Combining or separating management and control: effects on the performance of french listed companies with monist structures[Association ou dissociation de la direction et du contrôle et performance des sociétés françaises cotées à structure moniste]

This article examines the determinants of the choice to combine management and control functions, as well as the impact of this choice on the performance of French SBF 120 companies with a monistic structure over the 2011-2021 period, based on agency, entrenchment, stewardship and substitution theories. The results show that the choice of combining management and control functions is influenced by the human capital of the Board and the seniority of the executive. On the other hand, the independence of directors and the proportion of capital held by the executive favor the dissociation of the two functions. Our results also show that the choice of associating or dissociating management and control functions has no influence on the company's financial performance. However, our study shows that when the proportion of independent directors on the Board of Directors is high, the combination of management and control functions has a positive effect on the company's financial performance; the same positive effect is observed for companies whose Board of Directors benefits from a high level of human capital.