Do Female Directors on Corporate Boards Make a Difference in Family Owned Businesses?

This study examines the impact of female directors on the financial performance of family and non-family Jordanian firms. A sample of 103 Jordanian public firms listed on Amman Stock Exchange for the time period 2009-2015 was selected. The study had a quantitative approach and used a panel data methodology. The data analysis was conducted using Ordinary Least Square Regression. ROA and Tobin’s Q were deployed as measurement of financial performance. The appointment of female directors does not have any significant impact on the financial performance of family firms. However, with regard to non-family firms, female directors appeared to have a negative impact on the performance of these firms. The impact of female directors on family firm performance merits further research in the context of different countries and cultures. Appointments based on qualifications and expertise is more likely to have a positive impact. Jordan is an under-researched area where the impact of female directors on the firm performance would merit further research. Differentiating between the impact of female directors on family and non-family firms would also merit further research, especially in the context of the conditions under which they are appointed.

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The effect on the performance of listed family and non-family firms

Managerial Finance ◽

10.1108/mf-06-2013-0134 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 40 (3) ◽

pp. 234-253 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Elisabete F. Simões Vieira

Keyword(s):

Firm Performance ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Family Firms ◽

Market Performance ◽

Performance Measure ◽

Content Type ◽

Public Firms ◽

Listed Firms ◽

Independent Variables ◽

And Performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the ownership of public firms is related to accounting and market performance, comparing family and non-family listed firms. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses regression analysis, considering a sample of Portuguese family and non-family firms (NFF) for the period between 1999 and 2010. Findings – Overall, the results show that family firms (FF) are older, are more indebted and have higher debt costs than NFF. However, they present lower levels of risk. The evidence suggests that FF outperform NFF when the author considers a market performance measure. The market performance of family-controlled firms is more sensitive to the crisis periods and age, compared to their counterparts. The empirical findings suggest that under economic adversity, the performance is especially compromised by the firms' age. Research limitations/implications – A limitation of this study is the small size of the sample, which derives from the small size of the Portuguese stock market, the Euronext Lisbon. Originality/value – This paper offers some insights on the ownership of public firms and firm performance by investigating a small European economy. The study also contributes to the stream of firm performance, considering new independent variables as determinants of firm performance, such as operational risk. Finally, the study examines the interaction between ownership and performance under both steady and adverse economic conditions, giving the opportunity to analyze whether firm performance differs according to market conditions.

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Board Education, Growth and Performance of Family CEO Listed Firms in Malaysia

International Journal of Banking and Finance - Vol. 15, Number 2, 2020 ◽

10.32890/ijbf.15.2.2020.7438 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

pp. 25-46

Author(s):

Haslindar Ibrahim ◽

Abdul Hadi Zulkafli ◽

Gul Jabeen

Keyword(s):

Firm Performance ◽

Family Firms ◽

Family Members ◽

Percent Level ◽

Board Size ◽

Return On Equity ◽

Listed Firms ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Size Growth ◽

And Performance

This paper examines the relationship between board education, board size, growth, ownership and firm performance of family CEO and nonfamily CEO listed firms in Malaysia. A sample of 37 firms and data were collected over a period of five years from 2012 to 2016. The 37 samples of family firms were subdivided into family CEO (21), and non-family CEO (16) firms. The independent variables were board education as measured by the proportion of board degrees (BDEG) and the proportion of board professional qualifications (BPRO), board size (BSIZE), growth, and ownership. Meanwhile, firm performance was measured by using return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA). The findings showed that there was a significant difference between family CEO and non-family CEO firms at a five percent level for board professional qualifications confirming that altruism and nepotism were observed among family members which supported the argument of characteristics of nepotism such as granting jobs to family members regardless of merit. In addition, this study also found board professional qualifications as significant but negatively related to external firm performance in family CEO firms. This showed that board education has not really been emphasized among board members. Besides, growth has significant influence on family firm performance which is evidently reflected in their contribution to the country’s GDP.

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Contextualizing comprehensive board diversity and firm financial performance: Integrating market, management and shareholder’s perspective

Journal of Management & Organization ◽

10.1017/jmo.2018.10 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 24 (5) ◽

pp. 634-678 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rohail Hassan ◽

Maran Marimuthu

Keyword(s):

Firm Performance ◽

Financial Performance ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Panel Data Analysis ◽

Gender Diversity ◽

Muslim Women ◽

Listed Companies ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Board Diversity ◽

Firm Financial Performance

AbstractThe study investigates demographic diversity, cognitive diversity and internal diversity within Islam among top-level management of firms and their impacts on the financial performance of Malaysian-listed companies. In addition, Muslim and non-Muslim women and Islamic religious diversity on corporate boards are investigated. Even though numerous organisations desire to be socially diverse, the significance of diversity for organisational performance remains uncertain. Are profitable companies inclined to improve board diversity or do other characteristics of the company contribute to firm performance? Does the participation of Muslim and non-Muslim women on corporate boards affect firm performance? Does internal diversity within Islam affect firm performance? Data from 330 Malaysian-listed companies in eleven full fledged sectors were used for the period from 2009 to 2013. This study employed econometrics methodology from panel data analysis to fill the research gap in the current management literature. This study used the interaction approach to examine empirically diverse corporate boards and their impacts on firm performance. This discussion included: (1) a combination of gender diversity and ethnic diversity and (2) a combination of gender diversity and foreign participation. The findings suggest that demographic, cognitive and internal diversity within Islam are significant predictors of a firm’s financial performance. Ethnic women on boards have a significant and negative impact on firm performance. Hence, companies having high profits are more accountable for encouraging diversity among top-level management.

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Female board directorship and earnings management

Pacific Accounting Review ◽

10.1108/par-04-2020-0049 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Yosra Mnif ◽

Imen Cherif

Keyword(s):

Earnings Management ◽

Family Firms ◽

Gender Diversity ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Women Directors ◽

Homogeneous Sample ◽

Content Type ◽

Gender Diverse ◽

Gender Quota ◽

The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of female board directorship on the extent of earnings management. Design/methodology/approach The research hypotheses have been tested using both univariate and multivariate analyzes based on a sample of 198 firm-year observations from closely-held family firms listed on the SBF 120 over the period 2010–2018. Findings The empirical results first indicate that female board participation reduces the level of earnings management. When looking at women positions in the companies’ boardrooms, the authors reveal that the negative linkage between female board directorship and earnings management remains constant for independent female directors while the opposite holds for their family-affiliated counterparts. Further, the gender quota reform is shown to mitigate the adverse relationship between gender-diverse corporate boards and the extent of earnings management. These results seem sound, as they hold unchanged for the several measures of, both, boardroom gender diversity and earnings management used in the empirical study. In a supplementary analysis, the authors provide evidence that the association between the presence of women directors on the companies’ boards and earnings management depends, in a different way, on the size of the audit firm in a joint auditing context. Originality/value The country and the period considered in this paper are noteworthy characteristics that enhance the value of this research. The present study is relevant because it examines the relationship between female boardroom participation and earnings management using a homogeneous sample of family-owned and -managed companies within which shareholders and board members share identical motives for manipulating earnings in one of the leading countries in the world with regard to family ownership dominance (i.e. France). Moreover, this paper is considered to be very timely, as it explores, contrarily to previous related studies, the years following the implementation of a mandatory gender quota reform in one of the less available countries, to date, that have amended a gender quota law. To the knowledge, besides France, there are a few markets (Norway, Belgium, Finland and Iceland) that have implemented such legislation.

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Audit Characteristics, Gender Diversity and Firm Performance: Evidence from a Developing Economy

Indian Journal of Corporate Governance ◽

10.1177/09746862211007244 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 48-70

Author(s):

Mohammad Rajon Meah ◽

Kanon Kumar Sen ◽

Md. Hossain Ali

Keyword(s):

Corporate Governance ◽

Firm Performance ◽

Audit Committee ◽

Significant Contribution ◽

Family Firms ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Interaction Analysis ◽

Gender Diversity ◽

Family Firm ◽

The Impact

This study aims to explore the impact of audit characteristics and gender diversity on firm performance across family and non-family firms in Bangladesh. Using data of 61 non-family and 48 family firms from 2013 to 2019, this study applies system generalised method of moments approach to carry out regression analysis. Next, the consistency of results is detected by a full sample interaction analysis. In case of non-family firm, this study documents that Big4 audit firms (Big4) and female directors on board (FDR) have significant positive impact on firm performance. Conversely, audit meeting frequency (AMF) contributes negatively to the firm performance. Unfortunately, audit committee size (ACS) and audit committee independence (ACI) have no significant contribution on firm performance. In case of family firms, this study finds that ACS and ACI have significant negative impact on firm performance. Besides, Big4, AMF and FDR have no significant contribution on firm performance. It reflects that corporate governance mechanisms in family firm are not working well and even to some extent detrimental to the firm performance. It, ultimately, demands for reforms in corporate governance framework and incorporating new dimensions for family firms.

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Board Education, Growth and Performance of Family CEO Listed Firms in Malaysia

International Journal of Banking and Finance - Vol. 15, Number 2, 2020 ◽

10.32890/ijbf2020.15.2.2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Haslindar Ibrahim ◽

Abdul Hadi Zulkafli ◽

Gul Jabeen

Keyword(s):

Firm Performance ◽

Family Firms ◽

Family Members ◽

Percent Level ◽

Board Size ◽

Return On Equity ◽

Listed Firms ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Size Growth ◽

And Performance

This paper examines the relationship between board education, board size, growth, ownership and firm performance of family CEO and nonfamily CEO listed firms in Malaysia. A sample of 37 firms and data were collected over a period of five years from 2012 to 2016. The 37 samples of family firms were subdivided into family CEO (21), and non-family CEO (16) firms. The independent variables were board education as measured by the proportion of board degrees (BDEG) and the proportion of board professional qualifications (BPRO), board size (BSIZE), growth, and ownership. Meanwhile, firm performance was measured by using return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA). The findings showed that there was a significant difference between family CEO and non-family CEO firms at a five percent level for board professional qualifications confirming that altruism and nepotism were observed among family members which supported the argument of characteristics of nepotism such as granting jobs to family members regardless of merit. In addition, this study also found board professional qualifications as significant but negatively related to external firm performance in family CEO firms. This showed that board education has not really been emphasized among board members. Besides, growth has significant influence on family firm performance which is evidently reflected in their contribution to the country’s GDP.

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Assessing the Effect of Board Gender Diversity on CSR Reporting Through Moderating Role of Political Connections in Chinese Listed Firms

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.796470 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Riffat Shaheen ◽

Hailan Yang ◽

Muhammad Yaseen Bhutto ◽

Hussaini Bala ◽

Fahad Najeeb Khan

Keyword(s):

Boards Of Directors ◽

Gender Diversity ◽

Business Environment ◽

Political Connections ◽

Institutional Setting ◽

Corporate Boards ◽

Listed Firms ◽

Csr Reporting ◽

Female Directors ◽

Board Gender Diversity

This study departs from existing work on board gender diversity (BGD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting by analyzing and explaining the mechanism by which gender-diverse boards in politically embedded firms (PEFs) affect firms’ CSR reporting choices in a unique institutional setting of Chinese listed firms from 2010 to 2018. The following main results are obtained. First, having female directors and executives with political connections (PCs) on corporate boards improves the CSR reporting of firms. Firms with PCs have a greater possibility to issue CSR reports than their non-connected counterparts. Second, firms that have both gender diversity and PCs on their boards of directors are more likely to engage in CSR reporting. There is an indication that the presence of PCs on boards can strengthen the effect of female directors on firms’ CSR reporting. Third, the presence of female directors on corporate boards has a stronger relationship with CSR reporting in PEFs than in non-PEFs. The study concludes that both BGD and PCs on corporate boards positively influence the diffusion of CSR-related practices in the Chinese business environment.

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Board of directors characteristics and performance in family firms and under the crisis

Corporate Governance ◽

10.1108/cg-01-2017-0010 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 119-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Elisabete Simões Vieira

Keyword(s):

Board Of Directors ◽

Family Firms ◽

Stock Exchange ◽

Gender Diversity ◽

Family Firm ◽

Family Businesses ◽

Content Type ◽

The Board Of Directors ◽

And Performance ◽

And Gender

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between board of directors’ characteristics and performance in family businesses. It offers evidence to the question of whether a family firm (FF) differs from a non-family firm and looks at the possibility of asymmetrical effects between periods of stability and economic adversity. Design/methodology/approach A panel data approach was applied to a sample of Portuguese firms listed the on Euronext Lisbon exchange between 2002 and 2013. Findings The results show that FFs are likely to have a lower proportion of independent members and higher gender diversity on their boards than non-family firms. FF performance is positively related to ownership concentration and gender diversity. There are performance premiums for family businesses, which have more gender diversity than their counterparts. These effects also depend on whether the economy is in recession. The evidence suggests that the presence of women on the board and the leverage and size of the FFs have a more significant impact on the performance in periods of economic adversity. Research limitations/implications One limitation of this study is the small size of the sample as it was drawn from the Euronext Lisbon exchange, a small stock exchange market. Originality/value This study provides input into the academic discussion on corporate governance and FF, an area which is in need of research. In addition, the authors examine this issue in conjunction with generalised economic adversity, focusing on the possible asymmetrical effects that the nature of the board of directors may have on performance in periods of stability and those of economic adversity. The role of board of directors is crucial to the understanding of corporate behaviour and the setting of the policy that regulates corporate activities.

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FOUNDER CENTRALITY, MANAGEMENT TEAM CONGRUENCE AND PERFORMANCE IN FAMILY FIRMS: A KENYAN CONTEXT

Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship ◽

10.1142/s1084946708001046 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 13 (04) ◽

pp. 383-407 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

LOUISE KELLY ◽

PETER M. LEWA ◽

KINYUA KAMARIA

Keyword(s):

Social Network ◽

Firm Performance ◽

Family Business ◽

Family Firms ◽

Negative Influence ◽

Family Businesses ◽

Management Team ◽

Research Findings ◽

And Performance ◽

The Impact

Applying social network theory to family business, founder centrality has been generally shown to positively affect top-management-team congruence and, as a consequence, firm performance. This study applies social network and strategic leadership theory to an examination of founder centrality in family businesses. It focuses on family businesses in Kenya, and examines the impact of the founder's influence on management team congruence in the three strategic areas of culture, vision, and goals. The discussion considers the research findings in Kenya of a negative influence of founder centrality on management team congruence and firm performance. The study concludes with a presentation of some possible reasons for this dynamic in developing countries like Kenya, where family business is prevalent, and in which the founder plays a central role.

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