The publisher of Journal of Economic Studies wishes to retract the article Dorsaf B (2025), “Breaking glass ceilings or boardroom gridlock? Gender, independence and the new rules of MENA banking resilience”. Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JES-06-2025-0440. It has come to our attention that the following papers referenced throughout the text are fundamentally incorrect, hallucinated, or do not exist.
Adams, R.B., de Haan, J. and Terjesen, S. (2022), “Board diversity: recent evidence and future directions”, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 6-25.
Aguilera, R.V., Judge, W.Q. and Terjesen, S. (2008), “Corporate governance deviance: toward a multi-level approach to agency, stewardship, and institutional perspectives”, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 16 No. 5, pp. 485-509.
Aguilera, R.V., Marano, V. and Boddewyn, J.J. (2021), “Political connection and corporate governance: a comparative institutional approach”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 52 No. 5, pp. 968-989.
Al-Bassam, A., Al-Hussaini, A. and Al-Muhairi, M. (2022), “Board diversity and corporate resilience in the Gulf: evidence from the banking sector”, Journal of Financial Stability, Vol. 62, 101054.
Alghamdi, M., Alharbi, N. and Alqahtani, F. (2024), “Board conflict and decision-making in diverse MENA boards”, Corporate Governance: International Journal, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 456-472.
Feng, Y., Gao, P. and Huang, J. (2022), “Gender diversity and firm performance: the role of institutional environment”, Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol. 75, 102245.
Hassan, M.K. and Mollah, M.A.S. (2011), “Governance and performance of Islamic banks: do board structure and ownership matter?”, Journal of Islamic Finance, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 1-18.
Hamid, A. (2021), “Gender diversity and board effectiveness in Jordanian financial institutions”, Middle East Journal of Management, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 245-260.
IFC (2021), “Women on boards: progress and projections in emerging markets”, International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, available at: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/publications_ ext_content/ifc_external_publication_content/women-on-boards-emerging-markets (accessed 15 April 2024).
IFC (2023), “Corporate governance in the Middle East and North Africa: 2023 review”, International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC.
IMF (2021), “Transparency in financial systems: a MENA assessment”, International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC.
IMF (2023), “Gender and financial stability: a global perspective”, International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC.
Kassem, N., Al-Abri, M. and Al-Salmi, S. (2023), “Board gender diversity in Oman: challenges and prospects”, Corporate Governance: International Journal, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 789-805.
Khlif, H. and Achek, I. (2023), “Corporate governance and bank performance in the MENA region: the role of ownership and regulation”, Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol. 81, 102435.
Laeven, L. and Levine, R. (2021), “Regulatory reforms and financial inclusion: evidence from the global banking sector”, Review of Finance, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 233-269.
Liang, H., Renneboog, L. and Wrigley, C. (2022), “When is gender diversity valued by investors?”, Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol. 72, 102134.
Sabri, M., Khlif, H. and Boujelbene, Y. (2023), “Digital transformation and governance in Islamic banks: challenges and opportunities”, Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 145-167.
Terjesen, S., Aguilera, R.V. and Lorenz-Cenalmor, H. (2024), “Orchestrated diversity: strategic alignment of board composition for sustainable value creation”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 189 No. 1, pp. 1-18.
Yoshikawa, T., Aguilera, R.V. and Lounsbury, M. (2014), “The contingent value of board independence: a comparative institutional analysis”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 51 No. 2, pp. 179-208.
The following references have also been identified as anomalous and inappropriate; the author was unable to provide sufficient justification for their presence in the article:
Guest, M. (2022), Neoliberal Religion: Faith and Power in the Twenty-First Century, Bloomsbury Academic.
Kennedy, D.W. (1985), “Functional endoscopic sinus surgery: technique”, Archives of otolaryngology, Vol. 111 No. 10, pp. 643-649.
Rachmawati, M., Widjajanti, S., Ahmad, A. and Aslan, A. (2020), “The English camps as method of promoting fun English at elementary school level in Indonesia”, Tapis: Jurnal Penelitian Ilmiah, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 174-182.
The author cooperated with the investigation but failed to sufficiently address the identified concerns. As a result, the findings of the article cannot be relied upon. The Journal of Economic Studies author guidelines make it clear that authors must be accountable for the accuracy of their work. The decision to retract has been informed by COPE's guidelines on retractions and Emerald's publishing ethics. The author would like to note that they agree with the retraction and wishes to emphasize that these errors are the result of a technical problem. The publisher of the journal sincerely apologizes to the readers.
