Ownership dynamics, audit oversight, and firm performance: Evidence from emerging markets

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Abstract

This study examines how ownership structures and audit mechanisms jointly shape firm performance in Vietnam, a transitional emerging market characterized by uneven investor protection and evolving regulatory quality. Drawing on agency theory (Jensen & Meckling, 1976) and institutional perspectives on governance in emerging economies (La Porta et al., 1999), the analysis addresses a gap in prior research, which often evaluates governance dimensions separately. Using 2,052 firm-year observations from 2017–2023 and feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) to address heteroskedasticity, autocorrelation, and nonlinear ownership dynamics, the study integrates ownership concentration, foreign ownership, institutional ownership, audit firm rotation, and Big Four auditors into a unified framework. The results reveal heterogeneous governance effects. Ownership concentration exhibits a clear U-shaped relationship with performance. Foreign ownership shows a positive linear effect with only marginal evidence of an inverted U-shaped pattern. Institutional ownership exerts a consistently negative and significant impact. Auditor rotation and Big Four auditors both enhance performance, underscoring the value of credible external assurance in weak-enforcement settings. Firm size supports performance, whereas leverage imposes financial constraints. Overall, the findings demonstrate that internal ownership incentives and external audit quality jointly contribute to stronger performance, offering context-specific insights into governance effectiveness in emerging markets.

Keywords: Corporate Governance, Ownership Structure, Audit Firm Rotation, Big Four Auditors, Firm Performance, Emerging Markets, Vietnam

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — N.A.M. and A.T.K.P.; Methodology — N.A.M. and T.T.N.; Formal Analysis — T.T.D.; Data Curation — T.T.N. and M.N.B.; Writing — Original Draft — N.A.M.; Writing — Review & Editing — A.T.K.P., T.T.N., M.N.B., and T.T.D.; Supervision — N.A.M.

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

JEL Classification: G32, G34, M42

Received: 30.10.2025
Revised: 01.12.2025; 08.12.2025
Accepted: 17.12.2025
Published online: 19.12.2025

How to cite this paper: Mai, N. A., Phi, A. T. K., Nguyen, T. T., Bui, M. N., & Do, T. T. (2026). Ownership dynamics, audit oversight, and firm performance: Evidence from emerging markets. Business Performance Review, 4(1), 8–21. https://doi.org/10.22495/bprv4i1p1