scholarly journals Measuring the efficacy of board governance: Empirical evidence from Italian publicly listed companies

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Napoli

Recent progress in the literature shows that board efficacy might be signaled by lower firm performance variability in a firm’s income, since the board has a fiduciary duty to protect shareholder investments that may be affected when performance is variable. Our analysis is an attempt to contribute to this debate by extending it to include family firms. In particular, we detect appointments of directors to family firm boards within a sample of 483 observations (year/firm) regarding Italian publicly listed companies. Sampled family firms have one of the family members as CEO and/or chairman (in cases of non-CEO duality) of the firm’s board. The aim is to test predictions which suggest that the presence of independent (Agency Theory), on the one hand, and interlocking directors (Resource Dependence theory), on the other, have a significant impact on performance stability. Unlike agency theory, which affirms that independents are efficient, our findings suggest that the number of independents on the board of a family firm has no impact on performance stability. Instead, we find that interlocking directors can provide a significant contribution to the achieving of lower performance variability.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franco Rubino ◽  
Francesco Napoli

In this paper, we first build a multi-theoretical framework through which we hypothesise that the governance mechanisms of a board of directors, on the one hand, and the ownership structures of family and nonfamily firms, on the other, can have an impact on corporate environmental performances. We then test this hypothesis against a sample of 83 Italian listed firms, noting the characteristics of their governance and ownership structures over the five years from 2013 to 2017. We also take note of data from the firms’ Sustainability Reports on emissions of greenhouse gases over the 2014–2018 five-year period. The results we obtain support the prediction, made in line with the Agency-Theory perspective, that there is a positive relationship between board independence and the adoption of environmentally responsible practices. Only partial support emerges for the hypotheses, made in line with the Resource Dependence Theory, according to which better corporate environmental performances can be obtained by increasing the resource provision of board members. In particular, we discover a positive effect of a large-size board on corporate environmental performances, but no significant effect arising from the presence of interlocked board members. Finally, our study provides support for the theoretically-based hypothesis according to which the non-economic utility (socioemotional wealth) of family ownership makes family firms likely to have better environmental performances than non-family firms.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zulfiqar ◽  
Shihua Chen ◽  
Muhammad Usman Yousaf

PurposeOn the basis of behavioural agency theory and resource-based view, this study investigates the influence of family firm birth mode (i.e. indirect-established or direct-established), family entering time on R&D investment and the moderating role of the family entering time on the relationship between birth mode and R&D investment.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected 2,990 firm-year observations from family firms listed on A-share in China from 2008 to 2016 in the China Stock Market and Accounting Research database. They used pooled regression for data analysis and Tobit regression for robustness checks.FindingsIndirect-established family firms show more inclined behaviour towards R&D investment than direct-established counterparts. Family entering time positively affects the R&D investment of family firms. Moreover, family entering time plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between family firm birth mode (i.e. indirect-established or direct-established) and R&D investment.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is a pioneering study that introduced the concept of family firm birth mode (i.e. indirect-established or direct-established) and family entering time. This work is novel because it differentiated family firms according to their birth modes, an approach which is a contribution to the existing literature of family firms. Moreover, the investigation of the moderating role of family entering time has also produced notable results that help understand the impact of family entering time on different types of family firms. The interpretation of outcomes according to behavioural agency theory also produced useful insights for future researchers as well as for policymakers.


Author(s):  
Reem Khamis ◽  
Elisabetta Barone ◽  
Adel Sarea ◽  
Allam Mohammed Hamdan

This chapter aims at investigating board gender diversity and firm performance by integrating two theoretical backgrounds (agency theory and institutional theory). Board gender diversity has been investigated by using firm level theories such as agency theory and stewardship theory. Resource dependence theory, which links the board to the external environment of the firm, was also implemented in order to better understand how board gender diversity would affect firm performance. However, results were inconsistent. This study tries to integrate agency theory with institutional theory under the assumption that firms are affected by endogenous and exogenous factors that would eventually affect its outcomes such as performance.


Author(s):  
Zehra Topal ◽  
Yasemin Torun

In this study, it's examined reasons for executive selection based on data is obtain in Turkish Financial Sector context. Executive selection as an organizational behavior is extensively studied from perspective of contingency theory, resource dependency theory, institutional theory and agency theory. According to the theory of contingency, executive selection decisions depends on the characteristics of executives or performance of executives. On the other hand agency theory perspective sees executives aspects of agency cost. in terms of resource dependency theory, those organizational behaviors are explained by organizations need to manage dependencies. According to resource dependence theory, organizations that are dependent on environmental actors in order to gain power and control provide executive selection. As an intangable asset and strategic tool Corporate Reputation is defined by Fombrun (1996: 70) as " a perceptual representation of a company's past actions and future reprospects that describes the firm's overall appeal to all of its key constituents when compared with other leading rivals". So Corporate Reputation effects its relationship with all stakeholders and it is essential for its survival (Rose, 2004). Leadership and vision is one of the compotent of Corporate Reputation and an important dimension of Reputation measurement. in the Fortune, Management Today, Financial Times, Rayner (2001), Reputation Quotient and Reputex Social Responsibility Ratings (Bebbington, Larrinaga- Moneva 2008), Management quality and leadership is one of the elements that is focused on evaluation and measurement of the construct. Similarly, in different reputation raking surveys such as Reputation Quotient, Fortune, Capital and Good reputatin index, quality of management is a basic criteria for Corporate Reputation. As leadership and vision can make the organization gain more reputation in the eyes of the stakeholders, a crisis created by the leader can also yield to the loss of the Reputation (Okur ve Akpınar, 2012). Leaders and top management are the most visible people and they represent their companies in all areas. Therefore for the companies want to build a good reputation, protect and development it successfully, leaders and top management is essential. They are expected to hire managers and leaders who contrubute company's Corporate Reputation. Moreover, they are expected to establish selecting criterias that approprate to this aims for management or leader positions. The paper draws on both quantitative and qualititative analyses. Firstly it reveals the demographic profile of executives. Secondly, it applies a discourses analysis of interviews of 82 managers gathered from company magazines or other published materials. According to the results of the study, it is observed that selecting process of candidates for executives of firms heavily takes into account the prestige of the school they graduated and worked in the past. Further, gender is also considered as a matter corporate reputation in this selection process; %92 of executive positions are occupied by men.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Yazan Oroud

This study attempts to investigat the relationship between audit committee characteristics (size, independence, meeting and financial expertise) and the profitability of industrial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) for the years 2013 to 2017. The model of this study is theoretically founded on both the agency theory and the resource dependence theory. To examine the developed model, the data were gathered from the annual reports of 51 listed industrial firms. To analyse the data, this study utilized the panel data methodology on 51companies with 255 observations. Moreover, this study used company size and leverage as control variables. Based on the panel data results, the fixed-effect model was used to examine the effect of the experimental variables on profitability, measured by return on investment (ROI) and return on equity (ROE). The results show that the audit committee characteristics have a significant effect on profitability of the industrial companies listed on the ASE. This study evinces that the RD theory is more significant compared to the agency theory when describing CG practices in Jordan.


2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Wang ◽  
Ming-Hsiang Chen ◽  
Chin-Yi Fang ◽  
Li Tian

Due to the fast growing hotel industry in Taiwan, recent hospitality studies has paid attention to how various factors affect the Taiwanese hotel performance and offered interesting and valuable findings. To expand the financial literature of the Taiwanese hotel industry and the hospitality literature as a whole, this article is the first hospitality study to investigate how board size affects firm performance of publicly traded hotels in Taiwan. Panel regression test results reveal an interesting finding. Specifically, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between board size and hotel performance in terms of return on assets, return on equity, and Tobin’s Q with an optimal value of board size equal to 10. This indicates that while board size up to 10 has a positive impact on hotel performance (supporting the resource dependence theory), board size can deteriorate hotel performance when it is larger than 10 (supporting the agency theory).


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Cuervo‐Cazurra ◽  
Ram Mudambi ◽  
Torben Pedersen

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Hsien Tsai ◽  
Jung-Hua Hung ◽  
Yi-Chen Kuo ◽  
Lopin Kuo

This study investigated the tenure of CEOs in a sample of 304 listed companies in Taiwan; 63 firms were family controlled, 241 were not. The results show that CEO turnover is significantly lower in family firms and its relationship to corporate performance is negative. CEO ownership and board ownership are not significant in explaining the length of family CEO tenure. These findings imply that family boards can still effectively replace the CEO despite relatively low ownership. From the ownership structure perspective, this study suggested that the agency theory is applicable for nonfamily firms in Taiwan, but unsuitable for family firms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3742
Author(s):  
Luis Araya-Castillo ◽  
Felipe Hernández-Perlines ◽  
Hugo Moraga ◽  
Antonio Ariza-Montes

Scientometric studies have become very important within the scientific environment in general, and in the family firm area in particular. This study aims at conducting a bibliometric analysis of socioemotional wealth within family firms. To this end, a background search of the terms family firm and socioemotional wealth has been carried out in the Web of Science, specifically in specialized journals published between 1975 and 2019 in the Science Citation Index. The resulting scientometric analyses are of the number of papers and citations, the main authors and journals, the WoS categories, the institutions, the countries and the word co-occurrence. One of the main conclusions of this paper is the abundance of studies that have been conducted on socioemotional wealth in family firms, which is reflected in the number of publications (501) and of citations of these studies (12,090). Another significant revelation is the copious number of authors, with Gómez-Mejía being the most relevant one and De Massis the one with the highest number of publications. Also noteworthy are the many USA-based institutions, with the Mississippi State University and the University of North Carolina being the two most prominent. In addition, studies have been carried out about family firms’ focus, mainly, on performance and ownership.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Thu Thuy Tien

Recent reviews of research on company boards and firm performance relationship tend to criticise three of the main traditional theories on boards, namely Agency Theory (AT), Resource Dependence Theory (RDT), and Managerial Power Theory (MPT) for their narrow assumptions and focuses on a limited range of board tasks. This study provides a critical review on these above theories and promotes a direction towards an integrated approach with three important governance factors, namely board capability, board incentives, and CEO power for a better understanding of board-firm performance relationship.


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