Board Composition and Firm Performance: Post-Financial-Crisis Evidence

Abstract

This paper examines whether corporate governance mechanisms are associated with the financial performance of non-financial firms listed on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) in 2019, the first full year after Greece’s exit from its adjustment programs and the last pre-pandemic year. Extending crisis-period Greek evidence to the immediate post-crisis setting, 2019 is treated as a transitional post-crisis year in which firms had largely absorbed crisis-era governance reforms, yet their practical implementation and effects on outcomes still warranted empirical scrutiny. Using a cross-sectional sample of ASE-listed firms (financials excluded) and data drawn from 2019 annual reports, the paper examines whether board structure influences firm financial performance. The results indicate a significant association between governance and performance: board independence and the presence of female directors are positively related to performance, whereas CEO duality is negatively related. The findings are obtained using return on assets (ROA) as the performance measure and remain robust when performance is proxied by return on equity (ROE). By examining governance-performance associations in a country-specific setting during the immediate post-crisis period, this study extends the literature beyond crisis-period windows and offers practical implications: managers can prioritize and invest in board configurations associated with better performance, while regulators can use the evidence to refine rules that strengthen governance implementation and effectiveness.