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The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry supply chains (SCs) in emerging markets. The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of these external stakeholders’ elements to the demand-side and supply-side drivers and barriers for improving competitiveness of Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry in the way of analyzing supply chain. Considering the phenomenon of recent change in the RMG business environment and the competitiveness issues this study uses the principles of stakeholder and resource dependence theory and aims to find out some factors which influence to make an efficient supply chain for improving competitiveness. The RMG industry of Bangladesh is the case application of this study. Following a positivist paradigm, this study adopts a two phase sequential mixed-method research design consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. Qualitative field study is then carried out to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. A survey is carried out with sample of top and middle level executives of different garment companies of Dhaka city in Bangladesh and the collected quantitative data are analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling. The findings support eight hypotheses. From the analysis the external stakeholders’ elements like bureaucratic behavior and country risk have significant influence to the barriers. From the internal stakeholders’ point of view the manufacturers’ and buyers’ drivers have significant influence on the competitiveness. Therefore, stakeholders need to take proper action to reduce the barriers and increase the drivers, as the drivers have positive influence to improve competitiveness.

This study has both theoretical and practical contributions. This study represents an important contribution to the theory by integrating two theoretical perceptions to identify factors of the RMG industry’s SC that affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. This research study contributes to the understanding of both external and internal stakeholders of national and international perspectives in the RMG (textile and clothing) business. It combines the insights of stakeholder and resource dependence theories along with the concept of the SC in improving effectiveness. In a practical sense, this study certainly contributes to the Bangladeshi RMG industry. In accordance with the desire of the RMG manufacturers, the research has shown that some influential constructs of the RMG industry’s SC affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. The outcome of the study is useful for various stakeholders of the Bangladeshi RMG industry sector ranging from the government to various private organizations. The applications of this study are extendable through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the functioning of a non-sanction “soft” gender quota policy structure (a simple recommendation), using the case of Spain. In the first part of the paper, the authors have reported the dismal improvement regarding the increase of female percentage presence in the companies’ boards of members.

The authors provide a detailed sectorial analysis and a classification of board members by type (executive, proprietary, independent and other external). In the second part, the authors exploit the fact that since 2013, the stock-listed companies are legally obliged to respond to a series of questions on gender diversity issues in their annual reports. Using this requirement, the authors perform an analysis using text processing techniques. The authors find that “self-plagiarism” is common in the responses – i.e. they copy responses from previous years – as well as “plagiarism” – i.e. they copy responses from other companies in previous years.

The insufficient progress in respect to the goals of the Law of Equality of 2007 (enacted by Spanish authorities) and the lack of interest that can be inferred from the companies’ responses included in their annual reports lead the authors to consider the necessity of changing the law on the corporate policies gender quotas in Spain.

It is the first study that realizes this type of analysis for Spain.

Societal barriers continue to cause gender disparities in women’s share of political authority. As a representative case study for the Arab Gulf region, this paper aims to investigate public opinion on adopting a nationwide quota for women’s participation in top government offices in the Qatar context. It gathers insights on the following question: How does public opinion respond to a proposed new political arrangement of implementing gender quota laws in Qatar?

Data were collected via a national telephone survey of a representative sample of 660 Qatari nationals chosen by simple random sampling. A regression analysis was performed for the primary outcome: support for a gender quota system that guarantees a specific proportion of places for women in the government and executive positions.

Unsurprisingly, the findings reveal gender variations in support for the three distinct types of egalitarian policy examined (i.e. a quota for women in top government positions; a quota for women in executive positions in public ministries; and equal wages), with women being more supportive than men.

Assessing the public attitudes toward adopting legislative gender quotas is of interest to policy-makers and civil organizations alike that seek to advance women’s political status and democratic representation.

This study is among the very few to empirically examine public opinion on quotas as state-directed initiatives to promote the involvement of women in political power in Qatar.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of racial and low-income quotas on academic performance of students from public and private universities in Brazil.

Using propensity score matching applied to student-level data from the National Examination of Student Performance conducted in 2012; this paper identifies the impact of the quota policy on academic performance considering all Brazilian universities.

The results indicate that there is no statistically significant difference in academic performance between students admitted under the racial quota and those who had the regular admission (non-quota students). The impact is positive, however, for students from the North region of Brazil and among those with very low family income, whereas a negative impact is observed for those from the Central-West region. In regard to the low-income quota, quota students perform worse than eligible non-quota students as their scores are, on average, 14 percent lower. Similar findings are observed when different subsamples are considered.

This paper’s main contribution is to provide a broader and more rigorous empirical approach than that presented by the existing literature in order to evaluate the impact of quota policies on academic achievement. Moreover, this study considers all Brazilian institutions whereas previous studies are limited to only one or a few universities.

The aim of this paper is to investigate how green certificates markets have developed in the European Union, with a view to producing consistent recommendations that could be used in future environmental strategies and policies to improve existing schemes for renewable energy promotion and support.

The study was conducted by combining a wide variety of sources, such as regulations, position papers, road‐maps, as well as articles and research reports. European experiences in using green certificates to support renewable energies were compared from the point‐of‐view of the legislative framework and national support systems.

The findings reveal that improvements in three major areas (legislative framework, national support systems, and cost reduction) are needed in order to achieve a better support for renewable energy generation.

The conclusions justify the effort invested in developing green certificates markets and are relevant for policy makers in a very sensitive sector to accomplish sustainability goals – the use of renewable energy. The study may represent a starting‐point for further research into renewable energy support systems, environmental issues and economic implications.

The paper provides a rational and comparative approach for finding solutions to the problems of green certificates markets in the European Union. The methodology and the results reported in this research could be used for exploring green certificates markets opportunities in other European countries.

This paper aims to seek the perceptions of potential future corporate managers and directors on the issues raised in the literature, especially recent articles in the corporate communications literature, concerning corporate board gender quotas. It focusses on the Czech Republic, where research on board gender diversity is sparse.

The study is part of much more comprehensive research into board gender diversity. It adopts a questionnaire approach, with this paper focussing on 13 research statements. A Likert Scale of 1–4 (Strongly Agree; Agree; Disagree; Strongly Disagree) was applied to the perceived views expressed. The questionnaires were completed by university students at a public university in the Czech Republic during March–April 2023. A pilot questionnaire was conducted in February 2023, resulting in minor changes being made. The data is analysed using SPSS and MedCalc® statistical software.

There is overwhelming opposition to quotas, even from women. The opinions expressed by the respondents to this research, in many respects, support the literature, but there is unmistakable evidence of gender bias. Regarding the positive female benefits of quotas, male respondents disagreed; regarding the negative issues of quotas, male respondents agreed more than their female counterparts.

The research findings have important implications for how women recruited through quotas may be received onto corporate boards – what challenges will they likely face? Some current female candidates for directorship, who would have been selected on merit and perceived as such by their male counterparts, may now be hesitant to apply for such positions if they are seen as being appointed due to quotas. Therefore, the selection procedure must continue to be based on merit and seen as such.

One of the important aspects of the paper is that it focusses on a country that has, until recently, resisted pressures to implement mandatory corporate board gender quotas; in this respect, it has a corpus of originality and value. The Czech Republic and other European countries will also be affected by the recent EU law on gender balance or corporate boards. The paper also highlights the perceptions of potential future directors on various issues of board gender quotas.

Discussions about the elimination of apparel quotas have focused on countries that obviously benefit or are harmed by their demise. Little attention has been paid to countries for which the post-quota environment is uncertain – and vital. As quotas were lifted in January 2005, uncertainty loomed particularly large for Turkey, the world's fourth largest apparel exporting nation. This paper utilizes secondary data and a survey to chronicle Turkish apparel exporters’ strategic expectations, preparations, and responses to the post-quota environment. The case details the unexpected consequences of quota elimination for the industry, including how the new competitive environment catalyzed many manufacturers to locate production in foreign lands.

The purpose of this paper is to model the Chinese unique regulation changes with the supply-and-demand analytical framework and structure the relationship between initial public offerings (IPO) underpricing and institutional changes with the comparative static method. A well-functioning stock market is crucial to the transition into a market economy, but the Chinese stock market is somehow twisted with frequent government interventions, particularly the IPO market. Can the underpricing issue be mitigated in the changing institutional settings? Can the market-orientated incremental reform of regulations succeed in the Chinese stock market?

The theoretical analysis confirms that IPO underpricing becomes relatively better with dynamic changes of relaxation of the approval and pricing systems. Collecting and examining the data of newly listed firms from 1993 to 2010, the influence of institutional changes on IPO underpricing with regressions, such as ordinary least square (OLS), bootstrap and two stage least square (2SLS) estimation methods was further empirically examined.

The magnitude of the Chinese IPO underpricing during the past two decades is as high as 181.6 per cent on the average. The sizes of IPO underpricing significantly reduce with an increase in the issuing sizes and the ratios of price-earnings ratios. The dummy variables of government-approved regulations are negatively associated with IPO underpricing. The dummy variables of pricing regulations are positively related to IPO underpricing and the coefficients become smaller with newer regulations. Generally, the magnitude of the Chinese IPO underpricing decreases over time.

This paper enriches the IPO literature by dynamically examining the effect of institutional changes on IPO underpricing in Chinese primary markets. We argue that institutional changes characterized by incremental marketization can help to alleviate extreme IPO underpricing and to promote financial development. The Chinese transition from the planning system to the market system in the IPO market will be a long and strenuous process, but it works.