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This paper aims to investigate the relationship between gender diversity in CEO positions and FinTech profitability by exploring the moderating role of the average board age on such a relationship.

A unique data set of Italian FinTech companies during the 2017–2019 period was used in an ordinary least square model specification. The model is designed to assess the relationship between the presence of a female CEO and FinTech profitability and the moderating role of the average age of governing board members.

The results of this study indicate that when the average age of the FinTech firm’s board members is relatively low, the profitability of those firms with female CEOs was not significantly different from the profitability of firms with male CEOs. However, among FinTech firms with relatively older board members, the profitability of those firms with a female CEO was lower. This empirical result seems to suggest that older board directors are less prone to recognize female CEO leadership qualities. This supports the need for FinTech firms to adopt good practices in board composition that favor gender inclusion and diversity on board.

The novelty of this study within the literature is that the empirical analysis added new evidence on the relationship between Female CEO and performance by exploring the moderating role of the average age of board members. Moreover, the empirical results of this study suggest specific conditions that could improve the profitability of female-led firms by removing the apparent biased perceptions about the quality of women in leadership among older board members.

In recent years, the penetration of digital technologies in the financial industry determined the arising of Fintech, which generated a dynamic and rapid change that business operators and supervisory authorities in the banking industry are struggling to follow it. This is especially due to issues affecting financial intermediaries and customers, and potential risks of stability of the financial system. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of Fintech in the banking industry thus to update the knowledge about technology innovation in the banking sector, identify the major trends in the domain and delineate future research directions.

The study reviews 377 articles indexed on Scopus from 2014 to 2021 that focus on Fintech and the banking industry. The methodology adopted is structured in two steps: the keywords selection and the analysis of the documents extracted. The first step identified “Fintech” and “bank” as keywords to be searched within the title, abstract or keywords of documents indexed on Scopus; whereas the second step combined R and VOSviewer to provide a descriptive analysis of the dataset and the analysis of keywords and occurrences, respectively.

Results achieved in the study allow providing a systemic view of the Fintech in the banking industry, including the emergent phenomenon of digital banking. In particular, it is provided with a general overview and descriptive information on the entire sample of documents analyzed, their authors, the keywords used and the most cited works. Besides, a deepening on the model of digital banking is provided, by delineating the six dimensions of the key effects generated by the digital bank model.

Two main elements of originality characterize this study. The first one is related to the fact that few review studies have been published on Fintech in the banking industry, and the second one concerns the multiple dimensions of the impact of Fintech in the banking sector, which includes customer, company, bank, regulation authority and society.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test if the interaction between universities and spin-offs, as proxy of knowledge translation (KT), which is based in particular on negotiation, semantics and pragmatics, has a positive impact on spin-off performance – in terms of greater distance from the “valley of death” – and allows access to credit and financial instruments.

The authors adopt an appropriate nonparametric conditional efficiency approach for panel data. The authors provide a unique picture of the innovation environment in Italy using an original dataset. These data provide information regarding the intensity of interaction between universities and spin-offs along with financial balance datasheet of the spin-offs. The nonparametric approach is particularly suitable for nonlinear relationships typical for this type of data.

The results of the analysis confirm that the translation of knowledge, based on negotiation of interests, semantics of the text and pragmatism, favored by the interaction between universities and spin-offs, improves the productivity performance of the spin-off by allowing them to move away from the “valley of death”. Therefore, universities must pay particular attention to the way they work with spin-offs by making use of the translation of knowledge, based on semantics and pragmatism, in order to encourage an understanding of knowledge, sharing of interests among the partners and stakeholders of the spin-off, often belonging to different backgrounds. These are processes that favor the transfer and development of research outcomes to the market, improving the spin-off competitiveness of the territory and strengthening relations with universities and their stakeholders (banks and financial intermediaries, local and national politicians, institutions and the community at large).

Implications for research can be identified at policy and managerial level and refer to the effectiveness of the so called “Third Mission”, university entrepreneurship through the creation of profitable spin-offs which contribute to innovation, and to the socioeconomic development of the territory. In turn, spin-offs with good performances are more likely to have access to external financing to allow the growth of their business in the market. Further studies can investigate the organizational way of the universities that promote these virtuous results, distinguishing them by spin-off efficiency clusters.

For universities, the results make it possible to envisage organizational processes to support spin-offs that are important both for compliance with the regulations and for the Third Mission. Researchers, teachers and PhD academics have the opportunity to exploit the results of their innovative research on the market. Spin-offs and start-up founders should note that the results of scientific transfer can create value for the firm and the territory. Useful information also derives for banks and financial intermediaries that intend to improve the credit risk assessment of the spin-offs during the loan assessment phase.

The value of the work entails in offering a unique overview of university innovation, through an original dataset and a robust methodology. By adopting a different approach, the contribution of KT at national level was assessed, measuring the impact on the technical performance and on the probability of survival of the companies. Originality of the paper lies not only in the approach but also in the fact that this is the first attempt to use the KT as a key factor for the economic sustainability from a financial perspective of start-up companies.

Whereas most societal commentators continue to review the historical patterns of men’s leadership in search of models for 21st-century success, few have begun to recognize, let alone appreciate, the equivalent patterns of women’s leadership and the future contributions that women could potentially make as leaders. What could and are women bringing to society as global leaders? Why at this moment in history is there such a marked increase in the number of women leaders? Are we entering an era in which both male and female leaders will shape history, both symbolically and in reality? And if so, will we discover that women, on average, lead in different ways than men, or will we learn that role (global leader) explains more than gender? This chapter reveals the accelerating trends of women joining men in senior leadership positions, establishes the relationship of women leaders to our overall understanding of global leadership, and sets forth an agenda to accomplish much needed research and understanding.

The use of digital technologies in the financial service industry has brought new complexities to the corporate governance in banks. Relying on the agency perspective of the shareholder, debtholder and societal governance in banks, this research examines the impact of financial technology innovation (FinTech) on banks' performance by enlightening the monitoring role of female independent directors.

Relying on a sample of Italian banks observed during the period 2016–2020, the authors hand-collected data on the use of FinTech by considering (1) the in-house provisions of FinTech solutions, (2) the collaboration with external FinTech firms and (3) a combination of both measures. The authors run a panel data regression analysis with fixed effects, measuring bank performance through bank competitiveness and bank riskiness.

The authors find that FinTech increases bank competitiveness in gathering money from depositors and that independent women on board mitigate the negative relationship between FinTech and the riskiness of banks' assets, ameliorating the conflicting interests among shareholders, debtholder and societal governance.

This study emphasizes the complexities of bank governance when dealing with FinTech in the wider perspective of equity governance, debt governance and the societal governance spotlighting the importance of appointing female directors in independent positions to enhance the bright sides of financial innovation. The authors enrich the literature on FinTech with a finer understanding of the drivers and implications of in-house provisions of FinTech solutions versus the collaboration with external FinTech firms.