journal article Open Access Jul 25, 2025

Owners' Time Horizons and Firms' Environmental and Social Orientations: Evidence From Italian Private Manufacturing Firms

View at Publisher Save 10.1002/csr.70091
Abstract
ABSTRACT
This study examines the relationship between ownership structure and sustainability practices in privately owned Italian manufacturing firms. Using a dataset of 231 firms, we analyze how private equity and female ownership influence corporate environmental, internal social, and external social orientations. Our findings reveal that private equity ownership correlates positively with environmental orientation, as these investors prioritize practices that improve corporate value and mitigate risk. However, they tend to underinvest in external social initiatives, perceiving their benefits as long‐term. In contrast, female ownership is linked to a stronger commitment to internal social responsibility. These results underscore the importance of corporate ownership in the shaping of sustainable corporate strategies and provide insights for both theory and practice.
Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References
91
[2]
Corporate Governance and Value Creation: Evidence from Private Equity

Viral V. Acharya, Oliver F. Gottschalg, Moritz Hahn et al.

Review of Financial Studies 10.1093/rfs/hhs117
[7]
Do institutional investors encourage firm to social disclosure? The stakeholder salience perspective

Maria Aluchna, Maria Roszkowska-Menkes, Bogumił Kamiński et al.

Journal of Business Research 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.12.064
[9]
Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage

Jay Barney

Journal of Management 10.1177/014920639101700108
[10]
The Agency Problems of Institutional Investors

Lucian A. Bebchuk, Alma Cohen, Scott Hirst

Journal of Economic Perspectives 10.1257/jep.31.3.89
[12]
Bellon A.2020. “Does Private Equity Ownership Make Firms Cleaner? The Role of Environmental Liability Risks.” European Corporate Governance Instiance Institute ‐ Finance Working Paper No. 799/2021.https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3604360. 10.2139/ssrn.3604360
[23]
Cantor R.1990.“Effects of Leverage on Corporate Investment and Hiring Decisions.”
[26]
Private Equity Buyouts and Workplace Safety

Jonathan Cohn, Nicole Nestoriak, Malcolm Wardlaw

Review of Financial Studies 10.1093/rfs/hhab001
[42]
Building Better Causal Theories: A Fuzzy Set Approach to Typologies in Organization Research

Peer C. Fiss

Academy of Management Journal 10.5465/amj.2011.60263120
[50]
Drivers and approaches to the circular economy in manufacturing firms

Natalia Marzia Gusmerotti, Francesco Testa, Filippo Corsini et al.

Journal of Cleaner Production 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.044

Showing 50 of 91 references

Metrics
1
Citations
91
References
Details
Published
Jul 25, 2025
Vol/Issue
32(6)
Pages
7411-7430
License
View
Cite This Article
Kevin Pirazzi Maffiola, Daniela Bragoli, Giovanni Marseguerra (2025). Owners' Time Horizons and Firms' Environmental and Social Orientations: Evidence From Italian Private Manufacturing Firms. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 32(6), 7411-7430. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.70091