The paradigm of corporate environmental disclosures aimed at investors developed in 2017 with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. Existing literature on social responsibility disclosures points to gender diversity on the board of directors as an influencing factor. This study aims to assess the influence of gender diversity in climate-related financial disclosures, as recommended by the TCFD based on a sample of 27 companies operating within the sectors of electricity, oil, coal and gas, water, and alternative energy that have announced their adherence to the recommendations from 2017 to 2021. By applying a linear regression model, the results indicate the presence of a positive association between the level of TCFD disclosures and board gender diversity, as well as other factors, such as company size, CEO duality, and general liquidity. However, the influence of board gender diversity on corporate reporting based on the TCFD recommendations suggests that the commitment of boards to the reporting of climate change risks and opportunities is not significantly dependent on gender diversity, as the presence of women in the Boards is favorable for the reporting but without a significant impact on the level of disclosures. This research offers insights into sustainability reporting practices, focusing on a relatively new perspective of reporting climate-related financial topics and their determinants. The findings hold implications for organizational leaders and stakeholders, mainly investors, as these recent sustainable reporting practices are challenging but also bring new opportunities related to transparency towards climate-related issues.

Los determinantes del desempeño de la responsabilidad social empresarial corresponden a un campo de investigación que no ha sido completamente explorado cuando se utiliza una muestra multinacional. Asi, la investigación pretende analizar la relación entre las características del consejo de administración y el desempeño de la responsabilidad social utilizando una muestra de 776 organizaciones de 20 países entre 2014 y 2021 a través de la utilizacion de un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales. Los resultados muestran una relación positiva entre las características del consejo de administración y el desempeño de la responsabilidad social, principalmente el papel de las mujeres y de los miembros independientes y non executivos.

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The efficient allocation of public financial resources to energy consumption in Portuguese municipalities is one of the most discussed topics in public finance, given the growing relevance of sustainability and energy efficiency. The study analyzes how public spending affects energy efficiency through a combination of data analysis and hypotheses testing to assess the relationship between public spending and energy consumption. The methodology includes DEA analysis of the financial data and energy consumption of the municipalities, as well as the definition of hypotheses to determine the possible correlations between investment and efficiency. The results suggest that, in general, municipalities with higher levels of public spending have lower levels of energy efficiency. Meanwhile, municipalities with smaller budgets and fewer resources tend to be more efficient. The DEA analysis of the data suggests that energy efficiency is not directly related to the size and/or economic aptitude of municipalities but rather to their ability to adopt new technologies and more efficient budgetary and financial management practices. The hypotheses tested show varying levels of efficiency in public spending in relation to energy consumption. The study also concludes that public policies should focus on technological innovation and benchmarking to improve energy efficiency. The analysis suggests that collaboration between municipalities and the adoption of best practices are essential to tackle regional disparities and promote energy sustainability. AcknowledgmentsThis article is financed by Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa [Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon].

This study intends to provide additional evidence regarding practices of reporting based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, and to relate it with performance scores of reporting based on corporate social responsibility indicators. Despite the announcements of the adoption of those recommendations, the level of compliance is relatively low. Additionally, the relation with corporate social responsibility exists, but only when the comparison is with environmental disclosures. The contribution of this study is to provide evidence that the adoption of the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures is challenging because there are two perspectives for corporate reporting as the disclosure performance based on indicators of corporate social responsibility (inside-out) differs from the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (outside-in). The results may support understanding the companies' challenges in the practical implementation of the existing guidelines.

The adoption of a single VAT rate system in the EU is a complex and controversial issue, since the current model includes several differentiated rates and is intended to reflect sectoral needs and ensure greater fairness in the taxation of consumption. This study aims to analyse which of the general consumption tax models (differentiated rates or a single rate) is more efficient in terms of revenue collection. The study uses official statistics available on the official website of the Tax and Customs Authority for the period 1996–2022. VAT revenue is measured by applying the formula of the EU’s common VAT model with the necessary adaptations to the flat rate model. Quantitative methods are applied to verify which of the tax models is more efficient in terms of collection. For this purpose, two scenarios were defined (17% and 21%). The results suggest that the estimated revenues for the proposed flat rate models are higher than the amounts actually collected through the differentiated rates. They also suggest that the 21% flat rate is preferable to the 17% rate, although the latter has the capacity to maintain current revenue levels and increase the amount collected compared to the current system. The conclusions suggest that the single VAT rate model is technically more preferable and notably more efficient than the current common consumption tax model adopted by the European Union. The study concludes that the refusal to adopt the single-rate model is not due to technical reasons but to political ones.