Independent Directors, Female Directors and Performance of Financial Listed Companies in China

Abstract

Both independent and female directors are important parts of the board composition. This paper empirically examines the impact of independent directors’ background and the size of independent directors and female directors. The background of independent directors has positive effect on the performance of Chinese financial listed companies. The size of independent directors, female directors and female independent directors has no significant effect on corporate performance. This result provides an empirical evidence for the reform of corporate governance in China.