A comparative study of the quality of corporate governance in Chinese and non-Chinese firms and the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance.

• Main Authors: Kong, Yi Ling., Low, Penny Qiulian., Tan, Meiyan.
• Other Authors: Tan, Patricia Mui Siang
• Format: Final Year Project
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Business::Finance::Corporate governance
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/10272
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper seeks to investigate if there is a difference in the quality of corporate governance between Chinese and Non-Chinese firms listed on the Singapore Exchange. In addition, our study aims to examine whether there is any association between corporate governance and firms’ performance. The two measures we use to determine market-based and operating performance are Tobin’s Q and return on equity respectively. Our findings show that corporate governance scores for Chinese firms is significantly lower than that of Non-Chinese firms. Within our sample, we find evidence of a positive association between corporate governance and market-based performance. Thus, our findings suggest that investors consider the quality of a firm’s corporate governance when making their investment decisions. However, our findings do not provide conclusive evidence on the relationship between corporate governance and operating performance.