Impact of enforcement and corporate governance attributes on performance

Abstract

Since 2005, consolidated financial statements of European listed groups have been prepared according to IFRS. Nevertheless, the recent economic crisis on top of financial scandals has highlighted the role of oversight agencies and the importance of corporate governance. The purpose of this study is to look into the impact of corporate governance and the work of the Spanish Securities Exchange Commission (CNMV) on the performance of Spanish listed groups; as well as observing the links between enforcement actions and corporate governance. In a sample of 116 Spanish listed groups during the period 2005-2011 we have applied structural equations model (SEM) for hypothesis testing. The results obtained suggest there is a significant positive relationship between the corporate governance variables and company performance and a significant negative relationship between enforcement and performance. We also identify a significant positive relationship between enforcement action and corporate governance, which validates the theoretical model proposed.