Corporate governance and economic performance: A case study of the developing country

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Abstract

This paper examines principle-based corporate governance (CG) and the economic performance of the Fijian economy. A comprehensive study for three public cooperations, namely the National Bank of Fiji (NBF), Fiji Sugar Cooperation (FSC), and Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF), is undertaken. The economic assessment of the Fijian economy exists from the period 2017 to 2021, and immense discussion related to the GDP growth rate and export markets has been conducted. The research paper adopts a case study method, and reference has been made to company reports and existing literature to conclude on the compliance of CG virtues. The findings reveal that FNPF, NBF, and FSC experienced corporate collapse due to deficiencies, deception, and improper CG practice. The failure of NBF was a major blow on the Fijian economy, while large losses from FSC imposed risk on the stakeholders of the sugar industry. FNPF had also managed to overcome the write-off of 2010 with the help of good CG, but the wrong decisions by the relevant authorities had created fear among the retirement savers. The selected cooperations reveal important lessons for other Fijian companies. Although the research does not determine the CG index or compare the practice of CG between public and private firms, the achieved results point out the need to make companies follow the principles of CG and train personnel to instil ethical behaviours, transparency, and accountability.

Keywords: Fiji, Corporate Governance, Performance, Regulations, Ethics, Transparency

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualisation — V.H.P.; Methodology — V.H.P. and S.S.B.; Investigation — V.H.P., S.S.B., M.N.C., and V.D.S.; Resources — V.H.P.; Writing — Original Draft — V.H.P., S.S.B., and V.D.S.; Writing — Review & Editing — V.H.P., S.S.B., V.D.S., and M.N.C.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: G34, M14, M41, M48

Received: 12.11.2021
Accepted: 18.03.2022
Published online: 22.03.2022

How to cite this paper: Prasad, V. H., Sharma, V. D., Bano, S. S., & Chand, M. N. (2022). Corporate governance and economic performance: A case study of the developing country. Corporate Governance and Organizational Behavior Review, 6(2), 8–18. https://doi.org/10.22495/cgobrv6i2p1