Board Structure and Corporate Performance: Evidence from Greece

Several US based studies have found a negative correlation between a firm’s value and the size of the board of directors.  However, many factors affecting a firm’s performance may be contingent on legal and cultural characteristics of the country wherein it operates.  The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between various characteristics of the board of directors of Greek firms and their performance.  Using a random sample of 50 firms listed in the Athens Stock Exchange, regression models with performance metrics as the dependent variable and board size, percent of non-executive directors and duality of the roles of board chairman and CEO were estimated.  Our findings, in contrast to what has been found in other settings, are that boards of directors’ characteristics do not systematically influence performance.  A possible limitation of our study is the small size of our sample.  Nevertheless, our findings contribute to the literature regarding corporate governance and may be of interest to investors and capital market regulators.