The Moderating Role of Firm’s Level of Participation in a Cluster in the Relation between Absorptive Capacity and Sustainability Practices

Sérgio Begnini

Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina, Chapecó, SC, Brazil

Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil

Carlos Eduardo Carvalho

Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina, Chapecó, SC, Brazil

Carlos Ricardo Rossetto

Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Itajaí, SC, Brazil

Editor-in-Chief:

Ivan Lapuente Garrido (Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brazil).

Associate Editor:

Yeda Swirski de Souza (Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brazil).

Reviewers:

Simone Regina Didonet (Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil) and Dusan Schreiber (Universidade Feevale, Brazil).

Index	Initial model value	Final model value	Reference value
X²/df	5.01	3.29	<= 3: good fit; <= 5: acceptable; > 5: bad (Awang, 2012Awang, Z. A. (2012). Handbook on structural equation modeling using AMOS. Kelantan University Technology MARA Press; Awang et al., 2017)
GFI	0.83	0.90	> 0.90 (Hair et al., 2009Hair, J., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2009). Análise multivariadas de dados (6 ed.). Bookman.; Malhotra, 2019Malhotra, N. (2019). Marketing research: An applied orientation (7 ed.). Pearson.)
CFI	0.85	0.93	>= 0.90 (Malhotra, 2019Malhotra, N. (2019). Marketing research: An applied orientation (7 ed.). Pearson.); > 0.90 (Hair et al., 2009Hair, J., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2009). Análise multivariadas de dados (6 ed.). Bookman.)
RMSEA	0.09	0.07	< 0.08 (Hair et al., 2009Hair, J., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2009). Análise multivariadas de dados (6 ed.). Bookman.); <= 0.08 (Malhotra, 2019Malhotra, N. (2019). Marketing research: An applied orientation (7 ed.). Pearson.); acceptable < 0.1 (Awang, 2012Awang, Z. A. (2012). Handbook on structural equation modeling using AMOS. Kelantan University Technology MARA Press)

Construct	ACAP	PSECO	PSSOC	PSAMB	NPC
AVE	0.54	0.57	0.66	0.55
CC	0.83	0.84	0.89	0.86
AC	0.83	0.81	0.87	0.87	0.95

	ACAP	PSECO	PSSOC	PSAMB
ACAP	0.737
PSECO	0.621	0.755
PSSOC	0.495	0.307	0.815
PSAMB	0.550	0.342	0.272	0.741

H	Relation	Estimate standard	Estimate unstand.	SE	CR	p-value	Result
H1	PSECO <--- ACAP	0.550	0.545	0.059	9.317	***	Supported
H2	PSAMB <--- ACAP	0.495	0.648	0.073	8.900	***	Supported
H3	PSSOC <--- ACAP	0.621	0.817	0.074	11.057	***	Supported

Constructs and relation			Level	β standardized	β unstandardized	p-value
ACAP		PSECO	low	0.46	0.48	0.000
ACAP		PSECO	high	0.62	0.58	0.000
ACAP		PSAMB	low	0.38	0.49	0.000
ACAP		PSAMB	high	0.57	0.75	0.000
ACAP		PSSOC	low	0.49	0.71	0.000
ACAP	high	PSSOC	0.73	0.89	0.000

Hypothesis	Description	Result
H4	The level of firm participation in a cluster moderates the relation between ACAP and sustainability practices. Higher levels of participation in the cluster will have a more significant effect of ACAP on economic, social, and environmental sustainability practices than lower levels of participation.	Supported

Order	Question	Construct	Code
01	How committed was my company to efficiency and productivity?	Economic	PSECO1
02	How committed was my company with actions to face crises and survive in the market?	Economic	PSECO2
03	How committed was my company to comply with tax obligations?	Economic	PSECO3
04	How committed was my company to managing and improving processes?	Economic	PSECO4
05	How committed was my company to activities aimed at reducing costs?	Economic	PSECO5
06	How committed was my company to practices aimed at reducing material waste?	Environmental	PSAMB1
07	How committed was my company to practices that aim to minimize environmental impacts?	Environmental	PSAMB2
08	How committed was my company to the separation of recyclable material?	Environmental	PSAMB3
09	How committed was my company to the efficient use of available resources in the environment?	Environmental	PSAMB4
10	How committed was my company to reusing consumables or encouraging their reuse?	Environmental	PSAMB5
11	How committed has my company been to providing education or training to employees?	Social	PSSOC1
12	How committed was my company to practices that ensure the health and safety of employees and customers?	Social	PSSOC2
13	How committed was my company to practices that guarantee workers’ rights?	Social	PSSOC3
14	How committed was my company to improvement actions aimed at employee benefits and incentives?	Social	PSSOC4
15	How committed was my company to practices aimed at attracting and retaining talent?	Social	PSSOC5

Order	Question	Code
01	My company has the ability to recognize and acquire external knowledge.	AC1REC
02	My company has the ability to understand and internally disseminate the knowledge acquired externally.	AC2ASS
03	My company has the ability to combine internal knowledge with new external knowledge.	AC3COM
04	My company has the ability to use new knowledge to develop products/services.	ACP4USAR

Order	Question	Code
01	In the last three years, participating in cluster xxx in municipality xxxx favored the growth of my company.	CL1CRESC
02	In the last three years, participating in cluster xxx in municipality xxxx favored my company to establish partnerships.	CL2PARCE
03	In the last three years, participating in cluster xxx in municipality xxxx favored my company to carry out innovations.	CL3INOVA
04	In the last three years, participating in cluster xxx in municipality xxxx helped my company to increase productivity.	CL4PRODU

Brasil