Impact of the board of directors’ characteristics on firm performance: A case of Bahraini listed firms

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.

The release of bank’s intellectual capital is one of the important elements of bank’s annual reports. Although it is not presented adequately in the annual reports, voluntary disclosure of bank’s intellectual capital relatively represents the response to the needs of greater information for the users. This research aims to see the influence of corporate governance on the intellectual capital disclosure based on a case study on private banks in Indonesia. The variables to be examined in the research include the Composition of Independent Commissioners as well as The Competence of Audit Committee and Risk Oversight Committee. The samples were taken using purposive sampling, considering particular criteria. As many as 62 banks are selected to be taken as research samples. The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis method. The result of a partial test shows that the Composition of Independent Commissioners has a positive and significant influence on the intellectual capital disclosure; the Competence of Audit Committee has a positive and significant influence on the intellectual capital disclosure; and the Competence of Risk Oversight committee does not influence the intellectual capital disclosure. Meanwhile, the result of a simultaneous test shows that the Composition of Independent Commissioners, the Competence of Audit Committee, and the Competence of Risk Oversight Committee significantly influence the intellectual capital disclosure.