J. Thomas Connelly

Do Investors Really Value Corporate Governance? Evidence from the Hong Kong Market

To examine the relation between corporate governance and firm value, we develop an instrument to assess the corporate governance practices of listed companies in Hong Kong. Based on the Revised OECD Principles of Corporate Governance (OECD) and the Code of Best Practices (HKEx), we construct a corporate governance index (CGI) for Hong Kong listed companies. Unlike measures used in other studies, the CGI score reflects the presence of good corporate governance practices as well as variation in the quality of corporate governance practices. Empirical evidence shows that a companys market valuation is positively related to its overall CGI score, a composite measure of a firms corporate governance practices. We also find that the transparency component of the CGI score drives the relation with market valuation. In summary, this study provides supporting evidence for the notion that, in Hong Kong, good corporate governance practices are consistent with value maximization.

Corporate Governance and Firm Valuation in Asian Emerging Markets

One of the most contentious issues in the corporate governance debate is the presumed benefits of adopting internationally accepted corporate governance practices. This study investigates the relation between the quality of corporate governance practices and market valuation for listed firms in five Asian economies: China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Based on the OECD Corporate Governance Principles (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development, 1999), we use a survey instrument to assess the quality of corporate governance practices of listed companies in these Asian emerging markets. The new instrument represents an improvement over existing instruments as it is more comprehensive, covering five aspects of corporate governance (rights of shareholders, treatment of shareholders, roles of stakeholders, disclosure and transparency, and board responsibilities). The survey instrument also captures variation in the quality of governance practices across firms. The empirical results show there is a positive relation between the quality of corporate governance practices and firm value in each of the five nations.