scholarly journals How independent directors affect firms’ performance and sustainability: An analysis of Italian firms

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-81
Author(s):  
Francesco Mirone ◽  
Giuseppe Sancetta ◽  
Domenico Sardanelli ◽  
Salvatore Mele

The role of independent directors has been for years in the spotlight of international studies. This phenomenon, which was initially a prerogative of corporations of English-speaking countries, over the last two decades has rapidly spread across Europe, where several countries have introduced specific regulations, borrowing from international best practices. Board independence is thought to buffer the firms against opportunistic behavior (Masulis & Zhang, 2019). This study aims to analyze how independent directors contribute to the decisional processes within Italian boards of directors and to the development of the firms to which they belong. The research hypotheses were formulated based on bibliometric analysis and then they were validated through both a desk analysis and survey data. Therefore, the hypotheses were first connected to the data included within the Assonime reports on corporate governance in Italy in the last 4 years. Then, a quantitative analysis was conducted through a structured survey, administered to a sample of 65 independent directors of Italian firms and belonging to Nedcommunity, the Italian association of non-executive and independent directors, in order to examine the self-perception of independent directors about their own role and effectiveness. This work, combining the structural and the behavioral views, aims at contributing to the literature concerning the impact and the efficacy of independent directors. The findings confirm that the presence of independent directors has a positive effect on corporate performance, on the protection of shareholders’ interests, and especially on the adoption of CSR policies.

Author(s):  
Emanuele Teti ◽  
Ilaria Montefusco

AbstractThis paper aims to analyse the impact of firms’ corporate governance characteristics on the degree of first-day returns (i.e., underpricing) in the Italian initial public offering (IPO) market. In particular, this work investigates the impacts of the characteristics of boards of directors (BoDs) and ownership structure on the underpricing of newly offered shares. By studying a sample of 128 Italian IPOs between 2000 and 2016, it is concluded that corporate governance characteristics affect the degree of first-day returns following a company’s IPO. More specifically, the size of the BoD negatively affects underpricing, while the ownership of institutional investors and board members has a positive effect on the degree of underpricing. Conversely, no significant evidence is found with regard to board independence, the number of female directors in the boardroom, the implementation of stock option plans and ownership concentration.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sepehr Ghazinoory ◽  
Ali Bitaab ◽  
Ardeshir Lohrasbi

Purpose – In the last two decades, researchers have paid much attention to the role of cultural values on economic and social development. In particular, the crucial role of different aspects of culture on the development of innovation has been stressed in the literature. Consequently, it is vital to understand how social capital, as a core cultural value, affects the innovation process and the innovative performance at the national level. However, to date, the impact of different dimensions of social capital and innovation has not been properly portrayed or explained. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of four different dimensions of social capital (institutional and interpersonal, associational life and norms) on two of the main functions of national innovation system (NIS) (entrepreneurship and knowledge creation) based on over 50,000 observations in 34 countries. Design/methodology/approach – In this regard, national-level data from the World Values Survey database was employed to quantify social capital. Entrepreneurship is, in turn, assumed to consist of three sub-indexes and 14 indicators based on the Global Entrepreneurship Index. Knowledge creation is also measured through US Patent Office applications. Also, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling approach were used to build the measurement model and investigate the impact that each factor of social capital had on entrepreneurship and knowledge application, respectively. Measurement and structural models were built and their reliability and validity were tested using various fit indices. Research findings suggest the strong positive effect of institutional trust and networking on entrepreneurship. Also, interpersonal trust and networks were shown to have high influence on knowledge development at the national level. Norms appear to have naïve to medium negative effects on both functions. Findings – Research findings suggest the strong positive effect of institutional trust and networking on entrepreneurship. Also, interpersonal trust and networks were shown to have high influence on knowledge development at the national level. Norms appear to have naïve to medium negative effects on both functions. Originality/value – However, to date, the impact of different dimensions of social capital and innovation has not been properly portrayed or explained.


2020 ◽  
Vol 218 ◽  
pp. 04014
Author(s):  
Yixing Jin ◽  
Peiying Wu ◽  
Cheng Lin ◽  
Yingda Wang

This study investigated the impact of emotional leadership of leaders on organizational commitment of hotel employees, as well as the mediating role of job satisfaction. The results indicate that: (1) Emotional leadership and job satisfaction have positive effects on organizational commitment. (2) Emotional leadership has a positive effect on job satisfaction. (3) Job satisfaction plays a mediating role between emotional leadership and organizational commitment.


2020 ◽  
pp. 031289622094638
Author(s):  
Dewan Rahman ◽  
Robert Faff ◽  
Barry Oliver

We examine whether insider opportunism is reduced by board independence. Using a sample of 18,194 firm-year observations over the period 1996–2016, we show that board independence constrains opportunistic insider trading. Our identification strategy uses the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX Act) and associated changes to the listing rules of NYSE/NASDAQ as a source of exogenous shocks in board independence. Our results are economically significant as insider opportunism declines by about 10.5%. We find that insider trading restrictions is the channel through which board independence reduces insider opportunism. Our additional analyses show that in competitive and R&D (research and development) intensive firms, the impact of board independence on opportunism is less pronounced. We also find that board independence constrains opportunism only in less complex firms. However, in co-opted boards, independent directors are less effective. Overall, we support the monitoring channel of board independence for reducing insider opportunism. JEL Classification: G14, G34, G40


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenge Wang

Abstract This article explores the board independence of listed companies in the US and China – an ongoing and important issue of corporate governance concerning the true independence of independent directors from management in both countries. It aims to identify what elements have an impact on board independence and examine how these influence the independence of independent directors. Four elements, independence from management; dependence on shareholders; access to information; and incentive to monitor, may have a substantial influence on board independence and align with the in-fact independence of independent directors. This article examines how and why these four elements have an impact on the effectiveness of the role of independent directors in monitoring top management and lead to independent directors failing to be truly independent of management. To support this argument, this article also investigates the efficiency and effectiveness of independent directors serving as a governance mechanism in terms of board independence in Chinese listed companies. The aim was therefore to scrutinise whether independent directors in Chinese listed companies are truly independent from management. Based on statistics calculated on data collected from CSMAR, there appears to be little evidence that independent directors serve as a governance mechanism in monitoring top management in Chinese listed companies, which thus shows that independent directors are not independent in China. The implications arising from this article are that solutions addressing the four elements that have an impact on board independence will enable independent directors to become truly independent.


Author(s):  
Edy Effendi ◽  
Muhammad Imron

Research on the role of the APIP review of the Ministry/agency Work Plan and Budget document to determine the impact on the efficiency of ministry/agency spending (case study at the Ministry of Religion). The method used in this study uses simple linear regression with dummy. The use of linear regression is used to examine the relationship between independent variables (certain types of expenditure) and dependent variables (total expenditure). Whereas, dummy is used to find out before and after the APIP review is done. Throughout the author's search, this research has never been done. Based on the results of linear regression obtained, the APIP review significantly had a positive effect on official travel expenditure and honorarium but did not significantly affect building spending and equipment. Abstrak   Penelitian atas peran reviu APIP atas dokumen Rencana Kerja dan Anggaran Kementerian Negara/Lembaga untuk mengetahui dampaknya terhadap efisiensi belanja kementerian/lembaga (studi kasus pada Kementerian Agama). Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini menggunakan regresi linier sederhana dengan dummy. Penggunaan regresi liner digunakan untuk meneliti hubungan antara variable independen (jenis belanja tertentu) dan variable dependen (total belanja). Sedangkan, dummy digunakan untuk mengetahui sebelum dan setelah reviu APIP dilakukan. Sepanjang penelusuran penulis, penelitian ini belum pernah dilakukan. Berdasarkan hasil regresi linier diperoleh, reviu APIP signifikan berpengaruh positif terhadap  belanja perjalanan dinas dan honorarium tetapi tidak signifikan berbengaruh terhadap belanja gedung dan alat.


2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Guo Cheng ◽  
Weiping Yu

Comprehension of the driving factors and dimensional structure of oppositional loyalty (OL), which comprises willingness to pay a price premium, oppositional referrals, schadenfreude, and antibrand actions, is limited. To analyze OL behavior, we collected 453 surveys from Xiaomi mobile online communities. The results show that brand attachment had a positive effect on each dimension of OL. In addition, moral identity positively moderated the brand attachment–oppositional referrals relationship, and negatively moderated the impact of brand attachment on schadenfreude and antibrand actions. Our results can help corporate managers understand OL behavior, and contribute to new understanding of brand loyalty, customer relationships, and business ethics.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Harun Ur Rashid ◽  
Syed Zabid Hossain

Purpose This study aims to investigate the moderating effect of independent directors on the relationship between politicians on the board and corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD). Design/methodology/approach The ordinary least square has been used to analyze the CSRD data collected from the annual reports of all 30 listed banks of Bangladesh covering six years period ranging from 2013–2018. Further, the study has applied the generalized method of moments to prove the robustness of the model across the endogeneity issue. Findings The study found a positive relationship between board independence and CSRD that indicates board independence enhances the CSRD to a great extent. On the contrary, the inclusion of politicians on the board has shown a negative impact on CSRD that implies the higher the presence of political members on the board of a bank, the lower the involvement of the bank in CSR activities. However, board independence positively and significantly moderates the politician directors on the CSRD. The findings imply that if the independent directors are empowered, they play the role of whistleblowers that, in turn, mitigates the negative role of politician directors to CSRD. Research limitations/implications The study suggests the banks’ management, and regulatory bodies formulate sound policies so that the banks are forced to include more independent directors with enough power and at the same time, reduce the politician directors on the board. Originality/value The study extends debate on the political CSR and CSRD through validating the role of board independence.


2018 ◽  
pp. 1281-1294
Author(s):  
Juliette Milgram-Baleix ◽  
Melanie Parravano ◽  
Luis Enrique Pedauga

This chapter explores the impact of the Internet and Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce on Spanish manufacturing firms' market share while most studies focus on innovation and productivity. Using standard panel estimations, the authors find that firms with their own Web domain and that also carry out B2B e-commerce increase their market share, though this effect is not homogeneous among industries. B2B e-purchases have a more significant (and positive effect) on firms' market share than B2B e-sales have. Unlike other studies, the authors also use a panel threshold regression specification that shows that e-commerce affects market share in a non-linear manner depending on firm's characteristics. Larger firms and firms with higher share of skilled workers are better at increasing their market shares through Internet-based commerce strategies than other firms.


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