IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/acctbr/v39y2009i5p497-513.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the relation between corporate governance compliance and operating performance

Author

Listed:
  • Heidi Bauwhede

Abstract

Better corporate performance has been cited as one of the main benefits of adopting good corporate governance structures within organisations. However, in contrast to theory, a prior European study (Bauer et al., 2004) reports evidence of a negative relationship between corporate governance and corporate performance. This study re‐examines this relationship, and reports evidence of a positive relationship between the extent of compliance with international best practices concerning board structure and functioning and operating performance when operating performance is measured by the return on assets (ROA). This result is robust to controlling for the firms’ compliance with best practices in other governance areas, and holds for some other governance dimensions, namely disclosure of corporate governance and the range of takeover defences. Further tests indicate that greater compliance with international best practices concerning board structure and functioning is significantly associated with reporting less income from asset disposals and that studying a performance measure that includes this item obscures the inherently positive relationship between operating performance and the extent of compliance with international best practices regarding board structure and functioning. The results provide some support for an oftencited motivation for the adoption of good governance practices, and provide explicit evidence that the measure of operating performance is crucial in examining firm‐level operating performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Heidi Bauwhede, 2009. "On the relation between corporate governance compliance and operating performance," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 497-513.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:39:y:2009:i:5:p:497-513
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2009.9663380
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00014788.2009.9663380
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00014788.2009.9663380?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. Klapper, Leora F. & Love, Inessa, 2004. "Corporate governance, investor protection, and performance in emerging markets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 703-728, November.
    3. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 43-58, January.
    4. Don Herrmann & Tatsuo Inoue & Wayne B. Thomas, 2003. "The Sale of Assets to Manage Earnings in Japan," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 89-108, March.
    5. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    6. 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.
    7. John E. Core & Wayne R. Guay & Tjomme O. Rusticus, 2006. "Does Weak Governance Cause Weak Stock Returns? An Examination of Firm Operating Performance and Investors' Expectations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(2), pages 655-687, April.
    8. Brown, Lawrence D. & Caylor, Marcus L., 2006. "Corporate governance and firm valuation," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 409-434.
    9. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    10. Klein, April, 1998. "Firm Performance and Board Committee Structure," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 275-303, April.
    11. Carlos Alves & Victor Mendes, 2004. "Corporate Governance Policy and Company Performance: the Portuguese case," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 290-301, July.
    12. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    13. Art Durnev & E. Han Kim, 2005. "To Steal or Not to Steal: Firm Attributes, Legal Environment, and Valuation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1461-1493, June.
    14. Rob Bauer & Nadja Guenster & Rogér Otten, 2004. "Empirical evidence on corporate governance in Europe: The effect on stock returns, firm value and performance," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(2), pages 91-104, August.
    15. Stefan Beiner & Wolfgang Drobetz & Markus M. Schmid & Heinz Zimmermann, 2006. "An Integrated Framework of Corporate Governance and Firm Valuation," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 12(2), pages 249-283, March.
    16. Wolfgang Drobetz & Andreas Schillhofer & Heinz Zimmermann, 2004. "Corporate Governance and Expected Stock Returns: Evidence from Germany," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 10(2), pages 267-293, June.
    17. Leuz, Christian & Nanda, Dhananjay & Wysocki, Peter D., 2003. "Earnings management and investor protection: an international comparison," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 505-527, September.
    18. Pincus, Karen & Rusbarsky, Mark & Wong, Jilnaught, 1989. "Voluntary formation of corporate audit committees among NASDAQ firms," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 239-265.
    19. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "Corrigendum to "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings"; [Journal of Accounting and Economics 29 (2000) 1-51]," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 241-241, October.
    20. Barber, Brad M. & Lyon, John D., 1996. "Detecting abnormal operating performance: The empirical power and specification of test statistics," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 359-399, July.
    21. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-51, February.
    22. Bernard S. Black & Hasung Jang & Woochan Kim, 2006. "Does Corporate Governance Predict Firms' Market Values? Evidence from Korea," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 366-413, October.
    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. Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Jebabli, Ikram & Thrikawala, Sujani Sudhara & Alawi, Suha Mahmoud & Mehmood, Rashid, 2024. "How do corporate governance and corporate social responsibility affect credit risk?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    2. Nico Lehmann, 2019. "Do Corporate Governance Analysts Matter? Evidence from the Expansion of Governance Analyst Coverage," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 721-761, June.
    3. Linda Kusumaning Wedari & Amir Moradi‐Motlagh & Christine Jubb, 2023. "The moderating effect of innovation on the relationship between environmental and financial performance: Evidence from high emitters in Australia," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 654-672, January.
    4. Komath, Muhammed Aslam Chelery & Doğan, Murat & Sayılır, Özlem, 2023. "Impact of corporate governance and related controversies on the market value of banks," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    5. Akbar, Saeed & Poletti-Hughes, Jannine & El-Faitouri, Ramadan & Shah, Syed Zulfiqar Ali, 2016. "More on the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance in the UK: Evidence from the application of generalized method of moments estimation," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 417-429.
    6. Saurabh Chadha & Anil K. Sharma, 2015. "Capital Structure and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from India," Vision, , vol. 19(4), pages 295-302, December.
    7. Ciftci, Ilhan & Tatoglu, Ekrem & Wood, Geoffrey & Demirbag, Mehmet & Zaim, Selim, 2019. "Corporate governance and firm performance in emerging markets: Evidence from Turkey," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 90-103.
    8. Chowdhury Saima Ferdous, 2018. "Corporate Governance in Bangladesh: Evidence of Compliance," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(3), pages 88-109, March.
    9. Michail Nerantzidis, 2018. "The role of weighting in corporate governance ratings," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(3), pages 589-628, September.
    10. Armin Wiedenegger & Alexander Kern & Maria Rupprechter, 2012. "The Choice of Legal Form and its Effects on Good Governance: A Case Study of an Austrian Professional Soccer Club," Ekonomika a Management, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2012(3), pages 23-43.
    11. Subhan Ullah & Sardar Ahmad & Saeed Akbar & Devendra Kodwani & Jane Frecknall‐Hughes, 2021. "Governance disclosure quality and market valuation of firms in UK and Germany," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 5031-5055, October.
    12. Shakri, Irfan Haider & Yong, Jaime & Xiang, Erwei, 2022. "Does compliance with corporate governance increase profitability? Evidence from an emerging economy: Pakistan," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    13. Jean-Christophe Duhamel & Réda Sefsaf, 2017. "Valeur de la gouvernance d'entreprise et gouvernance des valeurs de l'entreprise. Recherche sur les effets des codes de gouvernance et les stratégies de communication en matière de gouvernance," Working Papers halshs-01633982, HAL.
    14. Blanche Steyn & Farai Kwenda & Lesley Stainbank, 2020. "Do board-level controls matter? – An agency perspective on socially responsible investment (SRI) company boards in South Africa," South African Journal of Accounting Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 205-235, September.
    15. Tariq, Yasir Bin & Abbas, Zaheer, 2013. "Compliance and multidimensional firm performance: Evaluating the efficacy of rule-based code of corporate governance," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 565-575.
    16. Paolo Saona & Laura Muro & Pablo San Martín & Carlos Cid, 2020. "Ibero-American corporate ownership and boards of directors: implementation and impact on firm value in Chile and Spain," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 2138-2170, 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. Ammann, Manuel & Oesch, David & Schmid, Markus M., 2011. "Corporate governance and firm value: International evidence," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 36-55, January.
    2. Subhan Ullah & Sardar Ahmad & Saeed Akbar & Devendra Kodwani & Jane Frecknall‐Hughes, 2021. "Governance disclosure quality and market valuation of firms in UK and Germany," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 5031-5055, October.
    3. Premepeh, kwadwo Boateng & Odartei-Mills, Eugene, 2015. "Corporate governance structure and shareholder wealth maximisation," MPRA Paper 68087, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Nicolas Kohl & Wolfgang Schaefers, 2012. "Corporate Governance and Market Valuation of Publicly Traded Real Estate Companies: Evidence from Europe," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 362-393, April.
    5. Jacqueline Christensen & Pamela Kent & Jenny Stewart, 2010. "Corporate Governance and Company Performance in Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 20(4), pages 372-386, December.
    6. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, January.
    7. Jackie Krafft & Yiping Qu & Francesco Quatraro & Jacques-Laurent Ravix, 2014. "Corporate governance, value and performance of firms: new empirical results on convergence from a large international database," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 23(2), pages 361-397.
    8. Taher Hamza & Nada Mselmi, 2017. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices: The Effect of Board of Directors and Audit Committee Independence," Post-Print hal-03380724, HAL.
    9. Ahmed Abousamak, 2016. "Principal-principal internal governance mechanisms and the firms' performance: evidence from an emerging market," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 11(2), pages 145-169.
    10. Oded Cohen, 2020. "Measuring Corporate Governance Quality in Concentrated-Ownership Firms," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2020.06, Bank of Israel.
    11. Aman, Hiroyuki & Nguyen, Pascal, 2008. "Do stock prices reflect the corporate governance quality of Japanese firms?," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 647-662, December.
    12. repec:hal:wpaper:hal-00786664 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Manuel Ammann & David Oesch & Markus Schmid, 2013. "The construction and valuation effect of corporate governance indices," Chapters, in: Adrian R. Bell & Chris Brooks & Marcel Prokopczuk (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Empirical Finance, chapter 13, pages 314-340, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Price, Richard & Román, Francisco J. & Rountree, Brian, 2011. "The impact of governance reform on performance and transparency," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 76-96, January.
    15. Lee, Shih-Cheng & Lin, Chien-Ting, 2010. "An accounting-based valuation approach to valuing corporate governance in Taiwan," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 47-60.
    16. Bruno, Valentina & Claessens, Stijn, 2010. "Corporate governance and regulation: Can there be too much of a good thing?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 461-482, October.
    17. Nasha Ananchotikul, 2008. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Really Improve Corporate Governance? Evidence from Thailand," Working Papers 2008-09, Monetary Policy Group, Bank of Thailand.
    18. Collins G. Ntim, 2013. "Corporate Governance, Affirmative Action and Firm Value in Post-apartheid South Africa: A Simultaneous Equation Approach," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(2), pages 148-172, June.
    19. Alessandro Zattoni & Emmanouil Dedoulis & Stergios Leventis & Hans Van Ees, 2020. "Corporate governance and institutions—A review and research agenda," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 465-487, November.
    20. Michail Nerantzidis, 2018. "The role of weighting in corporate governance ratings," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(3), pages 589-628, September.
    21. Hussain, Tanveer & Loureiro, Gilberto, 2022. "Portability of firm corporate governance in mergers and acquisitions," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

    More about this item

    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:taf:acctbr:v:39:y:2009:i:5:p:497-513. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RABR20 .

    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.