Corporate Governance and Firm Performance : The Mediation Effect of Board Roles, Panel Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Authors

  • Jonas Bawuah  School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, 301, Xuefu Rd. Zhenjiang, P.R. China
  • Kong Yusheng  Department of Accountancy and Accounting Information Systems, Kumasi Technical University, Ghana
  • Agyeiwaa Owusu Nkwantabisa  ZHONGNAN University of Economics and Law 182# Nanhu Road East Lake High Tech Development Zone, Wuhan P.R China 430073

DOI:

https://doi.org//10.32628/IJSRSET207238

Keywords:

Corporate Governance, Firm Performance, Board Roles, Board Structural Characteristics

Abstract

The study explores the effect of corporate governance on the performance of firms in Sub-Saharan Africa by using both return on equity and return on assets as performance measures. Unique data from 252 listed firms drawn from Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Kenya covering thirteen year period of 2006-2018 was used and analysed within the generalised least square panel data framework. Results indicate that the direction and the extent of impact of corporate governance are dependent on the performance measure being examined. Specifically, our findings show that board structural characteristics and firm performance relationship was significant and stronger with return on equity as compared to return on asset. We also find that unlike for frequency of board meetings, the results suggest that board structural characteristics are significant predictors of firm performance and that the monitoring and resource dependence roles partially mediate the relationship between board structural characteristics and firm performance.

References

  1. Adams, Renee B. Asking Directors about their Dual Roles [R]. University of Queensland and ECGI (2009), SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1362339
  2. Aguilera, R. V. and Cuervo-Cazurra, A. (2009). ‘Codes of Good Governance’, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 17, No. 3, Pp.376-387.
  3. Aguliera, R.V. (2005) Corporate governance and director accountability: an institutional perspective, British Journal of Management, S39-S53
  4. Baranchuk, N. and Dybvig, P. Consensus in Diverse Corporate Boards [J]. The Review of Financial Studies, 2009, 22(2): 715-747
  5. Baron, Reuben M. and David A. Kenny (1986), “The Moderator–Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological
  6. Beasley, M., J. Carcello, D. Hermanson and P. D. Lapides. Fraudulent financial reporting: Consideration of industry traits and corporate governance mechanisms [J]. Accounting Horizons, (2000): 441-454
  7. Boone, A. L., Field, L. C., Karpoff, J. M. and Raheja, C. G. The determinants of corporate board size and composition: An empirical analysis [J]. Journal of Financial Economics, 2007, 85: 65-101
  8. Brick, I., Chidambaran, N. K. (2010). Board meetings, committee structure, and firm value, Journal of Corporate Finance, 16: 533-553.
  9. Brick, I.E. and Chidambaran, N.K. Board Meetings, Committee Structure, and Firm Performance [J]. Available at SSRN: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1108241, (2007)
  10. Carcello, J., D. R. Hermanson, T.L. Neal and R. Riley, Jr. Board characteristics and audit fees [J]. Contemporary Accounting Research (Fall): 2002. 365-384
  11. Carpenter, M.A. and Westphal, J.D. The strategic context of external network ties: examining the impact of director appointments on board involvement in strategic decision making [J]. Academy of Management Journal, 2001, 4 (4): 639-66
  12. Chhaochharia, V. and Grinstein, Y. Corporate Governance and Firm Value: The Impact of the 2002 Governance Rules [J]. Journal of Finance, 2007, 62(4):1789-1825
  13. Coles, J., McWilliams, V., and Sen, N. An examination of the relationship of governance mechanisms to performance [J]. Journal of Management, 2001, 27: 23-50
  14. Dahya, J. and McConnell, J. J. (2005). ‘Outside Directors and Corporate Board Decisions’, Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol. 11, Pp.37-60.
  15. Daily, C., Dalton, D. R. and Cannella, A. A. (2003). ‘Corporate Governance: The Impact of Board Composition and Structure, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 28, Pp.371-382.
  16. Dalton, D., Daily, C. and Ellstrand, A. Number of directors and financial performance: A metal analysis [J]. Academy of Management Journal, 1999, 42(6), 674-686.Davis
  17. Dehaene A, De Vuyst V, Ooghe H (2001) Corporate performance and board structure in Belgian companies, Long Range Planning, 34(3):383-398
  18. De Jong, B. A., and Elfring, T. (2010). How Does Trust Affect the Performance of Ongoing Teams? The Mediating Role of Reflexivity, Monitoring and Effort. Academy of Management Journal, 53(3), 535-549.
  19. Fama, E. F. Agency Problems and the Theory of the Firm [J]. Journal of Political Economy, 1980, 88(2):288-307
  20. Farinha, J. (2003). Corporate governance: A survey of the literature, Universitade do Porto Economia, Discussion Paper no. 2003-06 Retrieved from SSRN http://ssrn.com/abstract=470801 orhttp://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.470801
  21. Finkelstein, S. and Mooney, A.C. Not the usual suspects: how to use the board process to make boards better[J]. Academy of Management Executive, 2003, 17 (2): 489-505
  22. Forbes, D., & Milliken, F. Cognition and corporate governance: Understanding boards of directors as strategic decision-making groups [J]. Academy of Management Review, (1999), 24: 489-505. DOI:10.5465/AMR.1999.2202133
  23. Fuzi, S. F S, Rahim, M. and Tan, A (2012). Factors influencing Performance of Independent Directors in Malaysia, 2012 IEEE Symposium on Humanities, Sciences and Engineering Research
  24. Gompers, P., Ishii, J., and Metrick, A. (2003) Corporate governance and equity prices, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118 (1), 107-155.
  25. Gordon, J. N. The rise of independent directors in the United States, 1950-2005: Of shareholder value and stock market prices [J]. Stanford Law Review, 2007, 59: 1465-156
  26. Hassan, M. The Impact of Corporate Governance on Board Structure and Board Roles: An Empirical Study of Pakistani Listed Firms [Book]. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Newcastle University, UK (2014)
  27. Haniffa, R. and Hudaib, M. Corporate Governance Structure and Performance of Malaysian Listed Companies [J]. Journal of Business, Finance and Accounting, 2006, 33(7 and 8):1034-1062
  28. Haniffa RM, Cooke TE (2005) The impact of culture and governance on corporate social reporting, Journal of Accounting and Public policy, 24:391-430
  29. Haniffa, R. M. and Cooke, T. E. Culture, Corporate Governance and Disclosure in Malaysian Corporations [J]. Abacus, 2002, 38(3):317-349
  30. Hermalin, B.E. and Weisbach, M.S. (2003) Boards of directors as an endogenously determined institution: a survey of the economic literature, Economic Policy Review, 9 (1), 7- 26
  31. Hillman, A.J., Cannella, Jr., AR., and Paetzold, R.L. (2000) The resource dependence role of corporate directors: Strategic adaptation of board composition in response to environmental change, Journal of Management Studies, 37 (2), 235-255
  32. Hillman, A. J., & Dalziel, T. Boards of directors and firm performance: Integrating agency and resource dependence perspectives [J]. Academy of Management Review, 2003. 28(3): 383-396
  33. Huse, M. Boards, governance, and value creation [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007
  34. Jackling, B., & Johl, S. Board structure and firm performance: evidence from India'stop companies. Corporate Governance [J]: An International Review, 2009, 17(4), 492-509. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8683.2009.00760
  35. Kelton, A. and Yang, Y. The impact of corporate governance on internet financial reporting [J]. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 2008, 27: 62-87
  36. Kiel, G. C. and Nicholson, G. J. (2003). ‘Board Composition and Corporate Performance: How the Austrian Experience Informs Contrasting Theories of Corporate Governance’ Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 11, No. 3, Pp.189-205.
  37. Klein, A. Likely effects of stock exchange governance proposals and Sarbanes- Oxley on corporate boards and financial reporting [J]. Accounting Horizons, 2003,17 (4): 343-355
  38. Krause, R., M. Semadeni and A. A. Cannella (2014). ‘CEO duality: a review and research agenda’, Journal of Management, 40, pp. 256–286
  39. Kouki, M. and M. Guizani (2015). ‘Outside directors and firm performance: the moderating effects of ownership and board leadership structure’, International BusinessResearch, 8, pp. 104–116
  40. Linck, J.M. Netter, T. Yang. The determinants of board structure [J]. Journal of Financial Economics, 2008, 87: 308–328
  41. Lipton, M. and Lorsch, J. W. A modest proposal for improved corporate governance [J]
  42. Mangena, M. and Tauringana, V. (2006). ‘Corporate Boards, Ownership Structure and Firm Performance in an Environment of Economic and Political Instability: The Case of Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Listed Companies’, Working Paper, School of Management, Bradford University, UK.
  43. McNulty, T. and Zattoni, A., and Douglas, T. Developing Corporate Governance Research Through Qualitative Methods: A Review of Previous Studies [J]. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 2013, 21(2):183-198
  44. Nicholson, G.J. and Kiel, G.C. Can directors impact performance? A case based test of three theories of corporate governance, Corporate Governance [J]. An International Review, 2007, 15(4): 585-608
  45. Ntim, Collins G. and Osei, Kofi A. (2011) ‘The Impact of Corporate Board Meetings on Corporate Performance in South Africa’ African Review of Economics and Finance, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp.83-103.
  46. Payne, G.T., Benson, G.S., and Finegold, D.L. (2009) Corporate board attributes, team effectiveness and financial performance, Journal of Management Studies, 46 (4), 704-731
  47. Research: Conceptual, Strategic and Statistical Considera- tions,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51 (6), 1173–82.
  48. Roberts, J., McNulty, T., and Stiles, P. (2005) Beyond agency conceptions of the work of the nonexecutive director: creating accountability in the boardroom, British Journal of Management, 16, S5-S26
  49. Ruigrok, W., Peck, S.I., and Keller, H. Board characteristics and involvement in strategic decision making: Evidence from Swiss companies [J]. Journal of Management Studies, 2006, 43(5), 1201-1226
  50. Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. A Survey of Corporate Governance [J]. Journal of Finance, 1997, 52 (2):737–783.
  51. Sonnenfeld, J. A. What Makes Great Boards Great [J]. Harvard Business Review, 2002, 80(9), 106-113
  52. Useem, M. And Zelleke, A. Oversight and Delegation in Corporate Governance: Deciding What the Board Should Decide [J]. Corporate Governance, 2006, 14(1): 2-12
  53. Van Ees, H., Gabrielsson, J., and Huse, M. (2009). Toward a Behavioral Theory of Boards and Corporate Governance. Corporate Governance-an International Review, 17(3): 307-319.
  54. Van Ness, R., Miesing, P., & Kang, J. Board of director composition and financial performance in a Sarbanes-Oxley world. Academy of Business and Economics Journal, 2010, 10: 56–74
  55. Wan, D. & Ong, C.H. Board structure, process and performance: evidence from public-listed companies in Singapore [J].Corporate Governance: An International Review, 2005, 13(2): 277-290
  56. Weisbach, M. S. Outside Directors and CEO Turnover [J]. Journal of Financial Economics, 1988, 20:431-460
  57. Yermack, D. Higher market valuation of companies with a small board of directors [J]. Journal of Financial Economics, 1996, 40(2), 185–211. DOI:10.1016/0304-405X(95)00844-5
  58. Zahra, S.A. and Pearce J.A. Boards of directors and corporate financial performance: A review and integrative model [J]. Journal of Management, 1989, 15(2): 291-334
  59. Zinkin, J (25 June, 2010), Independent directors must learn to ask CEOs the right questionsZubaidah ZA, Nurmala MK, Kamaruzaman, J (2009) Board structure and corporate performance in Malaysia, International Journal of Economics and Finance, 1(1):150-164

Downloads

Published

2020-04-30

Issue

Section

Research Articles

How to Cite

[1]
Jonas Bawuah, Kong Yusheng, Agyeiwaa Owusu Nkwantabisa, " Corporate Governance and Firm Performance : The Mediation Effect of Board Roles, Panel Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa, International Journal of Scientific Research in Science, Engineering and Technology(IJSRSET), Print ISSN : 2395-1990, Online ISSN : 2394-4099, Volume 7, Issue 2, pp.153-157, March-April-2020. Available at doi : https://doi.org/10.32628/IJSRSET207238