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The study aims to empirically examine the effect of board industry expertise on environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy, and the mediating role of environmental innovation.

Using an unbalanced sample of 341 publicly traded Italian non-financial firms and data collected from multiple sources over the period 2017–2021, this study applies single-mediator models via ordinary least squares regressions.

Results indicate that directors’ industry expertise improves the corporate orientation toward sustainability strategy that is reflected in ESG objectives. This effect is partly mediated by a greater level of environmental innovation.

The article suggests regulators to promote eco-innovation-friendly investment initiatives due to their value in advancing corporate sustainability strategies.

The research fills a gap in the literature that has never explored the effect of board industry expertise on sustainability-related outcomes. Moreover, it advances the debate on the implications of board human capital by assessing its influence on ESG strategy and environmental innovation.

The study empirically investigates whether the board of directors' expertise in the focal firm's industry has implications for innovation input. Additionally, it explores how this relationship is shaped by the CEO's educational level and background in the technology area.

The article tests the hypothesized relationships through the Arellano–Bond generalized method of moment estimators, proxying innovation input by R&D to total sales. Moreover, it analyses a sample of privately-held Italian medium and large high-tech companies observed over four years by relying on a unique hand-collected dataset.

The research documents an inverted U-shaped relationship between board industry expertise and innovation input and shows that such curvilinear effect is moderated by the CEO's educational level and technology background. Specifically, while the curvilinear slope is less steep for highly educated CEO, it becomes steeper in the presence of technology trained CEO.

The paper recommends how to shape the board human capital as a meaningful driver of board effectiveness and innovation. Additionally, it calls the managerial attention towards the interaction and the interplay between board industry expertise and CEO education as able to influence the above-mentioned outcome.

While previous studies have focused on the linear and positive effect of board industry expertise on innovation, this research advances current knowledge in innovation management literature by testing the presence of a curvilinear relationship. Moreover, by exploring the moderating effect of CEO education, the paper provides a comprehensive picture on the interplay among board industry expertise, CEO educational training and innovation input.

This paper aims to develop a conceptual model that systematically interprets how key governance factors drive the alignment and the rent-extraction effects of executive stock options (SOs) as proxied by plan characteristics.

The authors draw on the review of 202 articles published in international academic journals. They collect data from library databases and by hand-searching and citation-tracking relevant papers on the topic. Moreover, the authors review and classify the studies as related with determinants or proxies of alignment and rent-extraction effects of SOs.

The conceptual model systematically interprets the results of the literature review and identifies the relationships between archetypes, driving factors and proxies of the rent/alignment effect of executive SOs. It highlights that, given ownership archetypes, effective (ineffective) governance practices drive the alignment (rent) aim of SOs as proxied by the optimal (non-optimal) plan design.

This paper supports compensation committees in selecting the SO characteristics that better attract investors and retain executives. Moreover, it guides future policy making interventions aiming at mitigating the rent-extraction effect of SOs.

The paper highlights that the governance determinants of SO aims can be effectively classified as archetypes or drivers of rent-extracting and aligning outcomes of these remuneration tools. Moreover, it offers a useful framework to guide future research efforts by providing a comprehensive interpretation of the relationships between ownership archetypes, driving factors and proxies of SO effects.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the implications of board human capital heterogeneity for company innovation by focusing on the educational and the functional background of directors. Moreover, it examines the moderating effect of the CEO expertise-overlap within the innovation domain on the relationship between board human capital heterogeneity and firm innovation.

The hypotheses are tested through a set of ordinary least squares regressions on a unique dataset of 149 Italian high-tech companies observed between 2012 and 2015.

Findings show that the educational and the functional background heterogeneity of directors increase both the innovation input and output. However, results highlight that these relationships are negatively moderated by the CEO expertise-overlap within the innovation domain.

The paper emphasizes the importance of appointing directors with different and specific educational and functional backgrounds to foster the company innovation.

The paper fills a gap in the literature as it has devoted limited attention to the performance implications of board human capital heterogeneity in the high-tech industry where knowledge and skills are the primary sources of value. Moreover, the paper integrates the research on the CEO-board interface by shedding light on how the CEO expertise within the innovation domain affects the contribution of heterogeneous boards to company innovation.

Building upon multiple theories (i.e. agency, signalling and human capital), this paper aims to explore the effects of directors’ education on audit fees and to assess the mediating role of audit committee (AC).

The authors use an econometric analysis of Italian-listed non-financial firms during the period 2012–2015 using single-mediator models through ordinary least squares and logit regressions. Moreover, the authors apply the path analysis with the bootstrap method to test the mediating effect.

Findings show that the directors’ level of education improves audit fees. Additionally, the presence of an AC and the financial expertise of its members mediate this relationship.

By offering insights into the implications for audit pricing of the board and AC human capital, the paper helps regulators and policy-makers to understand which characteristic of such governance bodies improves auditing quality and the provision of better financial reporting.

The study uses a unique data set hand-collected from multiple sources and advances the auditing literature by shedding light on the reasons behind the influence of directors’ characteristics on audit fees and on the role played by the AC.

This paper aims to provide insights on the gender-performance relationship, this paper studies the impact of board gender diversity on firm performance, by taking into account the “critical mass” of women directors and their educational level.

The hypotheses are tested on a unique dataset of 211 European Union publicly listed companies in 2012 belonging to the construction industry from 28 different countries through a set of ordinary least squares regressions.

The evidence shows that the “critical mass” rather than the simple presence of women has an incremental benefit on firm performance. In addition, results show that the educational level of women directors negatively affects firm performance, as it might impact the dynamics within the boardroom.

The quantitative nature of the study does not allow drawing strong inferences on behavioral processes and dynamics in and around the boardroom. Nevertheless, this study will open new research insights on exploring the educational level on board.

Regulators and policymakers that should be aware of the influence of women as a group on firm performance and that this role is differential across industries.

The novelty of this paper is that it investigates the role of women in a high masculine gender-specific industry and explores a still poorly understood demographic variable (i.e. the educational level) of women directors.