Luigi Vena

Since its inception, research on Integrated Reporting (IR) has progressed along multiple paths. Yet two critical questions remain underexplored: (1) whether the quality—rather than mere adoption—of IR is value relevant, and (2) how the legal environment might moderate this relationship. This study addresses these gaps using a panel dataset of 78 IR adopters, identified as leading practices by the International Integrated Reporting Council, over the 2017–2020 period. The findings contribute to the IR literature in two ways. First, building on the relatively underexplored theoretical perspective of proprietary cost theory, this study integrates it with agency theory to analyze the impact of IR disclosure quality. The study shows that IR quality has a positive association with firm value, illustrating that quality matters above and beyond adoption alone. Second, the study complements agency theory with neo-institutional theory to further investigate the relationship between IR disclosure quality and capital market outcomes. Results demonstrate that this relationship is moderated by the legal context: it is stronger in countries (a) where IR is voluntary and (b) with civil law legal systems. These insights suggest that regulators should not only encourage IR adoption but also nudge higher-quality disclosures. Aware of these benefits, managers may further fine-tune IR quality to maximize its impact on the firm’s market value.

Il Decreto Legislativo 6 settembre 2024, n. 125, che recepisce la Direttiva (UE) 2022/2464 (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive - CSRD), segna una tappa fondamentale nel panorama normativo italiano, estendendo l'obbligo di reporting di sostenibilità e quindi di rendicontazione sui temi ESG (ambientale, sociale e di governance) non solo alle grandi imprese, ma anche alle piccole e medie imprese (PMI) quotate nei mercati regolamentati. Con l'introduzione dei nuovi European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), la sostenibilità e la trasparenza nella comunicazione dei dati ESG diventano tematiche sempre più rilevanti per le aziende, che devono rispondere alle crescenti aspettative di investitori, stakeholder e autorità regolatorie. La ricerca presentata in questo report, condotta tramite un'indagine con questionario, esplora le tematiche ESG dal punto di vista degli investitori istituzionali presenti nell'azionariato delle PMI quotate al mercato Euronext Growth Milan (EGM) di Borsa Italiana. L'EGM, registrato come mercato di crescita per le PMI ai sensi della MiFID II, è un sistema multilaterale di negoziazione (o MTF - multilateral trading facility) e non un mercato regolamentato. Tuttavia, rappresenta per le PMI un'importante opportunità di accesso al mercato dei capitali, favorendo la loro crescita e visibilità a livello nazionale e internazionale. L'obiettivo principale di questa ricerca è analizzare, quindi, le attese degli investitori riguardo l'informativa ESG che le imprese quotate in questo mercato forniscono. Sebbene non siano soggette a obblighi in materia di rendicontazione ESG, le PMI sono fortemente incoraggiate ad aderire ai principi di trasparenza e sostenibilità, al fine di rispondere alle crescenti richieste da parte di investitori e stakeholder. Avviata nel 2021, l'indagine è di grande attualità, offrendo una panoramica sull'informativa ESG delle PMI dal punto di vista degli investitori e fornendo spunti preziosi per future ricerche. I risultati dello studio evidenziano che i temi di maggiore interesse per gli investitori istituzionali riguardano principalmente le questioni ambientali e di governance, con il 47,5% dei partecipanti che considera fondamentale l'informativa ambientale, sebbene questa venga spesso giudicata poco esaustiva. Altri temi rilevanti includono la formazione, la salute e la sicurezza dei dipendenti, la composizione del Consiglio di amministrazione, l'adozione di codici di condotta e le politiche retributive. Guardando al futuro, gli investitori istituzionali mostrano un impegno crescente nell'integrare i fattori ESG nelle loro decisioni di investimento, con particolare attenzione al cambiamento climatico, ai temi di governance, agli aspetti sociali e all'economia circolare. Questo impegno si allinea con le iniziative europee e con la "twin transition" (transizione verde e digitale), che sta assumendo un ruolo sempre più centrale nelle politiche e nelle strategie di investimento.

This study leverages on a quasi-natural experiment to shed light on the relative merit of the cooperative versus the corporate form. In Italy, a new law forced some cooperative banks to turn into joint stocks banks. This change of ownership structure proves to be Pareto improving for all financial claimholders since it either increases or leaves the value of equity and debt of any seniority unchanged, while reducing the market-based metrics of risks. This evidence challenges the view that the demutualization increases the asset substitution risk, transferring wealth from bondholders to shareholders and heightening the firm risk profile. Therefore, a transition from a cooperative to a corporate form should not cause stability concerns in the banking industry.

This paper explores the drivers and inhibitors of the transition of entrepreneurial family firms from small to large firms. We adopt two contrasting theoretical perspectives, i.e. agency and stewardship, to explore the effects of family power on size transition. Design/methodology/approach – We adopted an original research design that leverages a unique longitudinal database built starting from the list of the 500 best Italian manufacturing family firms published by the AUB Monitor in 2018. Specifically, we tested our hypotheses using a comprehensive set of financial and governance data from 89 Italian manufacturing family firms covering a 10-year period. To test our hypotheses, we conducted a survival analysis using a Cox regression. Findings – We find an inverted U-shaped relationship between family involvement in ownership and size transition: size transition is more likely to happen at intermediate levels of family involvement in ownership. Additionally, our analysis shows that family involvement in the board of directors negatively impacts size transition, while the presence of a family CEO has a positive influence. Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first exploration of the phenomenon of size transition within entrepreneurial family firms. We believe it was worthwhile for two reasons. First, small size is frequently regarded as a weakness when competing in international markets, investing in R&D, or rewarding shareholders. Second, since small family firms are the major contributors to the world economy, understanding the factors that facilitate their transition to large firms can have a significant impact on overall economic development and prosperity.

This paper investigates whether and to what extent strategy disclosure influences the cost of capital, comparing family and non-family firms and considering the proportion of women directors. We theorize that voluntary strategy disclosure may be either beneficial or detrimental depending on the perceptions by financial stakeholders about the role of governance attributes. These stakeholders might, indeed, assess strategy disclosure differently based on their stereotyped view of the family firm status and women’s involvement on the board of directors. By referring to a sample of 93 listed Italian small and medium-sized enterprises, we show that, unlike with their non-family counterparts, strategy disclosure increases the cost of capital for family firms. However, an increasing proportion of women directors softens this negative effect. Moreover, when a critical mass of women directors is appointed to the board, the strategy disclosure becomes beneficial for family firms too. We consequently offer a threefold contribution to the literature on gender diversity, family business and corporate voluntary disclosure.

The relative merit of the corporate versus the cooperative form as the optimal ownership structure for a firm remains a contentious point. We assess the effectiveness of these two alternatives by leveraging on a natural experiment provided by the Italian 2015 reform mandating the largest cooperative banks to switch to a corporate form. An event study reveals that on the news of the reform the value of equity and of debt with different seniority increased or was flat, proving the Pareto efficiency of the corporate form for all financial claimholders. A compression of the risk profiles of the banks' financial claims contributed to this positive value effect, which negates the long-held belief of demutualization as a possible cause of an asset substitution risk. In spite of its Pareto efficiency, demutualization did not emerge endogenously as the most efficient contracting solution among firm's stakeholders, which makes the case for regulators playing an active role in a demutualization process without fears motivated by stability concerns. 1 We thank all the participants to the ADEIMF 2021 Conference and Stefano Dell'Atti (our discussant) for their more than valuable suggestions. We are also grateful to Fausto Panunzi and Stefano Bonini for providing insightful comments. As usual, any remaining errors are our exclusive responsibility. ‡

Building on agency and resource-based view theories, this study investigates the level of environmental disclosure (ED) practices of family versus non-family firms and ex- plores the moderating role of board gender diversity. We test our hypotheses on a 3-year (2018–2020) panel data sample comprising 324 observations of Italian small- and medium-sized enterprises traded on the Euronext Growth Milan. Findings show that, compared to non-family firms, companies with a family firm status are character- ized by lower levels of ED. Gender diversity on the board, however, moderates this relationship, reducing this gap, to the extent that the family firm status is associated with higher ED when the number of women directors is high enough to constitute a critical mass. We consequently contribute to the studies on family business, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility.

Central bank's macroprudential supervisory activities have to fulfill three distinct tasks: (i) assessing the banking system's vulnerability to exogenous adverse turbulence, (ii) evaluating the risk of systemic crisis originating from idiosyncratic shocks, and (iii) measuring financial market's sensitivity to policy stimuli. Given that macroprudential stress tests are the centerpiece of this policy approach, it is important to establish whether they are up to the task. We study how the 2011–2018 European Banking Authority stress tests affected market risk perception and show that they provided agents with valuable information on the policy stances and the vulnerabilities of the banking system, carrying out the above tasks successfully, especially the second and third tasks.