Publications Database
Welcome to the new Schulich Peer-Reviewed Publication Database!
The database is currently in beta-testing and will be updated with more features as time goes on. In the meantime, stakeholders are free to explore our faculty’s numerous works. The left-hand panel affords the ability to search by the following:
- Faculty Member’s Name;
- Area of Expertise;
- Whether the Publication is Open-Access (free for public download);
- Journal Name; and
- Date Range.
At present, the database covers publications from 2012 to 2020, but will extend further back in the future. In addition to listing publications, the database includes two types of impact metrics: Altmetrics and Plum. The database will be updated annually with most recent publications from our faculty.
If you have any questions or input, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Search Results
Charles H. Cho, Ewelina Zarzycka, Chaoyuan She, Dorota Dobija, Joanna Krasodomska, Joel Bothello (Forthcoming). "Examining stakeholder reactions to corporate social irresponsibility: Evidence from social media", European Management Journal.
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Abstract
What corporate behaviors are perceived as irresponsible by different stakeholders? How do such stakeholders react once they perceive irresponsibility? Using the literature on corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR), stakeholder theory and attribution theory, we examined a database of 100 000 social media posts on Twitter/X about Nestlé and H&M in the period 2015–2016. We found that the behavior of these two companies was perceived as irresponsible insofar as it caused direct harm to different stakeholder groups (stakeowners, stakeseekers, stakekeepers and stakewatchers). However, while stakeowners and stakeseekers were more likely to voice their concerns, they tended to voice their concerns only once. In contrast, stakewatchers and stakekeepers were more persistent in voicing concerns. In terms of goals, stakeowners and stakekeepers were more likely to advocate for information dissemination and community building than stakewatchers and stakeseekers, who were more likely to call for action. Our study therefore contributes to the CSiR and stakeholder engagement literature by illustrating how different stakeholder groups use social media to engage with firms perceived as irresponsible.Tahmina Ahmed and Gregory D. Saxton (2026). "The Effects of Bots on Market Reactions to Earnings News", Journal of Information Systems, 1–23.
Abstract
Social media platforms such as Twitter influence capital markets by rapidly disseminating information; yet, this environment is increasingly shaped by nonhuman bots. Building on theories of investor attention and information salience, we examine whether bots amplify market reactions to earnings news by directing attention toward larger surprises. Using machine learning to classify 12.02 million tweets discussing S&P 1,500 firms in 2018, we measure firm-specific abnormal bot activity and analyze its association with market responses to earnings announcements. We find that bot activity amplifies the relationship between earnings surprises and abnormal returns. Additional analyses reveal that this effect is stronger when bot sentiment is positive but diminishes with excessive positivity, varies by bot type, and is most pronounced for firms with fewer analysts, further supporting our investor attention argument. Our findings highlight bots’ roles as “attention amplifiers” and underscore the need for greater scrutiny of algorithmic actors in financial markets.Charles H. Cho, Dorota Dobija, Joanna Krasodomska, Chaoyuan She, Ewelina Zarzycka (2026). "Materiality assessment and interconnectedness of sustainable development goals: uncovering misalignments between corporate and stakeholder priorities", Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 1–34.
Abstract
Purpose: Companies are encouraged to proactively identify and address the sustainability issues most relevant to stakeholders and respond to their concerns and expectations. This paper aims to examine how materiality assessment and the interconnectedness of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can help uncover misalignments between corporate sustainability priorities and stakeholder expectations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors focus on Nestlé as a case study, analyzing its sustainability reports alongside stakeholder discussions on Twitter. Nestlé’s SDG-related disclosures were used to construct a materiality matrix, while stakeholder communications were manually coded. The authors then compared the constructed matrix with Nestlé’s own materiality matrix provided in its sustainability report. In addition, the authors conducted social network analysis to explore the interconnectedness of SDGs as portrayed in Nestlé’s sustainability report and reflected in stakeholder discussions on Twitter.
Findings: The study reveals misalignments between Nestlé’s sustainability report and stakeholders’ sustainability concerns expressed on social media. For example, while both Nestlé and stakeholders recognize the importance of SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, stakeholders place greater emphasis on SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation than the company’s matrix suggests. Social network analysis of SDG interconnectedness further highlights distinct perspectives between Nestlé and its stakeholders, with SDG 12 emerging as a central theme.
Practical implications
When developing their methodologies for materiality assessment, companies should consider using various sources of information, including social media. Furthermore, interconnectedness analysis can help uncover misalignments between corporate and stakeholder priorities. Finally, materiality assessment may be more effective and credible when conducted independently from a third party.
Social implications: Achieving the SDGs requires coordination, collaboration, and effective reporting. Our findings suggest that misalignments between corporate materiality assessments and stakeholder priorities may weaken public trust and limit meaningful progress toward the SDGs. Incorporating stakeholder perspectives–particularly those expressed through social media–can support more inclusive sustainability governance, enhance transparency, and promote more coherent action across interconnected SDGs.
Originality/value
This study contributes new insights into the use of materiality assessment and SDG interconnectedness to reduce misalignments between corporate and stakeholder SDG priorities. It demonstrates the value of alternative data sources, particularly social media, in supporting materiality assessments and SDG interconnectedness analysis. Moreover, it illustrates how stakeholder discussions on social media and social network analysis can be used to examine the interconnections among SDGs as perceived by both companies and stakeholders.
Tahmina Ahmed, Gajindra Maharaj, Gregory D. Saxton, and Shujie Zhang (2025). "ESG Communication Tactics and Reputational Capital on Social Media", Information, 16(12), 1063.
Abstract
Analyzing 2,309,573 tweets by S&P 500 firms along with 2,498,767 public replies, we examine how firms’ ESG communication tactics on social media influence the micro-level accumulation of reputational capital. Leveraging the prior communication literature, we categorize firms’ ESG messages based on three primary communication functions: Information, Community-Building, and Action. Information-based tactics unidirectionally disseminate knowledge; community-building tactics foster engagement and relationship-building; and action-based tactics seek to mobilize stakeholders to take direct action. Our results indicate that information-focused ESG messages relate to reputational awareness, whereas community-building tactics are associated with reputational favorability. Additional analyses reveal different audience response patterns between ESG-specific and general corporate messaging as well as between B2C and B2B firms. This study provides evidence of new, non-reporting-based ESG communication tactics and illustrates how firms accumulate reputational capital on a micro, message-by-message, day-to-day level. Our findings offer insights into the strategic use of ESG communication to enhance corporate reputation.Lena Cavusoglu, Russell W. Belk (2024). "How to Make a Collaborative Videography Using Phygital Affordances to Study Sensitive Topics", Qualitative market research, 27(3), 413 – 432.
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Originality/value
Maxwell Poole, Ethan Pancer, Matthew Philp, Theodore J. Noseworthy (2024). "COVID-19 and the decline of active social media engagement", European Journal of Marketing, 58 (2), 548-571.
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Design/methodology/approach
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Research limitations/implications
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Originality/value
Neu, D., & Saxton, G. D. (2024). "Twitter-Based Social Accountability Callouts", Journal of Business Ethics, 189, 797–815.
Abstract
The ICIJ’s release of the Panama Papers in 2016 opened up a wealth of previously private financial information on the tax avoidance, tax evasion, and wealth concealment activities of politicians, government officials, and their allies. Drawing upon prior accountability and ethics focused research, we utilize a dataset of almost 28 M tweets sent between 2016 and early 2020 to consider the microdetails and overall trajectory of this particular social accountability conversation. The study shows how the publication of previously private financial information triggered a Twitter-based social accountability conversation. It also illustrates how social accountability utterances are intra-textually constructed by the inclusion of social characters, the personal pronoun ‘we,’ and the use of deontic responsibility verbs. Finally, the study highlights how the tweets from this group of participants changed over the longer-term but continued to focus on social accountability topics. The provided analysis contributes to our understanding of social accountability, including how the release of previously private accounting-based financial information can trigger a grassroots social accountability conversation.Harris, E. E., Neely, D. G., and Saxton, G. D. (2023). "Social Media, Signaling, and Donations: Testing the Financial Returns on Nonprofits’ Social Media Investment", Review of Accounting Studies, 28, 658-688.
Abstract
Social media outlets provide nonprofit organizations the opportunity of opening new communication and disclosure channels. Organizations must decide whether to set up these channels. They – and in turn their target audiences – must also decide how much to use social media. In this study we test a novel multi-level signaling theory framework to examine the relationship between social media investments and financial returns. Employing both cross-sectional and cross-temporal samples of 427 of the largest US non-hospital charities, we look at the association between donations and three dimensions of organizations’ social media efforts: 1) whether the organization has a social media presence, 2) how much the organization uses social media, and 3) the level of engagement of the organization’s audience. The findings support our conjecture that financial returns result from establishing a particular communication channel, from using that channel, and from having channel-specific audience engagement. We also consider how our three social media signaling dimensions condition the core donations demand variables, finding that social media substitutes for traditional fundraising expenditures. These results carry implications for the signaling and donation demand literatures and further our understanding of how these new media are changing the rules of donor engagement.Saxton, G. D. and Neu, D. (2022). "Twitter-Based Social Accountability Processes: The Roles for Financial Inscriptions-Based and Values-Based Messaging", Journal of Business Ethics, 181, 1041–1064.
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Social media is changing social accountability practices. The release of the Panama Papers on April 3, 2016 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) unleashed a tsunami of over 5 million tweets decrying corrupt politicians and tax-avoiding business elites, calling for policy change from governments, and demanding accountability from corporate and private tax avoiders. The current study uses 297,000+ original English-language geo-codable tweets with the hashtags #PanamaGate, #PanamaPapers, or #PanamaLeaks to examine the trajectory of Twitter-based social accountability conversations and the potential for the emergence of a longer-term social accountability user network. We propose that it is the combination of financial inscriptions and evaluative ethical utterances that incite and sustain social accountability conversations and social accountability networks. Financial inscriptions simultaneously remind audiences of both the information event that fomented the initial public reaction and the monetary magnitude of the event. Value-based ethical messaging, in turn, enunciates an ethical stance that simultaneously evaluates existing practices and emphasizes the need for accountability. It is the combining of these two types of messaging that helps to construct and sustain a normative narrative about social accountability. The results illustrate how the repetition and re-working of these two forms of messaging facilitated the construction of a normative narrative that coalesced into a social accountability network which persisted beyond the initial Panama Paper information event and which was re-activated in 2017 when the ICIJ published the Paradise Papers.Reuber, A.R. and Fischer, E. (2021). "Relying On the Engagement of Others: A Review of the Governance Choices Facing Social Media Platform Start-ups", International Small Business Journal, 40(1).
