IE Repository
IE University Institutional Open Repository
Welcome to IE University Repository, an open access platform that collects, manages, and preserves the academic and research output of our university. This Repository aims to enhance the visibility and impact of our research community while fulfilling open access mandates from funding agencies and institutional policies, such as Law 17/2022 on Science, Technology, and Innovation, in addition to the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) for accreditations and sexenios (recognition of six-year research period).
Communities
Recent Submissions
Unveiling the Myth: A Causal Reassessment of Gender Diversity's Impact on Corporate Environmental Performance
(2025-04-15) González, Ainara; Gabaldón, Patricia; Gelabert, Liliana; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75
This study reassesses the impact of gender diversity in corporate boards on firms’ environmental performance, using a panel of 4,950 firm-year observation from Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 companies from 2010 to 2020. Using traditional econometric techniques such as Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Instrumental Variables (IV), we initially find strong evidence suggesting that appointing women to corporate boards enhances environmental performance. These results remain robust across different instruments, control variables, and fixed effects specifications. However, when employing a more rigorous causal identification strategy through Staggered and Honest Difference-in-Differences (DID) methodologies, we find no significant evidence supporting a causal relationship. Instead, our findings reveal that firms tend to adopt greener practices before appointing women directors, suggesting that corporate sustainability strategies and board gender diversity evolve concurrently rather than in a causally linked manner. Our results call for a reevaluation of the existing evidence on gender diversity and environmental performance and highlight the need for more robust causal methodologies in examining corporate governance and sustainability dynamics.
The novel liquid learning system and the online gap in academic performance
(Routledge, 2021-10-08) González, Ainara; Alegría, Rodrigo; Cárabe, Pablo; Chahoud, Alejandro; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75
This research considers the innovative educational strategy known as the liquid learning system, which allows students attending classes either online or face-to-face. This system was implemented for the first time at a private European university in 2020 as a reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic. Emphasis is placed on the effect of the online choice on student academic performance. Using Instrumental Variables to control for self-selection bias, our findings show a significant gap in the form of lower grades for online students. Quantile regressions reveal that those in the lower tail of the grade distribution are the most adversely affected
Indicadores comentados sobre el estado del sistema educativo español 2024
(2024) Scarlat, Elvira; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75
Esta décima edición dedica un capítulo especial al informe PISA y cuenta también con los comentarios de un amplio grupo de expertos que comentan aspectos significativos de nuestro sistema de educación y formación.
Connectivity in the Virtual Office Space: Catalyst or Impediment to TMT Agility?
(Springer, 2022) Scarlat, Elvira; Neacsu, Ionela; M. Elvira, Marta; Rodríguez-Lluesma, Carlos; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75
In today’s fast-paced and uncertain business landscape, coping with technology developments, increased demand for innovative products, and competitive shifts require top management teams (TMTs) to respond to these challenges with increasingly higher levels of agility. Given the recent rise of ICT in business communication, in this conceptual paper we build on the attention-based view of the firm to shed light on the impact of ICT in shaping the TMT agility. We discuss how ICT can either enhance or impair TMT agility, and identify TMT- and firm-level contingencies that boost the interplay between the two concepts.
Insider Trading Restrictions and Earnings Management
(Taylor & Francis, 2020-01-22) Scarlat, Elvira; Garcia Osma, Beatriz; Shields, Karin; https://ror.org/02jjdwm75
We study whether firms that voluntarily restrict insider trading have lower incentives for earnings management. Using a large sample of US firms, we measure these restrictions based on the extent to which insider transactions happen shortly after quarterly earnings announcements. We find that the adoption of insider trading restrictions is associated with a reduction of 9.92% in absolute discretionary accruals. Our findings are robust to controlling for changes in corporate governance, and we do not find evidence of a substitution effect between accruals and real earnings management, target beating or timeliness of loss recognition. Taken together, our results indicate that the voluntary adoption of blackout periods that limit insider trading improves the quality of financial reporting.
We are on
