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The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of policy uncertainty on firm performance and to examine how the different cultural societies deal with the policy-induced uncertainty.

The authors use data of European non-financial firms to extend the growing literature on policy uncertainty, firm performance and national culture. The authors consider financial as well as market proxies to measure firm performance and use Hofstede's cultural dimensions as a proxy for national culture. The authors apply the generalized method of moments (GMM-system) regression technique on a dataset of 702 non-financial European firms, listed during the period 2002–2018.

The authors find overwhelming evidence that policy uncertainty reduces the performance of the European firms; however, cultural differences among different European countries moderate the impact of policy uncertainty on the financial as well as the market performance of the firms. The results of this study show that European cultures with high power distance, individualism, masculinity and indulgence efficiently deal with the economic policy uncertainty. While the European societies with high uncertainty avoidance fail to cope with policy-induced uncertainty. The results are robust to different regression models, alternate proxies of firm performance and endogeneity issues.

The authors argue that policy uncertainty increases information asymmetry and decreases firm performance, therefore, the policymakers shall be considerate of the consequences of the policy-induced uncertainty in the society and business arena that would not only adversely affect the firms but also the economy.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the role of national culture on the relationship between policy uncertainty and firm performance in the European context.

This paper aims to examine whether CEO succession with gender change (male to female) affects audit fees in the Chinese setting. In addition, this study examines whether the relationship exists in both types of ownership, i.e. non-state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and SOEs.

This study uses data from all A-share non-financial firms listed on both the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) for the period 2009 to 2015. To draw inferences, this study uses pooled ordinary least squares regression as a baseline technique. This study performs sub-sample analyzes for robustness. To account for endogeneity, this study uses three techniques including firm fixed-effects regression, the two-step Heckman model and the system generalized method of moments (GMM).

This study documents a significantly negative relationship between CEO succession with gender change and audit fees. However, the negative effect of CEO succession on audit fees is more pronounced in non-SOEs than SOEs. This study also finds, in additional analyzes, a strong negative effect of female CEO succession on audit fees in sub-sample of large, high-risk, high-performance and firms audited by non-big auditors. The main finding is robust across three endogeneity techniques.

The findings add to the ongoing debate about the underrepresentation of women in key executive positions such as CEO. The results suggest that CEO succession from male to female has a favorable effect on the quality of internal monitoring mechanisms (due to the superior monitoring skills of women) and enhances the quality of financial reporting. The study has practical implications for regulatory bodies and corporate decision-makers; this study encourages them to look into considering women in the executive succession framework.

This study contributes to the literature by exploring the effect of CEO succession with gender change (male to female) on audit fees in the context of China and the existence of this relationship in non-SOEs and SOEs.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of corporate governance (hereafter, CG) reforms on the risk disclosure quality in an emerging economy, namely Pakistan. The authors also investigate the impact of CG reforms on the relationship between CG practices and risk disclosure quality.

The authors use a manual content analysis method to a sample of non-financial companies listed on the PSX-100 index for 2009–2015, to examine the impact of CG reforms on risk disclosure quality. The authors use pooled ordinary least squares and the system GMM estimations to test the research hypotheses.

The authors find that CG reforms have a positive impact on risk disclosure quality. The results indicate that certain CG practices such as CEO duality and board independence are associated with risk disclosure quality. Interestingly, the findings also highlight the effectiveness of CG reforms by showing that the revised code positively moderates the CG practices and risk disclosure relationship.

The findings of the study have policy implications for regulatory bodies of emerging economies trying to strengthen the CG structures and to introduce risk disclosure regulations to cater the information need of stakeholders.

The authors provide new empirical evidence for the impact of CG reforms on risk disclosure quality using a unique setting of an emerging economy, namely Pakistan.

In this paper, the authors investigate whether an independent and gender-diverse compensation committee strengthens the relationship between top managers' pay and firm performance in Chinese companies. The authors also investigate whether the independent compensation committee composed of all male directors is effective in designing the optimal contract for executives.

The authors use data from A-share listed companies on the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges from 2005 to 2015. As a baseline methodology, the authors use pooled ordinary least square (OLS) regression to draw inferences. In addition, cluster OLS regression, two-stage least square regression, the two-stage Heckman test and the propensity score matching method are also used to control for endogeneity issues.

The authors find evidence that an independent or gender-diverse compensation committee strengthens the link between top managers' pay and firm performance; that the presence of a woman on the compensation committee enhances the positive influence of committee independence on this relationship; that a compensation committee's independence or gender diversity is more effective in designing top managers' compensation in legal-person-controlled firms than they are in state-controlled firms; that gender diversity on the compensation committee is negatively associated with top managers' total pay; and that an independent compensation committee pays top managers more.

The study results highlight the role of an independent compensation committee in designing optimal contracts for top managers. The authors provide empirical evidence that a woman on the compensation committee strengthens its objectivity in determining top managers' compensation. The study finding supports regulatory bodies' recommendations regarding independent and women directors.

The study findings contribute to the recent debate about gender equality around the globe. Given the discrimination against women, many regulatory bodies mandate a quota for women on corporate boards. The study findings support the regulatory bodies' recommendations by highlighting the economic benefit of having women in top management positions.

This study contributes to literature by investigating the largely overlooked questions of whether having a gender-diverse or independent compensation committee strengthens the relationship between top managers' pay and firm performance; whether an independent compensation committee is more efficient in setting executives' pay when it is gender-diverse; and whether the effect of independent directors and female directors on top managers' compensation varies based on the firm's ownership structure. Overall, the main contribution of the study is that the authors provide robust empirical evidence in support of the managerial power axiom.

This study investigates the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on corporate sustainability [environmental, social and governance (ESG)] performance and aims to explore whether uncertainty-induced sustainability performance is influenced by the firm's life cycle (LC).

The study uses data from European non-financial firms listed during the period from 2002 to 2022 to extend the nascent literature regarding EPU and sustainability performance while applying a dynamic panel data regression analysis (Generalized Method of Moments - GMM System) on 11,462 firm-year observations of 1,869 European firms.

The authors find overwhelming evidence that policy uncertainty affects the sustainability performance of European firms. The firms restrict their environmental and governance-related activities and address immediate issues to survive during periods of high EPU. Conversely, the firms increase their social engagements to decrease uncertainty-induced information asymmetry. The authors' results show that the intensity and type of sustainability performance are also influenced by the firm's LC. The results imply that board gender diversity (BGD) increases while power concentration with the chief executive officer (CEO) decreases sustainability performance.

These findings have important implications for policymakers, potential investors, firm management and other stakeholders given the firms' access to resources and preferences to encounter uncertainty vary across different LC stages.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the role of the firm's LC in the relationship between policy uncertainty and sustainability performance in the European context.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of board diversity (e.g. education, gender, nationality and royal family members) on voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure for a sample of banks listed in the Arabian Gulf Council countries.

The authors use the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines to construct the CSR disclosure index. The empirical analysis is based on the data of banks listed in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries over the period 2011–2019. To tackle the potential issue of endogeneity, the authors apply the system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation approach to investigate the relationship between board diversity and CSR disclosure index.

The findings of the analysis show that there is a significant relationship between board diversity and the level of voluntary CSR disclosure. Specifically, the authors find that diversity captured by the education level, nationality and the presence of royal family members on board is positively associated with the level of voluntary CSR disclosure while diversity captured by the gender of board members is negatively associated with the level of voluntary CSR disclosure.

The regulators, policymakers, stakeholders and the board of directors become aware of the diversity mechanisms that must be used to promote CSR practices in the banking sector of Arabian Gulf countries.

The authors extend the existing literature by providing empirical evidence on the association between board diversity and voluntary CSR disclosure practices of banks operating in the Arabian Gulf countries. This study also highlights that board gender diversity may have a different impact on voluntary CSR disclosure between developed countries and developing countries. This paper also provides preliminary evidence on the importance of education level, the presence of foreign and royal directors on board to influence CSR practices of banks operating in the Arabian Gulf countries.

This study aims to examine the literature from the Web of Science database published on board committees between 2002 and 2023 and outline the quantitative summary, journey of board committees’ research and suggest future research directions.

This study examines bibliometric-content analysis combined with a systematic literature review of articles on board committees to document the summary of the field. The authors used co-citation, co-occurrence and cluster analysis under bibliometric-content analysis to present the field summary.

Board committee composition, such as their gender, independence and expertise, as well as factors affecting corporate governance, such as reporting quality, earnings management and board monitoring, all have a significant impact on board committee literature. The field is getting growing attention from authors, journals and countries. Nevertheless, there is a need for further exploration in areas like expertise, member age and tenure, the economic crisis and the nomination and remuneration committee, which have not yet received sufficient attention.

This paper has both theoretical and practical contributions. From a theoretical perspective, this study substantiates the prevalence of agency theory within board committee literature, reinforcing the foundational role of agency theory in shaping discussions about board committees. On practical ground, the comprehensive overview of board committee literature offers scholars a road map for navigating this field and directing their future research journey. The identification of research gaps in certain areas serves as a catalyst for scholars to explore untapped dimensions, enabling them to strengthen the essence of the committees’ performance.

Considering the existing evidence on the impact of female board members on the default risks of an organization, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of board gender diversity, alongside institutional characteristics and macroeconomic factors, on the financing costs of microfinance institutions (MFIs).

This study collected unbalanced panel data of 1,190 unique MFIs between 2010 and 2018 from the World Bank. The collected data, which covers a total of 95 developing and emerging countries, was thereafter analyzed using the pooled ordinary least squares and random effects model. To overcome endogeneity and omitted variable bias (e.g. time-invariant variables), the authors have also used the generalized method of moments and fixed effects model, respectively. Different proxies of board gender diversity and sub-sample analysis by regions were further undertaken to examine the robustness of the obtained results.

The findings of this study revealed that board gender diversity has a statistically significant negative effect on the financing costs of MFIs. This suggests that a gender-diverse board can generate cheaper funding for MFIs by minimizing their default risks through effective monitoring and strategic management. Furthermore, the negative impact of board gender diversity on financing costs appears to be more pronounced when there is a minimum of two female board members in the boardroom of MFIs. The results of this study remain consistent and valid regardless of alternate model specifications (e.g. sub-sample analysis, use of alternative proxies of board gender diversity and application of different estimators) and endogeneity issues. Ultimately, the findings in this study reiterate the importance of promoting and implementing gender diversity in the boardroom to minimize the financing costs of MFIs.

This study investigated the relationship between board gender diversity and financing costs of MFIs by using relatively recent and global data. The minimum number of female board members required to significantly reduce the financing costs of MFIs was also identified.