IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/arjpps/v22y2009i2p196-212.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Board composition and firm performance variance: Australian evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Yi Wang
  • Judith Oliver

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between board composition and firm performance variance in the context of recent corporate governance reforms, based on the agency and organisational literatures. Design/methodology/approach - This paper uses 384 of the top 500 Australian companies as its dataset. Board composition measures include the percentages of affiliated, executive and independent members on the board. Firm risk is represented by the standard deviation of shareholder return. Several control variables are introduced in the regression analysis. Findings - The results show a negative impact of executive directors on subsequent risk. Affiliated and independent directors, however, have no significant effect on the level of performance variance. Blockholders give a positive influence on firm risk. Moreover, companies with poor dividend payout or low managerial shareholdings tend to be riskier. Research limitations/implications - This paper does not examine the actual risk preference of individual directors, which could involve an attitudinal survey of board members. Future research may also examine the specific attributes towards risk for each type of affiliated directors. Practical implications - The findings cast doubts on the hope that promoting board independence would reduce agency conflicts relating to managerial risk aversion, and support the proposition that, although firms may comply with the demands for more independent directors, they could employ a number of tactics to neutralize the power of outsiders. Originality/value - The empirical work surrounding this topic has been scant. This study may present the first Australian empirical evidence on the relationship between board composition and firm performance variance.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi Wang & Judith Oliver, 2009. "Board composition and firm performance variance: Australian evidence," Accounting Research Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(2), pages 196-212, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:arjpps:v:22:y:2009:i:2:p:196-212
    DOI: 10.1108/10309610910987510
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/10309610910987510/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/10309610910987510/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/10309610910987510?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Geoffrey C. Kiel & Gavin J. Nicholson, 2003. "Board Composition and Corporate Performance: how the Australian experience informs contrasting theories of corporate governance," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), pages 189-205, July.
    2. Daily, Catherine M. & Dalton, Dan R., 1992. "The relationship between governance structure and corporate performance in entrepreneurial firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 375-386, September.
    3. Yermack, David, 1996. "Higher market valuation of companies with a small board of directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 185-211, February.
    4. Denis, Diane K. & McConnell, John J., 2003. "International Corporate Governance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 1-36, March.
    5. 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.
    6. Easterbrook, Frank H, 1984. "Two Agency-Cost Explanations of Dividends," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(4), pages 650-659, September.
    7. Dilip K. Shome & Sudhir Singh, 1995. "Firm Value and External Blockholdings," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 24(4), Winter.
    8. Singh, Manohar & Davidson III, Wallace N., 2003. "Agency costs, ownership structure and corporate governance mechanisms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 793-816, May.
    9. Choi, Jongmoo Jay & Park, Sae Woon & Yoo, Sean Sehyun, 2007. "The Value of Outside Directors: Evidence from Corporate Governance Reform in Korea," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(4), pages 941-962, December.
    10. 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.
    11. Yakov Amihud & Baruch Lev, 1981. "Risk Reduction as a Managerial Motive for Conglomerate Mergers," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(2), pages 605-617, Autumn.
    12. Baysinger, Barry D & Butler, Henry N, 1985. "Corporate Governance and the Board of Directors: Performance Effects of Changes in Board Composition," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 101-124, Spring.
    13. Trond Randøy & Jan Inge Jenssen, 2004. "Board Independence and Product Market Competition in Swedish Firms," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 281-289, July.
    14. Melinda Muth & Lex Donaldson, 1998. "Stewardship Theory and Board Structure: a contingency approach," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(1), pages 5-28, January.
    15. Peter Heslin & Lex Donaldson, 1999. "An Organizational Portfolio Theory of Board Composition," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(1), pages 81-88, January.
    16. L Donaldson, 2000. "Organizational Portfolio Theory: Performance‐Driven Organizational Change," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(4), pages 386-396, October.
    17. Maria C. A. Balatbat & Stephen L. Taylor & Terry S. Walter, 2004. "Corporate governance, insider ownership and operating performance of Australian initial public offerings," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 44(3), pages 299-328, November.
    18. Brickley, James A. & Lease, Ronald C. & Smith, Clifford Jr., 1994. "Corporate voting: Evidence from charter amendment proposals," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 5-31, March.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.
    21. Julie Cotter & Mark Silvester, 2003. "Board and Monitoring Committee Independence," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 39(2), pages 211-232, June.
    22. Knoeber, Charles R, 1986. "Golden Parachutes, Shark Repellents, and Hostile Tender Offers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(1), pages 155-167, March.
    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. Stephen Gray & John Nowland, 2013. "Is prior director experience valuable?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(3), pages 643-666, September.
    2. Stephen Gray & John Nowland, 2017. "The diversity of expertise on corporate boards in Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(2), pages 429-463, June.
    3. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, February.
    4. John Nowland & Andreas Simon, 2018. "Is poor director attendance contagious?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 43(1), pages 42-64, February.
    5. John Nowland & Larelle Chapple & Joseph Johnston, 2021. "The role of the company secretary in facilitating board effectiveness: reporting and compliance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1425-1456, April.
    6. Alam, Nafis & Ramachandran, Jayalakshmy & Nahomy, Aisha Homy, 2020. "The impact of corporate governance and agency effect on earnings management – A test of the dual banking system," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    7. Mohammad Abdullah Fayad Altawalbeh, 2020. "Corporate Governance Mechanisms and Firm’s Performance: Evidence from Jordan," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 9(2), pages 1-11, May.
    8. Stephen Gray & Iman Harymawan & John Nowland, 2016. "Political and government connections on corporate boards in Australia: Good for business?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 41(1), pages 3-26, February.
    9. Xiaoyue Chen & Bin Li & Andrew C. Worthington, 2022. "Economic uncertainty and Australian stock returns," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 3441-3474, September.
    10. E. Chuke Nwude & Comfort Amaka Nwude, 2021. "Board Structure and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence From Developing Economy," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440209, January.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Salim Chahine & Assem Safieddine, 2011. "Is corporate governance different for the Lebanese banking system?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 15(2), pages 207-226, May.
    4. Aziz Jaafar & Lynn Hodgkinson & Mao-Feng Kao, 2019. "Ownership Structure, Board of Directors and Firm Performance: Evidence from Taiwan," Working Papers 19011, Bangor Business School, Prifysgol Bangor University (Cymru / Wales).
    5. Phillip C. James, 2020. "Understanding the Impact of Board Structure on Firm Performance: AComprehensive Literature Review," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, January.
    6. Phillip C. James, 2020. "Understanding the Impact of Board Structure on Firm Performance: AComprehensive Literature Review," International Journal of Business and Social Research, MIR Center for Socio-Economic Research, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, January.
    7. Le, Quyen & Vafaei, Alireza & Ahmed, Kamran & Kutubi, Shawgat, 2022. "Independent directors' reputation incentives and firm performance – an Australian perspective," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Panagiotis Staikouras & Christos Staikouras & Maria-Eleni Agoraki, 2007. "The effect of board size and composition on European bank performance," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 1-27, February.
    9. Afzalur Rashid, 2015. "Revisiting Agency Theory: Evidence of Board Independence and Agency Cost from Bangladesh," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 181-198, August.
    10. Mertzanis, Charilaos & Basuony, Mohamed A.K. & Mohamed, Ehab K.A., 2019. "Social institutions, corporate governance and firm-performance in the MENA region," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 75-96.
    11. Martin Kyere & Marcel Ausloos, 2021. "Corporate governance and firms financial performance in the United Kingdom," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 1871-1885, April.
    12. Amjad Ali & Wajid Alim & Jawad Ahmed & Sabahat Nisar, 2022. "Yoke of corporate governance and firm performance: A study of listed firms in Pakistan," Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, Educational Research Multimedia & Publications,India, vol. 13(1), pages 08-17, January.
    13. Levrau, A. & Van den Berghe, L., 2007. "Identifying key determinants of effective boards of directors," Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School Working Paper Series 2007-11, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School.
    14. Mukesh Nepal & Rajat Deb, 2022. "Board Characteristics and Firm Performance: Indian Textiles Sector Panorama," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 47(1), pages 74-96, February.
    15. M. Andrew Fields & Phyllis Y. Keys, 2003. "The Emergence of Corporate Governance from Wall St. to Main St.: Outside Directors, Board Diversity, Earnings Management, and Managerial Incentives to Bear Risk," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 38(1), pages 1-24, February.
    16. Krishna Reddy & Stuart Locke & Frank Scrimgeour, 2010. "The efficacy of principle‐based corporate governance practices and firm financial performance," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(3), pages 190-219, June.
    17. Chaur-Shiuh Young & Liu-Ching Tsai & Pei-Gin Hsieh, 2008. "Voluntary Appointment of Independent Directors in Taiwan: Motives and Consequences," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(9-10), pages 1103-1137.
    18. RAMDANI, Dendi & VAN WITTELOOSTUIJN, Arjen, 2009. "Board independence, CEO duality and firm performance: A quantile regression analysis for Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand," ACED Working Papers 2009003, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    19. Tirthankar Nag & Chanchal Chatterjee, 2020. "Exploring Linkages Between Corporate Governance and Business Performance: Does Good Corporate Governance Lead to Enhanced Business Value?," South Asian Survey, , vol. 27(1), pages 37-61, March.
    20. Sofi Mohd Fikri & Mohamed Hisham Yahya & Taufiq Hassan, 2017. "A Review on Agency Cost of Shariah Governance in Mutual Fund," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(1), pages 530-538.

    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:eme:arjpps:v:22:y:2009:i:2:p:196-212. 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: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.