scholarly journals Does Minority Ownership Concentration Influence the Relationship between Board Independence and Tunneling?

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles P. Cullinan ◽  
Fangjun Wang ◽  
Wang Peng ◽  
Xi Yu
2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 638-654
Author(s):  
Deaa Al-Deen Al-Sraheen ◽  
Khaldoon Ahmad Al Daoud

While often criticized, the independence of directors remains a crucial criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of the monitoring role of boards. This study examines the relationship between board independence and earnings management, paying attention to moderation role of family ownership concentration on this relationship using a sample of services companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange ASE. This study documented a significant and negative association between board independence and earnings management. In addition, the moderating role of family ownership concentration on this relationship was also negative. Thus, the board’s monitoring function was inefficient due to the concentration of ownership. These results were obtained through using multiple and sequential regression analysis for the research data from 2013 to 2016. This study provides new ideas for future research such as examining the impacts of the migration of capitals and investors from neighbouring countries such as Syria and Iraq.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 597-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Arayssi ◽  
Mohammad Issam Jizi

PurposeThe aim of the paper is to examine the association of corporate governance (CG), the firms’ characteristics and the financial performance of firms operating in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region after Arab Spring. The study focuses on CG, exemplified by boards’ composition and ownership structure. It also explores the possible moderating effects of environmental social and governance characteristics (ESG), leverage and size on the relationship between CG and the company’s performance.Design/methodology/approachUsing Thomson-Reuters database, a sample of 67 firms was extracted in the MENA region to measure CG and financial performance post Arab Spring from 2012 to 2016. Panel GLS regression random effects is used to quantify the relationship; robustness is checked by using several alternative regressions and specifications to the performance measure.FindingsThe results reveal that board independence (BI) is negatively correlated with firm profitability but ownership concentration and board gender diversification contribute to profits. When firms that voluntarily form a governance committee are examined, ownership is less concentrated. We obtain a stronger impact of good governance on performance in these firms: board composition, in general, and workers’ satisfaction generate more profits; and undertaking ESG activities become a more dispensable activity. The effect of board size (BS) and forming a governance committee are studied and ensuing recommendations are drawn. In addition, relevant internal control of firms’ characteristics that strongly predict firms’ market values are discussed in the context of agency and stewardship theories.Originality/valueDespite the fact that governance-performance nexus has been extensively discussed and examined, the focus of this volume of research is on western developed countries. The growing economies of the MENA countries, and the limited governance-performance literature in the MENA context have created a demand to understand the governance environment in these countries and its influence on firm’s performance. In this region where firms’ owners are mainly family members, governments and/or institutions, governance is typically weak; moreover, ownership concentration is expected to guarantee good performance, as the role of independent directors becomes ineffective. For firms where ownership is more diluted, a sound governance system should be established to replace ownership concentration, and to more efficiently monitor management, and consequently improve firm performance. Therefore, this study not only contributes a summary of the prevailing corporate structure in MENA. Moreover, it explains the settings where both the stewardship and agency theories apply in MENA firms. Some recommendation on the importance of changes to the existing governance rules are highlighted in terms of more rules requiring board independence, board gender diversity, limits on board size and establishing governance committees.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Moustafa Soliman ◽  
Aiman A. Ragab ◽  
Mohammed B. Eldin

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between board composition and ownership structure variables on the level of voluntary information disclosures of companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange. Board composition is examined in terms of board independence; board size; and CEO duality; also, ownership structure is examined in terms of ownership concentration; institutional ownership; and managerial ownership. The results show that there is a significant negative relationship between CEO duality and voluntary disclosures. However, board independence; board size; ownership concentration; institutional ownership; and managerial ownership are not associated with voluntary disclosures. Also, the results of the regression analyses show that size and leverage of firms are significantly and positively associated with the level of voluntary information disclosures. Profitability of a firm is not significantly associated with voluntary disclosures. Finally, this paper indicates the relationship among board composition, ownership structure and corporate voluntary disclosure, and provides evidence for Egyptian regulators to improve corporate governance and optimize ownership structure.


2021 ◽  
pp. 194016122110251
Author(s):  
Zahraa Badr

The Egyptian media has witnessed various changes in the ownership spectrum after the 2011 revolution. To explore this evolution, and through the Habermasian lens, this study examined ownership concentration in the 2019 media sphere in Egypt by mapping media outlets and their owners. It also investigated the relationship between this concentration and content diversity in a sample of print outlets in the first quarter of 2019. Three patterns of ownership concentration in the Egyptian media were identified: concentrated state ownership, concentrated private ownership, and not concentrated private ownership. Based on these findings, I argue that the media sphere in Egypt is dominated by a few gatekeepers, mostly the state, that influence content diversity and jeopardize the democratic public sphere in postrevolution Egypt.


2021 ◽  
Vol 02 (01) ◽  
pp. 16-28
Author(s):  
Feryal Zafar ◽  
Shaheera Munir ◽  
Muhammad Saqib Khan

The study attempts to figure out the relationship between the performance of the firms and corporate governance in Pakistan. Governance mechanisms used in this study are CEO duality, Independence of Board, Size of Board, and Ownership Concentration. While, the ROA and ROE have been used as dependent variables to measure the performance of firms. Using regression analysis technique on 10 listed firms trading over four years from 2014-2017, the results have been derived. The data regarding all the variables have been collected from all the companies’ annual reports. The discoveries of the study direct that fundamentals of corporate governance such as the Size of the Board, Ownership, and Duality Concentration of CEO have negative effects on performance of organization, as measured by ROA and ROE. While Board independence positively affects the performance of firms. The results are thus significant and provide valuable information for the decision makers about the research issues under consideration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 58-67
Author(s):  
Anthony A. Meder ◽  
Steven T. Schwartz ◽  
Richard Young

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Farizal Mohammed ◽  
Kamran Ahmed ◽  
Xu-Dong Ji

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between accounting conservatism, corporate governance and political connection in listed firms in Malaysia where political influence plays a significant role in the capital market and in many business dealings. Design/methodology/approach By utilizing 824 firm-year observations comprising large listed companies over a period of four years from 2004, this study uses ordinary least squares regression models to investigate the relationship between accounting conservatism, corporate governance and political connections in Malaysia. Multiple measures of conservatism developed by Basu (1997) and Khan and Watts (2009) are employed. Findings The results show evidence of accounting conservatism (bad news being recognized earlier than good news) in Malaysia. Further, the results reveal that better corporate governance structure in terms of board independence is positively associated with accounting conservatism while management ownership is negatively associated with it. However, political connection has a negative moderating effect on the positive relationship between accounting conservatism and board independence. The results also suggest political connections have a positive association with firm’s future performance. Originality/value This study is the first in investigating the effect of political connections on accounting conservatism in Malaysian context and how political connections negatively affect the monitoring role of the corporate boards. By directly measuring political connection and controlling for various corporate governance mechanisms and firm-specific attributes, this study contributes to enhance the authors’ understanding of the political influence in financial reporting quality and firm performance in an emerging market setting.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amal Hamrouni ◽  
Mondher Bouattour ◽  
Nadia Ben Farhat Toumi ◽  
Rim Boussaada

PurposeThe current study aims to investigate the relation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and information asymmetry, as well as the moderating effect of board characteristics (gender diversity, size and independence) on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a panel data regression analysis with the system generalized method of moments (SGMM) estimator of nonfinancial French firms included in the SBF 120 index. The environmental and social disclosure scores are collected from the Bloomberg database, while financial data are collected from the FactSet database.FindingsThe empirical results demonstrate that environmental disclosure has a positive impact on the level of information asymmetry, while social disclosure has no effect on the information environment. Gender diversity and board independence negatively impact the opacity index, while board size has a positive effect. The presence of women in board composition has a substitution effect on the relationship between environmental disclosure and information asymmetry. There is no moderating effect of board size on the association between CSR disclosure and information asymmetry. However, the proportion of independent female directors and board independence operates as substitutes to social disclosure on reducing information asymmetry.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the models include the most common control variables used in the literature, they omit some variables. Second, the results should be interpreted with caution and should not be generalized to the entire stock market since the sample is based on large French companies.Practical implicationsThe results of this study may be of interest to managers, investors and French market authorities since France is characterized by highly developed laws and reforms in the area of CSR. In addition, the paper leads to a better understanding of how women on the board, in particular, independent female directors, affect the relationship between CSR disclosure and information asymmetry. This could be of interest to French authorities, which has encouraged the appointment of women through the adoption of the Copé–Zimmermann law.Originality/valueFirst, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to explore the moderating effect of board characteristics on the relationship between CSR and information asymmetry. Second, unlike previous studies using individual proxies to measure information asymmetry, the authors favor the opacity index of Anderson et al. (2009). They calculate this index by including a fifth individual measure, namely, share price volatility. The opacity index better describes the information environment of companies than individual measures since it reflects the perceptions of investors and analysts together.


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