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The investment opportunity set and the voluntary use of outside directors: New Zealand evidence

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  • M. Hossain
  • S. Cahan
  • M. Adams

Abstract

This study examines whether the composition of boards of directors differs between high and low growth firms. Based on prior research, we hypothesise that firms with greater investment opportunities require more monitoring because managers in these firms have more discretion both in selecting investments and allocating resources between investments. Because outside directors can be more effective monitors than inside directors, we predict that outsiders will make up a larger proportion of the board in high growth firms than in low growth firms. Using a cross-sectional sample of 77 New Zealand firms, our results suggest that the percentage of outside directors is related to growth for two of the four measures of investment opportunities which we employ. As expected, the percentage of outside directors is also related to a composite measure of investment opportunities.

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  • M. Hossain & S. Cahan & M. Adams, 2000. "The investment opportunity set and the voluntary use of outside directors: New Zealand evidence," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 263-273.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:30:y:2000:i:4:p:263-273
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2000.9728944
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    3. 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.
    4. Alastair Marsden & Andrew K. Prevost, 2005. "Derivatives Use, Corporate Governance, and Legislative Change: An Empirical Analysis of New Zealand Listed Companies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1‐2), pages 255-295, January.
    5. Chou, Hsin-I & Hamill, Philip A. & Yeh, Yin-Hua, 2018. "Are all regulatory compliant independent director appointments the same? An analysis of Taiwanese board appointments," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 371-387.
    6. Georgeta Vintila & Stefan Cristian Gherghina, 2013. "Board of Directors Independence and Firm Value: Empirical Evidence Based on the Bucharest Stock Exchange Listed Companies," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 3(4), pages 885-900.
    7. Hutchinson, Marion & Gul, Ferdinand A., 2004. "Investment opportunity set, corporate governance practices and firm performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 595-614, September.
    8. Akshita Arora & Chandan Sharma, 2015. "Impact of Firm Performance on Board Characteristics: Empirical Evidence from India," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 4(1), pages 53-70, January.
    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. Mehdi Nekhili & Hayette Gatfaoui, 2013. "Are Demographic Attributes and Firm Characteristics Drivers of Gender Diversity? Investigating Women’s Positions on French Boards of Directors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 227-249, December.
    11. Alastair Marsden & Andrew K. Prevost, 2005. "Derivatives Use, Corporate Governance, and Legislative Change: An Empirical Analysis of New Zealand Listed Companies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1-2), pages 255-295.
    12. Sunila Jabeen & Farzana Shaheen & Azad Haider, 2015. "Determinants of Deviation from Inflation Targets in Pakistan: A Vector Autoregressive Approach," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(3), pages 709-715.
    13. Hutchinson, Marion & A Gul, Ferdinand, 2006. "The effects of executive share options and investment opportunities on firms’ accounting performance: Some Australian evidence," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 277-297.
    14. Nesrine Klai & Abdelwahed Omri, 2013. "Corporate Board Characteristics and the Informativeness of Accounting Earnings: Evidence from Tunisia," International Journal of Financial Economics, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 1(4), pages 133-142.
    15. 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, November.
    16. Mauro Romano & Christian Favino & Luca Pennacchio & Francesco Grimaldi, 2020. "CEO social capital in family businesses and its effect on investment opportunities: Asset or liability?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2004-2015, September.
    17. Muniandy, Balachandran & Hillier, John, 2015. "Board independence, investment opportunity set and performance of South African firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(PA), pages 108-124.
    18. Dimitropoulos, Panagiotis E. & Asteriou, Dimitrios, 2010. "The effect of board composition on the informativeness and quality of annual earnings: Empirical evidence from Greece," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 190-205, June.
    19. Hueh-Chen Lin & Chin-Sheng Huang & Jack J. W. Yang, 2015. "Market Reaction to Voluntary and Mandatory Announcements of Independent Director Appointments," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(1), pages 125-135.
    20. Wiersma, Eelke, 2017. "How and when do firms translate slack into better performance?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(5), pages 445-459.

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