Corporate governance and the financial performance of listed companies

Abstract

This master’s dissertation investigates the challenges that arise from the implementation of Corporate Practices and the effect that the adoption or no adoption of such practices have in the profitability of listed shipping companies. Literature review illustrates the significant changes that may be observed in the structure, operation and definition of the goals that companies are required to achieve globally and what difficulties are encountered. A more detailed presentation of three listed companies highlights the complexity of regulations and the effect that they have in a company’s framework of activities and interactions. The dissertation highlights the importance of shipping industry in understanding these effects due to the intense developments in the industry as a whole and in the implementation of Corporate Governance in particular. The importance of certain variables of Corporate Governance are revealed , such as board size, Board Structure with emphasis to the role of independent members, Ownership Concentration, CEO duality and Diversification through women presence in the Boards. The outcome of the statistical analysis, further supports or contradicts past empirical findings that have produced contradictory evidences regarding how profitability is affected from the Corporate Governance variables.