Corporate governance mechanism and comparative analysis of one-tier and two-tier board structures: evidence from ASEAN countries

Abstract

The study investigates and compares the determinants of disclosure quality of one-tier and two-tier board structures in selected ASEAN countries. We measure the significance of different corporate governance mechanism of top 50 companies from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore from 2011 to 2015. The results of independent sample t test prove that the variances of the disclosure quality scores of one-tier and two-tier board structures are different. In order to avoid problems of omitted variable bias, unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity, we use the Tobit regression model with random effects. The results confirm that the disclosure quality has a dependence on board size, board expertise, board meetings, board diversity, the timeline for both one-tier and two-tier board structures. The female board members and free cash flows have sole dependence on the one-tier board, whereas board power and block holders have sole dependence on two-tier boards. The study also establishes the relationship between board independence with disclosure quality of board structures.