This paper examines the degree of social responsibility integration in Italian public universities’ medium and long-term planning documents. We adopted a qualitative approach, applying the content analysis technique to a selected sample of 20 strategic plans issued by Italian large and mega universities. The coding instrument was developed considering the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contained in the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Therefore, we identified 17 categories and 103 key symbols. The analysis undertaken showed that to date, Italian public universities still pay little attention in their planning documents to objectives regarding the multiple dimensions of Social Responsibility, mainly in relation to environmental issues, a failure detrimental to University Social Responsibility implementation and achievement. However, there is a greater sensitivity to Social Responsibility issues in some universities’ planning documents, therefore also more mature practices can be identified, showing universities that have institutionalized the concept of sustainability in their planning documents.

In this work, we examine whether earnings management affects the debt maturity structure of Italian non-SMEs. We employ accruals quality as a proxy for earnings management. We measure the accrual quality as the absolute value of residual reflects the accruals that are not related to cash flow realized in the current, following or previous year. We measure the debt maturity in two ways. First, we consider it as a dummy variable that takes the value equal to 1 if some of the debt is long-term (exceeding one year), and 0 otherwise. Second, we compute the debt maturity as the ratio of long-term debt to total debt. We employ a quantitative approach, carrying out several regressions (probit, logit, and tobit) analyses to investigate the effect earnings management on debt maturity structure, using financial statement data of 1,001 Italian non-SMEs sampled over the period 2011-2017. This paper provides theoretical and practical findings that support the literature on earnings management. First, the study confirms that accrual quality can use as a proxy of earnings management by the academic community. Then the findings show that earnings management is negatively associated with the possibility to access to long-term debt, and with a proportion of long-term debt in total debt. This evidence may support the managers when they have to plan the financial structure, the lenders and the creditors in their decision-making processes, and the policymakers when they have to set programs aimed to make easier the access to external financial resources.

Purpose This study addresses gender composition in universities. The purpose of this study is to define the vertical and horizontal gender segregation in both public and private universities. In particular, it measures the gender distribution throughout academic careers across levels and time, and among fields of science in Italian academia. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted the framework of Blackburn et al. (2002) as a theoretical lens through which they examine and explain occupational gender segregation in the university context. A mixed methodology of both document analysis and examining some statistical indicators was used to create gender-disaggregated measures to help the authors answer their research questions. The data collected represent academia in Italy for the period 2010-2018. The data were obtained from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. Findings The authors show the gendered nature of academic institutions in Italy. In particular, the authors acknowledge that hierarchies of power exist that privilege men and the masculine and devalue women and the feminine within academic institutions. Practical implications This paper provides theoretical and practical findings that support the literature on gender issues in universities and other public and/or private institutions. The academic community, practitioners and policymakers can use the results to design measures to address gender inequality in academia. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is novel because it provides gender-relevant insights on the gender composition in universities in the Italian context. These insights are also relevant for academic institutions that operate in an international setting.

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This article discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial performance, credit risk and capital adequacy of the banks in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with the determinants of the banks’ financial performance before and during the pandemic investigated. The data were collected from the Orbis Bank Focus database and banks’ annual financial reports, with descriptive statistics, t-tests and multiple regressions employed to analyse the data. The results revealed that the pandemic negatively and significantly affected the financial performance of the banks, increasing the credit risk, but that it had no significant impact on capital adequacy. Furthermore, the findings indicated that the managerial efficiency, the bank’s size and the gross domestic product had a significant positive impact on the bank’s financial performance in both periods, while in contrast, the credit risk had a negative and significant impact on the banks’ financial performance. Finally, the liquidity risk, capital adequacy, inflation and oil prices had no significant impact on the banks’ financial performance. The findings of this study are important for the banks in the MENA countries given the uncertain future with the recurrent emergence of global crises. Overall, it is recommended that the banks implement strategies to control the credit risks and thus maintain their profitability during such crises.