Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: Evidence from Selected Firms Listed in Dhaka Stock Exchange

Abstract

The main objectives of this study are to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance of 60 Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) listed companies of Bangladesh using cross-section data of the year 2011. This study focused on eight aspects of corporate governance namely Board Size (BS), Number of Independent Directors, CEO duality, Lasset, Debt-equity ratio, Proportion of independent directors, and Broad meeting frequency. Firm performance has been measured through return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA). The findings of the study suggest that corporate governance variables do influence firms’ performance. Our empirical results indicate that elements of corporate governance such as the proportion of independent directors and number of institutional investors are positively related with ROA while the other variables are negatively related with ROA. On the other hand, debt-equity ratio, proportion of independent directors and number of institutional investors are significantly and positively correlated with ROE. In the light of corporate financial scandals, the study suggests that there is a need to ensure effective governance of the firms in one hand and contribute to maximize shareholders wealth on the other hand.