Magnanelli, Barbara Sveva
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Institutional profile
Prof. Magnanelli has been teaching Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Financial Reporting, Performance Measurement, and Corporate Governance courses for undergraduate and graduate programs since 2009. She also worked as a consultant from 2007 to 2013.
Her main research interests are in corporate governance issues, with particular regard to the board of directors and financial statement frauds. She has also focused her studies on social enterprises and corporate social responsibility. She regularly publishes in academic journals and presents papers at major academic conferences.
9 results
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Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
Publication Does ESG Disclosure Influence Firm Performance?(2022) Carnini Pulino, Silvia; Ciaburri, Mirella; Magnanelli, Barbara Sveva; Nasta, LuigiThis study aims to analyze the impact of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure on the firm performance, given the stakeholders’ increasing attention to the firm’s ESG practices. Looking at the European context, the Directive 2014/95/EU and its update encouraged European large companies to provide disclosure about their socially responsible practices. Acting within the Agency and Signaling theory frameworks, this paper focuses on the Italian situation where the Legislative Decree 254/2016 implemented the European Directive and forced the largest firms (those with more than 500 employees) to disclose comprehensive information about their social and environmental activities starting from 2017. By applying a panel regression analysis, using a sample of the largest Italian listed companies, and considering a time span of 10 years (from 2011 to 2020), this study finds that there is a positive relationship between environmental, social, and governance disclosure and firm performance, measured by EBIT. Our findings will help firms’ stakeholders, decision-makers, policymakers, as well as academics, to improve their awareness of the impact of ESG disclosure on the performance of the firm, both as a comprehensive factor and individually by pillar. The findings, which support the positive relationship between ESG disclosure and firm performance, should incentivize managers to invest in CSR practices.Publication Corporate social performance and cost of debt: the relationship(Emerald Publishing, 2017) Magnanelli, Barbara Sveva; Izzo, Maria FedericaPurpose – This paper aims to investigate the link between corporate social performance (CSP) and cost of debt financing. Despite academic debate has focused on the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and CSP (expressed through accounting and market measures of profitability), few empirical researches have analysed the relations between CSR, cost of debt and its relation with the risk profile of a firm. The literature on the cost of debt determinants generally documents a negative association between measures of the risk of the firm and its cost of debt. The literature on CSR defines risk reduction as one of the potential benefits related to CSR activities. Thus, the expectation is that high CSP scores are inversely related to cost of debt. Design/methodology/approach – Using a unique data set of 332 firms over a time period of five years antecedent to the global financial crisis, a linear regression model is applied. Findings – The results show a positive relation between CSP and cost of debt, demonstrating that CSR is not a value driver with an impact on the firm’s risk profile. Practical implications – The research has also practical implications as it makes managers aware of the potentiality of CSP to reduce the firm’s cost of debt. Originality/value – These findings enlarge the empirical research on the value of CSP, expanding it towards a quite new area of investigation: the cost of external financing.Publication Female Directors in Italy: The State of Art after the Mandatory Gender Quota(2017) Magnanelli, Barbara Sveva; Raoli, Elisa; Tiscini, RiccardoThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the state of art of female directors in terms of presence, role and remuneration for Italian corporate boards. The analysis wants to highlight the changes occurred after the introduction of the mandatory female quotas legislation in 2012 and to check how many firms are already complying with the law after 2 years. The picture of the state of art is drawn looking at 163 Italian listed firms for a period of 4 years, from 2011 to 2014. The analysis of the data reveals relevant differences in board composition before and after the law. A significant result concerning the presence of female directors stands in the difference between family and non-family firms: the first are those with higher number of female members in the board. Additionally, an interesting data refers to the amount of remuneration for women, which is significantly lower than the remuneration provided to male directors. Being the first work which charts the situation of board composition and board member remuneration in Italy before and after female quotas introduction, this paper wants to trace some key points for future analysis about the impact of female quotas on various firm’s aspects, such as firm performance, firm earning management and quality, governance characteristics.Publication Key Factors for Success of Social Enterprises in Italy: Analysis of Financial and Operating Performance(2016) Magnanelli, Barbara Sveva; Raoli, Elisa; Sacchi, AgneseAbstract: Assessing social performance is one of the greatest challenges for practitioners and researchers in social entrepreneurship. Even though social enterprises (SEs) have the main goal of achieving social purposes, they should also be able to economically and financially survive to meet their aim and accomplish their tasks. To this purpose, we investigate if the key factors leading to the financial and operating performance are the same as those of for-profit firms, by using Italian data at a firm level during the period 2002-2013. We find that the standard financial and operating factors characterising for-profit firms’ performance play a crucial role for SEs’ results as well. Moreover, territorial and socio-economic variables seem to have a positive impact on financial performance. From a policy perspective, this may imply that further programs (e.g. safety-oriented and those promoting facilities in the territory) should be locally adopted to support the SEs’ activity and development.Publication From Profits to Purpose: ESG Practices, CEO Compensation and Institutional Ownership Ciaburri(2023) Nasta, Luigi; Magnanelli, Barbara Sveva; Ciaburri, MirellaPurpose – Based on stakeholder, agency and institutional theory, this study aims to examine the role of institutional ownership in the relationship between environmental, social and governance practices and CEO compensation. Design/methodology/approach – Utilizing a fixed-effect panel regression analysis, this research utilized a panel data approach, analyzing data spanning from 2014 to 2021, focusing on US companies listed on the S&P500 stock market index. The dataset encompassed 219 companies, leading to a total of 1,533 observations. Findings – The analysis identified that environmental scores significantly impact CEO equity-linked compensation, unlike social and governance scores. Additionally, it was found that institutional ownership acts as a moderating factor in the relationship between the environmental score and CEO equity-linked compensation, as well as the association between the social score and CEO equity-linked compensation. Interestingly, the direction of these moderating effects varied between the two relationships, suggesting a nuanced role of institutional ownership. Originality/value – This research makes a unique contribution to the field of corporate governance by exploring the relatively understudied area of institutional ownership’s influence on the ESG practices–CEO compensation nexus.Publication Diversity in Boardrooms and Firm Performance: The Role of Tenure and Educational Level of Board Members(2021) Magnanelli, Barbara Sveva; Paolucci, Giulia; Pirolo, LucaDiversity on corporate boards has been studied from different perspectives in recent decades. The present study aims at investigating the impact on firm performance of two demographic diversity traits in boardrooms: tenure and educational diversity. The extant literature does not provide aligned findings on this topic, thus further research is still needed. The authors hypothesize that both tenure and educational diversity of board members have a positive effect on firm performance. To measure firm performance two dependent variables are used, applying two models for each hypothesis investigated Tobin’s Q and return on assets. The study is conducted using sample data of 187 listed firms within the European area, covering a 9-year period, from 2010 to 2018. Diversity dimensions are measured through indexes constructed on the basis of the mix among the directors in terms of educational level and tenure. The outcomes highlight a significant and positive relationship between tenure diversity on corporate boards and firm performance. In terms of the impact of educational diversity, no evidence indicating a positive effect on firm performance is found. The research carried out is unique because it considers two personal attributes of diversity calculating diversity indexes and measuring their impact on the firm’s performance. The econometric approach used has not been extensively applied in previous research. In fact, the majority of previous empirical studies have measured diversity through percentages or dummy variables, depending on the type of diversity aspect being analyzed, and then used it as the independent variable.Publication Shattering the Glass Ceiling: Female Leadership and Acquisitiveness in Family and Nonfamily Firms(Elsevier, 2024) Magnanelli, Barbara Sveva; Pirolo, Luca; Raoli, ElisaThis research investigates the impact of female CEOs on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in family and nonfamily firms. With a sample of 165 Italian listed companies engaged in M&As from 2011 to 2016, the study explores whether CEO gender impacts on firm's acquisitiveness in family and nonfamily firms. Findings indicate that having a female CEO is associated with lower acquisitiveness overall. However, this trend is not consistently observed in family firms, challenging conventional assumptions. This research contributes to understanding the nuanced dynamics of female leadership and M&As, shedding light on the role of CEO gender in distinct ownership contexts.Publication Preventing financial statement frauds through better corporate governance(2017) Magnanelli, Barbara Sveva; Pirolo, Luca; Nasta, LuigiActing within the agency theory theoretical framework, the paper focuses on the role of the corporate governance as a system to monitor and predict the fraud occurrence and magnitude. Specifically, the study examines the impact of the quality of the corporate governance of the firms, for which a fraud was detected, on the fraud occurrence and magnitude. We posit that fraudulent behaviours, by those who can take advantage of information asymmetry and gain personal benefits from them, can occur when strong agency problems emerge and a weak governance exists. Thus, the financial statement fraud can be seen as the result of high agency problems and high conflicts of interests not solved by the company. Starting from a sample of 101 listed companies, for which a fraud was detected, using a principal component analysis, we develop a corporate governance index, which measures the quality of the governance system of the firms. To test the hypothesis, we run a multinomial logistic regression on a cross-sectional analysis, controlling the results with a matched sample of firms that did not experienced any fraud. Empirical evidences seem to confirm the existence of a negative relationship between the quality of the corporate governance system of a firm and both the financial statement fraud occurrence and magnitude, indicating the governance system of the firm as a fraud deterrent for any amount of financial statement fraud. These findings are even stronger for firms characterized by the presence of a blockholder. This study contributes to the governance literature by focusing on the corporate governance quality and its impact on financial statement frauds. Moreover, the analysis suggests that a good level of governance can help companies to mitigate the agency problems and to detect fraudulent behaviours, thus our empirical evidence can guide regulators in developing regulations to avoid the fraud occurrence.Publication Female CEOs Facing Challenges during Covid-19 Pandemic: Differences in Family and Non-Family Firms(2022) Magnanelli, Barbara Sveva; Ciaburri, Mirella; Nasta, Luigi; Tiscini, RiccardoThe COVID-19 pandemic has been a disruptive unexpected event that hit firms worldwide. It is necessary starting to investigate on the features of the firms which better allowed companies to face and react to this critical situation. The present study aims at investigating as first whether firm performance is affected by the presence of a female CEO during unexpected critical events, and then by exploring the effects of being a family firm during a crisis period. Moreover, the study aims at exploring also the impact of having a female CEO in case the firm is a family one. In fact, given the rising importance of gender in top managerial levels, more research has been focusing on female leadership. However,stilllittle research exists on female leadership in family firms.An empirical analysis was conducted on a sample of Italian listed firms overathree-yearperiod (2018–2020),which means data were collected and analyzed through the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that female leadership during the pandemic has a positive effect on firm performance.Likewise, family firmsare able to outperform non-family firms during the occurrence of an unexpected critical event.