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The introduction of gender quota laws in many countries has garnered significant attention in the literature and in the political discourse. Proponents of this solution emphasise its potential to bolster opportunities for women, foster their participation on boards of directors and improve corporate governance, market value and firm performance. Conversely, opponents express concerns regarding the possibility of appointing less-qualified women, thereby diminishing board effectiveness and potentially leading to negative consequences on firm market value and performance. This study aims to address this ongoing debate by examining the impact of gender quota laws on firm performance.

The impact of gender quota laws on firm performance, measured through ROE, ROA and ROI, is evaluated using a database of 27,977 Italian firms and adopting a two-stage traditional treatment effect model.

The econometric analysis reveals a negative impact of the gender quota law on firm performance.

This study contributes to the academic debate on the pros and cons of imposing gender quota laws by providing empirical evidence on their impact on firm performance.

The paper aims to explore how family involvement influences family firms (FF) decisions to innovate in automation (i.e. artificial intelligence, big data and robotics). Automation implies pronounced emotional significance within the shared societal consciousness, presenting specific intricacies that pose challenges to the strategic decision-making processes of FFs.

This study draws on the levels of ambivalence described in the literature and the FF archetypes (i.e. enmeshed FFs, balanced FFs and disengaged FFs), which are characterised by a different relationship between the family and the firm. Empirically, this study adopts a qualitative approach, conducting three case studies involving FFs that have registered patents in automation technologies.

A distinctive pattern emerged among the different FF archetypes in their approach to innovation in automation. Innovation in automation will be limited in enmeshed FFs (based on emotional concerns at the firm level), while it will be supported in balanced FFs (based on a balanced view between emotional concerns at the family level and economic aspects at the firm level) and in disengaged FFs (based on economic considerations at the firm level).

Our research, focussing on the strategic choice of family firms (FFs) to innovate in automation, fills an important gap and investigates an area with relatively scant research despite the current importance of automation. Additionally, we consider the ambivalence that characterises family firms, providing a nuanced understanding of how emotional dynamics within the family-business interface influence strategic decisions.

This study examines the propensity to innovate in automation of family firms (FFs) based on the socio-emotional wealth (SEW) perspective.

This study’s analysis is based on three aspects. First, the authors consider three main non-economic goals and priorities of FFs: the family’s relationship with employees (read as to care for their satisfaction and well-being); the inner pride of building and maintaining the family and firm image and reputation; and the inner feeling to be socially responsible. Second, the authors consider how these goals and priorities vary among FFs according to four dimensions: family ownership, the presence of family members on the board of directors, the involvement of young successors, and the presence of founding and later generations. Finally, the consequences of automation are considered: lower firm employment, lower employees’ satisfaction and well-being, and higher firm productivity. The analysis is based on a sample of 4,150 Italian firms.

The analysis revealed that FFs are less prone to innovate in automation than non-FFs. Specifically, family ownership, the presence of family members on the board of directors, and the presence of founding generation are negatively associated with innovation in automation. Instead, the involvement of young successors and the presence of later generation are positively associated with innovation in automation.

To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first investigation that, based on SEW, examines how FFs act on the decision to innovate in automation, thereby providing empirical evidence.

This study aims to analyze how the interplay between hard and soft elements of total quality management (TQM) produces the conditions for sustaining success in the quest for quality.

A qualitative analysis (Gioia method) was carried out on an original dataset collected through both direct and indirect methods (i.e. archival sources, interviews and observations) to generate a new interpretive framework.

The interpretative framework identifies four categories of elements: trigger elements create the starting conditions for a quality virtuous cycle; benchmarking tools set the standards of performance; improvement tools enable exploration of the space of possible alternative practices and finally, catalytic forces allow the institutionalization of effective techniques discovered in this search process into new standards.

The findings the authors present in this paper are derived by a single case study, limiting the generalizability of our results in other settings.

This study has three implications: first, the design of trigger elements is critical for the success of any TQM initiative; second, the interplay of improvement and benchmarking tools at several levels should be coherent and third, to exploit the potential of TQM, efforts should be devoted to the dissemination of new effective practices by means of catalyzing elements.

The model provides a more specific understanding of the nature and purpose of the hard and soft elements of TQM and the dynamic interaction between the two classes of elements over time.

This paper aims to contribute to research in the field of social innovation and participatory policies through the analysis of the experimental “Quartiere bene comune” project implemented by Reggio Emilia municipality. The paper focuses on the planning strategies, the operational co-design methodologies and the programming of the used processes.

Firstly, the paper reviews the regulatory instruments and previous participatory policies implemented in Italy. Secondly, it describes the approaches and methodologies used in the context of participatory policies, through strategic planning and according to bottom-up governance models.

The study assesses the quality of the non-standardized solutions which were adopted, both in terms of community daily needs and of management of public space. Such assessment relies on a system of measurable numerical indicators, to the goals established within the pre-agreements between public administration and community and to the ensuing consistency with the indicators provided for in the planning and executive management plan of the public body.

This paper proposes a new model for the evaluation of public action, capable of highlighting the relation between assumptions, operative processes, results and impacts achieved. The study is limited to the case of seven sample neighbourhoods of a single city, in which the Citizen Agreement cycle has been completed.

The study contributes to defining the framework of participatory practices in terms of active citizenship and organizational/social innovation and proposes a new methodology of impact assessment.

E-Procurement (EP) can be defined as using the Internet in the purchasing process (de Boer, Harink & Heijboer, 2002). This paper focuses on the EP implementation process. Such process is defined as the way new technologies are absorbed by organizations and become part of their routines (Capaldo, Raffa & Zollo, 1994; Leonard-Barton, 1988; Leonard & Spring, 2002). This paper illustrates the preliminary results of an explorative study focused on the implementation process of an e-procurement system in the Italian-public-health-care system. Drawing on the ICT implementation process literature, this research aims at contributing to the identification of a set of conditions under which different EP forms appear appropriate in different purchasing and organizational settings (Min & Galle, 1999; Emiliani, 2000).

This paper investigates the income dynamics of Italian primary sector, during and after the international economic crisis. It focuses on three research questions: what has been the evolution of the main profitability ratios of agricultural enterprises in recent years? After the crisis, have the surviving farms increased their profitability? Has the profitability been different also in relation to the geographic location?

Income dynamics of a sample of companies have been analyzed, obtaining the 10-year evolution of the average value of three income indices (return on equity [ROE], return on assets [ROA] and return on sales [ROS]). Statistical elaborations and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method have been used.

The years of the international economic crisis are often characterized by higher incomes than the following ones. The descending trend involves all three national macroareas of Italy, although characterized by considerable socioeconomic differences.

The study considers only the society that survived the crisis, so, presumably, the strongest. Moreover, other ratios should be considered in order to have a more complete view.

Public policymakers could use this study for a better intervention in support of agricultural and agro-industrial activities.

The careful economic and financial analysis of the sector favors the relaunching strategies of the Italian primary sector in which many employees work.

The research contributes to the literature by providing a quantitative analysis of the dynamics of the sector, through the comparative information that may be derived from financial statements.

The purpose of the paper is to examine the effect of chief executive officer (CEO) succession on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and whether the characteristics of the incoming CEO, in terms of both gender and career horizon, are able to affect the relationship between CEO succession and ESG score.

The paper investigates a sample of European-listed companies between 2010 and 2021. Difference-in-difference and fixed-effects regressions are employed as the base empirical methodology. In addition, the robustness of the empirical findings is assessed by employing alternative methodologies and a different ESG proxy.

The empirical findings show the existence of a positive link between CEO succession and ESG performance and that this relationship is affected by two characteristics of the incoming CEO. Specifically, the empirical evidence indicates that the positive effect is magnified by the gender and the career horizon of the incoming CEO.

Considering the lack of research, this paper is the first one that opens a debate about the effects of CEO succession on corporate ESG performance in several European countries. By employing a unique sample of European listed firms, which has never been examined in other empirical research, this study highlights the importance of the demographic features of the incoming CEOs that should be taken into consideration during their selection process.

This paper aims to understand how institutions influence a Geographical Indication (GI) region to create value over time. The study examines a Brazilian wine industry that has lasted for about a century, using ten recent years of primary data collection (2012–2022).

This paper developed a qualitative study that looks at coopetition and institutions and considers the GI as an institution. It collected the data from 33 representatives of the Brazilian wine industry in three stages (2012–2013, 2017 and 2022).

The results show that coopetitive strategies between Brazilian wineries are encouraged by both formal and informal institutions, which results in a GI becoming a collective institution. Value creation, however, drives new entrants aiming to achieve gains, and this risks destroying the GI due to the perception of lack of balance on value capture over time.

This study describes the creation and evolution of a GI for developing wine production in a particular grape-growing region in Brazil, which has, consequently, encouraged coopetition between supply chain agents leading to value creation. Most wineries, however, lack a value capture perception, which has resulted in the risk of value being destroyed by allowing new entrants into the cluster. The three stages of data collection and analysis provide an understanding of coopetitive strategies over the long term.