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Does genetic diversity on corporate boards lead to improved environmental performance?
Get PDFElsevier
Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money
Volume 84, April 2023, 101756
Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money
Does genetic diversity on corporate boards lead to improved environmental performance?
Author links open overlay panelRenatas Kizys a, Emmanuel C. Mamatzakis b, Panagiotis Tzouvanas c
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intfin.2023.101756
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Highlights
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We examine the effect of boards’ genetic diversity (GENETICD) on corporate ESG performance.
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ESG performance and disclosures are higher in more genetically diverse firms.
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The positive GENETICD effect on ESG performance is driven by the environmental pillar.
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Corporate carbon performance significantly improves with increases in GENETICD.
We study the effects of boards’ genetic diversity on corporate environmental performance. Using a multidimensional information set for 3690 US firms during the period from 2005 to 2019, and three different measures of genetic diversity, we find that, pursuant to the diversity theory, which posits that diversity improves the quality of management decisions and business ethics, genetic diversity leads to improved environmental performance. We also find that genetic diversity improves carbon and governance performance, and ESG disclosure. Particularly, a one percentage point increase in boards’ genetic diversity will increase the carbon performance, measured by the inverse of the carbon emissions to total assets ratio, and environmental performance by 3.54% and 5.57%, respectively. Our results remain robust to different model specifications, while also controlling for endogeneity. In terms of policy implications, results suggest that the key to tackling climate challenges is to promote boards’ genetic diversity
Comparative cognition: Capuchin monkeys believe in magic
Get PDFCapuchin monkeys are unique among New World monkeys for their manual dexterity and use of tools. New research using magical sleight of hand shows visual perception of others’ actions paralleling their manual skills
Potato soup: true stories, real life
No full textFairy Tales celebrates art and film that explores this evolving narrative form and the fascination it has commanded for centuries.
Drawing on popular themes of magic, enchantment and transformation, the paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, film clips, props and costumes draw not only on well-known narratives - such as 'Little Red Riding Hood', 'Sleeping Beauty', 'Snow White' and 'Hansel and Gretel' - but also lesser-known stories to examine anxieties around power imbalances, injustice and fighting adversity.
Stunning works by international artists and filmmakers including Yayoi Kusama, Kiki Smith, Tracey Moffatt, Ron Mueck, Jim Henson and Maurice Sendak, among many others, demonstrate the ways fairy tale motifs and metaphors continue to upend established ideas and confront real-world challenges; illustrating how, in publication contributor Jack Zipes's words, 'fairy tales have a meaningful social function in revealing the gaps between truth and falsehood in our society'.
This sumptuous hardback book produced to accompany QAGOMA's blockbuster summer exhibition of the same name interprets fairy tale tropes within contemporary artistic and sociopolitical discourses, with scholarly contributions from exhibition curator Amanda Slack-Smith, Curatorial Manager, Australian Cinémathèque, as well as eminent fairy tale experts Pauline Greenhill, Marina Warner and Jack Zipes. Australian novelist and screenwriter Holly Ringland also contributes a new short story in response to the exhibition's themes.
Fairy Tales features full-colour illustrations of all artworks in the exhibition, as well as a complete 'Fairy Tales' film program listing
Freedom of Information in Europe: creation, context, and conflict
Get PDFBook synopsis: This edited volume offers a critical discussion of the trade-offs between transparency and secrecy in the actual political practice of democratic states in Europe. As such, it answers to a growing need to systematically analyse the problem of secrecy in governance in this political and geographical context.
Focusing on topical cases and controversies in particular areas, the contributors reflect on the justification and limits of the use of secrecy in democratic governance, register the social, cultural, and historical factors that inform this process and explore the criteria used by European legislators and policy-makers, both at the national and supranational level, when balancing interests on the sides of transparency and secrecy, respectively.
This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of security studies, political science, European politics/studies, law, history, political philosophy, public administration, intelligence studies, media and communication studies, and information technology sciences
Factors affecting the success of product/service innovation among SMEs in Ghana: the moderating role of functional diversity and strategic alignment
No full textThe study examined the factors that affect the success of product/service innovation among SMEs in Ghana as well as the moderating role of functional diversity and strategic alignment in the relationship between the factors affecting product/service innovation success among SMEs in Ghana. A sample of five hundred (500) respondents involved in the innovation activities of their firms were drawn using a purposive sampling method. The reliability and validity of the constructs were met. The results
showed that organizational capabilities and product/service characteristics were positively related to innovation success while competitive environment influenced innovation success negatively. The moderating role of functional diversity and strategic alignment played a significant role in the factors affecting innovation success relationship. Furthermore, the positive moderating role of strategic
alignment in the relationship between innovation factors and the success of product/service innovation means that SMEs can align all their strategies, which gives them a competitive advantage.
As a result of the findings, the study recommended the need for firms to strengthen the capabilities of the organization, capitalize on product/service characteristics and customize the implementation of best innovation practices in their own organization
Emotional, attitudinal, and sociobiographical sources of flow in online and in-person EFL classrooms
No full textFlow reflects an optimal balance of challenge and skill, which is exhilarating and addictive. The
current study investigates the role of three learner emotions (enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom)
on the proportion of class time in flow among 165 Arab and Kurdish English as a Foreign
Language (EFL) students in both in-person and online classes. Statistical analyses revealed that
Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE), and more specifically, the dimension Personal FLE, was a
significant positive predictor of flow, while Foreign Language Boredom was a significant negative
predictor. Contrary to previous research, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety had no
significant negative effect on flow. Further analyses showed that students’ nationality and their
attitudes toward English and their English teacher had significant effects on their time in flow.
It thus seems that flow becomes possible when the teacher manages to get learners in the right
emotional mood, allowing those who enjoy themselves intensely to rise to a state of flow, both
in in-person and online classes
Independent family planning: choosing solo motherhood through gamete donation. A guide for fertility healthcare professionals
Get PDFThis 20 page booklet on Solo Parenthood by Choice (SPBC) has been developed by a team of 6 on the lived experiences of solo mothers at the stages of family planning, choosing donor gametes, embarking on the conception journey, pregnancy, and birth. This booklet has been developed for fertility clinics throughout the United Kingdom. T
Funded by the Wellcome Trust. Published March 2023.
Peer reviewed by The Donor Conception Network, Dr Thanos Papathanasiou (Bourn Hall Clinic), and Dr Suzy Buckley (UCL)
Road junction configurations and the severity of traffic accidents in Japan
Get PDFIn many countries, 40–60% of the traffic accidents occur at junctions, making the reduction of junction accidents paramount to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals. In Japan, the road safety guidelines specify the proximity between junctions and non-perpendicular angles at junctions as the two main risk factors behind junction accidents, yet their impact remains understudied. Using binomial logistic regression models, this study investigates the impact of junction intervals and junction angles on the severity of traffic accidents. The study found that, in general, (1) shorter intervals between adjacent junctions helps reduce the risk of serious accidents, which is the opposite of the current road safety guidelines in Japan, and (2) results from the junction angle analysis were mixed but there was no evidence that the roads should meet at a right angle to reduce traffic accidents. Some types of accidents also returned a non-linear curve, e.g., vehicle-to-vehicle collisions at four-armed junctions involving a driver aged 65 years and over have the highest risk of fatal/serious accidents when adjacent junctions were 32 m apart, and the risk reduces at a shorter or longer interval. These results suggest that the current road safety guidelines require updating to improve road safety around junctions
Assessing the quality of greenspace for people and wildlife
Get PDFGreen infrastructure refers to connected corridors of greenspaces within and beyond urban areas. It provides sustainable ecosystem goods and services for people and wildlife, enhancing their wellbeing and protecting them against climatic extremes. However, the exact contributing factors to the betterment of green infrastructure are not systematically examined at a national level. This study aims to identify what helps improve biodiversity and the recreational value of green infrastructure. The study uses hotspot analysis, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and geographically weighted regression (GWR) to understand the spatial patterns of the relevant variables and outcomes. Findings suggest that high wildlife species richness was reported in Forestry Commission woodlands and country parks, whilst doorstep greens and village greens returned poor species richness. The recreational value of greenspace was affected the most by certain types of greenspace (e.g., woodlands) as well as the percentage of urban cover. They indicate that biodiversity is generally high in areas away from urban centres, while access to greenspace in an urban space brings us high recreational value. These results indicate that green infrastructure is a complex system that requires the right balance between different priorities and services
Can personality predict foreign language classroom emotions? The devil’s in the detail
Get PDFPersonality has been identified as a possible antecedent to emotions experienced in the foreign language (FL) classroom. However, contrasting results and differing personality models have resulted in ambiguous findings. This study set out to delve deeper into the role of personality as a predictor of FL emotions through a series of increasingly restrictive statistical models on a sample of n=246 FL learners. The relationships between personality – operationalised as global and lower-order factors in the Five Factor Model – and the FL emotions of Foreign Language Enjoyment, Anxiety, and Boredom were examined. The global factors of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness, and the lower-order factors of Trust, Dutifulness, and Cheerfulness were significant predictors of FL emotions. However, the complexity of personality as a predictor variable is demonstrated in the intricacy of the results and as such the inclusion of personality in explanatory models of FL emotions ought to be approached with caution
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