CORPORATE BOARD DIVERSITY AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

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Augustine Ujunwa ORCID logo, Ifeoma Nwakoby, Charles Ogechukwu Ugbam

https://doi.org/10.22495/cocv9i2c1art6

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of corporate board diversity on the financial performance of Nigerian quoted firms using a panel data of 122 quoted Nigerian firms. The aspects of board diversity studied comprise board nationality, board gender and board ethnicity. The Fixed Effect Generalised Least Square Regression is used to examine the impact of board diversity on firm performance for the period: 1991-2008. The results show that gender diversity was negatively linked with firm performance, while board nationality and board ethnicity were positive in predicting firm performance. The study provides insights for practitioners and policy makers on the need to view the board as a strategic resource in line with the resource dependency theory instead of viewing the board solely from agency theory perspective.

Keywords: Board of Directors, Corporate Governance, Diversity, Firm Performance

How to cite this paper: Ujunwa, A., Nwakoby, I., & Ugbam, C. O. (2012). Corporate board diversity and firm performance: Evidence from Nigeria. Corporate Ownership & Control, 9(2-1), 216-226. https://doi.org/10.22495/cocv9i2c1art6