There are few studies in the literature on how the characteristics of boards of directors affect the performance of insurance companies. The purpose of this research is to investigate the characteristics of a company’s board that can have a significant impact on financial performance in the insurance sector. For this purpose, we performed a dynamic pooled regression model to test the impact of a wide range of board-specific factors. The survey has been conducted on an international sample of 119 listed insurance companies operating in the period 2009-2019. The sample includes companies from three geographical areas: North America, Europe and Asia. Our findings provide evidence that board structure and board independence are the most relevant governance factors, with a potentially positive impact on insurers’ market performance. These findings indirectly outline the opportunity for insurance companies to improve corporate fair value by strengthening internal governance models through effective board policies, an adequate qualification of board members and a well-balanced membership of the board. At the same time, there is still room for improvement as regards the level of board independence by strengthening internal governance policies in order to maintain an adequate number of independent and non-executive board members. The study upgrades the evidence arising from the existing literature by providing new elements to support a deeper understanding of the effects of insurance companies’ board characteristics on financial performance. Empirical results may also have important implications for both managers and policy makers.

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Purpose Sustainable development has become a strategic priority for companies. The purpose of this study is to explain what paths a company can take to reconfigure its business model and corporate reporting tools in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Design/methodology/approach The research used a qualitative approach and drew on stakeholder and legitimacy theories to collect primary and secondary data through in-depth interviews, semi-structured questionnaires and observation of corporate documents. Findings Sustainability and climate change issues’ relevance in the business model and reporting requires improvement so that stakeholders can participate and become aware of the actions put in place to limit the climate challenge. Research limitations/implications The results of the case study cannot be subjected to statistical generalisation, as they focus on the Italian context and do not capture the regulatory divergence of different countries. Practical implications The results can help managers experiment with, orient, test and implement business model transformations to increase the level of sustainability within an organisation. In addition, disclosure of climate change risks and opportunities for the company and the resulting impacts, including financial impacts, is now recognised as a key urgency to support the achievement of the SDGs and the stakeholder decision-making process. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by focusing on necessary developments for governance and strategy and on climate change disclosure to support investors’ and other stakeholders’ decision-making processes for corporate social responsibility.

Corporate social responsibility originates from the company’s behavioral problems. Corporate governance can be considered an environment of trust, ethics and moral values and in recent years has gained enormous importance. In addition, other factors that have been responsible for the new corporate governance paradigm are a stricter respect for the environment and the demand for greater corporate responsibility towards its shareholders and customers. Ecosystem load capacity is described with resource consumption input–output models. In line with this, the company should not use more than one resource that can be regenerated. Considering an organization as part of a broader social and economic system implies that these effects must be taken into account, not only for the measurement of the costs and value created in the present, but also in a future perspective for the company. In this context banks, which carry out the fundamental role as financial intermediaries, are linked with different stakeholder interests, both in economic and social field. This chapter analyzes the main novelties which has influenced corporate governance of them by reviewing its main phases. The chapter secondly addresses the specific features of board of directors by analyzing a sample of 25 banks defined as Global Systematically Important Institutions in 2018 following the EBA guidelines.

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