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This paper investigates the effects of female directors on corporate value in the Nigerian institutional context. The sample consists of 99 listed firms after excluding 57 companies with regulatory compliance challenge. The study data covers a period of ten (10) years (2012 - 2021). The data is hand-picked from the annual reports and accounts of the sampled firms and analysed through multiple regression models. Model 1 shows that a higher proportion of female directors, either as board member, CEO, member of audit committee, nomination committee, remuneration committee and risk committee is associated with a higher level of firm value. The positive effects of female directors on firm value is important to regulators, shareholders, boards of directors, CEOs, lenders, and other corporate stakeholders. The association between female directors and firm value is significant. This result calls for greater inclusion of women in the boards of directors of listed firms in Nigeria, in particular, and generally in other emerging markets. These findings indicate the importance of considering the inclusion of more women when appointing boards of directors for corporations in Nigeria.

Globally, men occupy more board seats than women. In this article the author is dealing with the issue of legislative gender quotas, which seems to be the fastest way to achieve gender balance on the boards. Also, the “comply or explain” governance system, meaning an approach to equality when all people should be treated similarly, regardless of prejudices, preferences, or historical disadvantages, unless particular distinctions can be justified.Controversial questions of racial diversity among female directors are mentioned. The gender pay gap on corporate boards, concerning differences between pay received by men and women for comparable work. And it appears to be dependent on several factors, including whether the company is in a male dominated industry and whether the female director is married or has children.Gender diversity can play an important role in supporting innovative activity and organizational change. That’s why inclusion of female directors has a direct and positive impact on a company’s profits and risk management. Women board directors also broaden a company’s market knowledge as well as raise its profile.Researches have found that women need to hold at least three board seats to create a “critical mass,” which can lead to better financial performance. Studies suggest that enterprises need to reach a critical mass of women in top positions in order to reap the benefits of gender diversity, such as improved governance. Reaching this threshold allows a minority to exert their influence and ensure their voice is heard.Summarizing all the above, we can name the following main results of this study: There are more women on boards and more boards with women. More boards are reaching a 30 per cent critical mass of women. All-male boards are on the decline, but they still exist. The enterprise survey shows that gender balanced boards are more likely to have enhanced business outcomes compared to those with fewer women on their boards. In addition when there is gender balance on the board, the enterprise is more likely to have women in senior management and in top executive positions. Alternatives to quotas gaining popularity include “comply or explain” commitments, and rules of national stock exchange regulators. “Glass walls” are limiting women’s influence in boardrooms due to the lack of a critical mass, women’s absence from key committees, the low number of women appointed as board chairpersons, and women serving as nonexecutive board members., У всьому світі чоловіки займають більше місць у раді, ніж жінки. У цій статті авторка торкається питання законодавчих гендерних квот, які, здається, є найшвидшим способом досягнення гендерного балансу в радах.Крім того, система управління «виконуй або пояснюй», що означає підхід до рівності, коли до всіх людей слід ставитися однаково, незалежно від упереджень, уподобань чи історичних недоліків, якщо не можна виправдати особливі відмінності.Згадуються спірні питання расової різноманітності серед жінок-режисерів. Гендерний розрив в оплаті праці в радах компаній, що стосується різниці між оплатою чоловіків і жінок за порівнянну роботу. І, здається, це залежить від кількох факторів, у тому числі від того, чи є компанія в промисловості, де домінують чоловіки, і чи одружена жінка-директор чи має дітей. Гендерна різноманітність може відігравати важливу роль у підтримці інноваційної діяльності та організаційних змін. Ось чому залучення жінок-директорів має прямий і позитивний вплив на прибутки компанії та управління ризиками. Жінки-директори ради також розширюють знання про ринок компанії, а також підвищують її авторитет.Дослідження виявили, що жінкам необхідно займати принаймні три місця в раді директорів, щоб створити «критичну масу», яка може призвести до кращих фінансових показників. Дослідження свідчать про те, що підприємствам необхідно досягти критичної маси жінок на вищих посадах, щоб скористатися перевагами гендерного розмаїття, такими як покращення управління. Досягнення цього порогу дозволяє меншості здійснювати свій вплив і гарантувати, що їх голос буде почутий.Підсумовуючи все вищесказане, виокремлено наступні основні результати цього дослідження: У правліннях більше жінок і більше в правліннях жінок. Все більше правлінь досягає 30 відсотків критичної маси жінок. Чоловічі переваги у штаті скорочуються, але вони все ще існують. Опитування підприємств показує, що гендерно збалансовані ради директорів з більшою ймовірністю матимуть кращі бізнес-результати порівняно з тими, де в радах менша кількість жінок. Крім того, коли в правлінні є гендерний баланс, на підприємстві більше шансів мати жінок у вищому керівництві та на вищих керівних посадах. Альтернативи квотам, які набувають популярності, включають зобов’язання «виконуй або пояснюй» і правила національних регуляторів фондових бірж. «Скляні стіни» обмежують вплив жінок у залах засідань через відсутність критичної маси, відсутність жінок у ключових комітетах, низьку кількість жінок, призначених головами правління, і жінок, які є невиконавчими членами правління.

During the current thesis, the effect of female directors on the informativeness of stock prices and specifically on the tendency to delay the release of bad news will be examined. The existing literature has been examined and it seems that there is evidence that the female presence on the board of directors has a positive effect on various financial and market characteristics. Based on this, we expect that female directors are associated with weaker market reaction to the release of bad news. For the analysis, we used daily data on announcements and forecasts and have only used the observations that have negative values, which reflect the bad news. Then, the effect of women directors will be examined over the bad news and will then proceed with the conclusions of this research. In contrast with the existing literature, it seems that we find in all models used for the purposes of the analysis that the presence of female directors in the boardroom has a negative effect, which suggests that in the presence of female directors, firms do not disclose their bad news timely enough.

open access article The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. This study seeks to examine the influence of multi-layered gender diversity mechanisms on firms’ decision to engage in pro-sustainable performance in the context of Hospitality and Tourism (H&T) firms worldwide. Using Powell's Panel Quantile Regression (PQR) model, this paper finds that females on boards and sub-boards tend to display a more communal, participative, and democratic leadership style, demonstrating greater responsibilities towards stakeholders' concerns and engaging with sustainability strategies to make a positive contribution to society. Our findings also reaffirm that women on the boards of H&T firms are more community-oriented and philanthropically driven than women in senior management positions who can be perceived as being profit-oriented rather than stakeholder-oriented as managers. Our results offer implications for policymakers and practitioners, and we suggest several avenues for future studies that could build upon our research.

Despite progress and legislation, there are relatively few women in finance director roles. Men are still seven times more likely to be finance directors than women (Austin, 2020). This inequity led to the development of the research topic ‘Opportunities and Barriers to Leadership for Female Finance Directors in the United Kingdom: A Qualitative Study’. It was a response to a gap in the literature and the candidate’s own experiences. The study rests on original research with several female finance directors in the sector, which aimed to elicit their responses to a variety of questions on their background, education, motivation and ability to negotiate and overcome challenges within their roles. The aim was to understand their expectations and influences and to consider ways in which female finance directors might differ from their counterparts in other sectors. The focus was on their lived experiences and the barriers and success factors that they have experienced. A review of the main theories on female underrepresentation and gender inequality is presented and discussed in the literature review. The study utilises a feminist methodology; one that seeks the female perspective and solutions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by the candidate to collect data. The most salient data from the interviews are presented in the findings chapter. The primary data is compared with the literature. This allowed for key theories to be developed based on the data from the interviews. The study makes several contributions. Among these is the finding that there remain social and cultural barriers to female progression, but they are not as significant as they once were. The work demonstrates that female leaders lack critical awareness of how their career impacts the prospects of other ambitious women in finance. The women often failed to understand how their behaviours impacted other women. While they are willing to stand up for women’s rights, they have failed to create an environment where women feel valued, which is evident in the elevated number of females who leave leadership roles in finance. The work demonstrates that women are as likely to contribute to barriers as they are to remove them. For example, the women followed the same institutional career path as males and this may be unintentionally reinforcing gendered barriers. It was also shown that BAME finance directors need a ‘unique level of flexibility’. Such a level of ‘cultural flexibility’ is something that not every BAME woman is prepared to accept and this could be contributing to their underrepresentation in finance, which is not addressed in the literature. Since female finance directors may be unintentionally contributing to the slow progress being made in gender equality, the transition to gender equality is not as fast as it should be. This appears to be more of a problem in finance than in other sectors and a unique issue in the industry. Increasing the number of women in leadership roles cannot alone improve the environment for ambitious women. The study indicates that successful female finance directors need to engage in strategies to adapt to the workplace that are not acceptable to many. Female leaders must be goal-orientated, and this undermines female solidarity and unintentionally reinforces inequality. The highly competitive and target-driven nature of finance means that it is highly unlikely that there would be a ‘revolution from the top’. This has implications for those who argue that a ‘critical mass’ of women leaders can lead to real changes, especially in the finance sector. Many of the women interviewed would only support those who are like them and are task orientated. This means that female leaders are not able to act as ‘gatekeepers’ who can help to secure the promotions of more women. The study found that the women were not overly concerned by concepts such as the glass ceiling and glass cliff. The study thus contributes to the limited literature on women’s beliefs about barriers to career advancement. There are specific expectations and practices in finance that make it less attractive for women. The study makes some recommendations, for example, that there needs to be a move away from the goal-orientated approach in finance and a need to create an organisational culture aligned with what some perceive as feminine traits to improve women’s lived experience in the sector. The study proposes that women need to be taught at an early age that they need to challenge the system if other women are to succeed. Furthermore, childcare policies that support women need to be put in place at a national level as the present system is still too reliant on the personal circumstances of parents. Suggestions for further research are also provided.

Sustainability reporting improve the quality of financial reporting to meet the needs of different users of corporate information. The traditional financial reporting is deficient in total, which underlines the need for sustainability reporting. In the nearest future, social and societal pressure to disclose information about a company's compliance with sustainability issues will become a requirement for boards to set a strategic direction to ensure a sustainability reporting policy.

DIW Wochenbericht

DIW Weekly Report

Many companies in Germany must provide information beyond financial figures in their annual reports. For some years now, legislators have increasingly required information on non-financial aspects, such as the shares of women in leadership positions. Using a quantitative text analysis of annual reports, this second report in the 2023 DIW Berlin Women Executives Barometer shows that the major publicly listed corporations in Germany implement the reporting requirements very differently. Reporting about women and leadership positions increased overall between 2009 and 2020 in line with the requirements. However, there were clear differences in the companies’ focus: There is an equality-oriented group of companies that reports extensively about concrete measures to increase the share of women in leadership positions. This group has significantly more women on their supervisory boards than the other group, compliance-oriented companies, which seem to be mainly concerned with fulfilling the legal requirements. Companies’ reporting on women and leadership positions is thus an indicator and useful signal to outside stakeholders of how serious companies are about gender equality., DIW Weekly Report

Im Rahmen ihrer Jahresabschlüsse müssen viele Unternehmen in Deutschland nicht nur über ihre finanziellen Kennzahlen berichten. Seit einigen Jahren verlangt der Gesetzgeber vermehrt auch Auskünfte zu nichtfinanziellen Aspekten wie der Beteiligung von Frauen an Führungspositionen. Dieser zweite Teil des DIW Managerinnen-Barometers 2023 zeigt auf Basis einer quantitativen Textanalyse von Unternehmensberichten, dass die großen börsennotierten Konzerne in Deutschland die Vorgaben sehr unterschiedlich umsetzen. Zwar hat die Berichterstattung über Frauen und Führungspositionen entsprechend der Vorgaben im Untersuchungszeitraum von 2009 bis 2020 insgesamt stark zugenommen. Allerdings treten auch deutliche Unterschiede in der Themenschwerpunktsetzung zu Tage: So findet sich eine gleichstellungsorientierte Gruppe von Unternehmen, die umfangreich über konkrete Maßnahmen zur Erhöhung des Frauenanteils in Führungspositionen berichtet. Diese Gruppe weist eine deutlich höhere Beteiligung von Frauen im Aufsichtsrat auf als Unternehmen, die eher complianceorientiert berichten und in erster Linie daran interessiert scheinen, die gesetzlichen Vorgaben zu erfüllen. Die Berichterstattung der Unternehmen zu Frauen und Führungspositionen ist also ein Indikator und damit nützliches Signal nach außen, wie ernst es Unternehmen mit der Gleichstellung ist., DIW Wochenbericht

This thesis investigates the impact of the Board of Directors profile on the performance and risk of listed companies. The first chapter presents a literature review on the impact of different corporate governance mechanisms on the diverse outputs of Portuguese organizations. The investigation concludes that: (1) There is a negative relationship between the size of the Boards of Directors and the performance of organizations; (2) The non-duality of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) promotes the performance of organizations; (3) The size and independence of the Boards of Directors, as well as the non-duality of the CEO, promote an increase of information disclosure by organizations; (4) While the age of the CEO has a positive association with their compensation, the duality of the CEO has an opposite effect; (5) The independence of the Boards of Directors increases the organizations’ risk levels. The second chapter presents a literature review, at an international level, on the impact of gender diversity on the Boards of Directors and the Top Management Teams on companies’ risk exposure. The investigation allowed us to conclude that there are universal and contingency effects. Concerning the universal effects, the international literature indicates that the presence of women in these bodies and teams promotes the reduction of firms’ operational and litigation risks. The absence of directors’ gender impact on insolvency risk levels is also universal. From the perspective of the contingent effects, the correlation signs between the directors’ gender and different levels of firms’ risk (financial, manipulation, total, systematic, and idiosyncratic) vary according to the samples used. The third chapter investigates the relationship between the size and independence of the Boards of Directors and the total, systematic and idiosyncratic risk levels of non-financial firms listed on Euronext Lisbon. The results show that companies with larger and more independent Boards of Directors have higher levels of systematic risk. The fourth chapter studies the effect of independent directors' gender and nationality on the performance of non-financial firms from the Iberian stock markets. The study presents robust results that combining these two demographic characteristics in independent directors’ positions promotes the destruction of firm value. Esta tese investiga o impacto do perfil dos Conselhos de Administração na performance e no risco de empresas cotadas. No primeiro capítulo é apresentada uma revisão de literatura sobre o impacto dos diferentes mecanismos de governança corporativa nos diversos outputs de organizações portuguesas. A investigação conclui que: (1) Existe uma relação negativa entre a dimensão dos Conselhos de Administração e a performance das organizações; (2) A não dualidade do Chief Executive Officer (CEO) promove a performance das organizações; (3) A dimensão e independência dos Conselhos de Administração, bem como a não dualidade do CEO, promovem um aumento da divulgação de informação, por parte das organizações; (4) Enquanto que a idade do CEO tem uma relação positiva com a sua remuneração, a dualidade do CEO tem um efeito oposto; (5) A independência dos Conselhos de Administração aumenta os níveis de risco das organizações. No segundo capítulo é apresentada uma revisão de literatura, de nível internacional, sobre o impacto da diversidade de género dos membros dos Conselhos de Administração e das equipas de gestão de topo nos níveis de risco das empresas. A investigação permitiu concluir que há efeitos universais e contingenciais. No que diz respeito aos efeitos universais, a literatura internacional indica que a presença de mulheres nestes órgãos e equipas promove a diminuição dos riscos operacionais e de litigância das empresas. É também universal a ausência de impacto do género dos diretores, nos níveis de risco de insolvência.No que diz respeito aos efeitos contingentes, verifica-se que os sinais de correlação entre o género dos diretores e os diferentes níveis de risco (financeiro, manipulação, total, sistemático e idiossincrático) variam em função das amostras utilizadas. No terceiro capítulo investiga-se a relação entre a dimensão e independência dos Conselhos de Administração e os níveis de risco total, sistemático e idiossincrático, de empresas não financeiras, cotadas na Euronext Lisbon. Os resultados demonstram que as empresas com Conselhos de Administração maiores e mais independentes têm níveis de risco sistemático mais elevados. No quarto capítulo estuda-se o efeito do género e da nacionalidade dos diretores independentes na performance das empresas não financeiras cotadas nas praças ibéricas. O estudo apresenta resultados robustos de que a combinação destas duas características demográficas nos diretores independentes promove a redução do valor das empresas. Programa Doutoral em Ciências Económicas e Empresariais

In the framework of literature devoted to corporate governance and board composition, we take a peculiar viewpoint and focus on the presence of university professors in the governing body of Italian banks. In particular, we test whether the gender quota regulation increased the presence of female professors as directors. We find evidence of a relevant increase in the probability of designating women from the academia in the years immediately following the entry into force of the gender quota regulation in Italy, whereas no significant increase is in place for male professors over the same period. Our results suggest the need to enhance the career opportunities for women up the C-levels in order to fuel diversity in the boardrooms, not only in independent but also in executive roles. In light of the empirical evidence provided, a re-thinking of gender quota regulations would also be advisable in order to better pursue the desired outcomes.

Cette etude examine la relation entre la diversite du genre au sein des conseils d’administration et la performance financiere des entreprises cotees a la bourse du Qatar. Nous utilisons la regression des moindres carres ordinaires (MCO) comme technique de base ainsi que la methode des moments generalises (GMM) pour attenuer le probleme eventuel d’endogeneite. Notre analyse revele que la diversite du genre au sein du conseil d’administration a un effet negatif sur la performance financiere. Nos resultats sont robustes a l’utilisation d’autres mesures de la diversite du genre au sein des conseils d’administration et sont exempts de tout probleme d’endogeneite, comme le demontrent les resultats des estimations de la regression systeme-GMM. En outre, nous expliquons les raisons possibles de cette relation negative, notamment dans le contexte du Qatar. Une implication importante de nos resultats est qu’ils identifient les facteurs qui empechent les femmes du Qatar de contribuer de maniere significative aux travaux du conseil d’administration ainsi qu’a la performance financiere des entreprises dans sa societe dominee par les hommes.

PurposeMany countries are enacting regulations or/and recommendations to promote gender equality in the workplace, especially in the top leadership and management positions. However, despite current research on gender diversity and firm outcomes, the authors know comparatively little about how different female leadership roles drive such outcomes. This study explores this notion in an emerging market by examining the effect of female leadership on financial reporting quality in Egypt.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses multiple regression analyses for a sample of 1,686 firm-year observations listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange over the period 2011–2020.FindingsThis study’s results show that female directors, female executives and females on audit committees are positively associated with financial reporting quality. Further, the results suggest that executive female directors are less involved in income decreasing earnings management practices. The findings are robust to possible omitted variables bias, alternative measurements and endogeneity issues. Taken together, the results are in line with the view that gender diversity is an effective monitoring instrument, which attenuates agency conflict and thus upholds financial reporting quality.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research may expand the analysis performed in this study by using other proxies of financial reporting quality (e.g. earnings persistence, earnings predictability, conservatism and restatements). Also, the authors did not investigate the characteristics related to female directors (e.g. education, experience and age) due to data availability. Future research may examine the effect of these characteristics on female directors regarding financial reporting quality.Practical implicationsThe evidence about the importance of female leadership in shaping financial reporting quality may inform future policy and regulatory initiatives.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the growing literature related to gender diversity. First, this study extensively investigates the leadership aspects related to female directors in both mentoring and executive positions. Second, the evidence reached is based on three different proxies of financial reporting quality. Thus, unlike previous studies, conclusions were reached based on a solid basis to support the reliability of the results. These findings should be of great interest to policymakers, academics and stakeholders.

Resultante de uma histórica desigualdade de direitos entre os géneros, e a exemplo de muitas outras áreas, também no espaço cinematográfico, a representação das mulheres tem sido subestimada ou esquecida. Diversos movimentos feministas têm, em todo o mundo, reivindicado a favor dos seus direitos e vários autores identificaram quatro vagas do feminismo, às quais correspondem tempos e reivindicações diferentes. Estas disputas não são exclusivas dos movimentos e organizações formais, são também lutas individuais, levadas a cabo por cada uma das mulheres. Através de textos e obras artísticas elas reivindicam e assumem as suas posições feministas. Também no cinema e mais concretamente no cinema português houve, e continua a haver, mulheres que lutam pelos ideais feministas e que têm, consciente ou inconscientemente, realizado filmes que têm acompanhado as reivindicações das vagas feministas que lhes são contemporâneas. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo provar que houve e ainda há realizadoras portuguesas que produziram obras cinematográficas com temas e preocupações consonantes com os da vaga feminista que lhe é ou era contemporânea. Nesse sentido irei apresentar quatro filmes, um por cada vaga do feminismo, que analisarei detalhadamente, Três Dias sem Deus, de Bárbara Virgínia, referente à primeira vaga, Jogo de Mão, de Monique Rutler, relativo à segunda vaga, Os Mutantes, de Teresa Villaverde, para a terceira vaga, e, finalmente, Lobo e Cão, de Cláudia Varejão, alusivo à quarta vaga. As in many other areas, the representation of women has been underestimated or forgotten in the cinematographic space do to a historical gender inequality. Feminist movements have claimed for their rights all over the world and several authors have identified four waves of feminism, corresponding to different times and demands. These disputes are not exclusive to formal movements and organizations; they are also individual struggles, undertaken by each woman. Through texts and artistic works, they claim and assume their feminist positions. In cinema, too, and more specifically in Portuguese cinema, there were, and still are, women who fight for feminist ideals and who have, consciously or unconsciously, made films accompanying the demands of the feminist waves they are contemporary with. This dissertation aims at proving that there were and still are Portuguese filmmakers who produced cinematographic works whose themes and concerns are in line with the feminist wave that was or is their contemporary. In this sense, I will present and analyze in detail four films, one for each wave of feminism: Três Dias sem Deus, by Bárbara Virgínia, corresponding to the first wave, Jogo de Mão, by Monique Rutler, regarding the second wave, Os Mutantes, from Teresa Villaverde, for the third wave, and, finally, Lobo e Cão, by Cláudia Varejão, evocative of the fourth wave.

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of earnings management on the readability of annual reports while also examining the moderating role of a female director. In particular, the readability of a company’s annual report will be seen from the management perspective using the FOG index on the annual reports of companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2015–2018 (excluding the financial sector), with a total sample of 996. This research confirms that companies that conduct earnings management can make complex company annual reports that are difficult to read as these companies tend to hide earnings management practices. Thus, the users of annual reports will find it difficult to identify these practices. This study confirms the mathematical theory of communication that annual reports are a communication tool for companies and, therefore, must be free from financial manipulation such as earnings management because this action will give a bad signal. Moreover, the moderating effect of female directors was not proven. This implies that female directors in Indonesia had not been able to moderate the readability of annual reports; one possibility might be due to the composition of female directors, which was relatively small.

In this article the author focuses on the subgenre of historical film for children and adolescents directed in the Polish People’s Republic by female directors. In the 50s and 60s most of the Polish films dedicated for young audience were an adaptation of popular novels often based on historical events. As Piotr Kurpiewski points out: “the director’s intent behind those historical productions was strictly educational, and it aimed primarily for the young viewers to obtain some knowledge of history through watching the film.” But historical productions for children were not only captivating for the young audience, but also for the directors. Especially for female directors. The main goal of this article is to present how that trivialized genre, of which examples were basically used as educational materials or treated as unserious fairytales, helped female directors speak in their own voices and give them opportunities to present past from their own perspectives.

This study aims to analyse whether firms adopting the institutional and organizational model of a benefit company (BC) increase the appointment of women to their board of directors (BoD) by applying the theoretical models of reputation management and resource dependence theory. A sample of 354 Italian firms adopting the BC model and a control group of 600 firms over the period of 2009–2018 were analysed. A fractional regression probit model was used to analyse the effect of the institutional form of the BC on the presence of women on BoDs. The findings, generally robust regarding different econometric specifications dealing with potential endogeneity, confirmed that a firm’s adoption of the BC model positively affects the likelihood of the firm increasing the presence of women on its BoD. This evidence justifies the actions of those stakeholders in firms that are actively involved in corporate social responsibility (CSR) processes, seeking increased reputation and legitimacy by increasing the number of female directors in the firm. The study contributes new insights into the relationship between CSR and the appointment of women on BoDs in the new and emerging business context of hybrid organizational models. Additionally, the study advances our knowledge about the heterogeneous and reversed associations between the institutional model of the BC and the choice of specific corporate governance mechanisms in the form of the appointment of women on BoDs to increase the reputation and legitimacy of firms.

In this thesis, I study the films of the Belgian female director Chantal Akerman, with a focus on her 1978 film, Les Rendez-vous d’Anna. As one of the most influential, avantgarde auteurs in European Cinema, Chantal Akerman uses epistolarity (Naficy 2001) as the basis of her narrative, traversing the past and present through dark transitional spaces such as stations, hotel rooms, in scenes of loneliness and isolation, in the mother-daughter relationship, keeping her Jewish and queer identity as the basis of her film. I use qualitative analysis method and analyse the film based on Hamid Naficy’s discussion of epistolarity in An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking (2001), and other works focusing on the epistolary form (Kauffman 1986) and forms of address (Margulies 1996). Chantal Akerman is doing a mapping of World War II, and she portrays scenes from the traumatic past of Europe and focuses her work on personal stories from the aftermath of World War II. She uses epistolarity as an innovative way in her narrative, which combines the plots through a palimpsestic structure among the characters in the film. The monologues in the film replace the function of letters, while their confessional tone increases the epistolary effect. There are different epistolary media tools in the film and especially the use of telephones and the presence of answering machine within the narration bring this film closer to the telephonic epistles Hamid Naficy mentions (Naficy 2001, 101). The transitional spaces (Naficy 2001) and vehicles existing both in the image and soundtrack layers contribute to the film’s exilic and accented character. Bu tez çalışmasında Belçikalı kadın yönetmen Chantal Akerman'ın sineması 1978 tarihli filmi Anna'nın Buluşmaları üzerinden incelenmektedir. Çalışmada niteliksel analiz yöntemi kullanılmaktadır ve film Hamid Naficy'nin An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking (2001) kitabındaki mektupsallık tartışması ve mektupsallık üzerine diğer çalışmalar (Kauffman 1986, Margulies 1996) temel alınarak analiz edilmektedir. Avrupa Sineması'nın en etkili ve avangard auteurlerinden biri olan Chantal Akerman istasyonlar, otel odaları gibi karanlık geçiş alanları aracılığıyla geçmişi ve bugünü kateden filmde, mektupsallığı (Naficy 2001) anlatı sisteminin temeli olarak kullanmakta; yalnızlık, izolasyon ve anne-kız ilişkisini konu alırken Yahudi ve queer kimliği filminin kökeninde tutmaktadır. Chantal Akerman filmde 2. Dünya Savaşı'nın topografyasını kurar ve Avrupa'nın travmatik geçmişini resmederken savaş sonrasındaki kişisel hikayelere odaklanır. Filmde mektupsallık, karakterler arasındaki olay örgülerini palimpsestik bir yapı olarak birleştiren yenilikçi bir yöntem olarak kullanılmaktadır. Filmdeki monologlar mektup yerine geçmektedir ve monologların itirafa dayalı olması filmin mektupsallık etkisini arttırmaktadır. Filmde farklı mektupsal medya araçları kullanılmaktadır ve anlatımda özellikle telefon kullanımının ve telesekreterin bulunması filmi Hamid Naficy'nin bahsettiği telefonik mektup türündeki filmlere yakınlaştırmaktadır (Naficy 2001, 101). Geçiş mekanları (Naficy 2001) ve vasıtalarının hem görsel hem işitsel varlığı filmin sürgünsel ve aksanlı karakterine katkıda bulunmaktadır.

This article aims to analyse the role of the Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media (CIMA) in promoting female creation in the Spanish audiovisual sector. To do so, a review is made of its origin and objectives as an association and an account of the different initiatives that have been carried out from 2006 to 2021, highlighting the most notable results. Its work is analysed by dividing it into three areas: 1.- The institutional field with the improvements introduced in the cinematographic legislation and its reflection in the annual figures on the presence of women in Spanish cinema. 2.- The various initiatives to give visibility to professional women in Spanish cinema. 3.- The training and promotion programs for female creation and production that it has launched. The contribution of CIMA in the promotion of films made by women in Spain is confirmed. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo analizar el papel de la Asociación de Mujeres Cineastas y de Medios Audiovisuales (CIMA) en el impulso de la creación femenina en el audiovisual español. Para ello, se hace un repaso de su origen y objetivos como asociación y se da cuenta de las diferentes iniciativas que ha llevado a cabo desde 2006 hasta 2021, subrayando los resultados más notorios. Se analiza su labor dividiéndola en tres ámbitos: 1.- El campo institucional con las mejoras introducidas en la legislación cinematográfica y su reflejo en las cifras anuales sobre la presencia de mujeres en el cine español. 2.- Las diferentes iniciativas para dar visibilidad a las mujeres profesionales del cine español. 3.- Los programas formativos y de impulso de la creación y producción femeninas que ha puesto en marcha. Se pone en evidencia la aportación de CIMA para potenciar en España el cine hecho por mujeres.

This study examined the corporate governance legislative framework on gender diversity in Nigeria and Canada’s corporate boards. Despite gender disparity recognized internationally and several attempts have been made to close the gap, gender diversity in the corporate world in Nigeria still seem to experience the disparity. Thus, this study investigated why Nigerian corporate boardrooms are not gender heterogeneous, provided a comparative analysis with Canada’s corporate governance framework and provided recommendations from the comparative analysis. It further explored how Nigeria can achieve gender diversity in the boardroom. This study adopted the resource dependency and agency theory theoretical framework and used the doctrinal research design. This includes existing corporate governance legal framework, scholarly literature, parliamentary debates, data, relevant textbooks, journal articles and e-resources. This study also adopted the comparative research approach as the most suitable to carry out this study. This paper therefore concludes that a gender diverse board operates to reduce agency costs, facilitates access to untapped resources, networks and serve as an external linkage to the firms, and improves performance. This means that sufficient reform needs to be done in Nigeria to provide a positive change in the legal framework that promotes female participation in the corporate sector. Finally, the study recommended that the Federal Government of Nigeria provide a primary legislative mandatory quota for a phased period, as a legal measure to combat the issue of boardroom gender diversity in Nigeria.

This paper aims to explore the impact of gender diversity on firms’ sustainability re- sponsiveness in ensuring collective drive toward achieving sustainable development goals (agenda) for Nigeria. This study explored female engagement from three major platforms, namely women as directors, management team leaders, and female work- force. The data used to conduct this study were derived from the annual reports of the sampled banks spanning through the period of 2013–2016. However, while data for this study were analyzed using EViews statistical tool, the sustainability reporting data were ascertained using the content analysis method. The outcome of this study depicts that female directors, female workforce, and women in the management team all had an adverse and positive association with sustainability reporting. However, this association was all insignificant. This further buttresses that gender diversity was not the major driving force behind the sustainability reporting of the sampled banks in Nigeria. This is because the sector is highly regulated. Hence, the study recommends that notwithstanding the outcome, in attaining the sustainable development goals (SDGs), there is a need to have more female representation on the strategic position of authority.

This study aims to examine the effect of female commissioners and directors on CSR with profitability as a mediating variable in Basic and Chemical Industry. The data used in this study was taken from company data on the basic and chemical industries listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2014-2016. The sampling method uses purposive sampling so that the number of samples in this study is 30 companies. This study uses a quantitative approach. The data analysis technique used is PLS to test hypotheses. The results show that female commissioners, female directors, and profitability have a positive influence on CSR; female commissioners have a negative influence on profitability; female directors did not have a significant influence on profitability, and profitability was not a mediating variable for the influence of female commissioners and directors on CSR.

The purpose of our study is to investigate the impact of women and independent directors on corporate social responsibility and financial performance. We use the fixed effect regression model as a baseline methodology. The data set includes information from 2010 to 2019 regarding Chinese non-financial companies, from which we use yearly information. The RSK rating is used for the assessment of corporate social responsibility reporting, ranging from 0 to 100, and other data are taken from the China stock market and accounting research (CSMAR) database. We use a two-stage least square (TSLS) regression model to control the possible problem of endogeneity. The empirical results show that gender diversity in boards significantly and positively affects CSR reporting. We do not find an effect due to non-executive directors on CSR reporting. The presence of non-executive directors on a board is mostly trivial in the case of China, as they do not have much influence with regard to decision making, especially related to CSR reporting. The control variables, such as board size, board member meeting frequency and leverage, are also found to have a significant effect on CSR reporting. Therefore, our results add a new aspect to the emerging literature on CSR reporting, especially in China. Furthermore, our results are robust with regard to the alternative variables under consideration. Our study has important implications. Our research enriches the existing literature on CSR and highlights the importance of female and independent directors having an impact on decisions related to the increased reporting of CSR activities. Our study contributes to the existing literature by presenting a pioneering investigation of the effect of female and independent directors on CSR reporting, as well as shedding light on the relationship in the context of an emerging economy.

Purpose: The presence of female members on boards is quite enigmatic. Almost every academic author argues that female directors’ contribution in the board room is positive and significant, and their presence, improves organizational performance. This study purpose is to figure out the link between female members and organizational performance. Design/Methodology/Approach: For the purpose, Partial least square method of regression is used to develop the relationship. The measurement and structural model and theories are used to codevelop the formative constructs. Secondary data is used and collected from Pakistan stock exchange. Those KSE-100 companies are used in which female directors were there in any year from 2005 till 2012. Findings: The results reveal that there was a negative relationship, empirically, which strengthened the notion that female directors in Pakistan are just the cosmetic face of board of directors and more female directors on board hinder the firm performance. Female members on the board had negative impact on the financial measures of return on equity and assets turnover. Implications/Originality/Value: This study is helpful for the businesses in Pakistan to rely and utilize the knowledge, innovative skills and experience of female directors rather than to fill the seat as a regulatory requirement.

Multimediju komunikācija Informācijas un komunikācijas zinātnes Multimedia Communication Information and Communication Sciences Bakalaura darba ‘’Pašportreta īsfilmas izveide, izmantojot eksperimentālā kino principus’’ mērķis ir, balstoties uz iegūto literatūru par eksperimentālā kino veidošanas principiem un iedvesmojoties no dažādiem eksperimentālā kino veidotājiem un to darbiem, izveidot īsfilmu, kas tiktu veidota kā darba autores pašportrets. Darba teorētiskajā daļā autore aplūko teoriju par sievietēm kino industrijā, lai gūtu plašāku ieskatu ne tikai sieviešu darbībā kino režijā, bet arī to tēlu attēlojumu filmās. Nodaļā par eksperimentālo kino tiek gūts ieskats eksperimentālā kino aizsākumos, kā arī aplūkota sieviešu darbība eksperimentālajā kino, kurā savukārt autore izvērtē dažu eksperimentālā kino sieviešu režisoru darbus un tipiskākās šāda žanra filmu veidošanas iezīmes. Trešajā nodaļā darba autore pievēršas teorijai par identitātes atspoguļojumu, pašportreta iezīmēm un aplūko piemērus, kur pašportrets ir veidots audiovizuālā formātā. Darba izveides procesā radošā darba mērķis tiek sasniegts. Pēc teorijas izpētes, tiek secināts, ka sievietes tēls komerciālajā kino nereti tiek neatbilstoši portretēts, un pateicoties eksperimentālā kino principiem, kas ļauj tā veidotājam eksperimentēt ar kino valodu un izmantotajām tehnikām, darba autore spēja izveidot īsfilmu, kas tika veidota ne tikai, lai aktualizētu atšķirīgus un neierastus kino veidošanas paņēmienus, kas savukārt spētu izaicināt skatītāja kino skatīšanās uztveri, bet gan arī izceltu pastāvošo problēmu par sieviešu tēla biežu neatbilstošu attēlošanu kino industrijā. Veidojot īsfilmu kā pašportretu, autorei ir iespēja veidot radošo darbu no sava personīgā skata punkta. The aim of the bachelor's thesis "Creating a self-portrait short film using the principles of experimental cinema." is to create a short film as a self-portrait of the author, based on the literature on principles of experimental film and inspired by various experimental filmmakers and their works. In the theoretical part of the work, the author looks at the theory of women in the film industry in order to gain a broader insight not only into the activities of women in film directing, but also their portrayals in films. The chapter on experimental cinema provides an insight into the beginnings of experimental cinema, as well as women's activities in experimental cinema, in which the author evaluates the works of some female directors of experimental cinema and their most typical features of filmmaking in this genre. In the third chapter, the author focuses on the theory of identity representation, self-portrait features and looks at examples where the self-portrait is created in audiovisual format. The aim of the work is achieved. After researching the theory, it is concluded that the image of a woman in commercial cinema is often inadequately portrayed, and thanks to the principles of experimental cinema, which allows the creator to experiment with cinematic language and techniques, the author was able to create a short film not only to actualize different and unusual cinematic techniques, which in turn could challenge the viewer's perception of cinema, but would also highlight the problem of frequent inappropriate portrayals of women in the film industry. By creating the short film as a self-portrait, the author has the opportunity to create a creative work from her personal point of view.

This paper has two main aims. Firstly, we examine whether, given a critical mass of female board members, their presence has a different effect on the firm’s CSR practices according to its family or non-family nature. We then consider whether the moderating role of the institutional environment in Latin America enhances the role of female directors in influencing the board’s attitude towards CSR strategies. The results obtained—from a sample of 22,958 observations, corresponding to an unbalanced data panel of 5124 companies for the period 2010–2016—confirm our hypothesis and also highlight the existence of type I (organisational) and type II (institutional) compensation effects, which reduce or eliminate differences between family and non-family firms, whether or not they are located in Latin American countries., Consejeria de Educacion, Junta de Castilla y Leon [Grant/Award No. SA069G18], Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion [Grant/ Award No. ECO2013-43838P], Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades [Grant/Award No. RTI2018-093423-B-I00], Universidad de Salamanca [Grant/Award No. USAL2017-DISAQ], Cátedra Santander de Empresa Familiar (Universidad de Granada), Accounting area (Universidad de Salamanca)

This study aims to explore the crucial question whether the presence of female directors on the compensation committees limits the CEO excessive compensation in China or not? To draw the inferences, we use the data of Chinese listed firms for the year 2006 to 2015 and estimate ordinary least square regression as a baseline methodology along with two-stage least squares regression to control the endogeneity issues. We find reliable evidence that Chinese CEOs do receive some excessive compensation which can be mitigated by having gender diverse compensation committee. We also find CEO excessive compensation is positively linked to firm performance when firms have gender diverse compensation committees. Moreover, we also find that the governance role of gender diverse compensation committee on CEO's excessive pay varies across sub-national institutional contingencies.

We study the long-term effect of gender quotas in India, the largest emerging market to mandate female directors on corporate boards. After the reform, female independent director appointments increase from less than 10% to over 30%. The marginal female director is of similar quality, as measured by education, specialization, and stock price reactions, as the marginal male director. Further, we find that the gender gap in director remuneration decreases from 18% to 3%. Overall, results suggest that gender quotas can deepen and diversify talent pools in emerging markets where lower corporate governance standards often impede board composition and director quality.

This study contributes to expand our knowledge about thegender pay gap in the board of directors. Specifically, it covers a gapin the study of gender pay gap, analysing homogeneous groups ofindividuals and compensation. We examined the compensation ofdirectors of Spanish listed companies during the period 20132018.The results reveal that the gender pay gap exists at executivedirector-level for fixed, variable and total compensation. However,the gap is non-existent for proprietary and independent directors forany type of compensation. Moreover, female executive directors areless likely to receive variable compensation than their malecounterparts. Finally, when matching male and female directors withsimilar individual and firm characteristics, the results confirm theabove and highlight that male executive directors receive three timesmore remuneration. The results may be useful for, among others,lawmakers, who should enact laws or regulations to eliminate thegender pay gap.

Purpose This paper aims to examine empirically the impact of gender diversity on corporate performance by both comparing different positions occupied by female directors on the boards and their personal-specific characteristics. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines a sample of Italian listed companies during 2006–2015. To deal with endogeneity issues, the authors use a generalized method of moments as an empirical methodology. Findings The empirical findings show that the positive effect of both independent and executive women directors on firm performance is moderated by the specific characteristics of female directors. Specifically, the analyses show that foreign and busy females negatively impact on performance. Conversely, graduate female directors strengthen the positive link between executive women and firm performance. Originality/value The paper sheds light on the consequences of appointing different types of female directors (i.e. independent, executive, graduate, foreign and busy) on firm performance. Our empirical research that investigates the association between gender diversity and performance in the Italian context based on a longitudinal study, which involves a period of ten years, allowing consideration both of the years before and after the introduction of the gender quota law (Golfo–Mosca law).

PurposeThis study investigates the impact of board gender diversity and foreign ownership on innovation in Chinese firms.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use data for Chinese manufacturing firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, for a sample over the period 2008–2017. Ordinary least square (OLS) is used as the baseline methodology, with cluster OLS, two-stage Heckman test, Blau index and Shannon index used to address endogeneity issues.FindingsThe results show that gender diversity on the board has a positive effect on corporate innovation as measured by the total number of patent applications, invention patent applications, utility model patent applications and design patent applications. Our findings also provide support for the critical mass participation of female directors on the board being associated with more innovation. They also reveal that innovation output does not vary across state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-SOEs. These outcomes reveal that SOEs' advantages, such as easy access to funding and more support of government, are likely offset by their disadvantages, such as different goals and having more agency issues. Because of intense political power and networks in Chinese firms, qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs) are less motivated to enhance innovation activities.Practical implicationsThis study highlights the role of board gender diversity in enhancing innovation among Chinese manufacturing firms. Our findings provide support for regulatory bodies' role regarding women's participation on the board.Originality/valueThis research adds to literature by addressing the largely ignored questions of whether providing a gender-diverse board enhances innovation, whether critical mass participation has a greater effect on improving firm innovation and whether the influence of women directors varies with ownership structure.

International audience; This study investigates the relationship between boardroom gender diversity and corporate cash holdings (i.e., liquidity risk) and excess cash holdings (i.e., agency risk). Using a sample of French firms listed on the SBF 120 index over the period 1998 to 2015, we find a significant positive relation of board gender diversity for two measures of corporate cash holdings (i.e., corporate cash ratio and industry adjusted cash ratio) and a negative relation with excess cash holdings. These results support that feminized boards are associated with lower liquidity and agency risk implying that women directors engage in stricter monitoring and disallow stockpiling beyond the optimal cash level. The study provides significant intermediate results in relation to the Copé-Zimmermann gender quota law that are robust to alternate specifications and tests.; Cette étude examine la relation entre la diversité de genre dans les conseils d'administration et la trésorerie (c'est-à-dire le risque de liquidité) et la trésorerie excédentaire des entreprises (c'est-à-dire le risque d'agence). En utilisant un échantillon de sociétés françaises cotées à l'indice SBF 120 sur la période 1998-2015, nous constatons une relation positive significative entre la diversité de genre au sein des conseils d’administration et de surveillance pour deux mesures de la trésorerie des entreprises (c'est-à-dire le ratio de trésorerie et le ratio de trésorerie ajusté par secteur) et une relation négative avec les excédents de trésorerie. Ces résultats confirment que les conseils plus féminisés sont associés à de plus faibles risques d'agence, ce qui implique que les femmes administrateurs s'engagent dans un contrôle plus strict et empêchent l’accumulation de trésorerie au-delà d’un niveau optimal. L'étude fournit des résultats intermédiaires significatifs par rapport à la loi sur les quotas de genre Copé-Zimmermann qui sont robustes à des spécifications et des tests alternatifs.

This study examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, board gender diversity (BGEND) and real earnings management (REM). It also investigates how the relationship between CSR reporting and REM differs between gender-diverse and non-diverse firms. Content analysis was used to measure CSR reporting. The ordinary least square regression is used to examine the relationships for a sample of 475 firm-year observations listed on the Amman Stock Exchange during 2011-2016. The results show that CSR reporting is significantly and negatively associated with REM in the Jordanian market. Nevertheless, BGEND is negatively and significantly related to REM. More importantly, the results show that BGEND moderates the CSR-REM relationship. Further, when the sample is split into board gender-diverse and non-diverse firms, the CSR-REM significant negative relationship is evident only in the former, corroborating the moderating role of the BGEND in Jordan. This study contributes to the literature on CSR, BGEND, and REM by offering evidence for the moderating role of BGEND on the CSR-REM relationship, supporting the view that females are more sensitive to ethics. Regulators and stakeholders should be aware of the potential effect of engagement in CSR reporting and the benefits of having a gender-diverse board on financial reporting quality.

Spanning a career of over 20 years; working with short films, occasionally documentaries, but primarily feature-length films, Barbara Albert’s oeuvre captures the complexity of the human condition through myriad political and historical periods with keen forensic observation. Albert’s focus is on capturing the inner lives of women, where her stories are penetrating, as she looks daringly at their experiences across generations, social and political classes and reveals the unexpected—the capacity for humans to surprise themselves (and each other), often defying social expectations. And yet, her films champion women’s resilience and their ability to find solidarity in ways that challenge our perceptions of gender and class stereotypes. In this reflective contribution, Barbara Albert offers an overview of seminal moments in her career and connects some events and influences that drew her to particular subjects and the stories explored in her films.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. open access article This paper examines the relationship between gender diversity, selected female attributes and financial performance of FTSE 100 firms in the UK. Drawing on critical mass theory by measuring gender diversity as levels of female representation in the boardroom, this study finds a positive and significant relationship between gender diversity and firm performance. However, the results become highly significant and unequivocal when three or more females are appointed to the board compared to the appointment of two or less females. Further analysis reveals that post-appointment financial performance is positively related to female age, level of education and where female board members also hold executive director positions. The results remain unchanged after accounting for endogeneity concerns and employing alternative measures of firm performance, namely, return on assets and Tobin’s Q.

This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: What have we learnt about board gender diversity as a business strategy? The appointment of board subcommittees, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2226. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This paper explores whether a board's gender diversity influences the voluntary formation of its board subcommittees. Female board directorship may become a business strategy for firms if it affects the appointment of board subcommittees. We hypothesize that the voluntary creation of board subcommittees is affected by the presence of female directors on boards; the presence of independent, executive, and institutional female directors; and the proportion of shares held by female directors on boards. Board gender diversity has been measured as a proportion and with Blau's index. The results show that independent female directors are positively associated with the likelihood of voluntarily setting up all or some of the committees and a supervision and control committee. The presence of executive female directors negatively influences the probability of forming all or some of the committees, an executive committee and a supervision and control committee. The percentage of shares held by female directors has a positive effect on the voluntary creation of an executive committee. The findings also report that women directors and institutional female directors do not contribute to the voluntary creation of board subcommittees. Our evidence shows that female board directorship impacts the demand of internal control mechanisms such as board subcommittees, suggesting that firms should take it into account as a business strategy. The main implications derived from this research are relevant for Spanish policymakers and researchers because board gender diversity may play a significant role in the decision‐making processes of firms and may influence firms' outcomes.

Many government sought to enforce gender equality on the corporate boards, but the implication of doing it are not obvious and might harm economies and firms. We underline this topic by conceptualizing the relationship as corporation and board-specific and embedded within specific contexts. The theory is developed with reference to developing countries, and tested on Turkish firms. The result reflects that female directors improve monitoring mechanism for some firms and reduce it for others. The influence is different across various monitoring indicators, control-ownership wedge, and board structure. The impact varies across different audit quality indicators. The findings call for nuanced responses in relation to women’s nominations from both governments and firms.

Cinematography of perestroika (and the early post-Soviet period) entails mixed terrain, often described as a socially-critical “black wave” – chernukha; the period saw an unprecedented number of works by female directors, which remain to be addressed by film scholarship. This article examines the cinematic opus of Olga Zhukova (1954-) who produced five feature films in the period 1990–1994. This article discusses her films, which were not well received by critics and accused of being pretentious and artificial, alongside another Soviet director, Iskra Babich (1938–2001). I re-examine the formation of Zhukova’s cinematic speech, focusing on the interplay of the audio-visual and corporeal, to argue that her works create specific timespaces which defy the immediate socio-political references provided by the seemingly formative linear narratives, and bypass the patriarchal dichotomies underpinning the latter.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of gender diversity on corporate cash holdings by scrutinizing different positions covered by female board directors. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines a sample of Italian listed companies between 2006 and 2015. Fixed-effects regressions are employed as the base empirical methodology. In addition, because the link between corporate governance variables and cash may suffer from endogeneity issues, the study employs several tests to control for this potential problem. Findings The empirical findings demonstrate that the relationship between gender diversity and cash holdings depends on the role of female directors on the boards. Specifically, the evidence shows that women in monitoring functions, ruled by independent directors and female chairs, led to a decrease in cash reserves. Conversely, companies managed by female CEOs have larger cash holdings. Research limitations/implications The paper refers to Italian listed companies only and does not analyze whether and how the financial crisis has affected the link between female directors and cash reserves. Practical implications The study provides insights for the diverse effects of female directors on cash management decision and contributes to the debate on gender diversity capabilities for improving firm financial flexibility. Originality/value This paper is the first empirical study to attempt to disentangle the effect of gender diversity on cash holdings. It sheds light on the consequences of appointing female directors on cash policies and explores the Italian context after the introduction of the gender quotas law.

This study contributes to expand our knowledge about thegender pay gap in the board of directors. Specifically, it covers a gapin the study of gender pay gap, analysing homogeneous groups ofindividuals and compensation. We examined the compensation ofdirectors of Spanish listed companies during the period 20132018.The results reveal that the gender pay gap exists at executivedirector-level for fixed, variable and total compensation. However,the gap is non-existent for proprietary and independent directors forany type of compensation. Moreover, female executive directors areless likely to receive variable compensation than their malecounterparts. The results may be useful for, among others,lawmakers, who should enact laws or regulations to eliminate thegender pay gap.

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine whether board gender diversity reduces the agency costs of firms in the context of Chinese listed firms.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a large sample of 23,340 firm-year observations of Chinese listed companies during 2004–2017. The authors use ordinary least squares regressions as the primary methodology with a wide range of methods to control for endogeneity and to check robustness, including the fixed-effect method, instrumental variable approach, lagged gender diversity measures, propensity score matching, Blau index, Shannon index and industry-adjusted measures of agency costs.FindingsThe evidence reveals that the participation of female directors in corporate board reduces agency costs, which correlates with conflicts of interest. Moreover, gender-diverse boards are more effective in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), in which agency issues are more severe. Female directors also provide better monitoring roles in more-developed areas. Finally, corporate boards that have a critical mass of female directors have a greater tendency to reduce agency costs as compared to their token participation. Overall, all findings support the validity of agency theory.Practical implicationsThis study shows the economic benefit of female directors in the boardroom by reducing agency costs and by improving firms' governance structure. Regarding the government, which is gradually introducing board gender diversity policies, this study provides valuable pragmatic information for Chinese regulators on this issue.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature by providing evidence that gender diversity in boardroom matters for shareholders' wealth maximization. It provides novel evidence that a critical mass of female directors is more effective in reducing agency costs compared to a single female on the board, and that the effect of gender diversity varies in relation to ownership structure and region.

Using a unique database of over 20 million firms over two decades, we examine the industry sector and national institution drivers of the prevalence of women directors on supervisory and management boards in both public and private firms across 41 advanced and emerging European economies. We demonstrate that gender board diversity has generally increased, yet women remain rare in both boards of firms in Europe: approximately 70% have no women directors on their supervisory boards, and 60% have no women directors on management boards. We leverage institutional and resource dependency theoretical frameworks to demonstrate that few systematic factors are associated with greater gender diversity for both supervisory and management boards among both private and public firms: the same factor may exhibit a positive correlation to a management board, and a negative correlation to a supervisory board, or vice versa. We interpret these findings as evidence that country-level gender equality and cultural institutions exhibit differentiated correlations with the presence of women directors in management and supervisory boards. We also find little evidence that sector-level competition and innovativeness are systematically associated with the presence of women on either board in either group of firms.

The issue of artistic careers is rarely tackled by Polish sociologists. The article is an analysis of the work of selected contemporary Polish female film and theater directors. The present study exploits secondary sources (monographs and scientific studies, press and internet publications, interviews with directors) and primary sources: interviews with creators of Polish drama theaters conducted as part of the authors’ own research. Women in Polish theater and film are slowly breakingthe glass ceiling and they are taking their rightful place in the pantheon of artists who have a lot to say about our difficult modern times. Polish directors are true individuals however they raise important social problems. Their creativity is not feminist. They have their own signature style and their sex is of secondary importance. Kwestie kariery artystycznej rzadko podejmowane są przez polskich socjologów. Artykuł jest analizą prac wybranych współczesnych polskich reżyserek filmowych i teatralnych. W niniejszym opracowaniu wykorzystano źródła zastane (monografie i badania naukowe, publikacje prasowe i internetowe, wywiady z reżyserami) oraz źródła pierwotne: wywiady z twórcami polskich teatrów dramatycznych przeprowadzone w ramach badań własnych. Kobiety w polskim teatrze i filmie powoli rozbijają szklany sufit i zajmują należne im miejsce w panteonie artystów, mających wiele do powiedzenia na temat współczesnej rzeczywistości. Polskie reżyserki są prawdziwymi indywidualistkami, mają swój charakterystyczny styl, niemniej łączy je to, że mierzą się w twórczości z ważnymi problemami społecznymi. Ich kreatywność nie jest nacechowana feministycznie, płeć w pracy twórczej ma drugorzędne znaczenie.

Bar a few exceptions, the impact of political parties on corporate governance regulation has largely been ignored in research. The current paper aims to narrow that research gap by investigating the motives of parties involved in political discussions on corporate governance. Do the parties’ positions stem from the quest for general welfare, as they claim in their platforms, or from the ambition to maximize votes, as assumed by the Spatial Theory of party behavior in Rational Choice? We analyze the positions taken on the issue of gender balanced composition of supervisory and executive boards by six German political parties. Our findings cast doubt on the parties’ claim to act in the public interest and suggest their actual motive is the maximization of votes.

This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Varieties of capitalism, corporate governance mechanisms, and stakeholder engagement: An overview of coordinated and liberal market economies, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1840. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This paper examines those aspects of national institutions that affect corporate governance mechanisms at international level. The study uses the “varieties of capitalism” approach, which is concerned with the way companies interact strategically to solve the coordination problems arising from their activities. This research is based on a sample of countries operating in coordinated market economies and liberal market economies. The data were collected from the Thomson Reuters database. The findings suggest that the institutional context is associated with several corporate governance mechanisms. Specifically, our results find that the proportion of female directors on boards and the presence of corporate governance committees are higher in firms operating in liberal market economies than in those domiciled in coordinated market economies. Regarding the disclosure of corporate social responsibility information, the evidence shows that it is not affected by the varieties of capitalism measured, whereas board‐specific skills are higher in the latter than in the former. This paper offers empirical evidence at international level for the varieties of capitalism that contribute to better corporate governance structures. With regard to managerial implications, our findings show that belonging (or not) to a specific variety of capitalism impacts various mechanisms of corporate governance.

Gender equality is widely discussed topic in the modern society, and the issue of female underrepresentation on corporate boards has been discussed for decades. Previous research, on one hand, is focused on non-financial contribution of women on boards, such as improvement of communication, decision-making, stronger focus on CSR and stakeholder orientation etc. On the other hand, correlation between female presence and financial outcomes, such as accounting and market performance, has been receiving contradicting results that would show positive relationship, negative or no relationship at all. However, earlier studies only considered the physical presence of women on boards as a predictor of performance. They did not account for the actual role of women on the boards - are they tokens, or do they hold a real power to make a change and influence financial outcomes? In order to rise above the shortcomings of the previous research, this study evaluates the power held by women on Swedish boards in Large Cap companies. With that purpose, power indices had been developed that consider such influence sources as leadership, committee participation, connections to the owners and to the management, and experience. The power index also accounts for the fulfillment of “critical mass” criterion. The findings had shown a negative relationship between power of female directors and firm performance, although this correlation might be explained by a short-term oriented nature of the research. Furthermore, this paper suggests a large variety of subjects for future research in the field of gender equality on boards.