Corporate governance

About: Corporate governance is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 118591 publications have been published within this topic receiving 2793582 citations.

Restoring trust after fraud: Does corporate governance matter?

Abstract: In this study, I examine the association between the credibility of the financial reporting system and the quality of governance mechanisms. I use a sample of 87 firms identified by the SEC as fraudulently manipulating their financial statements. Consistent with prior research, results indicate that fraud firms have poor governance relative to a control sample in the year prior to fraud detection. Specifically, fraud firms have fewer numbers and percentages of outside board members, fewer audit committee meetings, fewer financial experts on the audit committee, a smaller percentage of Big 4 auditing firms, and a higher percentage of CEOs who are also chairmen of the board of directors. However, the results indicate that fraud firms take actions to improve their governance, and three years after fraud detection these firms have governance characteristics similar to the control firms in terms of the numbers and percentages of outside members on the board, but exceed the control firms in the number of audit ...

Board composition and corporate performance: how the Australian experience informs contrasting theories of corporate governance

Abstract: In many respects, Australian boards more closely approach normative "best practice" guidelines for corporate governance than boards in other Western countries. Do Australian firms then demonstrate a board demographic-organisational performance link that has not been found in other economies? We examine the relationships between board demographics and corporate performance in 348 of Australia’s largest publicly listed companies and describe the attributes of these firms and their boards. We find that, after controlling for firm size, board size is positively correlated with firm value. We also find a positive relationship between the proportion of inside directors and the market-based measure of firm performance. We discuss the implications of these finding and compare our findings to prevailing research in the US and the UK.

Factors Influencing Voluntary Corporate Disclosure by Kenyan Companies

Abstract: There has been considerable research in respect of voluntary disclosure by companies and factors that may explain such disclosure. However, most of the research has been centred in developed countries. This study extends the previous literature by examining voluntary disclosure in a developing country, namely Kenya. Over the last decade, the Kenyan Government has initiated several far-reaching reforms at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) in order to mobilise domestic savings and attract foreign capital investment. These measures include privatisation of state corporations through the stock exchange and allowing foreign investors to own shares in the listed companies. This study provides a longitudinal examination of voluntary disclosure practices in the annual reports of listed companies in Kenya from 1992 to 2001. The study investigates the extent to which corporate governance attributes, ownership structure and company characteristics influence voluntary disclosure practices. Our results suggest that the extent of voluntary disclosure is influenced by a firm's corporate governance attributes, ownership structure and company characteristics. The presence of an audit committee is a significant factor associated with the level of voluntary disclosure, and the proportion of non-executive directors on the board is found to be significantly negatively associated with the extent of voluntary disclosure. The study also finds that the levels of institutional and foreign ownership have a significantly positive impact on voluntary disclosure. Large companies and companies with high debt voluntarily disclose more information. In contrast, board leadership structure, liquidity, profitability and type of external audit firm do not have a significant influence on the level of voluntary disclosure by companies in Kenya.