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This study examines the impacts of board characteristics and firm size on firm performance: evidence from Vietnamese listed firms (HOSE) for the 2016-2020 period. The study controls for endogeneity and simultaneously problems using the dynamic panel technique of Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) with a data set of 344 companies (1,339 observations) in all industries excluding financial institutions. The research results show that board size (BSI), CEO duality (CEO), big 4 audit (B4A) and firm size (FIS) have significant position relationships with firms' performance while there is a negative correlation between Board gender diversity (BGD) and firms' performance. The data also reveal that the lagged dependent variable in the estimated model is significant in explaining the connection of board gender diversity, firm size and big 4 audit, indicating that the estimation models in our study are reasonable.

A set of CALUX in vitro bioassays was applied for long-term toxicity monitoring at an advanced wastewater treatment plant comprising ozonation and granular activated carbon filtration for the abatement of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC). During the 13-month monitoring, eight reporter gene assays targeting different modes of action along the cellular toxicity pathway were accessed to evaluate the suitability and robustness of the technologies. Two approaches were followed: on the one hand, signal reduction during advanced treatment was monitored; on the other hand, results were compared to currently available effect-based trigger values (EBTs). A decrease of the corresponding biological equivalent concentrations after the multibarrier system could be observed for all modes of action; while the estrogenic activity decreased below the EBT already during ozonation, the potencies of oxidative stress-like and toxic PAH-like compounds still exceeded the discussed EBT after advanced treatment. Overall, the long-term monitoring confirmed the positive effect of the multibarrier system, commonly evaluated only by CEC abatement based on chemical analysis. It could be demonstrated that advanced WWTPs designed for CEC abatement are suitable to significantly decrease toxicity responses not only in the frame of pilot studies but under real-world conditions as well. ; 1 ; 16 ; 16 ; Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism ; Federal Government of Burgenland