This study seeks to examine the impact of frequency of board meetings on R&D investment strategy in OECD countries. The study uses a panel data of 200 companies from Anglo American and European countries between 2010 and 2014. The ordinary least square regression is used to examine the relationships. Additionally, to alleviate the concern of potential endogeneity, we use fixed effect regression, two-stage least squares using instrumental variables. The results show that there is a negative and significant relationship between frequency of board meetings and R&D investment strategy, with a greater significance among Anglo American countries than among Continental European countries. The rationale for this is that the legal and accounting systems in the Anglo American countries have greater protection through greater emphasis on compliance and disclosure and therefore allowing for less risk-taking. Future research could investigate R&D investment strategy using different arrangement, conducting face-to-face meetings with firm's directors and shareholders. This study extends, as well as contributes to the extant CG literature by offering new evidence on the effect of frequency of board meetings on R&D investment strategy between two different traditions. The findings will help regulators and policy makers in the OECD countries in evaluating the adequacy of the current CG reforms to prevent management misconduct and scandals.

This study investigates the level of compliance and disclosure of corporate governance mechanisms in Middle East and North Africa countries. The study uses a panel data of 250 companies from MENA countries between 2009 and 2016. The ordinary least square multiple regression analysis technique is used to examine the relationships. Additionally, to alleviate the concern of potential endogeneity, we use fixed effect regression, two-stage least squares using instrumental variables. The results show that the level of voluntary compliance with and disclosure of corporate governance mechanisms among MENA countries varies substantially across countries and is low. The result is consistent with the neo-institutional theory. Future research could investigate more sets of firm-level internal CG mechanisms and country-level variables and use of weighted index. This study extends, as well as contributes to the extant CG literature by offering new evidence on the effect of corporate governance mechanisms among listed firms in ten different MENA countries within a neo-institutional theoretical perspective. The findings will help regulators and policy makers in their countries to pursue reforms to improve national governance quality.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) raised the attention of the MENA market, given its capacity to influence consumers’ purchase intention and, particularly, consumers’ repurchase intention. Therefore, CSR helps to build a long-term relationship between the companies with its consumers. Following this new trend, our work contributes to the understanding of how CSR contributes to a long-term relationship with consumers. To achieve that, we considered the four dimensions of CSR (philanthropic, legal, organisation, and ethics) and used those constructs to evaluate the consumers’ relationship intention with companies. Our research was performed in MENA countries by interviewing 1632 consumers. Our findings showed that the philanthropic, legal, and ethical dimensions played a relevant role in determining a long-term relationship between the companies and consumers. This research results differ from the results gained by other researchers in previous studies. Therefore, to establish a long-term relationship with consumers, MENA countries’ companies should focus on philanthropy, legal, and ethics. This study extends, as well as contributes to the extant corporate social responsibility literature by offering new evidence on the impact of corporate social responsibility on consumer relationship intention. The findings will help regulators and policy-makers in evaluating the adequacy of the current corporate social responsibility reforms to prevent management misconduct and scandals.