Corporate governance quality and firm performance: Evidence from the emerging market

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Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between corporate governance quality (CGQ) and the firm performance of listed companies in Ghana. The CGQ-index was developed based on the Ghana Security and Exchange Commission’s six guideline principles, and firm performance is measured by return on assets (ROA) and Tobin’s Q (Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC], 2010). A sample of 33 Ghanaian-listed firms from 2009 to 2020 was used. The study employs IBM-SPSS regression to analyse the relationship between CGQ and firm performance. The findings show that elements of CGQ, including board size, gender diversity, remuneration committees, other board committees, and corporate governance (CG) compliance, have a statistically significant influence on firm performance by Tobin’s Q. In contrast, the remuneration committee and other board committees were found to have a statistically significant influence on firm performance in terms of ROA (Owusu & Weir, 2016; Coleman & Wu, 2021). Our findings offer practical implications for managers in companies and policymakers seeking to enhance compliance with CG guidelines, thereby improving the integrity and reliability of financial reporting. This study fills a gap in the literature by providing an innovative approach to evidence the effectiveness of CG quality on the performance of listed companies in Ghana, an emerging economy.

Keywords: Corporate Governance Guidelines, Corporate Governance Quality, Firm Performance, SEC 2010, Ghana

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — C.C. and C.C.; Methodology — C.C., C.C., and E.N.; Investigation — I.F.A.; Writing — Original Draft — I.F.A.; Writing — Review & Editing — C.C., C.C., and E.N.; Supervision — C.C., C.C., and E.N.

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

JEL Classification: M0, M48, M49, N47

Received: 25.08.2025
Revised: 13.01.2026; 24.03.2026
Accepted: 03.04.2026
Published online: 07.04.2026

How to cite this paper: Antwi, I. F., Carvalho, C., Carmo, C., & Nkansah, E. (2026). Corporate governance quality and firm performance: Evidence from the emerging market. Journal of Governance and Regulation, 15(2), 241–252. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv15i2art21