Abstract
Corporate governance (CG) is of fundamental importance to economic and social progress. CG deals with the ways in which suppliers of capital are assured in getting fair treatment as stakeholders. The issues of firm performance are being discussed and debated globally. Evidences from research exhibit sound CG practices generate greater return. Firms impact GDP, employment, investment and credit ratings of enterprises as well as countries. What should be the purpose of an organisation? Should it be only profit-making, distributing dividends or capital appreciation for the shareholders? Should firms go in for ‘short-term’ or ‘long-term’ interest? Does CG really matters? The opinions of experts, policymakers and industry captains have taken a drastic turn. It is no more profits but responsible business conduct (RBC) leading to the environment, social and governance (ESG). The present issue throws significant light on the various strands relating to firm performance and brings out some new dimensions.
The article titled ‘Do Women Directors Impact Financial Outcomes? The Indian Evidence’ looks into the question as to whether inclusion of women directors impacts the firm performance. The article sums up a great deal of the literature on the impact of women directors on firm performance. The article opines that women directors do contribute to the firm performance. The companies act mandates women on board of listed enterprises. However, in India, it has not been so because of the tokenism adopted in appointing women on the boards in terms of their numbers.
The article titled ‘Impact of Corporate Governance on Credit Ratings an Empirical Study in the Indian Context’ discusses the relationship between credit ratings and CG. The article goes to prove that corporate with sound CG also succeeds in obtaining good credit ratings. The article suggests that credit default risk can mar a good credit rating and therefore firms should keep a strong whistle on credit default risk.
Following this, the article titled ‘Do Shareholder Activism Effect Corporate Governance and Related Party Transactions: Evidences from India’ makes a bold attempt to investigate into the relationship between CG and related party transactions (RPTs) in the Indian context. RTPs have become the hotbed of organisational intrigues leading to corruption and impacting the organisational health. The annual reports of many large-sized enterprises incorporate a long list of RPTs pointing to the wide scope of unethical transactions. The article reports the reduction of unethical transactions in enterprises where shareholder activism has strong presence.
The article titled ‘The Relationship Between Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Expenditure in Bangladesh: Moderating Role of Firm Value’ researches the connection between corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure and CG especially in moderating the role of firm value. This interesting finding hands down an important strategic tool in the hands of the boards of directors of corporate enterprises. To protect the value of the firm and also strengthen the confidence of stakeholders and the external world, the firms engaged in CSR with a commitment to linear increase in CSR expenditure are ascribed to enhance the firm performance.
The article titled ‘Corporate Governance and Firm Performance in Indian Textile Companies: Evidence from NSE 500’ studies the relationship between CG and firm performance relating to the textile sector. Based on the empirical evidence, the article concludes that the corporate duality does not contribute to a superior firm performance.
The article titled ‘International Ownership and Corporate Social Performance in Emerging Economics Multinational: Evidence from India’ uses the behavioural risk agency perspective to argue that the risk behaviour of various institutional owners is not the same towards corporate social performance (CSP). The article is a panel data study of 61 Indian and multinational firms for a period of five years. The article concludes that the CSP has not been optimal in the case of these firms as the environmental dimensions have not been given their due place.
These articles set the trend to add new dimensions to the discussions and debates on CG.