Suchergebnisse

Purpose
This paper aims to examine the relationship between board of directors' characteristics and performance in family businesses. It offers evidence to the question of whether a family firm (FF) differs from a non-family firm and looks at the possibility of asymmetrical effects between periods of stability and economic adversity.


Design/methodology/approach
A panel data approach was applied to a sample of Portuguese firms listed the on Euronext Lisbon exchange between 2002 and 2013.


Findings
The results show that FFs are likely to have a lower proportion of independent members and higher gender diversity on their boards than non-family firms. FF performance is positively related to ownership concentration and gender diversity. There are performance premiums for family businesses, which have more gender diversity than their counterparts. These effects also depend on whether the economy is in recession. The evidence suggests that the presence of women on the board and the leverage and size of the FFs have a more significant impact on the performance in periods of economic adversity.


Research limitations/implications
One limitation of this study is the small size of the sample as it was drawn from the Euronext Lisbon exchange, a small stock exchange market.


Originality/value
This study provides input into the academic discussion on corporate governance and FF, an area which is in need of research. In addition, the authors examine this issue in conjunction with generalised economic adversity, focusing on the possible asymmetrical effects that the nature of the board of directors may have on performance in periods of stability and those of economic adversity. The role of board of directors is crucial to the understanding of corporate behaviour and the setting of the policy that regulates corporate activities.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of investor sentiment on share returns, exploring whether this effect is different for public family and non-family firms.


Design/methodology/approach
The author uses the European Economic Sentiment Indicator data, from Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs as a proxy for investor sentiment and focused on the share returns of family and non-family firms, using panel data methodology.


Findings
Using data from listed family and non-family firms for the period between 1999 and 2011, in accordance with behavioural finance theory, the results indicate that there is a negative relationship between sentiment and share returns. In addition, the author found no difference between family and non-family firms in what concerns the effect of sentiment on share returns. The evidence also suggests that young, large and medium growth firms are most affected by sentiment. Finally, the results suggest that the evidence concerning the relationship between sentiment and returns is sensitive to the proxy used to measure the sentiment.


Research limitations/implications
A limitation of this study is the small size of the sample, which is due to the small size of the Portuguese stock market, the Euronext Lisbon.


Originality/value
This paper offers some insights into the effect of investor sentiment on the share returns in the context of public family firms, a strand of finance that is scarcely developed. It also contributes to the analysis of a small European country, with a high concentration of equity ownership.

"This book highlights the financial community's realization regarding the failure of corporate communication which is required for forensic skills/techniques professionals which helps to expose structural weakness in major areas such as flawed internal controls, poor corporate governance, and fraudulent financial statements"--

This work aims to examine the relationship between corporate governance (CG) and corporate performance, considering the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. We consider a sample of Portuguese-listed firms for the period between 2010 and 2020 using a panel data methodology. The main results show that higher levels of managerial ownership and gender diversity may drive higher firm performance. However, no evidence was found that a representation of three or more female directors leads to an increase in performance. Moreover, the results suggest that there is a negative relationship between leverage and performance when we consider a market-based performance measure. Finally, the study found evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on corporate performance. This study sheds light on the role of ownership and gender on firms' performance. The results of this research can have some implications for academia and policymakers' decisions.

PurposeThe main objective of this work is to show that the traditional specific characteristics of companies as well as cultural and religious dimensions can influence the leverage of companies in different macro-environmental systems.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve this aim, the authors have used data from 1.568 firms from 7 European countries between 2010 and 2016, and the models were estimated by using panel data methodology, specifically the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation method by Arellano and Bover (1995) and Blundell and Bond (1998).FindingsOverall, the empirical results point out that the cultural moderating factors are essential in determining companies' capital structure, regardless of the country's legal origin. The study results also show that traditional variables, intrinsic to management, macroeconomic environment and religion, have a central role in capital structure, namely for the civilian countries.Originality/valueAs far as the authors know, this is the first work that uses, in addition to the traditional specific characteristics of companies, cultural dimensions and religion, as determinants of debt levels, in different legal systems for Europe.

Abstract This paper intends to analyze the determinants of audit fees in Portugal and Spain at a time when the audit profession has felt increasingly strong pressures on its ethical, independence and quality of professional attitude, showing that audit fees behave differently in these two countries. The liberalization of audit services' fees in Portugal, with the elimination in 2005 of the minimum audit fees table based on the audited company size, arouses the interest in perceiving the factors that determine audit fees. In Spain, the various financial scandals have placed audit fees in the main focus. These countries, which form the Iberian Peninsula, have a strongly related economic and cultural history, having also joined the European Union on the same date. In addition, audit fees have not been much studied in these countries, so it is important to perceive their behavior by comparing results. The results indicate that, in Spain, audit fees are determined mainly by the size, complexity and risk of the audited company. It was also found in Spain that the big four companies charge higher fees and companies that change their audit firm pay lower fees in the year of rotation. In Portugal, the size of the audited company was considered the only factor contributing to the determination of audit fees. The analysis includes a sample of 39 listed companies in Portugal and 104 companies listed in Spain for the period of 2013 to 2015 using the ordinary least squares.

Purpose
The purpose of this work is to study the connections generated between stock market indices, representing firms whose practices focus on fighting climate change and several global risk factors in accordance with the sustainability objectives defined in the 2030 Agenda. An endogenous perspective is adopted, considering the spillovers generated within the low carbon stock market sector, as well as the latter's exposure to exogenous shocks of an economic and financial nature.


Design/methodology/approach
This work uses a multivariate model of dynamic correlation (GARCH-corrected dynamic conditional correlation [cDCC]), which can accompany the correlations generated over time.


Findings
Considering five low carbon indices, representing various parts of the world, and four global macro-economic and financial variables, over a period of approximately eight years, it was possible to understand that the variables studied transmit between each other a statistically significant spillover. The period of the pandemic crisis shows a sharp increase in the information transmission process. It was also possible to conclude that some global variables are risk factors, performing the role of transmission channels for the spillover effects to low carbon indices, increasing the risk of contagion and reducing the possibilities of diversifying the investment portfolio.


Originality/value
Firstly, this work analyses the connection and spillover effects between low carbon indices. Secondly, considers an extended sample covering different market phases, particularly that of the pandemic crisis and the Ukrainian War, creating conditions to compare connection patterns between those indices. Thirdly, it studies the variable influence over time of global risk factors in the transmission of spillover between low carbon indices.

The following e-book was prepared as part of the Erasmus+ UNLOCK project, which has the objective of identifying the use of educational escape rooms (EERs) in higher education environments and examining the role of educators in those activities. The document presents a review of the existing body of academic literature on EERs, while capturing current approaches and practices from across the diverse line of disciplines, and challenges experienced in the adoption of EERs in the (higher) education settings. The literature review provides an overview of the status-quo of the EERs in the higher education sector, followed by UNLOCK project partner country reports (Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Lithuania, Portugal, and Spain) for targeted insights on the adoption of EERs in the local (higher) education contexts. We also present the synthesis report provides a discussion of the major findings, along with emerging themes and recommendations for further EER research and practice. ; Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union