IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i20p13545-d947705.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Financial Leverage Mediates Corporate Governance and Firm Performance?

Author

Listed:
  • Quang Linh Huynh

    (Faculty of Business Administration, Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam)

  • Mohammad Enamul Hoque

    (BRAC Business School, BRAC University, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh)

  • Perengki Susanto

    (Department of Management, Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang 25171, Indonesia)

  • Waqas Ahmad Watto

    (Department of Commerce, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Multan 60000, Pakistan)

  • Maryam Ashraf

    (Department of Accountancy, Superior University of Lahore, Lahore 54600, Pakistan)

Abstract

This research aims to explore the impact of corporate governance on firm performance while considering financial leverage as a mediating variable. This study was conducted in the non-financial sector of Pakistan, and data was collected from financial statements. A sample of 150 firms was selected from those registered on the Pakistan Stock Exchange during the period of 2011–2021. Results show that corporate governance is associated with firm performance. Board size has a positive relationship with firm performance; as board size increases, the performance of the firm also increases. Board independence is positively and significantly associated with firm performance. Audit committee size is also positively associated with firm performance. Female directors on the board are also associated with positive firm performance. Board independence, board size, audit committee, and female directorship were positively associated with financial leverage. Corporate governance protects the interest of shareholders and transfers risk from shareholders to debt holders. Results show that corporate governance enhances the financial distress cost by enhancing the debt ratio in the financial leverage. Financial leverage partially mediates the board size and board independence with firm performance, while audit committee size and female directorship relationship with firm performance are fully mediated.

Suggested Citation

  • Quang Linh Huynh & Mohammad Enamul Hoque & Perengki Susanto & Waqas Ahmad Watto & Maryam Ashraf, 2022. "Does Financial Leverage Mediates Corporate Governance and Firm Performance?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-20, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13545-:d:947705
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13545/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/20/13545/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Puneeta Goel, 2018. "Implications of corporate governance on financial performance: an analytical review of governance and social reporting reforms in India," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-21, December.
    2. George Georgakopoulos & Kanellos Toudas & Evangelos I. Poutos & Theodoros Kounadeas & Stefanos Tsavalias, 2022. "Capital Structure, Corporate Governance, Equity Ownership and Their Impact on Firms’ Profitability and Effectiveness in the Energy Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-10, May.
    3. Hezun Li & Timurs Uman & Siri Terjesen, 2019. "Corporate governance and innovation," Chapters, in: David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann & Albert N. Link (ed.), A Research Agenda for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, chapter 9, pages 134-154, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Hana Bawazir & Anis Khayati & Fatema AbdulMajeed, 2021. "Corporate governance and the performance of non-financial firms: the case of Oman," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 8(4), pages 595-609, June.
    5. Gan, Dennis & Erikson, Truls, 2022. "Venture governance: CEO duality and new venture performance," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    6. Aon Waqas Awan & Javed Ahmed Jamali, 2016. "Impact of Corporate Governance on Financial Performance: Karachi Stock Exchange, Pakistan," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 6(2), pages 401-411, December.
    7. Wang PeiZhi & Muhammad Ramzan, 2020. "Do corporate governance structure and capital structure matter for the performance of the firms? An empirical testing with the contemplation of outliers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-25, February.
    8. Sohail Ahmad Javeed & Tze San Ong & Rashid Latief & Haslinah Muhamad & Wei Ni Soh, 2021. "Conceptualizing the Moderating Role of CEO Power and Ownership Concentration in the Relationship between Audit Committee and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-26, June.
    9. García, C. José & Herrero, Begoña, 2021. "Female directors, capital structure, and financial distress," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 592-601.
    10. Jean-Michel Sahut & Marta Peris-Ortiz & Frédéric Teulon, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility and governance," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 23(4), pages 901-912, December.
    11. Gyimah, Daniel & Kwansa, Nana Abena & Kyiu, Anthony K. & Sikochi, Anywhere (Siko), 2021. "Multinationality and capital structure dynamics: A corporate governance explanation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    12. Cecília Carmo & Sandra Alves & Bruna Quaresma, 2022. "Women on Boards in Portuguese Listed Companies: Does Gender Diversity Influence Financial Performance?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-21, May.
    13. Nguyen, Thao & Bai, Min & Hou, Yang & Vu, Manh-Chien, 2021. "Corporate governance and dynamics capital structure: evidence from Vietnam," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    14. Martin Kyere & Marcel Ausloos, 2021. "Corporate governance and firms financial performance in the United Kingdom," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 1871-1885, April.
    15. Sattar Khan & Yasir Kamal & Shahid Hussain & Muhammad Abbas, 2022. "Corporate governance looking back to look forward in Pakistan: a review, synthesis and future research agenda," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-32, December.
    16. Ting Li & Xinlei Zhao & Aiwu Zhao, 2019. "Voting with hands, earnings management and corporate governance," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 18(2), pages 178-197, May.
    17. Atta Muhammad, 2022. "Do Pakistani Corporate Governance reforms restore the relationship of trust on banking sector through good governance and disclosure practices," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(2), pages 176-203, June.
    18. Mukesh Nepal & Rajat Deb, 2022. "Board Characteristics and Firm Performance: Indian Textiles Sector Panorama," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 47(1), pages 74-96, February.
    19. Zhou, Mengling & Li, Kexin & Chen, Zhongfei, 2021. "Corporate governance quality and financial leverage: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    20. Rifqi Muhammad & Muhammad Aldino Mangawing & Selfira Salsabilla, 2021. "The influence of intellectual capital and corporate governance on financial performance of Islamic banks," Jurnal Ekonomi & Keuangan Islam, Faculty of Economics, Universitas Islam Indonesia, vol. 7(1), pages 77-91.
    21. Rekha Pillai & Husam-Aldin N. Al-Malkawi & M. Ishaq Bhatti, 2021. "Assessing Institutional Dynamics of Governance Compliance in Emerging Markets: The GCC Real Estate Sector," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, October.
    22. Daniel Ferreira & Jin Li & Radoslawa Nikolowa, 2019. "Corporate Capture of Blockchain Governance," Working Papers 880, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    23. Muhammad Iqbal & Faisal Javed, 2017. "The Moderating Role of Corporate Governance on the Relationship between Capital Structure and Financial Performance: Evidence from Manufacturing Sector of Pakistan," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 6(1), pages 89-105, January.
    24. Lin, Lili, 2019. "Corporate Governance and Liquidity Risk of Starbucks Company," MPRA Paper 97230, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 18 Nov 2019.
    25. Ira Millstein & Jeff Gordon & Ron Gilson & Colin Mayer & Kristin Bresnahan & Marty Lipton, 2019. "Session I: Corporate Purpose and Governance," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 31(3), pages 10-25, September.
    26. Amjad Ali & Wajid Alim & Jawad Ahmed & Sabahat Nisar, 2022. "Yoke of corporate governance and firm performance: A study of listed firms in Pakistan," Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, Educational Research Multimedia & Publications,India, vol. 13(1), pages 08-17, January.
    27. Sudheer Chava & Shunlan Fang & Praveen Kumar & Saumya Prabhat, 2019. "Debt Covenants and Corporate Governance," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 197-219, December.
    28. Ajay Kumar & Jyotirani Gupta & Niladri Das, 2022. "Revisiting the influence of corporate sustainability practices on corporate financial performance: An evidence from the global energy sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3231-3253, November.
    29. Margaritis, Dimitris & Psillaki, Maria, 2010. "Capital structure, equity ownership and firm performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 621-632, March.
    30. Jayasuriya Mahapatabendige Ruwani Fernando & Leon Li & Yang (Greg) Hou, 2019. "Corporate governance and default prediction: a reality test," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(24), pages 2669-2686, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ria Ria, 2023. "Determinant Factors of Corporate Governance on Company Performance: Mediating Role of Capital Structure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-14, January.

    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. Ria Ria, 2023. "Determinant Factors of Corporate Governance on Company Performance: Mediating Role of Capital Structure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Archana Saxena & Rajesh Singh & Anita Gehlot & Shaik Vaseem Akram & Bhekisipho Twala & Aman Singh & Elisabeth Caro Montero & Neeraj Priyadarshi, 2022. "Technologies Empowered Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG): An Industry 4.0 Landscape," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Dongshu Jiang & ZhiXing Ni & Yuxiu Chen & Xue Chen & Chaohong Na, 2022. "Influence of Financial Shared Services on the Corporate Debt Cost under Digitalization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Emmanuel Anyigbah & Yusheng Kong & Bless Kofi Edziah & Ahotovi Thomas Ahoto & Wilhelmina Seyome Ahiaku, 2023. "Board Characteristics and Corporate Sustainability Reporting: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-26, February.
    5. Sonia Yasin & Muhammad Irfan & Muhammad Shaukat Malik & Fasiha Nargis, 2022. "The Relationship between Executive Remuneration and Organizations Efficiency," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(3), pages 59-70, December.
    6. Fahad Asghar & Palwasha Farooq & Muhammad Nadim & Zain ul Abidin & Fazli Wadood, 2023. "Global Financial Crisis: A critical study on Role of Auditor’s and Stakeholder," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 9(2), pages 452-458.
    7. Thong, Lik Hong, 2019. "A discussion on performance risk of Dunkin's Brand," MPRA Paper 97266, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Nov 2019.
    8. John E.H.J. FoEh & Diah Ayu Permatasari & Jhonni Sinaga, 2022. "Corporate Governance in Need of Reforms: What Areas of the System Should Be Reformed First and How?," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(4), pages 73-81.
    9. Fiaz Ahmad Sulehri & Mohammad Ahmed & Amjad Ali, 2022. "Proprietorship Structure and Firm Performance in the Context of Tunneling: An Empirical Analysis of Non-Financial Firms in Pakistan," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(4), pages 115-124, December.
    10. Pompei MITITEAN, 2023. "The Relationship Between Corporate Governance Mechanisms and Financial Institution Performance. A COVID-19 Perspective," CECCAR Business Review, Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (CECCAR), vol. 3(12), pages 55-65, December .
    11. Dominika Gajdosikova & Katarina Valaskova & Tomas Kliestik & Maria Kovacova, 2023. "Research on Corporate Indebtedness Determinants: A Case Study of Visegrad Group Countries," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-30, January.
    12. World Bank Group, 2020. "Global Investment Competitiveness Report 2019/2020," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 33808, December.
    13. Zeitun, Rami & Goaied, Mohamed, 2021. "The nonlinear effect of foreign ownership on capital structure in Japan: A panel threshold analysis," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    14. Chen, Zhongfei & Xie, Guanxia, 2022. "ESG disclosure and financial performance: Moderating role of ESG investors," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    15. Khémiri, Wafa & Noubbigh, Hédi, 2020. "Size-threshold effect in debt-firm performance nexus in the sub-Saharan region: A Panel Smooth Transition Regression approach," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 335-344.
    16. Baah Aye Kusi & Lydia Adzobu & Alex Kwame Abasi & Kwadjo Ansah-Adu, 2020. "Sectoral Loan Portfolio Concentration and Bank Stability: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 19(1), pages 66-99, April.
    17. Tatiana Dănescu & Ioan-Ovidiu Spătăcean & Maria-Alexandra Popa & Carmen-Gabriela Sîrbu, 2021. "The Impact of Corporate Governance Mechanism over Financial Performance: Evidence from Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-14, September.
    18. Bae, John & Kim, Sang-Joon & Oh, Hannah, 2017. "Taming polysemous signals: The role of marketing intensity on the relationship between financial leverage and firm performance," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 29-40.
    19. Anggita Langgeng WIJAYA & Ima Widha RATNASARI, 2023. "The Effect of the Audit Committee on the Firm Value of State-Owned Enterprises in Indonesia: The Mediation Role of Financial Performance," CECCAR Business Review, Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (CECCAR), vol. 4(6), pages 60-72, June.
    20. Riaqa Mubeen & Dongping Han & Jaffar Abbas & Iftikhar Hussain, 2020. "The Effects of Market Competition, Capital Structure, and CEO Duality on Firm Performance: A Mediation Analysis by Incorporating the GMM Model Technique," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:20:p:13545-:d:947705. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.