My research interests are in the crossroads of organization strategy, corporate governance, and social responsibility. Some of my current works have covered global public goods and nonfinancial outcomes, including DEI-related issues and societal problems. I am also an advocate of using a configurational approach in my research to study organizational designs and complex phenomena.

Publications in refereed journals

• Federo, R. & Aguilera, R. V. 2025. How does the visibility of LGBTQ+ directors influence firm value? The mediating role of environmental, social, and governance performance. Human Resource Management, 64(3): 731-752. doi: 10.1002/hrm.22283
  • ESADE insights summary: Why LGBTQ+ leadership might be boosting company value (EN); Por qué el liderazgo LGBTQ+ podría estar impulsando el valor de las empresas (ES)
  • Northeastern Global News: Northeastern research finds companies with LGBTQ+ board members outperform peers
  • Summary @ phys.org: Research finds companies with LGBTQ+ board members outperform peers
• Freixanet, J. & Federo, R. 2025. A configurational analysis of internationalization, absorptive capacity, and resource-based factors explaining firms’ innovation performance. International Business Review. doi: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2025.102449
• Aguilera, R. V., Federo, R., Justo, R., Merida, A., & Pascual-Fuster, B. 2025. The corporate governance of business groups around the world: A review and agenda for future research. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 33(2): 298-325. doi: 10.1111/corg.12603
• Albareda, A., Saz-Carranza, A., & Federo, R. 2025. Inclusiveness-efficiency configurations of business interest associations with access to policymakers. Administration & Society, 57(1): 70-99. doi: 10.1177/00953997241296087
• Pascual-Fuster, B., Federo, R., Crespi-Cladera, R., & Gabaldon, P.  2025. The second glass ceiling: The dark side of women recategorization in corporate boards. Gender, Work & Organization, 32(3): 1018–1043. doi: 10.1111/gwao.13185
• Federo, R. 2024. The rainbow glass ceiling: Breaking barriers for LGBTQ+ inclusion in board diversity. Academy of Management Perspectives, 38(3): 325–348. doi: 10.5465/amp.2023.0186
  • AOM Insights summary: Breaking the “Rainbow Glass Ceiling”
  • Media coverage:
    • by PinkNews: Is a ‘rainbow glass ceiling’ keeping LGBTQ+ professionals from the boardroom?
    • by Globalcocktails: Research shows LGBTQ people face a glass ceiling in the workplace
    • by Cromosoma X: ¿Existe un “techo de cristal arco iris” que aleja a los profesionales LGBTQ+ de la sala de juntas?
• Federo, R. & Parente, T. 2023. Understanding board designs in Latin American firms: Insights from Brazil. Journal of Business Research, 166: 114102. doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114102
• Aguilera, R. V., Federo, R., Pascual-Fuster, B., & Crespi-Cladera, R. 2023. The corporate governance of business groups: What we know and what lies ahead. Annals of Corporate Governance, 7(3): 152–251. doi: 10.1561/109.00000040
• Freixanet, J. & Federo, R. 2023. Learning by exporting: A system-based review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 25(4): 768–792. doi: 10.1111/ijmr.12336
• Federo, R., Saz-Carranza, A., Fernandez-i-Marin, X., & Losada, C. 2023. CEO selection in intergovernmental organizations: The clash between control and efficiency in governance. Journal of Management and Governance, 27: 155–180. doi: 10.1007/s10997-021-09605-6
• Freixanet, J. & Federo, R. 2022. When born globals grow up: A review and agenda for research on the performance of early internationalizers. Management International Review, 62: 817–857. doi: 10.1007/s11575-022-00485-y
• Bustamante, X., Federo, R., & Fernandez-í-Marin, X. 2022. Riding the wave: Predicting the use of the bike-sharing system in Barcelona before and during COVID-19. Sustainable Cities and Society, 83: 103929. doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2022.103929
• Federo, R. & Bustamante, X. 2022. The ties that bind global governance: Using media-reported events to disentangle the global interorganizational network in a global pandemic. Social Networks, 70: 253–266. doi: 10.1016/j.socnet.2022.02.012
• Ponomareva, Y., Federo, R., Aguilera, R. V., & Collin, S. O. 2022. The cost of conformity to good governance: Board design and compensation. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 30(4): 399–420. doi: 10.1111/corg.12408
• Freixanet, J. & Federo, R. 2022. The complex interplay of innovation, internationalization, and learning capability in driving firm performance: A configurational analysis. Journal of Strategy and Management, 15(4): 766–790. doi: 10.1108/JSMA-11-2021-0220
• Federo, R., Ponomareva, Y., Aguilera, R. V., Saz-Carranza, A., & Losada, C. 2020. Bringing owners back on board: A review of the role of ownership type in board governance. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 28(6): 348–371. doi: 10.1111/corg.12346
• Saz-Carranza, A., Albareda, A., & Federo, R. 2020. Network tasks and accountability: A configurational analysis of EU regulatory networks. Public Administration, 98(2): 480–497. doi: 10.1111/padm.12631
• Federo, R. & Saz-Carranza, A. 2020. A typology of board design for highly effective monitoring in intergovernmental organizations under the United Nations system. Regulation & Governance, 14(2): 344–361. doi: 10.1111/rego.12216
• Parente, T. & Federo, R. 2019. Qualitative comparative analysis: Justifying a neo-configurational approach in management research. RAUSP Management Journal, 54(4): 399–412. doi: 10.1108/RAUSP-05-2019-0089
• Federo, R. & Saz-Carranza, A. 2018. A configurational analysis of board involvement in intergovernmental organizations. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 26(6): 414–428. doi: 10.1111/corg.12241
• Federo, R. & Saz-Carranza, A. 2017. Devising strategic plans to improve organizational performance of intergovernmental organizations. Global Policy, 8(2): 202–212. doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12380

Book

• Federo, R., Saz-Carranza, A., & Esteve, M. (2020). Management and governance of intergovernmental organizations (Elements in Public and Nonprofit Administration). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781108908283 

Book chapters

• Yong, J. Y. & Federo, R. (2024). Innovation and business diversification for family business continuity. In F. Feranita, W. L. Lin, K. W. Khong, & S. K. Goh (Eds.), Asian family business case Sstudies: The role of culture, value and identity in succession and resilience (pp. 83–89). Leeds: Emerald Publishing.
• Federo, R. (2023). Qualitative comparative analysis. In F. Badache, L. Kimber, & L. Maertens (Eds.), International organizations and research methods: An Introduction (pp. 292–300). Michigan: University of Michigan Press. doi: 10.3998/mpub.11685289. ISBN: 978-0-472-90354-2
• Aguilera, R. V., Federo, R., & Ponomareva, Y. (2021). Gone global: The international diffusion of hedge fund activism. In D. Cumming, S. Johan, & G. Wood (Eds.), Oxford handbook of hedge funds (pp. 318–367). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198840954.013.3. ISBN: 978-0-198-84095-4 
• Federo, R. & Saz-Carranza, A. 2015. A research approach to international governmental organizations: Examining executive boards and strategy. In J. Solana & A. Saz-Carranza (Eds). The global context: How politics, investment, and institutions impact European business. Barcelona: ESADEgeo, ESADE Business School.

Practitioner-oriented publication

• Federo, R. 2024. LGBTQ+s adjust their behaviour to break through the rainbow glass ceiling. LSE Business Review. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2024/07/15/lgbtqs-adjust-their-behaviour-to-break-the-rainbow-glass-ceiling/

Open Dataset

• Federo, R. & Bustamante, X. 2022. Global interorganizational network dataset from GDELT. Accessible at: https://www.bustawin.com/interorg-network-dataset/ 

Work in progress at different stages of development

• Infantes, P., Pascual-Fuster, B., & Federo, R. Board gender diversity in business groups (under review)
• Federo, R., Galang, R. M., & Lizares, R. M. Politically connected directors of Philippine listed firms (under review)
• Federo, R. & Torsin, W. Transgender experience (in preparation)
• Infantes, P., Parra, M. I., & Federo, R. Boards of IBEX35 (in preparation)
• Federo, R., Aguilera, R., Bustamante, X., & Infantes, P. How ownership matters on firms (in preparation)

Conference/workshop papers

• 2024: Academy of Management Annual Meeting at Chicago, Illinois; European Academy of Management Annual Conference at University of Bath, United Kingdom
• 2023: Academy of Management Annual Meeting at Boston, Massachusetts; AMJ Paper and Idea Development Workshop at ESADE-Barcelona, Spain; International Corporate Governance Society Annual Conference at Madrid, Spain
• 2022: Academy of Management Annual Meeting at Seattle, Washington; International Corporate Governance Society Annual Conference at Miami, Florida; Public Management Research Association Conference at Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona; 21st Workshop on Corporate Governance and Investment at Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen-Denmark
• 2021: Academy of International Business Annual Conference – Online; Academy of Management Annual Meeting – Online; International Corporate Governance Society Annual Conference at Groningen, The Netherlands; International Studies Association Annual Convention – Online; 7^th International Congress of the Bicycle | XVIII Iberian Congress “The Bicycle and the City” at Barcelona, Spain
• 2020: Academy of Management Annual Meeting – Online; Corporate Governance Summit 2020 at Centre for Business Organisations and Society at the School of Management-University of Bath, United Kingdom; International Corporate Governance Society Annual Conference – Online
• 2019: AMJ/AMR Lisbon Paper and Idea Development Workshop at Lisbon, Portugal; Corporate Governance and European Union Integration (CGEUI) Workshop at Barcelona, Spain; International Corporate Governance Society Annual Conference at University of Essex, United Kingdom
• 2018: Academy of Management Annual Meeting at Chicago, Illinois; Strategic Management Society Annual Conference at Paris, France; XLII Encontro de ANPAD at Curitiba, Brazil
• 2017: Academy of Management Annual Meeting at Atlanta, Georgia; International Studies Association Annual Convention at Baltimore, Maryland
• 2016: Academy of Management Annual Meeting at Anaheim, California; European Group for Organizational Studies Annual Conference at Naples, Italy; International Research Society for Public Management Annual Conference at Hong Kong; Political Economy of International Organizations Annual Conference at University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; Public Management Research Association Conference at Aarhus University, Denmark
• 2015: Barcelona Workshop on Global Governance at ESADE Business School and IBEI, Barcelona, Spain; Business and Public Policy Workshop at ESMT Berlin, Germany; ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops at the University of Warsaw, Poland; Public Management Research Association Conference at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Invited presentations

• 2024: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
• 2022: GLOBE Webinar Series, KU Leuven, Belgium 
• 2021: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
• 2020: Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain; EADA Business School, Barcelona, Spain
• 2019: EADA Business School, Barcelona, Spain
• 2018: ESCP Business School, Madrid, Spain; LUISS Business School, Rome, Italy; University of Barcelona Business School, Barcelona, Spain 
• 2017: D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, Boston-MA, United States

Research projects

• 2024-2027: Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICIN) – PID2023-152155NA-I00 (The Silent Majority: How Deaf Employees Resist Workplace Stigma – DEAFSTIG) – Principal researcher
• 2023-2024: Universitat de les Illes Balears’ Institute for Educational Research and Innovation (IRIE UIB) – PID232523 (Storytelling Educativo: Potenciando la Educación Universitaria de Calidad a través de Narrativas Inspiradoras en el Aula) – Principal researcher
• 2021-2024: Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICIN) – PID2020-115982RB-C21 (Business Groups: Strategy. Governance, and Finance – BIGRU) – Research work team member
• 2017-2020: Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) – 2017 SGR1556 (Research Group in Leadership and Innovation in Public Management – GLIGP) – Research work team member
• 2019-2020: ESADE-PWC Corporate Governance Research Project on Board of Directors – Researcher