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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between women on the board of directors and firm performance in a comparative analysis between Italy and Spain.

The generalized method of moment is employed to examine this relationship in a sample of 1,393 firm-year observations.

The results show that the presence of women on the board has a positive impact on the performance of Italian and Spanish firms. However, when the whole sample is divided into Italy and Spain, some results are remarkable. For Spain, the presence of women on the board has a positive influence on firm performance, whereas for Italy the authors find a negative and significant effect on firm performance. This study also finds that the “masculinity” dimension has a negative impact on firm performance.

The results of this study have several practical implications. First, masculinity differences within the countries can have a large impact on firm performance and can explain some differences between similar countries. Second, the legal system of countries might not explain adequately some differences in the decision-making process. Third, cultural values and thinking styles, in terms of masculinity, might better explain why the results on the relationship between female directors and firm performance are mixed. Fourth, the findings suggest that it is very important to promote gender equality, not only by passing laws but also taking action about the educational system.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the relationship between female directors and firm performance between Italy and Spain considering the cultural differences in term of “masculinity.”

el objetivo de este trabajo es examinar la relación entre la presencia de mujeres en el Consejo de Administración y el rendimiento de la empresa, realizando un análisis comparativo entre Italia y España.

Se emplea el método generalizado de los Momentos (GMM), utilizando una muestra de 1.393 observaciones.

los resultados muestran que la presencia de mujeres en el consejo tiene un impacto positivo en el rendimiento de las empresas italianas y españolas. Sin embargo, cuando se analizan por separado ambas submuestras se obtienen algunos resultados destacables. Para España, la presencia de mujeres en el consejo tiene un efecto positivo, mientras que para Italia la influencia resulta negativa. Este estudio también muestra que la dimensión “masculinidad” tiene un efecto negativo en la rentabilidad de la empresa.

Los resultados de este estudio tienen varias implicaciones prácticas. En primer lugar, la diferencia en la masculinidad entre países puede tener un gran impacto en el rendimiento de las empresas y explicar algunas diferencias entre países de características similares. En segundo lugar, el sistema legal de los países podría no explicar adecuadamente algunas diferencias en el proceso de toma de decisiones. En tercer lugar, los valores culturales y el modo de pensar, en términos de “masculinidad” podría explicar mejor el hecho de que los resultados de la relación entre consejeras y rendimiento de la empresa no sea concluyente. En cuarto lugar, nuestros hallazgos sugieren que es muy importante promover la igualdad de género no sólo a través de la aprobación de leyes, sino también actuando sobre el sistema educativo.

Que tengamos conocimiento, este es el primer estudio que investiga la relación entre la presencia de consejeras y rendimiento de la empresa para Italia y España considerando las diferencias culturales en términos de “masculinidad.”

The construction industry has traditionally been a male-dominated economic sector. Barely 10% of managers are women. On the other hand, this sector is considered an engine of the economy. For these reasons, it is important to examine the influence of women CEOs on financial variables of firms in the construction industry.

The empirical study is carried out using a sample from the Iberian Balance Sheet Analysis System record (“Sistema de Análisis de Balances Ibérico”, SABI). The sample includes 8,492 Spanish companies from the construction sector. The methodology employed is a three-stage least squares (3SLS) analysis. This methodology controls for the endogeneity of explanatory variables. It is employed in accordance with the peculiar characteristics of the sample, which includes data for only one year.

The results show that firms with a woman CEO have a lower level of debt, whatever the terms of the maturity of the debt are. In contrast to most previous evidence, firms managed by women are found to be less profitable.

The paper gives evidence of the influence of the CEO's gender on the performance (return and risk) of a firm. It provides original empirical evidence for the male-dominated construction sector. An extensive search identified no literature in which the researchers had focused on the construction industry.

East Asian industrializations and the crisis of Latin American developmentalism in the 1970s and 1980s have been at the center of disputes over the conditions leading to a socially optimal extension and intensification of capitalist production relations in the periphery. The contrast in regional styles and outcomes of development is deemed to be the key to a final adjudication between the competing analytical claims of neoclassical economists and statist currents within political economy. Neoclassical critiques of excessive Latin American tampering with markets find confirmation for neoliberal prescriptions in the open, export‐oriented East Asian regimes. That East Asian development is not a paragon of neoliberal virtue, and that relatively freer markets might not be the most important part of the story, is the crux of the enduring statist critique. Over a decade of contestation has given way to significant refinements, among them, a recognition of the importance of sequencing import‐and export‐substitution. The modicum of foresight and discipline that seems to be implied in proper sequencing has weighed in favor of the statist emphasis on the role of ‘developmental states.’ Even researchers disposed to enshrine the virtues of markets in the process of modernization, find it difficult not to concede that the East Asian record rests on more than macroeconomic stability; although they remain skeptical about the cruder claims of states successfully ‘picking winners and losers’ (Dollar and Sokoloff 1994). Perhaps the most enduring legacy of this controversy—only extreme zealots could deny this—is the mounting empirical evidence supporting the argument that economic development is an inherently discontinuous process, and reliance on the market institution leaves societies woefully unprepared to ‘negotiate’ through an unstable and asymmetrical international political economy.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze potentially significant differences in a series of relevant characteristics of universities’ technology transfer offices (TTOs). To this end, TTOs have been classified by the function of their resources assigned to the enhancement of university entrepreneurship. The factors analyzed are the number of academic spin-offs created with the support of TTOs as well as the TTOs’ age, experience, professionalization and relational capital.

The authors have performed a hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis to identify the groups of TTOs with homogeneous behavior and features. This multivariate technique allows determining whether it is possible to identify some differentiated conglomerates of TTOs.

The results of the cluster analysis allow concluding that the number of academic spin-offs created with the support of TTOs, the age and degree of professionalization of these TTOs, the experiences of their employees in matters related to entrepreneurship and their relationships with market actors explain the different levels of commitment of TTOs toward the enhancement of university entrepreneurship. In contrast with the expected results, the relationship between TTOs and academic actors does not seem to explain such differences.

This research contributes to the identification of the particular design characteristics that TTOs should exhibit to promote the entrepreneurial performance of universities, offering important recommendations to academic institutions regarding the efficient design of TTOs to manage university ambidexterity and to build TTOs’ entrepreneurial identity.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the importance of accounting in the management of Spanish military hospitals by the St John’s Order (SJO) of the Roman Catholic Church in the eighteenth century, a time of crisis between the Church and the State. The sacred mission of the Order required that they had a significant role outside the Roman Catholic Church in the care and treatment of the sick and infirm which required them to establish hospitals throughout Spain and across the lands that it had conquered. The study establishes that accounting played a key role in ensuring the success of the unconventional commercial relationship between the SJO and the government and the military.

Niebuhr’s typology is used to help understand how accounting practices were consistent, indeed essential, expectations of the sacred mission of the SJO and not something which represented a denial of the Order’s religious beliefs. The paper relies primarily on documents and other material located in Spanish archives.

The SJO accepted that secular accounting and accountability processes were relevant to their search for God’s love and to showing this love to others. The need for the Order to be accountable to the State was not regarded as profane and antithetical to their religious beliefs. Adopting Niebuhr’s typology of religion and society, this study concludes that the Order was an extraordinary example of Christ the transformer of the culture.

This study recognises the need to deepen the understanding of the way in which accounting practices have often played a critical role in the activities of religious organisations by examining an extraordinary example of one organisation which was engaged in an unusual, ongoing, highly complex commercial relationship with the Spanish State.

Advancements in Internet technologies greatly influence digital humanities, yet research investigating web3 (i.e. the blockchain-based, decentralised web) within that domain remains limited. The purpose of this paper is to address that gap, presenting a state-of-the-art synthesis of web3-related technologies for digital humanities infrastructures and exploring associated risks and challenges.

Following a review of the literature, the authors scope out ways blockchain technology, peer-to-peer decentralised storage and other web3 technologies could support digital humanities infrastructures, especially in the context of digital cultural heritage. In this discussion, particular cognisance is given to the needs and aims of the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council funded Towards a National Collection programme, which seeks to break down the barriers that exist between the UK’s cultural heritage collections.

Web3 introduces novel tools and processes that could benefit digital humanities infrastructures, enabling decentralisation and facilitating open access data storage. Yet, significant barriers to adoption remain, such as the requirement for highly specialised technical expertise. Risks and challenges must also be considered prior to any use, including legal, ethical and technical safeguards.

This study explores opportunities and risks of web3 for digital humanities, through the lens of digital cultural heritage infrastructures and their requirements, including decentralised storage and persistent identification. It does not provide a holistic overview of all web3 technologies.

The authors identify practical uses of web3 technologies for digital humanities projects, outlining potential applications concerning decentralised storage and persistent identification.

The authors push forward current knowledge and literature on the intersection of web3 and digital humanities, outlining also practical recommendations for scholars, practitioners and funding organisations.