Attendance of Board Meetings and Company Performance: Evidence from Taiwan

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates board meeting attendance and its effects on profit performance of Taiwanese listed corporations. High meeting attendance by directors themselves can enhance a firm’s profitability but higher attendance by their representatives has an adverse effect. Independence of directors or a board is also positively associated with firm performance. These results largely hold even when the sample is decomposed to count for different ownership structures and director types. There are a few factors determining board meeting attendance. Outside directors of a company with more concentrated ownership or controlled by a more powerful ultimate shareholder are less likely to attend board meetings.

Keywords: board meeting attendance, family controlled firm, ultimate shareholder, firm performance

JEL Classification: G34