Hugh Grove

Corporate Governance and Performance in the Wake of the Financial Crisis: Evidence from US Commercial Banks

Manuscript Type: Empirical. Research Question/Issue: Does corporate governance explain US bank performance during the period leading up to the financial crisis? We adopt the factor structure by Larcker, Richardson, and Tuna (2007) to measure multiple dimensions of corporate governance for 236 public commercial banks. Research Findings/Insights: Findings reveal corporate governance factors explain financial performance better than loan quality. We find strong support for a negative association between leverage and both financial performance and loan quality. CEO duality is negatively associated with financial performance. The extent of executive incentive pay is positively associated with financial performance but exhibits a negative association with loan quality in the long‐run. We find a concave relationship between financial performance and both board size and average director age. We provide weak evidence of an association of anti‐takeover devices, board meeting frequency, and affiliated nature of committees with financial performance. Theoretical/Academic Implications: We apply agency theory to the banking industry and expect that the governance‐performance linkage might differ due to the unique regulatory and business environment. Results extend Larcker et al. (2007), especially regarding the concave relationship between board size and performance, and the role of leverage. Given the lack of support for our agency theory predictions, we suggest that alternative theories are needed to understand the performance implications of corporate governance at banks. Practitioner/Policy Implications: We offer contributions to regulators, especially for ongoing financial reforms of capital requirements and executive compensation. Specifically, we show a consistent negative association between leverage and performance, which supports the current debate on Tier I capital limits for banks.

A review of human resource accounting measurement systems from a measurement theory perspective

Abstract Currently, a large number of diverse methodologies exist which apply to the measurement of human resources. This paper attempts to clarify and evaluate these methodologies by the application of a measurement theory frame of reference. The first two sections discuss the measurement theory perspective and then its application to human resource accounting. The last section focuses upon the operational steps necessary to apply measurement theory to the human resource accounting area.

Methodological strategies for benchmarking accounting processes

In this article it is contended that methodological issues implicit in benchmarking studies have to be clearly appreciated by management in assessing the reliability of performance gaps and the identification of sound practices that can be successfully adopted by other firms. There is no doubt that organisational design aspects of the benchmarking process are crucial to the success of the project. However, there are at least four methodological issues, extremely critical to the success of benchmarking projects, that have not yet been adequately analysed. These four methodological issues are: how to define the performance measures; how to achieve comparability of performances; how to identify best practices; how to evaluate the transferability of best practices. Strategies are developed to address these benchmarking issues. Then, these strategies are summarised in the components of a benchmarking model linking performances and best practices.

Coors Balanced Scorecard: A Decade of Experience

By the end of 1997, Coors had finished the implementation of a three-year Computer Integrated Logistics (CIL) project to improve its supply chain management. Coors defined its supply chain as every activity involved in moving production from the supplier’s supplier to the customer’s customer. (Since by Federal law, Coors cannot sell directly to consumers, Coors customers are its distributors whose customers are retailers whose customers are consumers.) Coors supply chain included the following processes: purchasing, research and development, engineering, brewing, conditioning, fermenting, packaging, warehouse, logistics, and transportation. This CIL project was a cross-functional initiative to reengineer the business processes by which Coors logistics or supply chain was managed. This reengineering project improved supply chain processes and applied information technology to provide timely and accurate information to those involved in supply chain management. The project objective was to increase company profitability by reducing cycle times and operating costs and increasing customer (distributor) satisfaction. The software vendor used for this project was the German company, Systems Applications & Products (SAP), that provided the financial and materials planning software modules. The SAP planning software became Coors load configurator software that takes distributor demand forecasts and the production schedule and creates a shipping schedule for the following week. The following major supply chain problems were corrected by this CIL project:

The influence of corporate governance on bank risk during a financial crisis

Abstract Using agency theory, we explore the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and bank risk. We employ panel data analysis to study the 97 largest European listed banks between 2006 and 2010, thereby covering the most recent international financial crisis. The results show that corporate governance mechanisms influence bank risk. During the financial crisis, different governance mechanisms can minimise or accentuate the agency conflict between shareholders and managers. In our model, bank size and G.D.P. per capita also exert a considerable influence.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE STANDARDS IN CROSS-BORDER INVESTING: LESSONS LEARNED FROM CHINESE COMPANIES LISTED IN THE UNITED STATES

This paper will examine five Chinese company stocks that have been listed on United States exchanges with either initial public offerings (IPOs) or reverse mergers, often called reverse take-overs (RTOs). Their shares were initially well received in the market, especially as China’s economy continued to grow at rates much higher than the rest of the world’s countries, with increasing stock prices creating significant gains for their investors. However, in spite of these firms’ apparent compliance to the U. S. regulations, there is now evidence of fraud, poor auditing, and a lack of corporate governance and control. The resultant stock price declines have led to billions of dollars of losses for investors, and some of these Chinese firms have subsequently been delisted by U. S. stock exchanges. In this paper, we will show that had auditors, boards of directors, and financial analysts been more diligent and responsible, these problems could have been identified earlier than they were. Perhaps some of the investors’ losses could have been prevented.