Purpose This study aims to examine how the salient board gender diversity among board directors affects firm performance both directly and indirectly, through the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in listed firms on the Palestine Stock Exchange over the period 2010–2017. Design/methodology/approach Based on panel data of 384 observations from all firms listed on the Palestine Security Exchange during the period from 2010 to 2017, this study uses panel data regression to examine the effect of the predictors on firm performance. In addition, to mitigate the endogeneity issue, the analysis was repeated by using one-step generalized method of moments. Findings The results show that board gender diversity has a positive and insignificant influence on firm performance. However, under the moderating effect of CSR, the finding turns from positive insignificant to positive significant. Originality/value The study is timely given that gender diversity plays pivotal roles in determining the performance in terms of monitoring and controlling and further willing to engage in social responsibility. The prior research in Palestine has never investigated the effect of board gender diversity. As such, Palestine has not established a legal quota of minimum female representation on boards, and because of it, the country has weak women’s representation among firms. It, therefore, becomes a necessity to examine the influence of board gender diversity on the financial performance of listed firms in Palestine. Besides, the mixed result in previous literature on the board gender diversity and firm performance indicates that there is an indirect effect that needs alternative explanations.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to empirically examine the effect of board multiple directorships and chief executive officer (CEO) characteristics on firm performance among nonfinancial firms listed on the Palestine Security Exchange (PSE) during the period from 2009 to 2016.Design/methodology/approachBased on 200 observations, this study utilizes panel data to examine the effect of the predictors on firm performance measured by return on assets. The analysis is repeated using the return on equity and two regression methods to evaluate the robustness of the main analysis (pooled regression, and backward stepwise regression analysis).FindingsThe results show that the “busyness” of a CEO reduces their effectiveness and is associated with losses in the companies where they are in charge. On the other hand, the results show that CEO tenure, CEO experience and CEO political connections have a positive effect on corporate performance.Originality/valueThis study is timely given that the practice of multiple directorships is widely common among firms in developing countries. Prior research in Palestine has not investigated the role of multiple directorships and the CEO characteristics on corporate outcomes. This study provides a picture of the potential benefits to firms, policymakers and professional bodies from considering CEO variables. The findings of such an examination can help them to set up suitable policies and enhance the role and the quality of the CEO in firms.

Even though it is widely accepted that effective design of management control system (MCS) has the ability to stimulate organizational learning, which ultimately will enhance the organizational performance, empirical research analysis on such relationship in the context of the developing economy, in comparison to the existing literature of the developed economy, is still scarce. In particular, the influence of each of levers of control (LOC) components (belief, boundary, diagnostic, and interactive control) on the organizational learning still lacking with conflicting results. Based on a survey of 129 top managers of the Palestinian listed firms, we examine how different MCS have different influence on organizational learning and how organizational learning ultimately influences the organizational performance. The evidence suggests that neither beliefs system, nor the boundary system facilitates learning. In addition, an interactive control system also has no significant influence on organizational learning, which unlike the case of the developed economy. By contrast, diagnostic control system is the only control system that has significance influence on organizational learning. In addition, the result indicates that organizational learning has a positive influence on firm's performance. This paper contributes to stream of literature from the perspective of the developing economy and provide suggestions for potential directions of future MCS research in the context of the devolving economy.