This paper explores the relationship between board characteristics and environmental performance. We adopt a triple perspective of environmental performance, focussing on emissions (waste and CO2), resource consumption (water and energy), and the implementation of environmental initiatives. The sample comprises 644 nonfinancial European Union–based companies. The data cover the period 2002 to 2017. The results confirm that gender diversity and the existence of a corporate social responsibility committee are positively associated with the firms' environmental performance. This finding is consistent with the view that the educational background, talent, and experience of women help promote sustainable environmental initiatives. The existence of a corporate social responsibility committee reflects a company's commitment to sustainable development.

This paper analyses the structure of boards of directors and its impact on business performance, which is approximated by economic profitability and the Tobin's Q ratio. We focus on three basic aspects of boards that have been reviewed in the recent reform of the Good Governance Code: the size of boards, their independence and their diversity. For the study of diversity, we use an index that integrates not only the gender of board members, but also their age and nationality, since these are factors that can influence the knowledge, experience and skills of the directors. The results confirm a high degree of compliance with the recommendations of the Good Governance Code, and suggest that the performance of the advisory and monitoring functions are factors that determine the composition of boards. With respect to the performance of the company, we note that there is a negative and significant relationship with the independence of boards. However, the results are sensitive to the performance measure employed.

The short tests of motivation (Richmond) and, to a lesser extent, dependency (TFm) were good predictors of giving up tobacco and can be recommended in primary care.

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The present study analyses the relative efficiency of franchise services and characterises the best companies, confirming the relationship between efficiency and profit. These companies are from "the trade and other services sector", the main group of service-providing companies in the Spanish economy. The methodology calls for first comparing the relative efficiency of franchisers and ownership enterprises.Second, the focus turns to the most efficient franchise services, using a superefficiency model to rank them. The paper then goes on to cover the analysis of the main characteristics of the best franchise enterprises, the number of own establishments in a franchise business, and the profitability of the company. This paper presents arguments as to why companies from the trade and other services sector are included. The main conclusion is that, whilst the number of establishments is irrelevant in achieving greater efficiency, many of the most efficient enterprises have high returns.