Examining the Influence of Macroeconomic Factors and Corporate Governance on Firm Performance in the ACE Market

Abstract

This study focused on investigating the impact of macroeconomic factors and corporate governance on the financial performance of firms listed on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia. The ACE Market serves as a platform for smaller, emerging companies, providing them with an opportunity to raise capital with less stringent requirements compared to the Main Market. Using a panel data set of 72 companies over the period 2018-2022, the research employed panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) regression. PCSE is a panel regression model that accounts for contemporaneous correlations, corrects for deviations from spherical errors, and enhances inference from linear models. The analysis revealed that ACE market companies, on average, show a negative return on equity (ROE) but positive numbers of women (NOW) and board meetings (NOM). The PCSE regression results, however, failed to show a statistically significant relationship between NOW and ROE, suggesting that the presence of women on the board of directors does not significantly impact the firm performance. The findings provide valuable insights for the firms in the ACE market companies regarding the consideration of important factors in improving firm performance. The research's broader goal is to inform the development of strategies fostering enhanced overall performance and sustainability in the ACE market. The study also suggests several recommendations such as broadening the scope and inclusion of international trade dynamics variables.