Asset structure, leverage, and value of listed firms: Evidence from Kenya

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting plays a key role in management control, particularly in light of the increased demand for non-financial reporting after the financial crisis of 2008–2009. This literature review evaluates 47 empirical studies that concentrate on the influence of several board composition variables on the quantity and quality of CSR reporting. The author briefly introduces the research framework that underpins current empirical studies in this field. This is followed by a discussion of the main variables of board composition: (1) committees (audit and CSR committees), (2) board independence, (3) board expertise, (4) CEO duality, (5) board diversity (gender and foreign diversity), (6) board activity, and (7) board size. The author, then, summarizes the key findings, discusses the limitations of the existing research and offers useful recommendations for researchers, firm practice and regulators.

This study focused on corporate governance and performance of selected Nigerian multinational firms from 2012 to 2016. Specifically, the study focused on the effect of board size, activism and committee activism on return on asset and firm growth rate. Secondary data collected from four multinational firms were analyzed via static panel estimation techniques. While board size and board activism exerted significant negative impact on return on asset, committee activism exerted insignificant impact. The results of the study further showed that board size and board activism exert insignificant negative impact on firm’s growth rate, while committee activism insignificantly spurs firm’s growth rate. Decisively, discoveries from this study reflect that corporate governance has significant negative impact on return on asset, but has insignificant influence on the growth rate of Nigerian multinational firms. Based on these findings, the authors recommended that corporate governance dynamics in firms world over should be reconsidered, such that it gives credence to more than just numbers of persons or meetings held, but the main reasons and deliberations in such meetings. It was also recommended that excessive increase in magnitude or frequency of meetings held by board of directors cum committee should be avoided.

Several studies have examined the relationship between inventory management and firm performance. However, most of these studies ignore the impact of inventory types on the relationship. Moreover, the relationship is influenced by some factors such as cost of capital which has not been considered. This study examines the moderating effect of cost of capital on the relationship between inventory types and firm performance. The data of 48 firms for the period 2010-2016 which formed 279 firm-year observations were used in this study. With the use of Pearson correlation and panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation, the findings show that inventory management with consideration of its types influence firm performance in the long term. In addition, it is also found that cost of capital moderates the relationship between inventory management and firm performance. However, the interaction between cost of capital and inventory types has different implications. It is suggested that firms should consider cost of capital when making decision on inventory types and align their inventory control to fit in to the changes in their business environment.