Board Characteristics and Corporate Performance in the Netherlands

We analyze the performance-board characteristic nexus of Dutch listed firms. The Netherlands has a continental-European two-tier board structure. This makes it interesting to analyze the impact of management and supervisory board characteristics (size, composition and remuneration) on corporate performance. In Dutch corporate governance, the supervisory board plays a role in (anti-) investor protection. Subsequently, both board size and composition are variables that reflect corporate decision-making. In order to deal with this endogeneity problem, we use governance indicators such as (anti-) investor protection to endogenize board variables. Our results reveal that the size of the management board is not affecting corporate performance. We find support for a negative relationship between the supervisory board size and firm performance. Moreover, we observe a negative relationship between the proportion of supervisory board members with network ties to other organizations and performance.