Open Access Article SciPap-1112
Corporate Governance and Performance of Non-Financial Firms in Nigeria
by Emmanuel Mitaire Tarurhor 1 and Enoh Hilda Olele 2,*

1 Department of Business Administration, Faculty of the Social Sciences,, Delta State University, No. 102, New Sapele Agbor Road,, Abraka P.M.B. 1, Nigeria

2 Department of Economics, Faculty of the Social Sciences, Delta State University,, No. 102, New Sapele Agbor Road,, Abraka P.M.B 1, Nigeria

* Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Abstract: The study examined corporate governance and the performance of non-financial firms in Nigeria within the canonical correlation analytical framework. The study validated the relationship between set of corporate governance variables and set of firm’s performance variables using relevant data extracted from the firm’s published annual financial statements and various issues of the Nigerian stock exchange fact books spanning 2011-2018. The results from this study provided evidence to prove the existence of a statistically significant association between sets of corporate governance and sets of firm’s performance variables using the Wilks’ Lambda, Pillai’s trace and Lawley-Hotelling trace at the 5 percent significance level and Roy’s Largest root at the 1 percent significance level. The implication of this study is that corporate governance is highly instrumental in improving the performance of non-financial firms in Nigeria. In other words, an improvement in corporate governance indices will inevitably boost the profitability of non-financial firms in Nigeria.

Keywords: Corporate Governance, Firm’s Performance, Canonical Correlation Analysis, Non-Financial Firms, Agency Problem.

JEL classification:   C18 - Methodological Issues: General,  G3 - Corporate Finance and Governance,   L25 - Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope,   M21 - Business Economics,   M41 - Accounting

SciPap 2020, 28(3), 1112; https://doi.org/10.46585/sp28031112

Received: 2 July 2020 / Revised: 20 October 2020 / Accepted: 25 October 2020 / Published: 26 November 2020