Purpose Expatriate mobility is increasing globally, in volume and diversity. A growing element of this overall increase has been the greater share of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) working outside their home countries. In some host countries, SIEs make up a majority of the overall workforce. The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of innovative work behavior (IWB) of SIEs in one such country. Drawing upon leader-member exchange (LMX) theory and the conceptual framework of the resource-based view of career capital, the authors’ examine the influences of LMX, perceived innovation-reward, job knowledge and contextual knowledge on SIEs’ IWB. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on the analysis of survey results from 229 SIEs based in the United Arab Emirates. The authors use hierarchal regression and an SPSS macro to assess the significance of the interaction effects. Findings Results indicate significant direct effects for LMX and perceived innovation-reward on SIEs’ IWB. Results also reveal significant interaction effects suggesting that the relationship between LMX and SIEs’ IWB is stronger when job knowledge is high and when reward for innovation is high. Originality/value This is the first study to examine the determinants of SIE’s IWB. This study investigates the effect of LMX, career capital differences (job knowledge and contextual knowledge) and perceived innovation-reward on SIEs’ IWB. This is also the first study to examine the interaction effects of LMX and individual differences (job knowledge and contextual knowledge) on SIEs’ IWB.

Corporate governance carries strategic importance and should be addressed correctly by decision-makers. Corporate finance literature suggests that diverse boards are a part of good corporate governance practice. However, it is not clear how diverse board characteristics might affect innovation and innovation search strategies. Utilising the data from 25 banks listed in the UAE stock exchanges, this study evaluates the impact of boardroom diversity on firm innovativeness both before and after the drop in the oil prices. The results show that although gender and education do not significantly affect innovativeness of banks, having more experienced and independent board members enhances the innovation. The effect of experienced board members on innovation is more pronounced during the oil price drop period, whereas the effect of independent board members decreases after the drop in the oil prices.

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The impact of boardroom diversity on firm financial performance has attracted growing research interest in recent years. However, due to the lack of readily available datasets for other parts of the world, most of the evidence is based on the US data. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between gender diversity in the boardrooms and firm financial performance in a region, where it has never been studied before. Using a sample of 60 firms listed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai Stock Exchanges, first the impact of gender diverse boards on the accounting value of the firms is analyzed. Afterwards, stock price reactions to the announcement of the gender quotas on corporate boards in the UAE are examined. The results do not show a significant impact of female directors on the firm’s both accounting and market value. However, these results should be interpreted carefully since the presence of women in leading positions might affect different aspects of the firm practices.

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