Eva Abramuszkinová Pavlíková

Consumerism and Indebtedness

Abstract The aim of this paper is to bring sociological interpretations of a consumerism and an indebtedness. Currently, consumer spendings of households have become financed more and more by debts. The explanation includes several reasons. At first, it is the preference to consume and spend money from household disposible income and from loans. Secondly, households are motivated by increase of living standards, by an afford to do so and by an increase of the real wage. Thirdly, there were other motivations for increase of indebtedness such as a shift to owner-occupied housing, effective marketing of financial intermediaries and easy availability of money. The focus is on insufficient awareness of the rational strategies of householdś financial management and the idea of rational re-education of people.

Current Developments in Corporate Social Responsibility in the EU

The aim of this chapter is to introduce the concept of and current developments in corporate social responsibility in Europe, including the role of European institutions and their policies. The current trend in CSR, described as a corporate giving strategy that includes long-term commitments, is supported by the European Commission, which has declared it to be a responsible business behaviour that promotes sustainable growth and assumes responsibility for business’s societal impact. This chapter focuses on CSR standards and norms, namely, ISO 26000 and SA8000 (2012–2013). The focus is on Italy as a country with exceptionally developed CSR. An economic analysis of Italian companies, based on the Amadeus database, was conducted to identify profitability-related differences between companies that are SA8000 certified and companies that are not. Our conclusions based on the Italian case suggest that SA8000 certification can be a good competitive tool for a company, might be required by state institutions for public services or can be important for supply-chain management. In Italy, SA8000 was primarily used by larger, more profitable companies. In 2007–2012, both groups of Italian companies—those that were SA8000 certified and those that were not—were confronted by a decrease in all indicators of profitability in 2012 as compared to 2007. Finally, based on a difference in difference estimation strategy, SA8000 certification has a potentially positive impact on firm growth but not on firm profitability, which could support our opinion of the importance of SA8000 certificates for companies expanding to other markets.

The implementation of the occupational health and safety management at work and its influence on the economic performance of the company

Abstract The issue of social responsibility is one of the most discussed contemporary topics. It is closely related to the financial management of the company. The social area is one of the three main topics integrated in the concept of corporate social responsibility. In addition to the social interactions of the company and its surroundings, there is also included a wide range of internal relations. The largest group within the rage of internal relations consists of employees. Employees’ satisfaction, loyalty, fluctuation, sick leave of employees, as well as accident rate has a direct impact on labour productivity. This has a direct impact on the economic performance of the company. In the Czech Republic, the highest number of accidents and the highest number of fatalities are in the construction industry. The summary of duties related to the occupational health and safety of workers at workplace, given the acronym OHS, is based on legislative regulations. OHS is regulated primarily by the Labour Code and Law. 309/2006 Sb. The standard for occupational health and safety management systems is currently OHSAS 18001. When a company is certified, it is demonstrating an occupational health and safety management at high level and its continuous improvement. This article deals with the measurement of economic performance of enterprises in connection with the implementation of OHSAS certificate 18001. Economic performance is represented by return on equity and based on data obtained from financial statements. Performance measurement is used on 50 enterprises operating in the construction sector in the Czech Republic. The impact of the implementation of the OHSAS certificate on economic performance is quantified mainly by comparison methods and correlation analysis.