The effect of governance characteristics on corporate performance: An empirical bayesian analysis for Vietnamese publicly listed companies

Abstract

This study extends the literature by conducting a Bayesian inference analysis of the relationship between governance characteristics and financial performance in Vietnamese publicly listed firms over a six-year span. The empirical results reveal that two main components of corporate governance, namely board gender diversity and blockholder ownership, tend to foster firm performance. Besides, no new evidence was found concerning the role of other governance characteristics such as board size, CEO duality (i.e. a concurrent position in a company that combines the duties of the CEO and the board chair) and non-executive director representation. From the above findings, we recommend Vietnamese firms to attach greater importance to corporate governance characteristics as a fundamental driver for better financial outcomes in the short run and sustainable development in the long run. Our results are confirmed by extensive robustness tests.