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The aim of this study is to investigate the moderating role of cultural dimensions in the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and financial performance, examining a sample of 9,316 companies from 47 countries. A mixed dataset with variables extracted at the company and country levels is statistically analysed, while multilevel robust regressions with random intercept modelling are used for econometric estimations. Based on information for the period 2020-2022, the moderating effects of three of the six cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede are examined at specific times of multiple constraints that could act as a stress factor in management decisions. The results show that the corporate governance-performance nexus is stronger in countries orientated toward masculinity, short-term benefits, and indulgence. Combining national cultural values, the national business system framework, agency, stakeholder, and legitimacy theories, the research provides nuanced empirical evidence of cultural tingent for academics and practitioners. The investigation shapes an original perspective, highlighting the need for culturally orientated corporate governance mechanisms. This approach complements the body of literature on corporate governance, financial performance, and national culture by demonstrating that the interaction between the governance score and cultural dimensions may play a pivotal role in shaping financial performance. Muchmore, the findings have valuable entrepreneurial implications for investors in resource allocation, while managers could broaden their scenarios for decision-making purposes, especially when companies face stakeholders from diverse cultural backgrounds.

This research examined the influence of board tenure diversity (BTD) on shareholder value creation (SVC) among 95 non-financial companies listed in South Africa. A quantitative quasi-experimental research design was employed. The data collection sources included integrated annual reports, the Who Owns Whom database and the Osiris database. The study used a fixed effects model to test the hypotheses.  BTD  was measured using the Blau index (BI_BTD), average tenure (AVE_TBM), standard deviation (SD_TBM), and coefficient of variation for tenure board members (TBM), as well as dummies for short tenured boards  (AVE_TBM  3) and long tenured boards (AVE_TBM 10)  The proxies of SVC  included standard market value added (SMVA), market-to-book ratio (MTB) and Tobin’s Q (TBQ). The results of curvilinear quadratic models indicate that all BTD  measures had both positive and negative influences on all SVC measures, highlighting an inverted  U-shaped effect. The inverted U-shape effect reflects a trade-off between beneficial knowledge accumulation and harmful entrenchment or coordination problems as board tenure diversity increases beyond an optimal level. Given the inverted  U-shaped effect, many proposals for corporate governance reform explicitly stress the importance of limiting board tenure.

This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on executive remuneration structures within South African transportation companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, while also examining shifts in the intangible components of remuneration offered to employees. Employing a predominantly quantitative research design, the study analyses remuneration data to evaluate structural changes post-pandemic. Additionally, a qualitative analysis was conducted on corporate disclosures to assess the evolving nature of intangible remuneration elements. The findings reveal a notable shift in remuneration composition, with a greater proportion of executive compensation attributed to variable elements such as bonuses and short-term incentives, accompanied by a relative decline in base salaries. Moreover, companies demonstrated increased sensitivity to employee well-being, adopting flexible work arrangements and prioritising health and safety. These outcomes suggest that the pandemic catalysed both structural and philosophical changes in remuneration practices. The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by offering a sector-specific analysis of how global disruptions can reshape compensation frameworks, thereby informing future corporate governance and human resource strategies.

This study investigates the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance in the Bangladeshi insurance sector, focusing on variables like board independence, female directors, audit committee size, leverage, and firm age. Using a sample of 42 insurance firms from 2017 to 2021, regression analysis is employed to assess these relationships. The findings show that board independence positively impacts performance, while audit committee size, leverage, and firm age have negative effects. Female directors exhibit a marginal but weak positive influence. This research contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence from a developing economy, where limited studies exist. It also offers insights into governance practices in emerging markets. The implications suggest that policymakers and corporate leaders in Bangladesh should prioritize enhancing board independence, managing leverage, and promoting gender diversity to improve performance. Future research could explore causal relationships and extend the analysis to other sectors or emerging markets, considering cultural and regulatory factors.

The spate of failures and scandals in the basic materials sector in South Africa and globally bring into question not only the ethics of business leaders but primarily corporate governance and the role of boards in safeguarding the shareholders' wealth. The aim of the study was to ascertain the relationship between corporate governance and firm profitability of firms in the basic materials sector listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Five corporate governance characteristics are observed on two profitability measures, return on assets and return on equity and Tobin’s Q as the market indicator using a cross-sectional time-series panel data method of 54 firms in the basic materials sector listed on the JSE from 2017 to 2021. A regression analysis model is used to ascertain whether and to what degree a relationship exists between corporate governance and firm profitability within JSE-listed basic materials sector firms. The results show that corporate governance characteristics have a mixed impact on firm profitability, with some indicating a negative or no significant relationship, highlighting the complexity of this association. This study proves that if a firm chooses suitable corporate governance characteristics, the profitability of a firm can be enhanced. The outcome of this study should have implications for academic thoughts for further research on this subject and calls for a more concerted effort for boards to implement more prudent corporate governance mechanisms to future-proof the business of the basic materials sector.

This study investigates the relationship between banks' corporate governance practice and its impact on financial sustainability. In this study, twenty-four private commercial banks' data have been analyzed from 2014 to 2023. Our investigations included a variety of econometric models, including cross-sectional GLS, fixed effect, random effect, and pooled OLS. In our study, we found that including women on the Board of directors plays a positive role in ensuring the financial sustainability of banking sectors in Bangladesh. Apart from that, increasing the participation of independent directors on the board of directors, expenditures in research and development in the best banking practices, and inflation positively increase banks' profitability, which translates into financial sustainability. This finding is consistent with the findings of the random effect model. On the other hand, whenever we used ROE as an explained variable, we found that both in pooled OLS  and random effect methods, board diversity, CEO tenure, firms audited by the big four firms, and inflation have a positive association with ROE. In the fixed effect method, we observed that audit committee size and ownership concentration play a vital role in explaining the financial sustainability of private commercial banks in Bangladesh. In the FGLS method, We found that CEO tenure, age of the firm, firms audited by the big four firms, presence of the independent director on the board, and inflations significantly impact the financial sustainability of commercial banks of Bangladesh.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically examine studies on the relationship between corporate governance, organizational culture and firm performance, with the aim of knowing the potential for future research. The literature search consisted of two steps: a random literature review and a systematic literature review. The methodology adopted in this article is a systematic literature review. The Organizational Culture variable is an opportunity for research which is thought to be able to strengthen the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance, ownership structure and Board Characteristics which can be used as a proxy for corporate governance using resource based theory (RBV), resource dependence theory and agency theory, where research related to governance is an issue that is still very relevant to research at this time. Practical Implications, the development of a conceptual framework using resource-based theory (RBV) and resource dependence theory has implications for researchers to study by including organizational culture which is thought to influence company performance. Future research can add or replace it with other more relevant variables, so that it can be empirically tested how the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance and the organizational culture variable as a moderating variable. Future research is expected to give contribution for policy makers, company managers and investors in understanding important factors in order to create a good corporate governance.

Capital structure defined by the proportion of debt and equity financing has always been an important component in managerial finance due to its relative importance in measuring a company's risk. Arguably, it is among the most controversial topics in corporate finance and has gain recent recognition of its importance when considering the emergence of different sources of financing across industry. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between capital structure and a firm's profitability in other to determine whether a significant connection exists between how a firm finances its operations and its financial performance. A comprehensive Lilliefors’s, Kolmogorov Smirnov and Chi square tests analysis were utilised for a sample of 23 peer reviewed journal articles across various industries. The findings revealed that capital structure cannot be used to explain variations in profitability and profitability is independent of capital structure. This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on optimal capital structure by strengthening methodological rigor and some of the existing theories on how capital structure can be used to maximise profitability. It may be very helpful for further studies to first establish the direction of impact and the size effect of the independent variables.

This study analyses the impact of transaction exposure, firm size, and liquidity on firm value with leverage as a mediating variable in on Consumer Non-Cylicals Sector Companies Listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2018 to 2023. Using Signalling Theory and Trade-off Theory as theoretical frameworks, the research employs path analysis to evaluate the relationships between variables. The findings reveal that transaction exposure, firm size, and liquidity have a positive significant effect on firm value. Conversely, leverage shows a negative significant impact on firm value, suggesting that excessive debt increases financial risk, thereby reducing firm value. Moreover, the study indicates that leverage does not mediate the effects of transaction exposure, firm size, or liquidity on firm value. These results highlight the importance for companies to prioritize managing liquidity and capital structure effectively to optimize firm value. Excessive use of debt should be minimized to avoid diminishing profitability and reducing market value, especially for firms with high exposure to international transactions.

The Kenyan government has implemented numerous reforms, including the inclusion of the manufacturing sector as one of the government's four major agendas for revitalizing the sector. Despite these reforms, statistics show that over the last ten years, manufacturing industries in Kenya listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange have experienced stagnation and declining profits, slowing growth, and declining market share, necessitating the establishment and execution of effective corporate governance. Therefore, the current study investigated the effects of corporate governance on performance of manufacturing and allied firms listed at Nairobi Security Exchange, Kenya. The study specifically investigated the effects of board composition, board size, board independence and board diversity on performance of manufacturing and allied firms. Agency theory, RBV and stakeholder’s theory anchor the study. Descriptive research design was used. Stratified random sampling technique was used as a sampling technique. A self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from a population of four hundred and thirty-nine manufacturing and allied firms. Two hundred and nine corporate managers from these manufacturing companies were sampled. A pilot test of twenty-nine respondents was conducted. Collected data was coded, cleaned, and analyzed. Data analysis included the creation and interpretation of descriptive means, percentages, and standard deviations, which was presented in the form of tables, charts, and graphs. The results of regression analysis established that board composition, board size, board independence and board diversity significant influenced firm performance of manufacturing and Allied Firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya.

Dividend payout is one of financial options that Saccos consider as part of the key performance indicators for Saccos. Deposit taking Saccos in Kenya have faced numerous challenges namely, governance, managerial and operational such that the performance of a number of them continues to be sub optimal according to the report by SASRA. Therefore, this study sought to examine the influence of board characteristics on dividend policy of deposit taking Saccos in Kenya under guidance by agency cost theory. The study utelized causal design and descriptive survey design. The targeted population was 403 stakeholders sampling 201 through stratified simple random sampling. The sacco directors/chairpersons and the CFO/CEOs formed unit of analysis. Closed ended questionnaires were applied for primary data. A list of 20 Saccos in Starehe Sub County, Nairobi County were basis for pilot test to establish reliability and validity of research instruments. Cronbach Alpha was employed to ascertain reliability, whereas content and construct validity were utilized to attain validity. The data underwent analysis through the application of descriptive as well as inferential statistics. The investigation ensured that the assumptions of linear regression were satisfied before conducting numerous linear regressions. Tables were used to present data. The results indicated a positive significant association between board characteristics practices and dividend policy P:0.000<0.05 hence conclusive that deposit-taking Saccos in Kenya focused on board characteristics as envisaged. The study recommended that Sacco’s should diverse the board features to ensure they accommodate the dividend policy framework. 

The study examined the influence of board nationality diversity on shareholder value creation of non- financial companies listed on the JSE for a 10- year period from 2013 to 2022.The study used quantitative quasi-experimental research design. The study measured board nationality diversity using proportion of foreign directors on board, Blau index for board nationality diversity, dummy variables for one, two and three or foreign directors. The proxies of shareholder value creation included standard market value added, market- to book ratio and Tobin’s Q and fixed effects model based on linear and curvilinear models were used to test the hypotheses. Main findings of the study demonstrate that proportion of foreign directors on board has an insignificant negative impact on standardised market value added and Tobin’s Q, while significant negative impact on market to book ratio.  Blau index for board nationality diversity has insignificant negative impact on standardised market value added and market to book ratio, yet insignificant positive impact on Tobin’s Q. One foreign director on board has significant positive impact on standard market value added and market to book ratio, while insignificant positive impact on Tobin’s Q. Two and three foreign directors on board have insignificant positive impact on all shareholder value creation measures. In relation to curvilinear models, proportion of foreign directors on board and Blau in index for board nationality diversity have both positive and negative impact on all shareholder value creation measures highlighting an inverted U- shaped effects.

Across the globe and particularly in the developing country settings, there has been an upsurge of interests from businesses, academics and policy-makers alike in understanding the relationship between corporate board characteristics and governance practices of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). This understanding especially in post-pandemic era would aid in formulating best policies for optimal performance of the SOEs. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of board characteristics on corporate governance practices in SOEs in Ghana. Utilizing a structured questionnaire, data was collected from employees across various SOEs and analysed through Smart-PLS structural equation modelling. The findings indicate that board demographic characteristics have a significantly positive impact on governance practices, underscoring the importance of diversity in board composition. This outcome highlights the need for SOE policymakers to prioritize board diversity to enhance governance efficacy. This research enriches the literature on corporate governance in the developing country context and has practical implications for enhancing SOE management and performance. It also provides a foundation for future research to explore the dynamics of board characteristics in different contexts.

There has always been controversy among researchers over how dividend policies affect share prices, and this equivocal relationship varies throughout international markets. This study is set to examine the relation between share prices and number of dividend policy and profitability variables. Based on the information from five insurance companies that are listed on Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) over the period 2014 and 2022, findings indicates that 55.3% of stock prices could be explained by factors related to profitability and dividend policy. The relationship between stock price, as a dependent variable, and earnings per share (EPS), dividend yield (DY), earning to price ratio (EP), risk premium (RP), and retention ratio (RR), as independent variables, was investigated in this study using OLS regression approach. The results of the regression analysis demonstrated a significant direct relationship between stock price and earnings per share (EPS), suggesting that investors choose highly profitable shares. At the 99% confidence level, the earnings to price ratio (EP) likewise revealed a statistically significant direct relationship with the stock price. At 90% confidence level, risk premium (RP) also shown a substantial direct relationship. The only variable that significantly correlated negatively with share prices was dividend yield (DY), suggesting that investors choose more stable payouts over uncertain future capital gains. Conversely, the retention ratio (RR) demonstrated a negligible direct impact on share prices.  

This study aims to examine dividend policies for companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during the 2018-2022 period. Agency theory argues that dividend policy can reduce agency costs and reduce agency conflicts. The percentage of institutional ownership is used as a proxy for agency costs and can be used as a mechanism for lowering agency conflict. The total sample is 44 companies listed on the IDX. The estimation uses the pooling data method and 3SLS. This research develops a simultaneous system econometric model. This study argues that high institutional ownership leads to higher agency conflict, as management and institutions collaborate to prioritize their interests over other shareholders. Conversely, low institutional ownership leads to disputes between management, low institutional, and public shareholders. The entrenchment argument predicts higher conflict in high institutional ownership, while the convergence argument predicts common agency conflict in common institutional ownership.

This study was conducted to see whether there is a difference between mergers and acquisitions on financial performance and firm value or not. A total of 31 companies conducting mergers and acquisitions in 2016-2018 listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange were sampled in this study. The occurrence of decline in profitability, liquidity, activity ratios and firm value as well as an increase in solvency ratios after mergers and acquisitions became the impetus for conducting research. The measuring tool of profitability is Net Profit Margin (NPM). The measuring tool of liquidity is the Current Ratio (CR). The measuring tool of Solvency is the Debt-to-Equity Ratio (DER). The measuring tool for the activity ratio is Total Asset Turnover Ratio (TATO). And the instrument for measuring the value of the company is the stock price. This study used the Wilcoxon-Signed Rank Test to test the hypothesis. The results showed that there was a difference in the Current Ratio (CR) after the merger and acquisition. However, mergers and acquisitions make no difference in Net Profit Margin (NPM), Total Asset Ratio (TATO), Debt-to-Equity Ratio (DER), and Firm value.

The article examined corporate governance's effects on the performance of cement-producing companies in Zambia. Assessing the performance of one of the manufacturing segments of the manufacturing industry because of the effects of corporate governance was detrimental to findings on why there is limited growth in the industry. The study specifically assessed the effects of board size, board independence, CEO duality, multiple directorships, and board tenure on the company's performance. A deductive approach strategy was used, which focused on four leading cement-producing companies in Zambia: Lafarge, Dangote, Sinoma, and Zambezi Portland. A sample population of 150 participants was targeted. Questionnaires collected primary and secondary data from the company’s audited reports. This study used the principal components analysis, correlation, and regression analysis using SPSS version 27. The study found and concluded a positive correlation and effect between multiple directorships and board independence on the company's performance. CEO duality positively impacted the company's performance, but it was not statistically significant. On the other hand, it was concluded and found that board tenure and board size had a negative effect on the company's performance. This implied that they had a reducing impact on the performance of the companies in the cement manufacturing industry. Cement companies should tailor the size of their boards to meet their unique requirements, even though board size and tenure have a negative and statistically significant effect on performance.

The fact that publicly traded companies incur substantial costs when issuing new equity has been extensively documented in the empirical finance literature. In particular, numerous studies show that seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) tend to be priced significantly below prevailing market prices, thereby causing issuers to leave money on the table. Offer price discounting is an indirect flotation cost borne by pre-SEO shareholders that, according to extant theoretical and empirical research, arises due to asymmetric information. A heretofore unrelated literature argues that corporate multinationalism, i.e., establishing operations in one or more foreign countries, exacerbates the asymmetric information problem via greater costs to shareholders of monitoring the activities and performance of foreign subsidiaries. Motivated by these lines of thought, I investigate the relation between SEO discounting and corporate multinationalism. Using a sample of SEOs completed by U.S. firms between 1998 and 2016, I show that offer price discounting is significantly higher in offerings conducted by multinational firms relative to those conducted by purely domestic firms after controlling for known determinants of SEO discounts. This effect is stronger for multinational firms with foreign subsidiaries spread across a greater number of countries and weaker for multinationals that hire a high-reputation underwriter to lead the underwriting syndicate. These findings suggest that asymmetric information costs borne by seasoned equity issuers are increasing in the geographic scope of a firm’s operations, which can be mitigated by certification from a highly reputed lead underwriter.

This paper aims to examine the effect of corporate governance (CG) on firm performance (FP). The 3SLS (Three-Stage Least Squares) regressions were performed on a system of equations based on a panel dataset of 1,768 firm-years of Thai-listed companies from 2014 to 2020. This is to assess the simultaneous linear/curvilinear relationships between CG and FP. We found that internal CG mechanisms (i.e., the board size, institutional ownership, and dividend policy) are significantly related to firm performance measured by return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA), and price-to-book ratio/Tobin’s Q (PBR). Board size exhibits a curvilinear relationship rather than a linear relationship with FP. This reflects the integration between resource dependency theory and stewardship theory. Relative to ROE and ROA, a board size of 10 is optimal (which is associated with a peak ROE of 14.8% and a peak ROA of 3.4%. A board size greater than ten would see a fall in ROE and ROA. Relative to PBR, a board size of 12 is optimal, with a peak PBR of 2.39 times. This study further identifies a ranking of effective CG mechanisms.

Previous study finds that the firms with inferior growth options tend to issue callable bonds. Typically, these firms are characterized by stock underperformance. Previous study also finds that the floating rate as a superior alternative to the call provision, which is restrictive, when the interest rates are likely to fall. We study the long-term stock performance of floating rate notes (FRNs) issuing firms, issued when the interest rates are high. Stock overperformance would suggest floating rate as a preferred choice by the firms with high growth options rather the call option. We find that the FRNs are generally investment grade with extremely rare presence of a call option. We perform the analysis using Buy and hold abnormal return (BHAR) as the proxy for the long-term stock overperformance/underperformance. A sample of floating rate notes issued (1654) from 1992 to 2007, a period of high interest rates, reveals significant overperformance by the floating rate notes issuing firms in the high-rate paradigm. High growth firms, in the high-rate environment, significantly benefit from the floating rate provision which is less restrictive and less costly than the call option, which typically provides call protection period and pays a call premium. Floating rate provision better mitigates the interest rate risk for the firms in the high-rate environment. We find that the smaller, high growth, higher leverage, less profitable firms with greater agency issues benefit more from issuing FRNs in the high-rate environment. Our study has relevance to the stock portfolio construction and performance. We also perform a comparative analysis using the sample of floating rate notes issued (270) during 2008 to 2018, a period of low interest rates, and find stock underperformance. The implications are that the call option likely is a better choice for the firm since the firm preserves the right to forego exercising the option.