Corporate Governance and Optimal Transparency

Author(s):  
Tom Berglund

This chapter explores the link between corporate governance and transparency. It begins by discussing definitions of corporate governance and transparency and goes on to review the literature on their relationship, covering also research on information disclosure. It then introduces a stylized model for the interrelationship between corporate governance and transparency. In key position is the board which is assumed to safeguard maximization of the long-run value of the firm’s equity in shareholders’ interests. Transparency is analyzed from shareholders’ point of view. The chapter highlights why increased transparency may reduce shareholder value and thus to a varying degree will be substituted with corporate governance mechanisms.

SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402094953
Author(s):  
Mengyun Wu ◽  
Martha Coleman ◽  
Jonas Bawuah

This study investigates the long-run effect of corporate governance mechanisms on earnings management of listed companies in Nigeria and Ghana. The study uses Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) in establishing a long-run effect of good corporate mechanisms in reducing earnings management practice by corporate managers. ACO selected four major corporate governance mechanisms: Board Procedure Index, Board Disclosure Index, Ownership Structure Index, and Shareholders’ Rights Index; these were the key corporate governance mechanisms that influence the reduction in earnings management activities. KNN produced a strong significant longitudinal effect of implementing good corporate governance mechanisms in decreasing the manipulating behavior of managers. Quality corporate governance mechanisms’ implementation reduces the opportunistic behavior of corporate managers in manipulating earnings. Therefore, the study alert policymakers the urgency in setting up appropriate policies to enhance the reduction in earnings management practices to provide accurate financial information for stakeholders’ financial decision-making. The use of ACO and KNN in the study is a great novelty, which presents a calibration and prediction of the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on earnings management showing the rate of reduction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 542-562
Author(s):  
Uchechukwu Nwoke

Purpose This paper aims to identify and analyze the neoliberal, Anglo-American corporate governance mechanisms which embed shareholder value in Nigeria, and assess how they constitute major “practical barriers” to effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the country. While some of these mechanisms operate internally – performance-related pay (executive remuneration) – the use of non-executive directors – others operate externally – the markets for corporate control and the stock markets. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts the doctrinal approach through a critical evaluation of concepts. Using existing literature in the subject area, it evaluates the nature of these mechanisms and argues that their operations amount to “practical barriers” to effective CSR in the country. Findings The paper finds that the existence of these mechanisms incentivizes corporate managers to maximize shareholder value and raise the share price of corporations as high as possible. It also leads to the financialization of corporate governance, rent seeking and the pursuit of short-term profits by corporations. In this context, within the Nigerian corporate governance framework, the existence and operations of these mechanisms amount to “practical barriers” to effective CSR. Originality/value The paper offers a fresh insight into the existence and operations of the neoliberal corporate governance mechanisms which embed shareholder value. By critically assessing the operations of these mechanisms in the Nigerian situation, it extends the body of knowledge in this area by showing how they amount to practical barriers to effective CSR in the country.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 32-46
Author(s):  
Patrick Ulrich ◽  
Alexandra Fibitz

This paper examines how German family firms differ in the usage of corporate governance mechanisms in comparison to non-family firms. We give an overview about the relation of corporate governance and family firms, and deliver hypotheses from an empirical study. The study was conducted in 2017 as a written survey and 86 questionnaires could be used for statistical analysis. Based on socioemotional wealth (SEW) theory, we find that with a higher extent of family influence in the firm, less corporate governance instruments are used. Furthermore, corporate governance is used primarily to prevent stakeholder confidence in the long-run. However, a formalization of corporate governance mechanisms does not take place. We draw implications for more corporate governance formalization and awareness in family firms both for theory and practice.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 8-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Aljifri ◽  
Khaled Hussainey ◽  
Peter Oyelere

The main objective of this study is to explore empirically the corporate governance mechanisms in UAE that may affect the extent to which forward-looking information is disclosed. This study utilizes a sample of firms that are listed in either the Dubai Financial Market or the Abu Dubai Securities Market. It uses the accounting and market data available for 2007-2009. This study concludes that three of the corporate governance mechanisms [i.e., institutional investors; ownership (> 10%); debt ratio] have a negative impact on the level forward-looking information disclosure; whereas the governmental investors and ownership (5-10%) are found to have a positive effect on the level of forward-looking information disclosure. These results raise questions about the validity of the "active monitoring hypothesis", which states that the presence of institutional investors should increase the level of disclosure, and also about the agency argument which assumes that debt is a good mechanism to discipline management


2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bengt Holmstrom ◽  
Steven N Kaplan

This paper describes and considers explanations for changes in corporate governance and merger activity in the United States since 1980. Corporate governance in the 1980s was dominated by intense merger activity distinguished by the prevalence of leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and hostility. After a brief decline in the early 1990s, substantial merger activity resumed in the second half of the decade, while LBOs and hostility did not. Instead, internal corporate governance mechanisms appear to have played a larger role in the 1990s. We conclude by considering whether these changes and the movement toward shareholder value are likely to be permanent.


Author(s):  
Vladimiro Marini ◽  
Massimo Caratelli ◽  
Gian Paolo Stella ◽  
Ilaria Barbaraci

AbstractPrivate equity is a source of finance and a governance device characterised by active monitoring through sponsors that intervene in targets’ corporate governance. As sponsors are skilled and motivated acquirors, we investigated whether corporate governance mechanisms mitigate leveraged targets’ risk of financial distress differently compared to non-acquired companies through the lenses of agency theory and resource-based theories. We found that targets and non-acquired companies are not significantly different in terms of corporate governance features, but sponsors are skilled enough to choose corporate governance members to mitigate risk more, especially when boards are smaller, have busier industry expert directors, and mandate execution to more managers. These results can be useful to targets, targets’ investors and lenders, and policymakers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 58-62
Author(s):  
Kamila Zagidullina ◽  

The relevance is increasing due to the need for a theoretical substantiation of the directions and mechanism of further market transformation of the fuel and energy complex, taking into account the dependence of the processes and results of its economic development on the effectiveness of corporate governance mechanisms. Key words:economics, fuel and energy complex, corporate governance, functional approach, process approach, virtual-network paradigm, mechanism


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1578-1596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thi Xuan Trang Nguyen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of internal corporate governance mechanisms, including interest alignment and control devices, on the unrelated diversification level in Vietnam. Additionally, the moderation of free cash flow (FCF) on these relationships is also tested. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a balanced panel data set of 70 listed companies in both stock markets, Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and Hanoi Stock Exchange, in Vietnam for the years 2007–2014, which gives 560 observations in total. Findings The results show that if executive ownership for CEOs is increased, then the extent of diversification is likely to be reduced. However, the link between unrelated diversification level and executive stock option, another interest alignment device, cannot be confirmed. Among three control devices (level of blockholder ownership, board composition and separation of CEO and chairman positions), the study finds a positive connection between diversification and blockholder ownership, and statistically insignificant relations between the conglomerate diversification level and board composition, or CEO duality. Additionally, this study discovers a negative link between diversification and state ownership, although there is no evidence to support the change to the effect of each internal corporate governance mechanism on the diversification level of a firm between high and low FCF. Practical implications The research can be a useful reference not only for investors and managers but also for policy makers in Vietnam. This study explores the relationship among corporate governance, diversification and firm value in Vietnam, where the topics related to effectiveness of corporate governance mechanisms to public companies has been increasingly attractive to researchers since the default of Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) happened in 2010 and the Circular No. 121/2012/TT-BTC on 26 July 2012 of the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance was issued with regulations on corporate governance applicable to listed firms in this country. Originality/value This research, first, enriches current literature on the relationship between corporate governance and firm diversification. It can be considered as a contribution to the related topic with an example of Vietnam, a developing country in Asia. Second, the research continues to prove non-unification in results showing the relationship between corporate governance and conglomerate diversification among different nations. Third, it provides a potential input for future research works on the moderation of FCF to the effects of corporate governance on diversification.


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