Corporate governance and financial performance: What is the relationship? The case of Moroccan companies listed on the stock exchange

The main objective of this research is to critically examine the relationship between corporate governance and performance and to identify the true determinants of performance. This study attempts to critically examine the quality of corporate governance while analyzing the impact of internal mechanisms on performance in order to verify whether governance actually has an effect on performance. This study aimed to determine a performance-based governance score. The research question was therefore formulated as follows: What are the determinants of "good governance," based on the level of performance, in the context of Moroccan companies? The results indicate that there is, however, a governance mechanism, namely the size of the board of directors, that appears to positively influence performance. The age of the CEO and the number of meetings are not determinants of performance. This result appears to be corroborated by the analysis of significant differences between companies based on their specific characteristics. The practical implications are consistent with providing a tool that could help companies make decisions to better address low-performing individuals.