IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rsarxx/v34y2020i3p205-235.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do board-level controls matter? – An agency perspective on socially responsible investment (SRI) company boards in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Blanche Steyn
  • Farai Kwenda
  • Lesley Stainbank

Abstract

If board-level controls matter, the introduction of the 2008 Companies Act with its enhanced legislative requirements, should have a positive impact on firm performance. To assess board-level controls this study developed two unique control indexes to assess the boards of 84 companies over three years. The study focuses on companies on the SRI index as they have a greater focus on sustainability and transparent disclosure of board-level controls including separation of duties, monitoring, goal-aligned remuneration and oversight. The first index uses 23 board-level control indicators (CI) and the second 19 board-level direction indicators (DI). The two indexes were assessed using fixed effects estimation methods against current and negatively lagged firm performance proxies. Results show that board-level controls matter as both indexes were positively related to return on assets (RoA), however, only DI was highly significant. Both indexes changed to a negative relationship to next year’s return on assets (NYRoA), again highly significant for DI. The change to a negative relationship suggests a timing and information asymmetry problem. CI was positively related to the natural log of enterprise value per share (LEV) with a low level of significance while the positive relation continues to the next year’s natural log of enterprise value per share (LNYEV) that was highly significant. The latter suggests that the controlling role of the board are continued to be valued by the market.

Suggested Citation

  • Blanche Steyn & Farai Kwenda & Lesley Stainbank, 2020. "Do board-level controls matter? – An agency perspective on socially responsible investment (SRI) company boards in South Africa," South African Journal of Accounting Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 205-235, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rsarxx:v:34:y:2020:i:3:p:205-235
    DOI: 10.1080/10291954.2019.1675255
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/10291954.2019.1675255
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/10291954.2019.1675255?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sebastien Deschenes & Hamadou Boubacar & Miguel Rojas & Tania Morris, 2015. "Is top-management remuneration influenced by board characteristics?," International Journal of Accounting & Information Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(1), pages 60-79, March.
    2. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    3. Stephen P. Ferris & Murali Jagannathan & A. C. Pritchard, 2003. "Too Busy to Mind the Business? Monitoring by Directors with Multiple Board Appointments," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1087-1111, June.
    4. Muniandy, Balachandran & Hillier, John, 2015. "Board independence, investment opportunity set and performance of South African firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(PA), pages 108-124.
    5. Hoque, Hafiz, 2014. "Role of asymmetric information and moral hazard on IPO underpricing and lockup," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 81-105.
    6. Renee B. Adams & Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 2010. "The Role of Boards of Directors in Corporate Governance: A Conceptual Framework and Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 58-107, March.
    7. Falato, Antonio & Kadyrzhanova, Dalida & Lel, Ugur, 2014. "Distracted directors: Does board busyness hurt shareholder value?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(3), pages 404-426.
    8. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 43-58, January.
    9. Adam Little & Peter J. Best, 2003. "A framework for separation of duties in an SAP R/3 environment," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 18(5), pages 419-430, July.
    10. Chen, Ming-Yuan, 2014. "Determinants of corporate board structure in Taiwan," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 62-78.
    11. Ettore Croci & Alfonso Giudice & Håkan Jankensgård, 2017. "CEO Age, Risk Incentives, and Hedging Strategy," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 46(3), pages 687-716, September.
    12. Ole‐Kristian Hope & Wayne B. Thomas, 2008. "Managerial Empire Building and Firm Disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 591-626, June.
    13. Koussis, Nicos & Martzoukos, Spiros H. & Trigeorgis, Lenos, 2017. "Corporate liquidity and dividend policy under uncertainty," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 221-235.
    14. Koussis, Nicos & Martzoukos, Spiros H. & Trigeorgis, Lenos, 2017. "Corporate liquidity and dividend policy under uncertainty," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 200-214.
    15. Michael C. Jensen, 1972. "Capital Markets: Theory and Evidence," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 3(2), pages 357-398, Autumn.
    16. Ji, Xu-dong & Lu, Wei & Qu, Wen, 2018. "Internal control risk and audit fees: Evidence from China," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 266-287.
    17. Lissitsa, Sabina & Kol, Ofrit, 2016. "Generation X vs. Generation Y – A decade of online shopping," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 304-312.
    18. repec:eme:jaar00:09675421211254830 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Emma L. Schultz & David T. Tan & Kathleen D. Walsh, 2010. "Endogeneity and the corporate governance - performance relation," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 35(2), pages 145-163, August.
    20. Pepper, Alexander & Gore, Julie, 2015. "Behavioral agency theory: new foundations for theorizing about executive compensation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 47569, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    21. Heidi Bauwhede, 2009. "On the relation between corporate governance compliance and operating performance," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 497-513.
    22. Collins G. Ntim & Kwaku K. Opong & Jo Danbolt & Dennis A. Thomas, 2012. "Voluntary corporate governance disclosures by post‐Apartheid South African corporations," Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(2), pages 122-144, September.
    23. Stephen P. Ferris & Murali Jagannathan & A. C. Pritchard, 2003. "Too Busy to Mind the Business? Monitoring by Directors with Multiple Board Appointments," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1087-1112, June.
    24. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    25. Collins G. Ntim, 2013. "An Integrated Corporate Governance Framework and Financial Performance in South African-Listed Corporations," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 81(3), pages 373-392, September.
    26. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    27. Nikos Vafeas, 2003. "Length of Board Tenure and Outside Director Independence," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7‐8), pages 1043-1064, September.
    28. Brick, Ivan E. & Chidambaran, N.K., 2010. "Board meetings, committee structure, and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 533-553, September.
    29. Salas, Jesus M., 2010. "Entrenchment, governance, and the stock price reaction to sudden executive deaths," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 656-666, March.
    30. Chaminda Wijethilake & Athula Ekanayake & Sujatha Perera, 2015. "Board involvement in corporate performance: evidence from a developing country," Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(3), pages 250-268, August.
    31. W. Kobelsky, Kevin, 2014. "A conceptual model for segregation of duties: Integrating theory and practice for manual and IT-supported processes," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 304-322.
    32. Paige Fields, L. & Fraser, Donald R. & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 2012. "Board quality and the cost of debt capital: The case of bank loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1536-1547.
    33. Afzalur Rashid, 2015. "Revisiting Agency Theory: Evidence of Board Independence and Agency Cost from Bangladesh," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 181-198, August.
    34. Woidtke, Tracie & Yeh, Yin-Hua, 2013. "The role of the audit committee and the informativeness of accounting earnings in East Asia," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 1-24.
    35. Collins Ntim, 2015. "Board diversity and organizational valuation: unravelling the effects of ethnicity and gender," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 19(1), pages 167-195, February.
    36. Kevin Dowd, 2009. "Moral Hazard and the Financial Crisis," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 29(1), pages 141-166, Winter.
    37. David C. Hay & W. Robert Knechel & Norman Wong, 2006. "Audit Fees: A Meta†analysis of the Effect of Supply and Demand Attributes," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(1), pages 141-191, March.
    38. Nelson Waweru, 2014. "Determinants of quality corporate governance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(5), pages 455-485, May.
    39. Nikos Vafeas, 2003. "Length of Board Tenure and Outside Director Independence," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30, pages 1043-1064.
    40. Fama, Eugene F, 1980. "Agency Problems and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(2), pages 288-307, April.
    41. Wang, Cong & Xie, Fei & Zhu, Min, 2015. "Industry Expertise of Independent Directors and Board Monitoring," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(5), pages 929-962, October.
    42. A Kyereboah-Coleman, 2008. "Corporate Governance and Firm Performance in Africa: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis," Studies in Economics and Econometrics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 1-24, August.
    43. Nadia Mans-Kemp & Suzette Viviers, 2018. "Executive performance evaluation and remuneration: Disclosure and practices of selected listed South African companies (2002−2015)," South African Journal of Accounting Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2-3), pages 154-173, September.
    44. repec:eme:marpps:10222529200500017 is not listed on IDEAS
    45. Zhang, Ivy Xiying, 2007. "Economic consequences of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 74-115, September.
    46. Collins G. Ntim & Kwaku K. Opong & Jo Danbolt & Dennis A. Thomas, 2012. "Voluntary corporate governance disclosures by post‐Apartheid South African corporations," Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(2), pages 122-144, September.
    47. Christian Engelen, 2015. "The effects of managerial discretion on moral hazard related behaviour: German evidence on agency costs," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 19(4), pages 927-960, November.
    48. Melvin Ayogu, 2001. "Corporate Governance in Africa: The Record and Policies for Good Corporate Governance," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 13(2), pages 308-330.
    49. Puan Yatim, 2010. "Board structures and the establishment of a risk management committee by Malaysian listed firms," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 14(1), pages 17-36, February.
    50. Mangena, Musa & Chamisa, Eddie, 2008. "Corporate governance and incidences of listing suspension by the JSE Securities Exchange of South Africa: An empirical analysis," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 28-44, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, September.
    2. Bill B. Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Qiang Wu, 2012. "Do corporate boards matter during the current financial crisis?," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(2), pages 39-52, April.
    3. Frye, Melissa B. & Pham, Duong T., 2018. "CEO gender and corporate board structures," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 110-124.
    4. Henrique Castro Martins & Cristiano Machado Costa, 2020. "Does control concentration affect board busyness? International evidence," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(3), pages 821-850, September.
    5. Drobetz, Wolfgang & von Meyerinck, Felix & Oesch, David & Schmid, Markus, 2014. "Board Industry Experience, Firm Value, and Investment Behavior," Working Papers on Finance 1401, University of St. Gallen, School of Finance, revised Dec 2015.
    6. Goh, Lisa & Gupta, Aditi, 2016. "Remuneration of non-executive directors: Evidence from the UK," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 379-399.
    7. Kim, Kyonghee & Mauldin, Elaine & Patro, Sukesh, 2014. "Outside directors and board advising and monitoring performance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 110-131.
    8. Sheeba Kapil & Rakesh K Mishra, 2019. "Corporate Governance structure and firm performance in Indian context: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach," Working Papers 1937, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.
    9. Maureen Muller-Kahle, 2015. "The impact of dominant ownership: the case of Anglo-American firms," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 19(1), pages 71-89, February.
    10. Kathy Fogel & Liping Ma & Randall Morck, 2021. "Powerful independent directors," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 50(4), pages 935-983, December.
    11. Baran, Lindsay & Forst, Arno, 2015. "Disproportionate insider control and board of director characteristics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 62-80.
    12. Reguera-Alvarado, Nuria & Bravo, Francisco, 2017. "The effect of independent directors’ characteristics on firm performance: Tenure and multiple directorships," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 590-599.
    13. Volonté, Christophe, 2015. "Boards: Independent and committed directors?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 25-37.
    14. DasGupta, Ranjan & Deb, Soumya G., 2022. "Role of corporate governance in moderating the risk-return paradox: Cross country evidence," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2).
    15. Nguyen, Thi Tuyet Mai, 2017. "An examination of independent directors in Vietnam," OSF Preprints ay6dv, Center for Open Science.
    16. Bradley Benson & Travis Davidson & Hui James & Hongxia Wang, 2022. "Board busyness and corporate payout: are all busy directors the same?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 3711-3759, September.
    17. Glenn Boyle & Xu (Jane) Ji, 2011. "New Zealand Corporate Boards in Transition: Composition, Activity and Incentives Between 1995 and 2010," Working Papers in Economics 11/36, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    18. James, Hui L. & Benson, Bradley W. & Park, Jung Chul, 2020. "CEO fixed effects and inside debt compensation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 71-86.
    19. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Michael Koetter & Qiang Wu, 2012. "Corporate Boards And Bank Loan Contracting," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 35(4), pages 521-552, December.
    20. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2012_014 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Cheng, Shijun & Felix, Robert & Zhao, Yijiang, 2019. "Board interlock networks and informed short sales," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 198-211.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rsarxx:v:34:y:2020:i:3:p:205-235. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rsar .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.