Characteristics of the board of directors and involvement in innovation activities: A cognitive perspective

Abstract

This article focuses on the relationship between the characteristics of the board of directors and the innovation policies in the Tunisian context from a cognitive perspective of corporate governance. The method used in this study is based on the regression analysis. We directly regress the board of directors' characteristics with the firm level of innovation. Our model includes some control variables such as the firm's size, the firm's sector of activity and even whether firm is listed or not. We empirically demonstrate that only the inside directors and the duality of the CEO are positively and significantly associated with the firm's level of innovation. Moreover, the empirical results show that the big size of the board has a negative impact on the development of innovative firms. In the same way, we demonstrate that the compensation system which is based on long-term objectives has no influence on the determination of the innovation policies in Tunisian firms.