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Board Independence of Listed Companies in the US and China

Author

Listed:
  • Wang Wenge

    (University of Sheffield School of Law, Bartolome House, Winter Street, Sheffield, S3 7ND, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

Abstract

This article explores the board independence of listed companies in the US and China – an ongoing and important issue of corporate governance concerning the true independence of independent directors from management in both countries. It aims to identify what elements have an impact on board independence and examine how these influence the independence of independent directors. Four elements, independence from management; dependence on shareholders; access to information; and incentive to monitor, may have a substantial influence on board independence and align with the in-fact independence of independent directors. This article examines how and why these four elements have an impact on the effectiveness of the role of independent directors in monitoring top management and lead to independent directors failing to be truly independent of management. To support this argument, this article also investigates the efficiency and effectiveness of independent directors serving as a governance mechanism in terms of board independence in Chinese listed companies. The aim was therefore to scrutinise whether independent directors in Chinese listed companies are truly independent from management. Based on statistics calculated on data collected from CSMAR, there appears to be little evidence that independent directors serve as a governance mechanism in monitoring top management in Chinese listed companies, which thus shows that independent directors are not independent in China. The implications arising from this article are that solutions addressing the four elements that have an impact on board independence will enable independent directors to become truly independent.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang Wenge, 2018. "Board Independence of Listed Companies in the US and China," Asian Journal of Law and Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(3), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:ajlecn:v:9:y:2018:i:3:p:21:n:4
    DOI: 10.1515/ajle-2018-0014
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fama, Eugene F, 1980. "Agency Problems and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(2), pages 288-307, April.
    2. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2008. "Do directors perform for pay?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 154-171, September.
    3. Chou, Hsin-I & Li, Hui & Yin, Xiangkang, 2010. "The effects of financial distress and capital structure on the work effort of outside directors," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 300-312, June.
    4. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Iwasaki, Ichiro & Ma, Xinxin & Mizobata, Satoshi, 2024. "Board structure in emerging markets: A simultaneous equation modeling," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    board independence; effectiveness; efficiency; managerial hegemony; monitoring;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law

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