Foreign investors? The effects of the property structure and legal system as mechanisms of corporate governance in Brazilian regulated companies

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1082-1116
Author(s):  
Ruan Carlos dos Santos ◽  
Lidinei Éder Orso ◽  
Mônica Cristina Rovaris Machado ◽  
Antonia Márcia Rodrigues Sousa

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to research on corporate governance in regulated sectors, with emphasis in the field of activity of foreign investors through the ownership structure and legal system that regulates companies in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach In the first moment, the investigation had a quantitative approach of relational nature. Based on the data about the valuation of actions, statistical methods were applied to a secondary database containing measurable information provided by the organizations that operate the Brazilian stock-market and documentary evidence provided by the companies. In the second moment, a qualitative approach was adopted, resorting on the use of semi-structured interviews with investors and agents of the sector. Findings The results lead to two paths: presenting the perspective that foreign investors play a key role in improving governance practices because foreign ownership mitigates agency problems, provides adequate follow-up and optimizes the use of corporate resources; and evidencing the existence of a mitigation of operational risks in the face of the various obligations imposed by the concession contract with the regulatory agency, without direct interference under the ownership structure of regulated companies. Research limitations/implications The literature portrays a distinct economic scenario in Brazil, where stock control is pulverized and mechanisms of corporate governance and scope of action of investors and regulated sectors are well-defined and implemented. Practical implications A great part of the studies from this field discusses the same object: the impact of the adoption of corporate governance mechanisms on selected efficiency indicators or on the value of the companies' actions. This investigation, on the other hand, targeted a differentiated approach so that its contribution would lie in the investigation under the influence of the regulation on the legal attributions and the performance of the investors how many conflicts between the other shareholder/regulatory body, as the control measures import by the regulatory agent the concessionaires of the Brazilian highways and transportation sector. Social implications The identification of the presence of foreign investors as a determinant for: better performance of companies in Brazilian regulated sector in terms of market valuation; better mitigation of requirements with the regulatory framework for the agencies that regulate the concession sector, targeting a reduction in the asymmetry of information and transparency among all stakeholders. Originality/value The fact that Brazil is an emerging country that lacks a rigid legal system and corruption-control measures in corporate environments and public sectors, stresses the importance of the application of the “Best Codes of Corporate Governance Practices” in the main developed countries. This also stresses the need for effective supervisory bodies that contribute to a better financial performance of companies, guaranteeing investors the legal system.

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Acero ◽  
Raúl Serrano ◽  
Panagiotis Dimitropoulos

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the relationship between ownership structure and financial performance in the five major European football leagues from 2007-2008 to 2012-2013 and examine the impact of the financial fair play (FFP) regulation. Design/methodology/approach The sample used comprises 94 teams that participated in the major European competitions: German Bundesliga, Ligue 1 of France, Spanish Liga, English Premier League and the Italian Serie A. The estimation technique used is panel-corrected standard errors. Findings The results confirm an inverted U-shaped curve relationship between ownership structure and financial performance as a consequence of both monitoring and expropriation effects. Moreover, the results show that after FFP regulation, the monitoring effect disappears and only the expropriation effect remains. Research limitations/implications The lack of transparency of the information provided by some teams has limited the sample size. Practical implications One of the main issues that the various regulating bodies of the industry should address is the introduction of a code of good practice, not only for aspects related to the transparency of financial information but also to require greater transparency in the information concerning corporate governance. Social implications Regulating bodies could also consider other additional control instruments based on corporate governance, such as for example, corporate governance practices, corporate governance codes, greater transparency, control of the boards of directors, etc. Originality/value This study tries to provide direct evidence of the impact of large majority investors in the clubs and FFP regulation on the financial performance of football clubs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Bajaher ◽  
Murya Habbash ◽  
Adel Alborr

Purpose This paper aims to examine whether board governance mechanisms and ownership structure play a role in foreign investors’ decisions when buying shares in Saudi listed companies Design/methodology/approach Foreign investment in the Saudi capital market started in 2015 and reached a peak in 2019, with corporate governance regulations having been updated in 2017. The authors tested the proposed relationships using hand collected data for all Saudi non-financial firms in 2019. Findings This study found that it does not play a role in attracting foreign investment in the Saudi capital market. Foreign investors also seem to avoid firms with concentrated ownership that either have high government or director ownership; however, accounting and market variables show significant impact on foreign investors' decisions. The outcomes of this study provide empirical evidence that current foreign investors in the Saudi stock market do not place enough merit on board governance and their investment decisions tend to depend on share performance. Thus, the results show that the current governance changes and capital market regulations in Saudi Arabia may not have been sufficient to stimulate the inflow of institutional foreign investment to the country to date, but rather they have attracted individual retail foreign investors. Originality/value This empirical study is one of only a small number of studies to investigate the impact of internal corporate governance on foreign ownership in developing countries and the first in the Saudi context. In fact, most previous governance research in Saudi Arabia focused on how board governance and ownership structure influences firm performance. A review of the prior studies found that only Badawi et al. (2019) examined the determinants of foreign ownership among Saudi listed firms. Thus, the present investigation extends that study by examining the role of board governance in attracting foreign investors.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amel Kouaib ◽  
Asma Bouzouitina ◽  
Anis Jarboui

PurposeThis paper explores how the tension between a firm's CEO overconfidence feature and externally observable hubris attribute may determine the level of corporate sustainability performance. This work also contemplates the impact of the moderator “corporate governance practices.”Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a sample of 658 firm-year-observations using a sample of European real estate firms indexed on Stoxx Europe 600 Index from 2006 to 2019. To test the developed hypotheses, feasible generalized least square (FGLS) regression is applied.FindingsFindings suggest that a good corporate governance score strengthens the positive effect of the psychological bias (CEO overconfidence) on corporate sustainability performance while it fails to attenuate the negative effect of the cognitive bias (CEO hubris).Research limitations/implicationsThe research provides an overview of the impact of CEO personality traits on the corporate sustainability performance level in the European real estate sup-sector. As corporate governance can have a major impact to control these traits, the authors recommend European real estate companies to improve their corporate governance practices.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existent literature this gap with two empirical novelties: (1) providing a novel insight into sustainability involvement using a sample of European real estate sup-sector and (2) investigating the moderating effect on the link between CEO psychological and cognitive biases and sustainability performance. This study provides empirical evidence that entrenchment problems arising from CEO hubris would not be mitigated by a good corporate governance practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmi A. Boshnak

Purpose This paper aims to examine firm characteristics and ownership structure determinants of corporate social and environmental voluntary disclosure (CSEVD) practices in Saudi Arabia to address the paucity of research in this field for Saudi listed firms. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses manual content and regression analyses for online annual report data for Saudi non-financial listed firms over the period 2016–2018 using CSEVD items drawing on global reporting initiative-G4 guidelines. Findings Models show that Saudi firm CSEVD has increased over time compared to previous studies to an average of 68% disclosure due to new corporate governance regulations and IFRS implementation. The models show that firm size, leverage, manufacturing industry type and government ownership are positive determinants of CSEVD, while family ownership is the negative driver of CSEVD. However, firm profitability, audit firm size, firm age and institutional ownership have no impact on the level of CSEVD. Originality/value Using legitimacy and stakeholder theories, the paper determines the influence of firm characteristics and ownership structure on CSEVD, identifying implications for firm stakeholders and providing some evidence on the impact of corporate governance regulation and IFRS implementation on such disclosure. The paper provides additional evidence on progress towards Saudi’s Vision 2030.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Coleman ◽  
Mengyun Wu

PurposeThis study investigates the impact of corporate governance (CG) mechanisms with inclusion of compliance and diligence index on corporate performance (CP) of firms in Nigeria and Ghana. It further examines the moderating effect of financial distress on the relationship between CG and CP.Design/methodology/approachThe study used panel data of 102 nonfinancial listed firms of Nigeria and Ghana stock exchange for the period 2012–2016 with total observation of 510. The study first used OLS in estimating the influence of CG mechanisms on CP. Due to multicollinearity in the independent variables, ridge regression was employed.FindingsIt was revealed that ownership structure index and board compliance and diligence index, board size, board disclosure, ownership structure, shareholders' right and board compliance and diligence index had positive influence on ROA and ROE. Growth of Tobin's Q depends on board procedure and board compliance and diligence index. Also, financial distress (ZFS) negatively moderates the relationship between board structure index, board disclosure index, board procedure index, shareholders' right and performance (ROA and ROE) but negatively moderates between ownership structure index and Tobin's Q.Practical implicationsThis study provides interesting findings to policymakers in full implementation of CG codes as stated by OCED (2015) by West African firms with greater emphasis on compliance and diligence index since it positively influences all CP measures.Originality/valueThe study provides evidence of the importance of the introduction of the new index: compliance and diligence, which looks at disclosure of CSR activities. This has been overlooked by most researchers especially in Africa in assessing quality CG mechanisms.


Author(s):  
Xu_Dong Ji ◽  
Kamran Ahmed ◽  
Wei Lu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of corporate governance and ownership structures on earnings quality in China both prior and subsequent to two important corporate reforms: the code of corporate governance (CCG) in 2002 and the split share structure reform (SSR) in 2005. Design/methodology/approach – This study utilises informativeness of earnings (earnings response coefficient), conditional accounting conservatism and managerial discretionary accruals to assess earnings quality using 12,267 firm-year observations over 11 years from 2000 to 2010. Further, two dummy variables for measuring the changes of CCG and SSR are employed to estimate the effects of CCG and SSR reforms on earnings quality via OLS regression. Findings – This study finds that the promulgation of the CCG in 2002 has had a positive impact, but the SSR reform in 2005 has had little effect on listed firms’ earnings quality in China. These results hold good after controlling for a number of ownership, governance and other variables and estimating models with multiple measures of earnings’ quality. Research limitations/implications – Future research could focus on how western style corporate governance mechanisms have been constrained by the old management systems and governmental dominated ownership structures in Chinese listed firms. The conclusion is that simply coping Western corporate governance model is not suitable for every country. Practical implications – The results will assist Chinese regulators in improving reporting quality, ownership structure and governance mechanisms in China. The results will help international investors better understand quality of financial information in China. Originality/value – This is the first to our knowledge that addresses the effects of major governance and ownership reforms together on accounting earnings quality and, thus, makes a significant contribution on understanding the effect of regulatory reforms on improving earnings quality. In doing so, it also indirectly assesses the effectiveness of western-style corporate governance mechanisms introduced in China.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew Tsamenyi ◽  
Elsie Enninful‐Adu ◽  
Joseph Onumah

PurposeFollowing previous studies the paper seeks to use disclosure scores to examine corporate governance practices of Ghanaian listed firms. The study is motivated by the dearth of literature on corporate governance practices in the developing world despite the increasing interests in the topic in both the developed and the developing world.Design/methodology/approachThe data for the analysis are gathered from 22 listed companies on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE representing 95 percent of the Ghanaian market capitalization). The paper also examines the extent to which factors such as ownership structure, dispersion of shareholding, firm size, and leverage influence disclosure practices.FindingsConsistent with findings reported in studies from other developing countries the study finds that the level of disclosure in Ghana is low. Furthermore, ownership structure, dispersion of shareholding, and firm size (measured as total assets and market capitalization) all have significant effect on disclosure. However, the correlation between disclosure and leverage is insignificant.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of the research will help policy makers and practitioners in formulating corporate governance policies. However, this research is limited because it focuses on only companies listed on the GSE. The results may therefore not be representative of all companies operating in Ghana.Originality/valueThe study is important because of the recent surge in international capital into the developing world (including Ghana) as a result of the ongoing World Bank and IMF led economic reforms. These reforms have emphasized transparency and accountability. There is therefore the need to understand corporate governance practices in these environments.


Author(s):  
Sarra Ben Slama Zouari ◽  
Neila Boulila Taktak

Purpose – This study aims to investigate empirically the relationship between ownership structure (concentration and mix) and Islamic bank performance, with a special attention to the identity of the block investor (foreign, family, institutional and state). Design/methodology/approach – Regression analyses are conducted to test the impact of the identity of the first shareholders and the degree of concentration on Islamic bank performance, using a panel data sample of 53 Islamic banks scattered over > 15 countries from 2005 to 2009. Findings – Results suggest that ownership is concentrated at 49 per cent, and for 41 banks from the full sample, the ultimate owner is institutional. State investors come in second place, followed by family ultimate shareholders. Using return on assets and return on equity as performance measures, empirical evidence highlights the absence of correlation between ownership concentration and Islamic bank performance. It also reveals that the combined effort of family and state investors is beneficial to bank performance. Results also indicate that banks with institutional and foreign shareholders do not perform better. Empirical findings suggest that the financial crisis impacts negatively Islamic bank performance. Research limitations/implications – The use of dummy variables to measure the nature of the largest owner represents the main limitation of this study. This is due to the lack of information, as the percentage of the largest capital held referring to owner category was available only for some banks. Practical implications – This research has given a brighter insight into corporate governance and bank performance in selected Islamic banking institutions. Findings provided useful information to bank managers, investors and policy makers. Financial performance can be improved by identifying practices associated with ownership structure. So, it will have policy implications for Islamic banks as to how to improve their performance. Finally, different types of bank ownership have had different concerns about implementing corporate governance practices among Islamic banks. Originality/value – This work is the first of its kind for Islamic banks. It extends previous research by examining whether ownership structure (concentration and mix) affects performance. It also fills the gap in the literature by providing empirical evidence on a large sample involving data from 15 countries. Finally, manual data collection on ownership structure constitutes a large part of the research for this paper.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irfan Saleem ◽  
Mujtaba Nasir Ali Khan ◽  
Rashedul Hasan ◽  
Muhammad Ashfaq

Purpose Drawing from the firm’s entrepreneurial identity and ecology perspectives, this study aims to explain why the firms deviate from standard corporate governance practices and apply innovative management control. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a panel of 2,538 public companies listed with the New York Stock Exchange to explain the impact of corporate governance deviance on firm’s performance. The authors relied on unique governance variables extracted from the Bloomberg database to develop the governance deviance index. Findings Study unveils that deviance from governance practices influences firm’s performance. Consequently, it can be said that the firms which use innovative governance mechanisms, usually stay ahead of the market by leading the governance trends. The findings also generalise the firm’s entrepreneurial identity and organisational ecology perspectives. Research limitations/implications Research implies that the firm’s entrepreneurial identity demands innovative managerial control. This study is focused on the US financial market, but in future, researchers could revalidate the deviance index. Scholars can also use mixed methods to test the need for innovative governance mechanisms in emerging markets. Practical implications The firms should focus on innovative governance practices not only to safeguard the firm’s entrepreneurial identity but also to pursue the growth objectives. Such innovative mechanisms and managerial controls are helpful to deal with industrial transformations to satisfy key stakeholders. Originality/value The study contributed to governance and management control research by sharing insights and catering the potential endogeneity problem faced to measure corporate governance measures. The study also proposes an alternative testing tool to measure governance deviance to add methodological uniqueness and reduce knowledge gap.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tariq Tawfeeq Yousif Alabdullah

Purpose Previous studies that dealt with corporate governance have witnessed gradually significant growth that created some new trends. The purpose of this paper is to be involved in such trends through examining the link between ownership structure as one of the important corporate governance mechanisms and firm performance in Jordan as one of emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach The current study used the multiple regression method to analyze available data for non-financial firms listed in the Amman Stock Exchange for the fiscal year 2012. Findings The findings revealed that managerial ownership has a positive impact on performance. On the other hand, the findings surprisingly showed no evidence to support the impact of foreign ownership on performance. Moreover, there is a significant evidence to support the fact that company size has no impact on firm performance. The findings also revealed that industry type has no impact on firm performance. Practical implications The practical implications of the current study demonstrated that good corporate governance is imperative to all organizations and must be encouraged for the interest of all stakeholders. Unlike the majority of the previous studies, the current study unexpectedly found that foreign ownership is not significantly contributing to the firm performance. Thus, Jordanian Government and other related/responsible parties should formulate policies for the foreign investors. Originality/value Interestingly, from developed and developing countries perspective, the study is the first of its kind that exclusively chose the mechanisms of ownership structure in its relationship with firm performance represented by market share, where no previous study has tested foreign ownership in such relationship. In that, this study is the first study in emerging economies to investigate such a link. Such new insights on this relationship by current study provide helpful information that is of great value to the government, academics, policy makers, and other stakeholders.


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