Do the institutional environment and types of owners influence the relationship between ownership concentration and board of director independence? An international meta-analysis

International Review of Financial Analysis. 2019. Vol. 61. P. 233–244.

Lopez Iturriaga F. J., Pérez-Calero L., Hurtado-González J. M.

Prior research into the relationship between firm ownership structure and board of director independence has been conducted in a variety of international settings and has led to mixed results. Given this divergence, we meta-analyze 127 studies in order to test whether different types of owners (if a firm's ownership lies mainly in the hands of managers, families or institutions) explain these mixed results. We also examine whether the institutional context (civil, common or emerging legal system) may moderate the relationship between ownership concentration and type of owner and board independence. We find that ownership concentration has a significant negative relation with board independence in common law countries, and when firms are under managerial or family control. In contrast, the relation is positive for firms in civil law countries or for firms owned by institutional investors. Thus, our paper reveals differences in the relation between ownership concentration and board of director independence contingent on type of owner and the institutional context in which the firm operates. Our researchhaspracticalimplicationsforpractitionersandpolicymakers, and provides them with certain guide lines aimed at achieving the most efficient design for corporate governance mechanisms.

Keywords: corporate governance, board of directors, meta-analysis, institutional context, Ownership structure

Publication based on the results of: The impact of labor skills on digital transformation in economy (2019)