scholarly journals Evaluation of Corporate Governance Measures: An Application to the Australian Higher Education Sector

Author(s):  
Chitra De Silva ◽  
Anona Armstrong

Governance has emerged as a major concern in the higher education sector. Although evaluation of performance of governance is widely used in the private and public sectors, little attention has been given to the assessment of good governance practices in university contexts. The purpose of this paper was to describe the changes in government policy associated with the introduction of Governance Protocols that have impacted on the higher education sector and to answer the research question: do Australian Universities apply the best practice corporate governance measures?. Data for the study were compiled from annual reports and the Web pages of 37 publically funded universities in Australia and Selected Higher Education Statistics Collection. The assessment criteria were derived from the National Governance Protocols. Findings revealed that Australian universities as independent corporations apply the universal best practice corporate governance indicators as governance measures.

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tebogo Israel Magang ◽  
Koketso Bafana Kube

This paper investigates the extent of compliance by 16 state owned enterprises (SOE)/parastatal corporations in Botswana with international best practice corporate governance principles. In particular the study examines the extent of compliance by SOEs with best practice corporate governance principles as recommended under the King Code of South Africa. The King Code (2002) of Corporate Governance is generally considered as a benchmark for best practice corporate governance not only in the Southern African region but also across the African continent.Using a compliance checklist of 53 provisions from the Code, the study finds that 68.7% of Botswana SOEs have a compliance score of 51% and above while the remaining 31.3% applied less than 50% of the provisions in the King Code checklist. The study also finds that compliance with the Code increased from an average of 57% in 2009 to 60% in 2012. Further the study finds that SOEs tended to comply more with provisions on risk management and less on provisions on integrated sustainability reporting.The results of this study have implications on governance practices of SOEs in Botswana in general. For instance, the results may possibly indicate that, even though governance structures of SOEs in Botswana are crafted through Acts of parliament, on the whole they adhere to international best practice corporate governance principles. The results could also be a signal to local and international investors that Botswana SOEs are not lagging behind in terms of compliance with good governance practices.


2018 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 05010
Author(s):  
Shabana Talpur ◽  
Mohd Lizam ◽  
Nazia Keerio

This study examined the level of voluntary corporate governance disclosures and the influence of firm characteristics (i.e., firm size, firm age, and firm market listing) on the level of these disclosures among Malaysian property listed companies. The check-list to measure the voluntary corporate governance disclosures was adopted from Malaysian corporate governance index 2011 by Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG). The voluntary corporate governance disclosure practices and firm specific characteristics were obtained from annual reports of property listed companies on Bursa Malaysia for the period of 2012 to 2015. The findings suggested an improving voluntary corporate governance reforms in Malaysia. However, the firm size was found as an inflicting factor in determining the level and quality of voluntary corporate governance disclosure practices. On the contrary, the results found were contradicting the hypothesis related to firm age and firm market listing, as no relation of voluntary corporate governance disclosures and firm age and firm market listing. The study has made an interesting contribution toward the disclosure and corporate governance by contributing in understanding the importance of quality disclosure and good governance practices.


2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-122
Author(s):  
Ben Marx

South Africa boasts a vibrant higher education sector, with more than a million students enrolled in its higher education institutions. These institutions constitute highly complex organisations, with many and varied stakeholders and with budgets running into hundreds of millions of rands. Sound management and strict adherence to corporate governance principles and practices are essential to the success of these institutions. This will include the establishment of a well-balanced, independent and diligent council, as well as properly constituted and effective sub-committees of council. Of these sub-committees, the audit and finance committees are sure to play a pivotal part in ensuring financial discipline and adherence to sound corporate governance principles and practices. The principal aim of this paper will be to focus on the basic governance-regulatory requirements of higher education institutions in South Africa, and to benchmark these requirements against the corporate governance principles and practices required by King II.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Barac ◽  
Ben Marx ◽  
Tankiso Moloi

Higher education institutions are presently facing many challenges, ranging from economic and financial constraints to social and educational issues. Accordingly, sound management and governance are essential, and this brings the governance model of HEIs more in line with business corporations. This article provides an overview of the state of governance practices at higher education institutions in South Africa, and an assessment of the corporate governance disclosures in their annual reports. This was done through a literature review of higher education developments, including a South African perspective, supported by empirical evidence obtained from assessing the annual reports of these institutions. The study found that, although most of these institutions are providing disclosure on their corporate governance structures and practices in line with the recommendations of the Higher Education Act and King II, such disclosure is often lacking in detail and could be improved.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 439-446
Author(s):  
Hamid Ait lemqeddem ◽  
◽  
Mounya Tomas ◽  

There is renewed interest in the need to focus on corporate governance in an environment where it is a performance imperative for all small and large organizations, private and public, beginner or established.The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the place of corporate governance practices in organizations to ensure that the board, officers, and directors take action to protect shareholder interests and all stakeholders. It is important to focus on the effect of these practices on improving performance and competitiveness. To do so, we opted for the hypothetico-deductive method with a quantitative approach. Our theoretical foundation is theory is agency theory.


2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos P. Barros ◽  
Sabri Boubaker ◽  
Amal Hamrouni

This paper investigates the effect of corporate governance practices on the extent of voluntary disclosure in France. Using a panel of 206 non-financial French listed firms during the period 20062009, we find evidence that voluntary disclosure in annual reports increases with managerial ownership, board and audit committee independence, board meeting frequency, and external audit quality. We also find that frequency of audit committee meetings and diligence of board and auditing are associated with decreased disclosure. Additional findings show that larger, more profitable, and less indebted firms have greater voluntary disclosure.


2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (8) ◽  
pp. 1310-1333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neha Saini ◽  
Monica Singhania

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine relationship between corporate governance (CG) and firm performance for a set of 255 foreign-funded firms in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) and private equity (PE). The authors employ a wide range of CG measures including board size, meetings, board gender and foreign ownership which are used as the proxy of globalisation and control variables like firm age, leverage, firm size and capital expenditure to arrive at a conclusion.Design/methodology/approachPanel data set of 255 (187 companies funded by foreign capital in the form of FDI, and 68 companies having foreign capital in the form PE) companies listed on Bombay Stock Exchange, for the period of eight years (2008–2015) are analysed by using static (fixed and random effects) and dynamic (generalised method of moments (GMM)) panel data specifications to examine the relationship among CG, globalisation and firm performance.FindingsThe empirical results of static model indicate the relationship between CG and performance of foreign firms, which are not very strong in India. This is due to the fact that most of the firms are not following the guidelines and regulations strictly in the initial period of sample years. Diversity in board is found as an important variable in accessing firm performance. And the authors also found that foreign firms are very particular about the implementation of CG norms. The results of GMM model highlight the interaction term of foreign ownership with governance indicators. CG is having a positive and significant impact over performance, inferring that higher foreign ownership (in the form of FDI and PE) in firm leading to positive effect on profitability.Practical implicationsThe investor’s preference of financing a unit is guided by the performance of a firm. Investors are more inclined towards high-performing firms, and hence higher profitability leads to higher inflow of capital. The result indicates that higher accounting and market performance may be achieved by good governance practices, in turn, leading to reduced agency costs. Countries with high governance scores attract more of foreign capital. Similar to the best governed countries, the companies having good governance practices attract more foreign inflows in the form of capital.Originality/valueWhile previous literature considered a single measurement framework in the form of a CG index, the authors tried to incorporate a range of CG indicators to study the effect of globalisation and CG on firm performance. The authors segregated foreign-owned funds into two parts, especially FDI and PE. This paper examined heterogeneity in the form of FDI-funded and PE-funded firms, as no prior literature is available which has evaluated different sets of foreign funds simultaneously on CG.


Author(s):  
Paola Ferretti ◽  
Cristina Gonnella

This chapter analyzes the connection between CEO hubris and corporate governance contingencies, including a case study of an Italian bank for which the state of financial distress shall be linkable also to bad governance. The main objective is to verify whether, in presence of hubristic CEO, the internal control mechanisms, set to ensure the board vigilance and limit the overconfidence of the leader, are implemented, and if so, whether such mechanisms, even when formally respected, may be not so appropriate to guarantee a good governance. Particularly, the existence of a CEO hubris could neutralize their positive expected balancing effects on the power dynamics between CEO and board, such as to give prevalence to substance over form. Therefore, it may occur that some governance mechanisms (e.g., independence, non-duality), even if formally implemented, are unable to stem the managerial entrenchment of the CEO, who succeeds in enhancing immoderately his substantial power in the decision-making process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1236-1252
Author(s):  
Guilherme Cardoso ◽  
Dannie Delanoy Carr ◽  
Pablo Rogers

Purpose This paper aims to examine the Brazilian stock market behavior and volatility term structure of two portfolios that, theoretically, the companies that comprise them have different degrees of idiosyncratic risk: one portfolio consists of firms with good corporate governance and the other comprises firms with poor corporate governance. Design/methodology/approach The sample comprises corporate firms listed in the Brazilian stock market during the period from January 2008 to December 2017. Generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity models were applied. Findings The results show that the portfolio of firms with good corporate governance practices presents fluctuations that are more often temporary and reactive, with trends’ persistence of shorter durations, when considering the punctual volatility of the parameters estimated. This opposed expectation that the portfolio comprised of companies with good governance practices are better protected from short-term movements. However, over time and with standard error measures in consideration, both portfolios’ volatilities behave in similar ways. These findings may be related to Brazilian market characteristics, such as ownership concentration, ineffective corporate boards and the ever-developing nature of the stock market in Brazil. Any one of these characteristics present challenges to effective enforcement of the corporate governance practices in the Brazilian context. Originality/value The findings are potentially to the interest of researchers and practitioners for several reasons. First, this paper contributes to the growing literature on the relationship between corporate governance and market volatility. Second, it informs that volatility in the Brazilian context is likely only partially, if at all, influenced by corporate governance practices. Third, longitudinally, both indices follow the same pattern and converge to the same place.


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