Purpose The purpose of the paper is to explore the impact of board size on the accounting returns and asset quality of Indian banks. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses ordinary least squares regression, robust regression and panel data methods for estimation, based on data collected for a sample of 29 Indian banks that are listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and form part of the NSE-500 index over a period of eight financial years 2009-2016. The data pertaining to the board size of the sample banks is collected from the annual reports of banks, whereas the data relating to return on assets (ROA) and ratio of the gross non-performing assets to total assets and control variables (bank age and bank size) is extracted from ACE Equity database. Findings This paper concludes that the size of the governing board has a positive impact on the accounting returns (measured through ROA) of the Indian banks. Further, board size is observed to be insignificant in determining the asset quality of Indian banks. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature and practitioners in a number of ways. First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study on the impact of board size on the accounting returns and asset quality of Indian banks. The findings of the study contribute new theoretical insights to the body of knowledge on the influence of the size of the board, which may be useful for future researchers. Second, banks may enhance their financial performance by taking cognizance of the findings of this study. Finally, equity investors may make use of the findings of this article in deciding on whether to invest in a bank’s stock/lend to the bank based on board size of the bank.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of deviation from the target investment in working capital (WC) (measured by net trade cycle (NTC)) on the profitability (measured by gross operating income (GOI) and net operating income (NOI)) of the listed non-financial Indian firms. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on the data collected on NTC, GOI, NOI and other variables pertaining to 242 listed non-financial Indian firms that form part of the Bombay Stock exchange 500 Index for the period 2012–2017 (1,452 firm-year observations). Following Banos-Caballero et al. (2010), the authors use a firm fixed effect regression as the benchmark regression for finding out the determinants of NTC of the sample firms. Furthermore, this study explores the impact of deviation (above and below target) from the target investments in WC on the firm profitability (GOI and NOI) employing fixed effect regression. Findings The result of this study reveals that Indian firms maintain a target NTC and try to converge in case of any deviations to it. Furthermore, the profitability of the sample firms was observed to be influenced by the deviation from the target NTC irrespective of whether the deviation was above or below the target investment level in WC. Practical implications This study highlights the importance of good WC management for firms due to the negative impact of the over- and under-investments in WC and contributes to the existing body of knowledge by suggesting that managers should keep close to the target WC and not deviate from this in order to maximize the firms’ profitability. Originality/value To the best of the knowledge of the researchers, this is perhaps the first study to examine the impact of firms’ deviation from their target investment in WC on the profitability for non-financial firms listed and operating in India.

The purpose of the paper is to investigate whether women directors impact the risk and return of Indian banks. This study employs panel data models for a sample of 29 Indian banks that form part of the National Stock Exchange 500 index for the period 2009–2016. This paper concludes that women directors influence the accounting returns (measured through Return on Assets) of Indian banks. However, it was found that women directors did not affect the risks (measured through Equity Beta and gross NPA to Total Assets) of the sample banks. This paper contributes to the literature and practitioners in several ways. To the best of the knowledge of the authors, no study has examined the impact of women directors on the risk and return of banks operating in India. Hence, the findings of this article have substantial implications both to academia and practitioners.

This paper explores the role of board characteristics of Indian banks on their market performance. We conducted panel data analysis on a sample of 29 Indian banks that form part of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) 500 index (covering a period of 8 years from 2009-2016). While ten board characteristics were considered as independent variables, Tobin"s Q was considered as the dependent variable (Tobin"s Q was assumed to be a proxy for market performance of banks). Findings suggest that only three out of ten board characteristics (average number of boards served, CEO duality and number of meetings conducted) positively affect market performance of Indian banks. Our sample included 29 Indian banks covering a period of 8 years. Also, other corporate governance mechanisms, such as characteristics of audit committee, stakeholder relations committee, nomination and remuneration committee and risk management committee were not considered for the study. Hence caution must be taken in generalizing the results of the study. Contribution/ Originality: This study is one of very few studies which have investigated the impact of board characteristics on the market performance of banks. Ten board characteristics are extracted from the annual reports of Indian banks and these may be used by researchers in the future, to act as proxy for corporate governance 1. INTRODUCTION Corporate Governance (CG) creates and sustains monitoring frameworks which guide the managerial actions such that the agents are motivated to enhance the well-being of the various stakeholders of the firm (Clarke, 1998; Cooper and Owen, 2007). The literature has extensively described the positive effect of corporate governance on the financial performance of firms. For instance, firms with better CG mechanisms report superior profitability

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the influence of independent directors (non-executive directors) on the market risks of the Indian banks. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on the data collected over a period of seven years (2009-2016) for a set of 29 Indian banks that are the constituents of the National Stock Exchange 500 Index. The data for independent directors of the sample banks are extracted from the annual reports of the banks, whereas the data relating to the dependent and control variables are compiled from the Ace equity and the Reserve Bank of India databases. The study uses the panel data method for analysis of the collected data for the sample banks. Findings This study concludes that independent directors increase the market risks for Indian banks (measured through equity beta). Originality/value This is, perhaps, the first paper to look into the impact of independent directors on the market risks of Indian banks. The policymakers and banks may need to be aware of the risk implications of the findings of the study in the Indian context, such that the independent directors enable their banks in reducing the market risks.