbreak and after the announcement of vaccinations, there is no interdependence between crude oil and stock prices, whereas in high volatility periods, the causality from stock markets to oil prices increases and both oil-exporting and -importing countries are equally influenced. These findings have implications both for investors and fund managers.

This study explores the impact of guest satisfaction on the financial performance of 5-star hotels, with a focus on both service quality and environmental sustainability. The purpose of the research is to understand how improvements in key satisfaction dimensions influence hotel profitability, as measured by EBITDA, ROA, and ROE. Satisfaction was measured across SERVQAUL dimensions and the dimension of environmental sustainability. The data were analyzed using the Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis (MUSA) method and linear regression models to determine the effect of satisfaction on financial performance. Results indicate that responsiveness is the most important factor for guests, while environmental sustainability ranks high in importance but shows lower satisfaction scores. The findings suggest that investing in both service quality and sustainability can significantly enhance a hotel’s financial returns. The study concludes that hotel managers should prioritize improvements in environmental sustainability and responsiveness to optimize guest satisfaction and financial performance.