Submit your papers Submit Now
International Peer-Reviewed Journal
For Enquiries: editor@iiardjournals.org
📄 Download Paper

Moderating Effect of Firm Size on Board Structure and Performance of Firms in African Stock Market

ORIFE, Catharine Ogheneovo & IFURUEZE, M. S. Ph.D.

Abstract

This study invested the moderating effect of firm size on board structure and performance of firms in African stock market. Two specific objectives were established at first to ascertain the effect of board meeting and board independence on return on assets of the oil and gas firms from African stock market. On the other hand, the study tested the moderating effect of firm size on relationship between hypotheses actually synchronize with the objectives of the study. The research adopted descriptive study of ex-post facto and collected secondary data from the annual reports of firms covering 2012 to 2022. Sample of six firms were purposely selected from the total population of the ten oil and gas firms listed on African stock market. Panel regression technique was applied in data estimation, whereas Hausman test assisted the study to selected random effect result against fixed effect result. The empirical findings show that; board meeting and board independence have no significant effect on return on assets of the sampled oil and gas firms. Moreover, Firm size does not have significant moderating effect on the relationship between board meeting and firm performance of oil and gas firms listed on African market. Meanwhile, Firm size has significant moderating effect on the association between board independence and financial performance of oil and gas firms sampled at 1% level; Hence, the study recommends amongst others that The shareholders should appoint a good proportion of non-executive directors on the board to enable them engage the CEO fearlessly as to reduce the selfish interest of the CEO and executives directors.

Keywords

Board independence Board meeting Board structure Firm size and performance

References

Adebiyi, W. K. (2017). Board composition and financial reporting quality of deposit money banks in Nigeria. International Journal of Innovative Finance and Economics Research, 5(4), 97- Agubata, N. S., Igbru, O., & Udezo, N. O. (2021). Effect of corporate governance on financial risk disclosure of banks in Nigeria. International Journal of Innovative Social Sciences & Humanities Research 9(4), 136-145 Akpan, E. O. (2015). Corporate board meetings and company performance: Empirical from Nigerian quoted companies. Global Journal of Commerce & Management Perspective, 4(1), 75-82. Akenga, G. (2017). Effect of liquidity on financial performance of firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 6(7), 279-285. Akinyomi, O., & Olagunju, A. (2013). Effect of firm size on profitability: Evidence from Nigeria manufacturing sector. Prime Journal of Business Administration and Management (BAM), 3(9), 1171-1175. Al-Matari, E. M., Al-ahadal. W. M., Farhan, N. H., Senan, N. M., & Tabash, M. I. (2020). Determinants of characteristics of top executive management effect on firm performance in the financial sector: Panel data approach. Contaduría y Administración 65(4), 1-24. Amin, A., Rehman, R. U., Ali, R., & Said, R. M. (2022). Corporate governance and capital structure: Moderating effect of gender diversity. SAGE Open, 1-17. Anderson, C. W, & Campbell, T. L. (2004). Corporate governance of Japanese banks. Journal of Corporate Finance 10(3), 327-354. Arosa, B., Iturralde, T., & Maseda, A. (2013). The board structure and firm performance in SMEs: Evidence from Spain. Investigaciones Europeas de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa, 19, 127–135. Bekiaris, M. (2021). Board structure and firm performance: An empirical study of Greek systemic banks. Journal of Accounting and Taxation, 13(2), 110-121. Fama, E. F., & Jensen, M. C. (1983). Separation of ownership and control. Journal of Law and Economics, 26, 301–325. Fulgence S. E. (2014). ‘Corporate governance in Tanzania”: In Idowu S.O. and Caliyurt (Eds); Corporate governance; an International Perspective. Berlin Heidelberg Springer; 157 – 185. Gunu, U., & Adamade, N. S. (2015). The relationship between firm age and financial performance in Nigeria: A panel analysis. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 17(3), 128- Hanh, L. T. M., Ting, I. W. K., Kweh, Q. L., & Hoanh, L. T. H. (2018). Board meeting frequency and financial performance: A case of listed firms in Vietnam. International Journal of Business and Society, 19(2), 464-472. Igbru, O., & Onuora, J. K. J. (2020). Determinants of assets tangibility: Evidence from small cap firms in Nigeria. Journal of Accounting, Business and Social Sciences, 3(2), 54-66. James, P. C. (2020). Understanding the impact of board structure on firm performance: A comprehensive literature review. International Journal of Business and Social Research (IJBSR), 10 (01), 01-12. Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behaviour, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3, 305–360. Ntim, C. G., & Osei, K. A. (2011). The impact of corporate board meetings on corporate performance in South Africa. African Review of Economics and Finance, 2(2), 83-103. Obaje, F. O., Abdullahi, S. R., &Ude, A. O. (2021). Moderating effect of firm size on the relationship between board structure and firm financial performance. Journal of Good Governance and Sustainable Development in Africa (JGGSDA), 6(3), 97-117. Omondi, M. M., & Muturi, W. (2013). Factors affecting the financial performance of listed companies at the Nairobi securities exchange in Kenya. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 4(15); 99 – 105. Oyedokun, G. O. (2019). Board characteristics and financial performance of commercial banks in Nigeria. Accounting and Taxation Review, 3(2), 31-48. Qian, D., Waheduzzaman, W., & Khandaker, S. (2021). Relationship of board diversity with firm’s financial performance: The case of publicly listed companies in China [Special issue]. Corporate Ownership & Control, 19(1), 229–240. Shahzad, A., Zulfiqar, B., Hassan, M., Mathkur, N. M., & Ahmed, I. (2022). Investigating the effects of capital structure and corporate governance on firm performance: An analysis of the sugar industry. Frontiers in Psychology, 13(905808), 1-8. Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1997). A survey of corporate governance. Journal of Finance, 52, 737–783. Simionescu, L. N., Gherghina, S. C., Hiba Tawil, H., & Sheikha. Z. (2021). Does board gender diversity affect firm performance? Empirical evidence from Standard & Poor’s 500 Information Technology Sector. Financial Innovation, 7(52), 1-45. Udezo, N. O., Agubata, N. S., & Igbru, O. (2024). Effect of CEO attributes on the quality of financial reporting of Nigerian firms. International Journal of Economics and Business Management, 10(7), 114-128. Younas, A., & Kassim, A. A. (2020). A conceptual model: The impact of board structure on capital structure among Oman public listed companies. 2nd International Conference on Research in Business, Management and Finance, Oxford, United Kingdom, 65-76.

About IIARD +

Journals +

Editorial Board +

Author Guidelines +

Publication Ethics +

Policies +

More +

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

© 2025 IIARD. All rights reserved.