Five shades of women: evidence from Italian listed firms

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\u20132015. 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\u2009years, allowing consideration both of the years before and after the introduction of the gender quota law (Golfo\u2013Mosca law)

the role of premiums and discounts in business valuation evidence from the italian context

The valuation of a (non-totalitarian) shareholding in capital stock is characterized by some critical conditions, which are mainly related to the fact that the transfer or acquisition of the same can determine the transfer of control from one subject to another. It follows that the value of the investment can not simply be equal to the proportional value of the share capital, but should include premiums or discounts. Discounts and premiums do not just affect the value of a company; they play a crucial role in influencing a host of other factors and conditions that can make or break a deal. When it comes to business valuations, it is the business appraiser's responsibility to be intimately knowledgeable with every aspect of discounts and premiums: the different types, the situations when they may or may not apply, and how to quantify them. The paper has a twofold approach: on the one hand, it analyzes the main reference literature on the definition and characteristics of premiums and discounts and the recognition and quantification of the same; on the other, subsequently, it examines the behavior adopted by the Italian professional practice in recognition and appreciation of prizes and discounts

Corporate governance and performance: An analysis of Italian listed companies

In recent years, both corporate governance and performance management have been subjected to considerable changes. In this dynamic context, it is interesting to study the evolution of the relationship between performance and governance. Does governance still affect performance? The purpose of this paper is to verify the presence and intensity (extent) of the relationship between corporate governance and performance in Italian listed companies by using both accounting and nonaccounting performance measures. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of prior firm performance on board composition and governance structure of some companies listed on the Italian stock exchange, analysing how a governance approach influences the performance of sample companies. For the research the methodology used is quantitative and we used regression analysis on a sample of 23 Italian listed companies: mechanical companies and public utilities to find that the company's performance was positively related to the size of the board. The empirical analysis conducted allowed us to verify the hypothesis according to which the increase in Corporate Governance Best Practices influences company performance. However, the results we have received do not allow us to arrive at completely unequivocal interpretations. The results showed we have received do not allow us to arrive at completely unequivocal interpretations; the main limit is the sample size used in this study was relatively small

Intervento pubblico e discriminazione dei prezzi nei mercati monopolistici: aspetti teorici ed applicazioni al settore delle telecomunicazioni

Dottorato di ricerca in economia politica. 6. cicloConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7, Rome; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale - P.za Cavalleggeri, 1, Florence / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal

The Internal Control Systems Integrated into the Various Profiles of Governance, Audit, Risk and Compliance

It is necessary to distinguish the internal controls from external ones: the former are the responsibility of the appropriate bodies and business functions belonging to the organization of the companies, while the latter are exercised by subjects who fall outside the company and the functional structure of the company (audit company, Consob, Bank of Italy, etc.). In recent decades there have been several scandals that have hit large enterprises, also Italian ones, which have increased interest in the issue of corporate governance and in the inefficiencies presented in internal corporation controls (Munroa & Stewart 2011). Enhancing the effectiveness of controls, in particular the internal ones, has become a need increasingly felt by international and national legislators. Internal controls are an essential tool to achieve business goals (operating constantly in terms of efficiency and effectiveness), and at the same time to avoid wastage of resources, to safeguard corporate assets, producing accounting information and reliable management, to observe the strategies, the policies and the corporate procedures and, especially, to ensure compliance with laws and regulations. in this work, it will discuss, in the italian context, the role of the board of directors and the board of statutory auditors within the (SCIGR) System of Internal Control and Risk Management (Jaggi, Allini, Manes Rossi, & Caldarelli, 2016). Moreover, the study moves the analysis to other corporate figures well determined and in constant evolution, including the head of internal audit, the activity of compliance, the supervisory body ex D.Lgs.231/2001 and the manager in charge of drafting corporate accounting documents

A new Intellectual capital framework in the no profit sector

Intellectual capital (IC) is a key driver in value creation. According with the above more and more companies, for profit as well as no profit organizations (NPOs), direct their attention to new tools able to communicate to the stakeholders their intangible assets as value creator driver. IC in for-profit companies, but especially in NPOs is positively correlated with the performance. For this reason, during the last years the interest in the importance of IC in NPOs is increased. IC report becomes a fundamental tool in the disclosure of the NPOs’activities. Nowdays is necessary to use a correct frame work to represent the IC in terms of knowledge, skill, procedures and relationship spread into the organization. The aim of the paper is to propose an original framework for IC report addressed to NPOs. To reach paper’s aim the work is developed as follow: first of all is examined existing literature on NPOs and IC in order to identify relevant features of IC in NPOs, and are focused relevant aspects to be measured by IC indicators and disclosed by IC report in the above context. Then are outlined extant frameworks for IC report in order to verify if they fit the aspects qualified as relevant in NPOs and point out what they lack with reference to NPOs context. On these basis the work proposes an original framework, with a new set of indicators inside, that would better fit to NPOs features. Finally the proposed framework is tested in an Italian NPO. The result is to disclose new aspects of the activity carried on by NPOs on the side of knowledge, skill and relationship with the surrounding community

Board evaluation in Italian Listed Companies

In the last decade performance evaluation of the Board of Directors hasbecome a best practice at national and international level. Italy is an interesting areaof analysis given the high concentration of ownership that characterizes companies,including listed companies. In this context the choices of governance that affect thelevel of disclosure, for which the expectation is to have a low level of disclosure onthe practice of BE (Board Evaluation).The first purpose of this paper is to present are´sume´ on the state of the art in terms of BE for Italian listed companies at 31stDecember 2012, in terms of presence/absence of the practice of disclosure and itsmore or less extensive disclosure. The second objective is to highlight the modalityof adoption of BE and the third is to analyze the relationship between the quality ofBE (measured using as a proxy the disclosure on its setting up) and corporategovernance. The results reveal there are few companies that use board evaluationand that there is a relationship between BE adoption and good governance andbetween the quality of BE and good governance

Context-Specific and Firm-Specific Factors and Their Effect on Banking Credit Policies in Post-Unification Southern Italy: A Case Study

The paper presents a case study based on the credit policies of a southern Italian bank, named \u201cCassa di Risparmio di Calabria\u201d, which operated between 1861 and 1998. We opted to investigate the role of \u201cCassa di Risparmio di Calabria\u201d because historical researchers considered it, in the years following the unification process of Italy, the most important local bank in southern of the country. In order to analyze the credit policies of the Cassa di Risparmio di Calabria, we employed an interdisciplinary approach, using Canergie and Napier\u2019s framework, which allows us to investigate both contextual and firm-specific factors that affected the way in which the firm adopted its credit policies emerging from bookkeeping. To address the research question of the paper a case study has been used. This methodology fits very well with the purpose of this paper because it offers the possibility of investigating a firm's policies from a practical rather than a theoretical point of view, through the exploration of a complex phenomenon in a specific context.. The use of a case study provides scholars a rich source of data from a real setting with the aim to deepen the understanding of the investigated phenomena. To address the research question, we used moreover archival sources, both accounting and non-accounting documents, as well to several statutes and notary protocols, old books, journal and ledgers. The findings highlight the important part of the local bank in contributing to the economic development of the area and its role in improving the human conditions within the territories under its jurisdiction, as well as the great importance to socio-educational investments. Diversely, from the qualitative analyses it emerges the marginal support to the manufacturing and commercial activities. The article contributes to enlarging the knowledge of the functioning of the credit sector in southern Italy after unification. The originality of the article lies in the use of an interdisciplinary approach, specifically the Canergie and Napier framework, to analyze credit policies of a bank