The Effect of Ownership and Independence of Board of Directors on Corporate Performance in China

Abstract

Purpose - We examine empirically the relationship between the board of directors and the corporate performance using board characteristics related variables. Design/methodology/approach - We empirically test the hypotheses using fixed effects models (FEM), using data of 3,703 listed non-financial companies in China from 2010 to 2019. Findings - First, the ownership of board of directors is positively related to ROA. Second, the size of the board of directors is positively related to ROA. Third, there is no evidence that interaction between characteristic variables related to the board of directors affect the corporate performance. Research implications or Originality These results show that as the board of directors has larger ownership, the degree of identity of interest between stock holders and the board becomes bigger to reduce agency cost, then it lets the board make decisions to improve the corporate performance. In addition, as the board of directors becomes bigger, the board has strong independence to play the role of monitoring and advising, then it leads to improvement of corporate performance.