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This research investigated the influence of board characteristics on corporate social responsibility of listed oil and gas companies in Nigerian Exchange. Variables examined are bord size, independence, gender diversity, activity, professionalism and equity ownership of board members. While corporate social responsibility was proxy by CSR expenditure. The population consists of twelve (12) listed oil and gas firms from which five (5) firms have consistently published their annual reports within the period covered and extracted data from their respective annual reports. Panel corrected standard error was used for analysis. Findings revealed both board size and board activity have no significant impacts on CSR while in contrast, board independence, female gender, board professionalism and board equity ownership have a significant effect on CSR. It was recommended that the management of listed oil and gas companies need to have more independent outside directors on the board to enhance monitoring and CSR performance. Also, higher participation of female on the board will improve CSR performance because of their concern for environmental issues. In addition, having more members with professional expertise will improve the decision making of the board and equally shape CSR performance. Board members with equity stake will align the interest of the managers with those of shareholders and likewise, focus more on long-term goals of the firm. Listed oil and gas firm should maintain appropriate board size and required number of board meetings as stipulated by code of corporate governance.

This paper investigates the relationship between specific board attributes and the financial performance of publicly listed deposit banks in Nigeria, focusing on board size and composition, which are examined in relation to the measure of financial performance proxied by the return on assets (ROA). Drawing from agency theories, a panel data approach spanning 2011 to 2020 examines ten deposit banks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), resulting in 60 firm-year observations. The study obtained data from the annual reports of selected banks and the official websites of the NSE. The model's validity is assessed through a multiple regression analysis. The findings of this study reveal a positive and significant association between board size and financial performance, highlighting the pivotal role of larger boards in enhancing deposit banks' financial outcomes on the NSE. In contrast, the study finds a negative and significant relationship between board composition and financial performance, suggesting that an increased board composition leads to decreased financial performance. Overall, this study underscores the significant impact of board characteristics on the financial performance of listed deposit banks in Nigeria. The implications of these findings are pertinent for policymakers and market regulators, as they offer valuable insights into the role of board characteristics in bolstering the financial performance of banks.

Syfte: Ett växande intresse för CSR och dess betydelse lyfter fram rollen av bolagsstyrning. Bland annat ifrågasattes styrelsens roll i att utveckla strategier och uppfylla krav från diverse intressentgrupper. Frågan om finansiell prestation, eller tillgängligheten av finansiella resurser, kan påverka förhållandet mellan CSR och styrelseegenskaper har sällan undersökts tidigare. Syftet med denna studie är därmed uppdelat i två frågeställningar; den första delen undersöker hur styrelseegenskaperna påverkar CSR. Vidare behandlar den andra delen potentiella modererande effekter av finansiell prestation på förhållandet. Metod: Studien utgår från en positivistisk forskningsfilosofi och en tvärsnittsforskning som bygger på en kvantitativ strategi. Data inhämtades via Refinitiv Eikon om 433 börsnoterade nordiska bolag för året 2021. Behandling och analys av data genomfördes via SPSS; ett statistiskt mjukvaruprogram. Resultat & slutsats: Resultaten tyder på positiva och statistiskt signifikanta effekter av styrelsens storlek, andelen kvinnor i styrelsen respektive andelen oberoende styrelseledamöter på CSR. Likaså fanns ett positivt samband mellan CSR och finansiell prestation samt att påverkan av styrelsestorleken på CSR positivt stärks av finansiell prestation. Däremot indikeras att påverkan av andelen kvinnor i styrelsen respektive andelen oberoende styrelseledamöter på CSR försvagas av finansiell prestation. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens resultat har praktiska och teoretiska bidrag. Studiens teoretiska bidrag avser resultatens tillägg i den nuvarande forskningen om förhållandet mellan CSR och styrelsen. Studiens empiriska resultat kan därmed användas för att bättre förstå hur styrelsesammansättningen kan uppmuntra ansvarsfullt beteende. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Genom studiens resultat har vi kunnat föreslå tre ytterligare frågor för fortsatt undersökning. Den första frågan föreslår att VD:ns personlighet, engagemang och värderingar kan vara en närmare in, Aim: The growing interest in corporate social responsibility and discussions of its importance inquired the role of corporate governance by numerous researchers. Specifically, the board has been highlighted as a pilar to developing strategies and maintaining the goals of diverse stakeholders. The role of financial performance, or the availability of slack financial resources, is a question rarely posed in its effects on the relation between the previously mentioned variables. The objective of this study is thereby divided into two inquiries; the first part investigates the effects of board characteristics on CSR, whereas the second part explores potential moderation effects of financial performance on the relationship. Method: This study employs a positivistic research philosophy and cross-sectional research design based on a quantitative strategy. Data was collected through Refinitiv Eikon on 433 Nordic public firms for the year 2021. Processing and analysis of data was conducted through a statistical software program, SPSS. Results & conclusions: Our findings suggest positive and statistically significant effects of board size, proportion of female board members and proportion of independent board members on CSR, respectively. Likewise, we find that financial performance has a positive effect on CSR and positively accentuates the effects of board size on CSR. Meaning that, higher financial performances positively influence firms’ level of CSP and accentuate the effects of board size on CSR. However, the effects of the proportion of female board members and proportion of independent board members are respectively weakened by firms’ financial performance. Contribution of the thesis: The findings of this study have practical and theoretical contributions. Theoretical contributions refer to our additions to the current research bank by providing more evidence on the effects of board characteristics on CSR. Practical contributions regard the empirical results gi

Corporate governance mechanisms have continued to strengthen the operations and activities of corporate entities in Nigeria. Board characteristics and earnings management have attracted many scholars trying to establish relevant relationship that will assist policy makers and regulatory agencies in facilitating good corporate governance. This study examines the impact of board characteristics on earnings management of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. The Agency Theory was used to underpin the study. Board characteristics as the independent variable was proxied using board independence, board meetings, board gender diversity and board expertise while earnings management as the dependent variable was measured using the Modifies Jones Model. The panel data multiple regression was used on data extracted from annual reports of sixteen listed consumer goods firms from 2011 to 2020. The study found that, board gender diversity and board expertise negatively and significantly influence earnings management while board independence and board meetings have no significant influence on listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. The study therefore recommends that, regulatory agencies and policy makers should encourage listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria to increase diversity in boards and expertise as this will minimize earnings management activities by management.

Purpose: This research intends to explore the impact of board attributes on the performance of non-financial listed firms in Pakistan and how ownership structure plays a moderating role in shaping this link. This research posits that institutional shareholders possess motivations to enhance board governance due to their advanced financial knowledge and managerial expertise. Methodology: Four attributes of the board (board size, women on board, board independence, and board busyness) were studied to see the impact. The firm performance was measured using Tobin Q. The present study employs 80 non-financial listed firms in its sample, and the multiple regression approach was used to inspect a 12-year panel dataset. Findings: The results discovered that board size has a positive and significant influence on the performance of companies. However, board independence and women on board have a significant negative effect on firm performance. Moreover, the outcomes of this study indicate that the ownership structure acts as a moderator, influencing the correlation between board attributes (board size and board busyness) with non-financial listed firms’ performance in Pakistan. Implications: The current study provides useful insight into this relationship to the policymakers, government, researchers, and other stakeholders. Therefore, based on this study's findings, non-financial firms listed in Pakistan should consider adopting institutional shareholding as a strategy to strengthen their capacity to secure long-term financing to support their growth initiatives.

Purpose: This study aims to explain how board and hotel characteristics affect biodiversity reporting and to test the moderating effect of market diversification. Design/methodology/approach: The annual reports of 105 hotels were examined for the period between 2016 and 2017 to analyse these hotels’ biodiversity reporting using content analysis. The partial least squares technique was used to test the proposed relationships. Findings: The results show that the number of board members who are also on the corporate social responsibility committee, number of board members who are in environmental organizations, the star rating of the hotel, hotel size and hotel location have significant positive effects on the extent of biodiversity reporting. In addition, market diversification moderates positively the effects of number of board members with environmental experience and number of board members from environmental organizations on the extent of biodiversity reporting. Practical implications: The results of this study will be useful in enabling hotel manager and investors to become knowledgeable about these aspects of boards, which lead to higher biodiversity reporting. This study can also inform policymakers about the types of hotels that are less likely to disclose biodiversity reports and to develop effective enforcement of regulations. Originality/value: These findings extend the literature on biodiversity reporting by exploring the importance of board and hotel characteristics on the extent of biodiversity reporting and testing the moderating effect of market diversification.

Methodology A quantitative study with a deductive approach. Panel data are used in the multiple linear regression to analyse and investigate relationships between dividend payout ratio and the independent variables. Theoretical Perspectives Main theoretical frameworks of the study are the Outcome Hypothesis and Substitution Hypothesis. In addition, Agency Theory, Stewardship Theory, Stakeholder Theory, as well as traditional dividend hypotheses are discussed. Empirical Foundation The data consists of 803 dividend paying firms listed on NYSE and NASDAQ between 2015-2019. The data has been collected from Bloomberg Terminal. Result The empirical evidence documents that board director age, frequency of board meetings and CEO duality have a significant positive impact on the level of dividend payout ratio. Conclusions The analysis shows that high dividends are a substitute for weak governance, in accordance with the Substitution Hypothesis.

We study how entrepreneurs’ attitudes toward risk, as measured by their personal legal infractions, are related to information asymmetry and agency problems prior to bankruptcy, using a sample of 260 small Swedish firms. We find that auditor resignations are more likely in firms where entrepreneurs have legal infractions. Furthermore, we find that legal infractions are negatively related to the likelihood of a firm disclosing its annual report and the quality of the bookkeeping, suggesting that information asymmetry problems are more severe when the entrepreneurs have legal infractions. We also find that creditors’ recovery rates in bankruptcy are lower if the entrepreneurs have legal infractions related to serious traffic offences, such as driving under the influence of alcohol or without a license.

The research aims to determine the impact of the board characteristics on the firm performance for 348 firms of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) 500 Index listed on the National Stock Exchange of India for the period 2012-2018 using (OLS) Ordinary Least Square (FEM) Fixed Effect Model and more robust (GMM) Generalized Method of Moments regression techniques. GMM regression technique also controls for the endogeneity as well as heteroscedasticity and heterogeneity in panel data. Further, the moderating effects of market capitalization are also observed considering the impact of board characteristics on the firm performance using the interaction effects technique. Lastly, the ideal board size was determined based on the classification of market capitalization including small, mid and large market cap. Board characteristics including board size and percentage of shares held by the promoters have a positive significant impact on the firm performance while the percentage of shares pledged by the promoters has a negative significant impact on the firm performance. The results show that market capitalization moderates the relationship between board characteristics and firm performance. Findings also suggest an ideal board size of 8 for mid-cap firms and a range of 7-18 for large-cap firms which show a similar result to the Kotak Committee Report (2017) recommendations with the ideal board size being a minimum of 6 directors on the board. The results cannot be generalized as only the manufacturing and services (excluding financial) industries are taken into account, but the results can be applied to the abovesaid industry sectors. CITE THIS PAPER: Naim, Hamza; Aziz, Tariq (2022). "Board Characteristics impact on the Firm Performance in the Indian Context" Journal of World Economy: Transformations & Transitions (JOWETT) 2(05):19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52459/jowett25191022

Objective: How to increase firm performance? This paper seeks to answer this question by analyzing the effect of some variables, especially board size and board independence with firm performance. In this regard, the current paper uses non-financial firms listed on Borsa Istanbul stock change between the period of 2013 and 2015. Methodology: On the other hand, the current research used random sampling of abovementioned firms which was listed on BIST. Correspondingly, to address the association among board characteristics (e.g. interlocking directors, size, and independence) and firm performance the present research adopted an agency theory as well as resource dependency theory. Plus, utilizing the descriptive statistics, relationship matrix tests, and linear multiple regression as the principal statistical tests via (STATA V.14 and SPSS V25). Findings: As a consequent, the current paper pointed out a various conclusion, most significant one shows that there is a positive association among the (board size, interlocking directors, board independence, and firm performance). Implications: Lastly, the current research suggested for future studies might address bigger sample, wider time frame, and further board of director’s characteristics for instant, age and nationality. &nbsp

The purpose of the study is to analyze the impact of board characteristics, firm level factors and political connections on cost of capital. The sample of study comprises of 175 non-financial companies listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2008 to 2021. Fixed effect model is used for analysis of data. The findings revealed that Increasing board independence and leverage has a negative influence on the cost of capital. Whereas, Board size, Audit committee size impact the cost of capital positively. The study resolute that the cost of capital is not influenced by political connections, firm size, or institutional ownership. The research identified that there was a decline in the cost of capital, along with an increase in board independence and leverage. In addition, the cost of capital is unaffected by political connections, the size of firms and institutional shareholdings. In contrast, the cost of capital grew due to an increase in the size of the Board and the Audit Committee. The study suggests that In Pakistan non-financial firm’s maximum family own business and very low focus on management and foreign owners. Alternative prospective of managerial and foreign ownership firms should minimized the agency problems as family ownership. And for the best improvement of corporate governance board of directors should bring a transparency, accountability and fairness financial reporting.

Our research investigates the moderating roles of various board characteristics (independence, gender diversity, tenure, duality, and size) on the curvilinear relationship between board directorships and carbon emissions using a two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) system approach. We use a total of 1582 observations from 391 firms listed in the US Standard and Poor 500 (S&P 500) index collected from 2015 to 2021. Our findings provide empirical evidence in four aspects: (1) there is a U-shaped curvilinear relationship between board directorships and carbon emissions; (2) board directors should not go over two directorships because carbon emissions are likely to increase; (3) board independence, duality, and size positively moderate curvilinear relationships between board directorships and carbon emissions; and (4) board tenure and gender diversity negatively moderate curvilinear relationships. Our study contributes to expanding the existing literature related to sustainable corporate governance in the US market, and also has implications for regulatory issues, business practice, and further research. © 2022 by the authors.

This research focused on recent significant changes introduced by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’ 2030 Vision, with respect to creating a larger role for the private sector in the economy and placing a new emphasis on social and environmental issues. Particularly this thesis assessed the perception of various corporate stakeholders to the new corporate governance framework as part of the KSA 2030 Vision for publicly listed companies on the three dimensions of sustainability (economy, society, and environment). The findings support the arguments in the literature that board structure and board characteristics have positive impacts on the three dimensions of sustainability.

Social and Environmental Disclosure has been at its adoption phase in Nigeria despite the trend of disclosure practices by firms around the world. As a step towards addressing this shortcoming, the paper examined Board characteristics and their effects on Social and Environmental Disclosure in Nigeria. Mixed theoretical approach was deployed in explaining relationship between board characteristics and Social and Environmental Disclosure. Companies were graded on their Social and Environmental Disclosure performance using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Index. For a period of seven years (2012 - 2018), data were obtained from the published Annual Reports of fifty (50) selected environmentally sensitive enterprises listed on the website of the Nigerian Exchange Group as of 2019. Panel corrected Standard Error (PCSE) regression was found appropriate in testing the hypotheses. Board size, board expertise, board independence and board gender diversity were found to be positive and significant to Social and Environmental Disclosure. The study concluded that Board Characteristics impact Social and Environmental Disclosure and further recommends that listed firms should comply adequately with corporate governance requirements related to Board Characteristics to ensure that Social and Environmental Disclosure is not compromised.

Good corporate governance would contribute to the sustainable development of the economy. Better corporate governance is supposed to lead to better corporate performance and expropriation of controlling shareholders is supposed to be prevented. Studies of impacts of corporate governance on organizational performance had started since 1990s. Vietnam is a developing country with an underdeveloped financial market and week regulatory principles. Therefore, an approach of internal mechanism is supposed to be a better way to improve the quality of corporate governance than external mechanisms. Two internal governance mechanisms (IGMs) are examined in the relationship with corporate performance in this study include (1) Ownership structure and (2) Board of Directors. The results shows that largest shareholder, controlled directors and duality have negative impacts on firm performance while family ownership, board of director ownership, institutional ownership and foreign ownership have positive impacts on firm performance. The study makes theoretical and empirical contribution to the understanding for the development of an effective corporate governance framework in Vietnamese market.

[EN] Drawing on the complexity theory and responding to the recent calls to use such creative methods that mix between a quantitative and qualitative approach. Therefore, this study fills the literature gap, adding novelties, showing evidence from the unexplored (or underexplored) European context and, consequently, shedding light to inconclusive results in previous research concerning the effect of audit committee (AC) and board characteristics on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure by applying a novel research methodology: the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. The data were collected from Eikon database for a sample of the top 69 non¿financial European companies (based on market capitalisation) for the period 2016¿2018. The study results support the equifinality and complexity tenets of complexity theory. It also suggests that CSR disclosure relies on a complex configuration of some AC attributes, for example, independence, financial expert member, chair independence, size and activity, and other board characteristics (independence, gender, size, activity, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) duality). These characteristics play a leading part as a recipe ingredient and, in an appropriate combination, promote achieving high CSR disclosure levels. Our empirical results offer multidimensional and valuable insights for professionals, regulators, and policymakers in establishing and revising the guidelines regarding the AC and board of directors' composition.

The concept of intellectual capital (IC) was introduced by Leif Edvinsson in 1997 in the long Planning journal. 2019 marks since 22 years from that article. This centenary has motivated us to review the literature on the IC for highlighting the various research questions that relates to current marketing research. Hence, after reviewing the literature on IC, it has shown that IC is considered a knowledge based and an important resource to improve the organizational business performance (BP). In the extensive literature, the researchers have argued that as a knowledge base resource it carries out more than 75 percent worth of the organization and also determine the success of the today’s business. The relationship between IC, board characteristics (BC) and BP has been review in detail. In line with this, intellectual capital and board characteristics are considered essential to improve performance and success of the organization but there still there is no clear relationship among them and also a lack of studies in the context of developing countries. Hence, after reviewing the several studies, the following knowledge gaps in the existing studies have been found. Therefore, much remains to understood regarding the way of approaching and conceptualizing both, IC, BC with the BP in another way to see the clear relationship among them.

This paper aims to study the effect that board independence and diversity have on IPO underpricing. It is expected that through signalling, these factors might have a negative relationship with underpricing. Listings between 2015-01-01 - 2018-12-31 on the two Swedish stock exchanges Nasdaq Stockholm and Nasdaq First North are investigated and the final sample consisted of 188 observations. The quantitative research methodology was done using an OLS regression. The regression showed no statistical significance for the relationship between board diversity and underpricing. However, a weakly statistically significant positive relationship was found between Independence and Underpricing. Three interaction terms were created in order to investigate possible relationships between independence and diversity on underpricing. An interaction effect with weak statistical significance was found between Independence from company and Diversity., This paper aims to study the effect that board independence and diversity have on IPO underpricing. It is expected that through signalling, these factors might have a negative relationship with underpricing. Listings between 2015-01-01 - 2018-12-31 on the two Swedish stock exchanges Nasdaq Stockholm and Nasdaq First North are investigated and the final sample consisted of 188 observations. The quantitative research methodology was done using an OLS regression. The regression showed no statistical significance for the relationship between board diversity and underpricing. However, a weakly statistically significant positive relationship was found between Independence and Underpricing. Three interaction terms were created in order to investigate possible relationships between independence and diversity on underpricing. An interaction effect with weak statistical significance was found between Independence from company and Diversity.

This study examines the impact of board characteristics on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure in Ghana. It uses panel data covering 15 financial years which was extracted from the companies’ annual report to test the hypothesis using OLS regression. The results provide evidence that board characteristics such as size, board independence, board members below age 40, foreign nationals on board and gender diversity has a positive and significant impact on the CSR disclosure in Ghana. Board size recorded a negative and significant impact on CSR disclosure while women as board chairperson recorded no significant impact on CSR disclosure. In terms of structural break, the results indicate that, there is no structural break at 1% and 5%. However, at 10%, there is structural break. Based on these findings, the study recommends that, board size should be made up of minimum of 5 and maximum of 9. Again, there should be gender diversity, more independent directors, foreign nationals and younger board members below age 40 to ensure effectiveness and full disclosure of CSR in listed companies in Ghana.

We examine how firm characteristics, particularly the degree of firm complexity and the firm’s need for specialty knowledge, affect the relationship between corporate governance and the risk of bankruptcy. We find that having larger boards reduces the risk of bankruptcy only for complex firms. Our results also suggest that the proportion of inside directors on the board is inversely associated with the risk of bankruptcy in firms that require more specialist knowledge, and that the reverse is true in technically unsophisticated firms. The results further reveal that the additional explanatory power from corporate governance variables becomes stronger as the time to bankruptcy is increased, implying that although corporate governance variables are important predictors, governance changes are likely to be too late to save a firm on the verge of bankruptcy.

The purpose of this research is to analyse the trends in data from monetary financial institutions (MFIs) in Portugal compared to the Euro Area. The analysis principally focuses on the period after the subprime crisis, which started in 2007 in the USA. Moreover, this article exposes some interesting data about corporate governance in Portuguese banks (e.g. governance model, gender, board dimension, executive compensation, board members’ qualifications). Of particular note is the fact that after the bail-out of Portugal in 2011, the Portuguese banking system started a process of downsizing evidenced not only by the reduction in the number of branches but also cuts to human resources. In terms of board characteristics, it is evident that the majority of Portuguese banks use the Latin model of corporate governance. Furthermore, only a small number of Portuguese banks are listed (a total of three were registered). Another aspect of note is the limited presence of women on boards of directors, El objeto de este trabajo es el análisis de la evolución de determinados aspectos del sector bancario portugués a partir de la información proporcionada por instituciones monetarias financieras, así como su comparación con la eurozona, sobre todo tras la crisis de las subprime originada en Estados Unidos en 2007. Además, se ofrece información de interés relativa a la gobernanza corporativa de los bancos portugueses (por ejemplo, modelo de gobernanza, cuestiones de género, dimensión del Consejo, retribución de los ejecutivos, cualificación de los miembros del Consejo). Resulta particularmente interesante comprobar que, tras el rescate que tuvo lugar en 2011, el sistema bancario portugués comenzó un proceso reduccionista no solo en lo que se refiere al número de oficinas, sino también en el ámbito de los recursos humanos. Por lo que se refiere a las características de los consejos de dirección, la mayoría de los bancos portugueses apuestan por el modelo latino de gobernanza. Otros aspectos que merece la pena destacar son el escaso número de bancos portugueses que cotizan en bolsa y la poca participación de la mujer en los consejos de dirección.

This thesis investigates how ownership structure and corporate governance relate to the post-listing liquidity of IPO firms. Using a sample of 1,049 Chinese IPOs from 2001 to 2010, the results show firms with a broader shareholder base and higher ownership concentration have greater post-listing liquidity. So do firms with higher state ownership and lower institution ownership. Corporate governance is also important; post-listing liquidity is higher for firms with CEO duality, a larger and more independent board, and more frequent board meetings. The 2005 Split Share Structure Reform, which increased the proportion of tradable shares, has a positive impact on liquidity.

Purpose – Drawing on agency theory and legitimacy theory perspectives, the purpose of this paper isto investigate the influence of board characteristics on sustainability reporting of listed companies inthe Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), Sri Lanka.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 148 listed companies was drawn from the CSE usingstratified random sampling method and data were collected from the 2012 annual reports. Theproposed hypotheses were tested using a hierarchical binary logistic regression.Findings – This study documents that board size and dual leadership are positively associatedwith sustainability reporting and boards with female directors are negatively associated withsustainability reporting. This study also found that sustainability reporting is likely to be influencedby firm size and firm growth. Additionally, the study also reveals that younger firms are likelyto adopt sustainability reporting.Originality/value – This is the first study to examine the influence of board characteristicson sustainability reporting in Sri Lanka, considered as a developing economy with an emergingequity market.

The paper examines the determinants of the level of investment in net operating working capital by firms in Malaysia. Data from 192 companies spanning a period of 8 years (2000- 2007) are analysed using the OLS regression technique for this purpose. The study finds that in times of economic expansion, younger and smaller firms with less tangible assets, low leverage, high immediate sales growth, high operating cash flows, less volatile revenues and low levels of asymmetric information are likely to have the highest investments in operating working capital. Board characteristics, namely size and the independence of the board, are not found to have any significant influence on the working capital investment of firms.

This is an author's accepted manuscript of: Mahyuddin, E. F. B. H., Iranmanesh, M., Amran, A., & Foroughi, B. (2021). The impact of board and hotel characteristics on biodiversity reporting: Market diversification as a moderator. Social Responsibility Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-02-2019-0072

This study investigates the impacts of corporate governance mechanisms on the occurrence of earnings management activities among retail firms in the United Kingdom. In this research, the audit committee characteristics and board characteristics are taken into account and studied by a quantitative research method and secondary data. Regarding sample selection, 64 retail companies are chosen from London Stock Exchange (LSE) in recent four years. The modified Jones model (Dechow et al., 1995) is applied to estimate discretionary accrual, suggesting the significant importance of corporate governance practices in mitigating opportunistic managerial behaviour. First of all, board independence has a positive influence on constraining earnings management, suggesting outside directors are likely to discharge monitoring duties and discipline the management. Besides, the relation of board size with earnings management practices is negative, supporting that the large size of the board leads to inefficient monitoring of the board. In addition, a positive correlation among CEO duality on the occurrence of earnings management is proved, which means the dual role reduces the monitoring and control capability of the board. Moreover, audit committee independence is negatively associated with earnings management, thus suggesting external executives on the audit committee exercise more effective oversight to ensure the transparency in financial statements. In contrast, there is no relationship between audit committee size and the occurrence of earnings management. This paper provides valuable insights for regulators to implement corporate governance practices, highlight the important role of corporate governance mechanisms among retail listed firms in the United Kingdom.

For a long time, internal control is a hot research topic in the theoretical and practical fields. However, there are few empirical studies on the disclosure of internal control information of Listed Companies in China. The factors that affect the quality of internal control information disclosure of Listed Companies in China have not been fully studied and verified. Therefore, on the basis of previous studies, this dissertation discusses the relationship between the board characteristics and the effectiveness of internal control information disclosure (ICID). Taking 684 A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange as samples, this dissertation analyses the influence of board characteristics of listed companies on the quality of internal control information disclosure from 2009 to 2018. Through the establishment of pooled OLS regression model, this dissertation empirically analyses the negative correlation between the size of the board, the shareholding ratio of shareholders and the effectiveness of ICID. In addition, when the chief executive officer (CEO) concurrently serves as the chairman of the board, the information asymmetry will increase and the quality of information disclosure will be reduced. Moreover, properly increasing the number of board meetings will help to improve the effectiveness of ICID. However, this study fails to prove that there is a significant correlation between board independence and ICID level. The results show that the supervision role of independent directors in Chinese enterprises has not been brought into full play. After the robustness test, the above conclusions are still valid, so this study has practical economic effect and value. From the current research practice in China, the impact of independent director mechanism on the level and quality of ICID needs to be improved. Although it is difficult to form a unified standard of ICID and corporate governance due to the differences in practice in different countr

The objective of the study was to examine the correlation between board characteristics and accounting quality in Chinese high-technology listed firms. The study employed panel data analysis and the sample consisted of 527 firms over a period of 5 years from 2014 to 2018. The accounting quality was the dependent variable, which was quantified by the earnings management and value relevance respectively. The earnings management was measured by the discretionary accruals of the firms. The value relevance represented the relation of the market price per share and accounting figures which are book value per share and earnings per share of the firms. Board characteristics acted as the independent variables which are the board size, board independence, board meetings and CEO duality respectively. The study also included three control variables: firm size, firm growth and leverage. The findings indicated the impacts of the board characteristics were different. Board size and firm size were negatively correlated with earnings management, while firm growth and leverage had significant positive impacts on earnings management. Board size, CEO duality, firm size and firm growth were negatively related to the value relevance of the book value, but board meetings and leverage had positive effects. Board independence, board meetings, firm size and leverage were negatively associated with the value relevance of the earnings per share. The main contribution of the study was that the topic had not covered in Chinese high-technology firms, which may provide some advice for the firms on development. Further studies might use qualitative methods to conduct studies. More independent variables could be considered to explain the correlation. The longer time horizon could be estimated as well. The measurements of variables may be employed in the future.

This paper contributes to corporate governance and audit studies by providing further insight to the relation between board features, ownership structure and audit price. My research considers both of agency theory and resource dependence theory and tests the influence of ownership structure on board governance and audit cost in particular context of Chinese security market, which is in the absence of sufficient obligation of the board or legal protection for investor. The study result proves a negative correlation between board size and audit fees, and a positive relationship between board remuneration and audit fees, which are in line with prior literature. Besides, it is suggested that the influence of board independence on audit quality is less obvious in the presence of block shareholders. Given the ownership nature in Chinese market, the paper compares governance environment and audit quality of state-owned enterprise and private enterprise. It is demonstrated that state-owned enterprises have higher motivation and ability to purchase expensive audit service.

Risk disclosure has become a popular research topic in the field of theory and practice. However, there are few empirical studies on the risk disclosure of Chinese listed companies. Factors influencing Chinese companies’ risk disclosure quality have not been sufficiently researched and verified. So, building upon previous studies, the present study explores the relation between board characteristics and the quality of risk disclosure in China. In this dissertation, 76 information technology enterprises listed on the Chinese growth enterprises market (GEM) are used as samples in order to analyse how board characteristics impact the quality of risk disclosure from 2014 to 2016. By establishing four multivariate regression models, this dissertation empirically demonstrates that a positive association exists between a company’s board size and risk disclosure quality. In addition, as proposed by the agency theory, information asymmetry increases when a chief executive officer (CEO) is also chairman, which results in a low risk disclosure quality. However, this study fails to demonstrate a significant association between board independence and risk disclosure level, risk strategies disclosed as well as overall risk disclosure quality. An increased percentage of independent non-executive directors (NEDs) on a board only increases the coverage of risk disclosure. These results indicate that the supervisory role of independent NEDs in Chinese enterprises has not been fully utilized. The above findings are still valid after the robustness test and therefore, have practical economic consequences and value. As to the present research practice in China, the influence of independent NEDs on risk disclosure level and quality are to be improved. International research trends of risk disclosure require companies to improve the transparency of risk information and the supervising role of a companies’ board. Although it is difficult to form a unified standard for risk disclosure and c

This study attempts to observe the effect of board characteristics of non-financial UK firms on their earnings qualities. Using 259 firms out of the total 351 constituents of FTSE 350 during 2012 until 2015, we employ the modified-Jones model to calculate the abnormal accruals as proxies for earnings quality. We pay attention to five aspects of board characteristics: the board size, the percentage of independent directors; the number of board meetings in a year, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) age, and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) age. We find that the earnings quality will increase when firms have higher percentages of independent directors. Further, young CEOs lead to better earnings qualities compare to old CEOs, particularly old CEOs in their final pre-retirement year. Finally, we do not find the impact of board size, the number of board meetings and CFO age on earnings quality.