Board of Directors and Export Activity under a Controlling Shareholder System: Evidence from Italy
Mario Ossorio

Abstract
The decline of internal market and the increasing integration of different geographic areas has led firms to adopt internationalization strategies and defend their competitiveness. Using the agency view, this article sheds light on the relationship between firms’ export activity and some attributes of board of directors (i.e., independent directors, CEO duality, and number of directors). Based on a sample of 115 Italian-listed firms, the results show that independent directors positively affect export activity, whereas board size negatively influences it.

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