Institutional directors and the quality of information: the role of directors appointed by banks

Manuscript Type: Empirical Research Question: The objective of this paper is to study the impact that directors who represent institutional investors have on the quality of financial reporting. We focus on those who maintain business relations with the firm on whose board they sit (pressure sensitive directors), and analyze their influence both on Boards and Audit Committees. Additionally, we examine the specific role of bank directors on Boards and Audit Committees and examine their effects on the quality of information when they act as shareholders and directors. Research Findings/Insights: Our results suggest that institutional directors are an effective monitoring device that leads to higher quality of financial reporting and, therefore, to less likelihood of qualified audit reports. Consistent with the relevant role of business relations with the firm, we find that directors appointed by pressure sensitive investors, both in Boards and Audit Committees, have a higher impact on the unqualified audit opinion. Nevertheless, when analyzing separately, only savings banks representatives on the Board increase the pressure to issue a clean audit opinion. Theoretical/Academic Implications: The results confirm that Board characteristics have an important influence on financial reporting quality, in line with the views that have been expressed by several international bodies (e.g., FRC, 2003; OECD, 2004). The findings also suggest that both researchers and policy makers should no longer consider institutional investors as a whole, since directors appointed by different types of institutional investors have various implications on the audit opinion. Practitioner/Policy Implications: This study makes its core contribution by empirically showing that directors appointed by different types of institutional investors have diverse implications on the audit opinion. This evidence could be potentially helpful in providing a basis for regulatory actions, namely those aiming to influence the structure of the Board of directors. The results have significant implications for supervisors and regulators, whose role in safeguarding the financial system will benefit from an understanding of how the presence of savings banks and commercial banks in non-financial firms Boards impacts audit opinion in a bank-based system

Impact of water stress and nutrition on Vitis vinifera cv. ‘Albariño’: Soil-plant water relationships, cumulative effects and productivity

The objective of the present study is to apply different systems of fertigation (rainfed, R; surface drip irrigation, DI, and subsurface drip irrigation, SDI) in Vitis vinifera (L.) cv. ‘Albariño’ to evaluate the cumulative effect of water stress (water stress integral) on yield parameters and to establish the relationship between indices and production. The study was conducted over four years (2010-2013) in a commercial vineyard (Galicia, NW Spain). The volumetric soil water content (θ) (with TDR) and predawn (ψp), midday (ψm) and stem (ψstem) leaf-water potential were determined with a water activity meter during the growing stages (flowering-harvest) from 2010-2013. The number of clusters, their weight and yield/vine were determined at harvest. Must composition was studied to evaluate nutrition treatments. Ψp is presented as the best indicator of the water status of the plant, and the sole use of θ is not recommended as a reference. The soil-plant water status variables were strongly correlated, especially between foliar variables (0.91<R2<0.98), with θ presenting the lowest reliability (0.28<R2<0.81). SDI was the treatment with the highest hydric comfort and greater yield/vine (6.1 kg) and weight per cluster (95.0 g), but lower elements concentration in must. The water stress integral showed that the veraison and harvest stages were very sensitive to water stress in vines. Linear relationships were established between Sψp and W (R2=0.65) and Y (R2=0.56) at veraison. The water stress integral is presented as a useful working tool for vine growers because it allows the prediction of future yield at early phenological statesResearch Network of the ‘Xestión Sostible da Empresa Agroalimentaria’ (IGSEA) of the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC) (R2014/023)S

Effectiveness of online interventions in preventing depression: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

IntroductionAlthough evidence exists for the efficacy of psychosocial interventions in preventing depression, little is known about its prevention through online interventions. The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials assessing the effectiveness of online interventions in preventing depression in heterogeneous populations.Methods and analysisWe will conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials that will be identified through searches of PubMed, PsycINFO, WOS, Scopus, OpenGrey, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, ClinicalTrials. gov and Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Register . We will also search the reference lists provided in relevant studies and reviews. Experts in the field will be contacted to obtain more references. Two independent reviewers will assess the eligibility criteria of all articles, extract data and determine their risk of bias (Cochrane Collaboration Tool). Baseline depression will be required to have been discarded through standardised interviews or validated self-reports with standard cut-off points. The outcomes will be the incidence of new cases of depression and/or the reduction of depressive symptoms as measured by validated instruments. Pooled standardised mean differences will be calculated using random-effect models. Heterogeneity and publication bias will be estimated. Predefined sensitivity and subgroup analyses will be performed. If heterogeneity is relevant, random-effect meta-regression will be performed

Female directors on boards. The impact of faultlines on CSR reporting

Purpose: This paper analyzes the role of female directors on CSR disclosure. It assumes the existence of faultlines when studying gender diversity and classifies female directors into three categories: industry experts, advisors, and community leaders. It also examines the influence of the power of female directors as a moderator on the association between female director categories and CSR disclosure. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a dynamic Generalized Method of Moments panel estimator which allows the control of unobservable heterogeneity and endogeneity and reduces estimation bias. Findings: Results confirm the double-sided nature of gender diversity, noting different behavior among female directors according to their experience and backgrounds. Moreover, the dominating owner position of female directors can balance and moderate the effect of female directors appointed for their technical knowledge or political and social ties. The results also confirm the necessity to not consider all women directors as a homogeneous group and explore the influence and interrelations of female faultlines on CSR disclosure. Practical implications: The paper highlights the need to consider the specific skills, expertise, and connections of female board members when analyzing the effect of board composition, and supports the view that firms should emphasize the unique human and social capital of directors to understand how boards impact on firm strategies. Specifically, we support the recommendations of the European Commission (2011) regarding the need to increase skills and expertise when selecting new non-executive female board members. Social implications: At a time when most governments are introducing active policies that require firms to nominate women to boards, the understanding of the consequences of women’s presence on boards and the interrelations between female power and the diverse categories of female directors is timely and important. Originality/value: This is the first paper that provides empirical evidence to the scarcelystudied area of the human and social capital of female directors’ roles in CSR disclosure, providing an alternative view of the role of women in corporate board effectiveness

Effect of the end cross beams on the railway induced vibrations of short girder bridges

This work is devoted to the analysis of the railway-induced vertical vibrations of simplysupported double track bridges composed by pre-stressed concrete girder decks. Despite the low torsional stiffness that this particular deck configuration exhibits, several structures of this type do exist in both conventional and high-speed railway lines in Spain. Even though railway administrators recommend the construction of transverse or end beams bracing the longitudinal girders at the supports in girder bridges, in several occasions these elements are not built in order to accelerate the construction process. The aim of this study is to evaluate the beneficial effect of installing these transverse beams on the vertical dynamic response of the aforementioned structures and to determine what particular bridges are most affected by the presence of these elements. To this end, a representative ensemble of girder bridges covering a range of span lengths L between 10 m and 25 m has been predimensioned and their dynamic behaviour has been predicted by a finite element model that adopts common assumptions in engineering practice. Conclusions show that installing these elements is particularly relevant in the case of short (10-12.5 m) oblique bridges with a low number of longitudinal girders for a particular deck bending stiffness, leading to an important increase of the first torsion and first transverse bending natural frequencies and to a reduction of the structural response. Finally, experimental measurements on a real bridge belonging to the Madrid-Sevilla high-speed line are included in the final section to illustrate the theoretical derivations

The role of human and social board capital in driving CSR reporting

The objective of this paper is to analyze the effect of the professional, technical and relational background (human and social capital) of outside directors on promoting firm CSR disclosure. Following the Hillman et al. (2000) taxonomy of board members, we classify outside directors as business experts, support specialists and community influential, and examine whether business and technical expertise or political ties in the boardroom affect CSR disclosure. This study confirms that not all outside directors are equally effective in improving CSR disclosure and that only certain kinds of outside directors, those classified as support specialists, help promote it. On the other hand, our findings also show that directors with previous experience as politicians affect CSR disclosure negatively, probably due to their interests in safeguarding their reputation within the company, in avoiding public scrutiny and in protecting their political connections. In addition, our set of analysis with interaction effects reveals that powerful CEOs have the incentive to promote CSR-related strategies and to convince business experts and support specialist directors to enhance profitable sustainability strategies and transparency in CSR disclosure. Nevertheless, the powerful CEO effect is not enough to compensate the negative role of political directors on CSR reporting. Therefore, this paper supports the theories in favor of analyzing the multiple configurations of corporate governance mechanisms by adopting a holistic approach, and the need to combine these configurations in order to analyze their impact on CSR behavior

Proyecto de Innovación Docente en la materia de Estancias Clínicas I del Grado en Enfermería a través de la metodología “Flip Teaching”

[Resumen] Contextualización: La asignatura Estancias Clínicas I es el primer paso práctico para la inmersión de los alumnos en las técnicas de Enfermería. Actualmente se organiza con presentaciones orales en aula (parte teórica) y posteriormente, con gran carga práctica, en laboratorios, con simulación para cada técnica de 2 h, en grupos pequeños de 10 alumnos. Limitaciones: transmisión de la información teórica y su relación con la parte práctica (distanciadas en tiempo y forma), desmotivación del alumnado, falta de horas prácticas para las técnicas. Objetivos: mejorar la motivación y el aprendizaje de las competencias marcadas dentro y fuera del aula (previo a la simulación) a través de la metodología Flipped Classroom. Metodología: Cuasiexperimental. Se formarán dos grupos de alumnos (experimental implantando el Flip Teaching y control) de 30 alumnos cada uno, seleccionados aleatoriamente. Se distribuirán en grupos de 10 para la simulación en laboratorio. Grupo control: seguirá la metodología tradicional. Grupo experimental: recibirá para cada técnica, presentaciones locutadas de 20 min y videos educativos elaborados por los docentes; realizarán obligatoriamente un resumen y un foro de participación y un documento de dudas (no obligatorio); finalmente, tendrán que acertar 7 preguntas de 10 aleatorias (pull de 100), con 3 intentos posibles en un autotest. Todo ello trabajado con Moodle antes de la simulación. ¿Qué esperamos?: Mejorar el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje y la motivación. Flexibilizar del aprendizaje previo a la sesión de simulación en laboratorio de las técnicas de enfermería. Ganar horas de simulación práctica al eliminar las clases teóricas presenciale

Psychometric analysis of two scales to evaluate parents' educational styles

Se analizan las propiedades psicométricas de dos escalas para evaluar estilos educativos parentales. La Escala de Afecto consta de dos factores (afecto-comunicación y crítica-rechazo), mientras que la Escala de Normas y Exigencias se divide en tres factores sobre la forma de establecer y exigir el cumplimiento de las normas (forma inductiva, rígida e indulgente). Ambas escalas se presentan en dos versiones: hijos y padres. En la versión de los hijos, se evalúa la percepción que el adolescente tiene del estilo educativo de su padre y de su madre. En la versión de los padres, éstos contestan los ítems refiriéndose a cómo es su conducta concreta con su hijo/a. Todas las puntuaciones mostraron una adecuada consistencia interna; la validez convergente y discriminante se apoya en las correlaciones con el IPPA (Armsden y Greenberg, 1987), PAQ (Buri, 1991) y 4E (Palacios, 1994). Además, se halló una baja concordancia entre la información aportada por los padres y sus hijos, lo que sugiere la necesidad de evaluar los estilos educativos parentales desde ambas perspectivas