IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eco/journ1/2011-03-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Selected Corporate Governance Characteristics on Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Vincent O. Ongore

    (Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya)

  • Peter O. K'Obonyo

    (University of Nairobi, Kenya)

Abstract

This paper examines the interrelations among ownership, board and manager characteristics and firm performance in a sample of 54 firms listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE). These governance characteristics, designed to minimize agency problems between principals and agents are operationalized in terms of ownership concentration, ownership identity, board effectiveness and managerial discretion. The typical ownership identities at the NSE are government, foreign, institutional, manager and diverse ownership forms. Firm performance is measured using Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE) and Dividend Yield (DY). Using PPMC, Logistic Regression and Stepwise Regression, the paper presents evidence of significant positive relationship between foreign, insider, institutional and diverse ownership forms, and firm performance. However, the relationship between ownership concentration and government, and firm performance was significantly negative. The role of boards was found to be of very little value, mainly due to lack of adherence to board member selection criteria. The results also show significant positive relationship between managerial discretion and performance. Collectively, these results are consistent with pertinent literature with regard to the implications of government, foreign, manager (insider) and institutional ownership forms, but significantly differ concerning the effects of ownership concentration and diverse ownership on firm performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincent O. Ongore & Peter O. K'Obonyo, 2011. "Effects of Selected Corporate Governance Characteristics on Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from Kenya," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 1(3), pages 99-122, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eco:journ1:2011-03-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/download/14/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/view/14/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Agency Problems and Residual Claims," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 327-349, June.
    2. Laffont, Jean-Jacques & Tirole, Jean, 1991. "Privatization and Incentives," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(0), pages 84-105, Special I.
    3. Virany, Beverly & Tushman, Michael L., 1986. "Top management teams and corporate success in an emerging industry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 261-274.
    4. Ricardo-Campbell, Rita, 1983. "Comments on the Structure of Ownership and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 391-393, June.
    5. Demsetz, Harold & Lehn, Kenneth, 1985. "The Structure of Corporate Ownership: Causes and Consequences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(6), pages 1155-1177, December.
    6. Agrawal, Anup & Knoeber, Charles R., 1996. "Firm Performance and Mechanisms to Control Agency Problems between Managers and Shareholders," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(3), pages 377-397, September.
    7. Jensen, Michael C. & Ruback, Richard S., 1983. "The market for corporate control : The scientific evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-4), pages 5-50, April.
    8. Demsetz, Harold & Villalonga, Belen, 2001. "Ownership structure and corporate performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 209-233, September.
    9. Steen Thomsen & Torben Pedersen, 2000. "Ownership structure and economic performance in the largest european companies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(6), pages 689-705, June.
    10. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    11. Xiaonian Xu & Yan Wang, 1997. "Ownership structure, corporate governance, and corporate performance : the case of Chinese stock companies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1794, The World Bank.
    12. Demsetz, Harold, 1983. "The Structure of Ownership and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 375-390, June.
    13. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 1991. "The Effects of Board Composition and Direct Incentives on Firm Performance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 20(4), Winter.
    14. John Palmer, 1973. "The Profit-Performance Effects of the Separation of Ownership from Control in Large U.S. Industrial Corporations," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 4(1), pages 293-303, Spring.
    15. Anup Agrawal & Charles R. Knoeber, "undated". "Firm Performance and Mechanisms to Control Agency Problems between Managers and Shareholders (Revision of 29-94)," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 8-96, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
    16. Stulz, ReneM., 1988. "Managerial control of voting rights : Financing policies and the market for corporate control," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 25-54, January.
    17. Berger, Philip G & Ofek, Eli & Yermack, David L, 1997. "Managerial Entrenchment and Capital Structure Decisions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(4), pages 1411-1438, September.
    18. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    19. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation," Scholarly Articles 29407535, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    20. Leech, Dennis & Leahy, John, 1991. "Ownership Structure, Control Type Classifications and the Performance of Large British Companies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(409), pages 1418-1437, November.
    21. Short, Helen, 1994. "Ownership, Control, Financial Structure and the Performance of Firms," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(3), pages 203-249, September.
    22. Rajeswararao S. Chaganti & Vijay Mahajan & Subhash Sharma, 1985. "Corporate Board Size, Composition And Corporate Failures In Retailing Industry[1]," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 400-417, July.
    23. Thomas H. Brush & Philip Bromiley & Margaretha Hendrickx, 2000. "The free cash flow hypothesis for sales growth and firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 455-472, April.
    24. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    25. Denis, David J & Denis, Diane K & Sarin, Atulya, 1997. "Agency Problems, Equity Ownership, and Corporate Diversification," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 135-160, March.
    26. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation : An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 293-315, January.
    27. Anup Agrawal & Charles R. Knoeber, "undated". "Firm Performance and Mechanisms to Control Agency Problems between Managers and Shareholders (Revision of 29-94)," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 08-96, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
    28. Prowse, Stephen D, 1992. "The Structure of Corporate Ownership in Japan," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(3), pages 1121-1140, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nebert Mandala & E. Kaijage & J. Aduda & C. Iraya, 2018. "An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship between Board Structure and Performance of Financial Institutions in Kenya," Journal of Finance and Investment Analysis, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 7(1), pages 1-3.
    2. Stefan Cristian Gherghina, 2015. "Corporate Governance Ratings and Firm Value: Empirical Evidence from the Bucharest Stock Exchange," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(1), pages 97-110.
    3. Evans Agala Mutende & M. Mwangi & J.M. Njihia & D.E. Ochieng, 2017. "The moderating role of firm characteristics on the relationship between free cash flows and financial performance of firms listed at the Nairobi securities exchange," Journal of Finance and Investment Analysis, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 6(4), pages 1-3.
    4. Steven Buigut, 2015. "The Effect of Zimbabwe's Multi-Currency Arrangement on Bilateral Trade: Myth Versus Reality," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(3), pages 690-700.
    5. Nebert Mandala & E. Kaijage & J. Aduda & C. Iraya, 2018. "The Effect of Board Structure and CEO Tenure on Performance of Financial Institutions in Kenya," Journal of Finance and Investment Analysis, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 7(1), pages 1-4.
    6. Eric M. Bosire & Vincent O. Ongore, 2015. "Effects of Board Composition on Financial Performance: Empirical Analysis of Companies Listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(1), pages 23-43.
    7. Bello Lawal, 2016. "Still on board configuration: SEC recommendations and the efficiency of adhering firms in Nigeria," Journal of Economic and Financial Studies (JEFS), LAR Center Press, vol. 4(2), pages 1-23, April.
    8. Enock Odhiambo Ong’ure & Mr. Dominic Ngaba, 2022. "Gender Diversity and Financial Performance of Sacco’s in Siaya County, Kenya," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(02), pages 267-272, February.
    9. Sammy Thuo Kangea & Tabitha Nasieku & Willy Muturi, 2022. "Effect of Board Diversity on Earnings quality of Non-Financial Firms Listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 12(3), pages 1-4.
    10. Mobegi Fred Morara & Dr. Meshack Misoi & Dr. Jackson Ong’eta Oyaro, 2021. "Analysis of the Relationship between Management Remuneration and Financial Performance of Selected Public Listed Companies in the Nairobi Securities Exchange," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 5(08), pages 825-831, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Weiß, Christian, 2010. "The Ownership Concentration of Firms: Three Essays on the Determinants and Effects," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 30247, January.
    2. Wali Ullah, 2017. "Evolving corporate governance and firms performance: evidence from Japanese firms," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 1-33, February.
    3. Hussein Abedi Shamsabadi & Byung-Seong Min & Richard Chung, 2016. "Corporate governance and dividend strategy: lessons from Australia," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 583-610, October.
    4. James, Hui & Benson, Bradley W. & Wu, Chen (Ken), 2017. "Does CEO ownership affect payout policy? Evidence from using CEO scaled wealth-performance sensitivity," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 328-345.
    5. Wiem Elmanaa Madani & Wafa Khlif, 2005. "Effets De La Structure De Propriete Sur La Performance Comptable : Etude Empirique Sur Les Entreprises Tunisiennes Indistruelles Non Cotees," Post-Print halshs-00581192, HAL.
    6. Jimmy A. Saravia, 2014. "Why has the literature on corporate governance and firm performance yielded mixed results?," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 10914, Universidad EAFIT.
    7. Benson, Bradley W. & Chen, Yu & James, Hui L. & Park, Jung Chul, 2020. "So far away from me: Firm location and the managerial ownership effect on firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    8. Omar Al Farooque & Tony Van Zijl & Keitha Dunstan & AKM Waresul Karim, 2007. "Corporate Governance in Bangladesh: Link between Ownership and Financial Performance," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 1453-1468, November.
    9. Benson, Bradley W. & Davidson III, Wallace N., 2009. "Reexamining the managerial ownership effect on firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 573-586, December.
    10. Yacine Belghitar & Ephraim Clark & Konstantino Kassimatis, 2019. "A measure of total firm performance: new insights for the corporate objective," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 281(1), pages 121-141, October.
    11. Bradley W. Benson & Wallace N. Davidson III & Hongxia Wang & Dan L. Worrell, 2011. "Deviations from Expected Stakeholder Management, Firm Value, and Corporate Governance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 40(1), pages 39-81, March.
    12. Christian Weiss & Stefan Hilger, 2012. "Ownership concentration beyond good and evil: is there an effect on corporate performance?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 16(4), pages 727-752, November.
    13. Yuan George Shan, 2019. "Managerial ownership, board independence and firm performance," Accounting Research Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(2), pages 203-220, July.
    14. Kun Wang & Greg Shailer, 2015. "Ownership Concentration And Firm Performance In Emerging Markets: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 199-229, April.
    15. Prevost, Andrew K. & Rao, Ramesh P. & Hossain, Mahmud, 2002. "Determinants of board composition in New Zealand: a simultaneous equations approach," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 373-397, November.
    16. Collins G. Ntim, 2012. "Director shareownership and corporate performance in South Africa," African Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(4), pages 359-373.
    17. Meles, Antonio & Salerno, Dario, 2020. "Abnormal operating performance in IPOs: Does public float matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    18. Sheeba Kapil & Rakesh K Mishra, 2019. "Corporate Governance structure and firm performance in Indian context: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach," Working Papers 1937, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.
    19. Amitava Roy, 2014. "Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: An Exploratory Analysis of Indian Listed Companies," Jindal Journal of Business Research, , vol. 3(1-2), pages 93-120, June.
    20. Bulan, Laarni & Sanyal, Paroma & Yan, Zhipeng, 2010. "A few bad apples: An analysis of CEO performance pay and firm productivity," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 273-306, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ownership Structure; Agency Theory; Ownership Concentration; Ownership Identity; Managerial Discretion; Firm Performance.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eco:journ1:2011-03-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ilhan Ozturk (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.econjournals.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.