Corporate governance and firm performance : The effects of board characteristics on firm performance of listed companies on Ho Chi Minh stock exchange (HOSE)

Abstract

In the context of financial crisis, corporate governance is really important to the firms and has received much attention in the current studies all over the world. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between board characteristics (board independence, director ownership, CEO duality and board size) and firm performance (ROA) based on the annual reports of listed companies in the year 2012 of sample of 200 listed companies in Ho Chi Minh stock exchange (HOSE). Furthermore, descriptive test, Spearman‟s correlation and multiple regression models are utilized to examine the relationship between board characteristics and firm performance. The results of this study reveal that board independence, CEO duality and board size have no effect on firm performance in the selected sample while director ownership has a significant negative relationship with firm performance.