A growing body of empirical evidence suggests a positive link between boardroom gender diversity and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance in developed economy firms. However, there is a paucity of evidence regarding whether this relationship holds true for developing economy firms. Relying on stakeholder and institutional theory, this study examines for a positive link between board gender diversity and enhanced corporate social performance of firms across three Asia Pacific emerging economies (Malaysia, Pakistan, and Thailand). We find a significant relationship between board gender diversity and enhanced adoption of CSR in these emerging markets. Given that emerging societies and their environments are often the most vulnerable to unethical corporate practices, our finding that female directors can play a strategic role in enabling firms to ethically manage their social responsibilities and sustainable practices has important policy implications for regulators and stakeholders. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

This paper examine the relationship between four important corporate governance mechanisms (board size, board composition, CEO/chairman duality and audit committee) and two firm performance measures (return on equity, ROE, and profit margin, PM), for a sample of 30 Pakistani listed firms between 2008 and 2009. The results provide evidence of a positive significant relationship between ROE and PM and three corporate governance mechanisms (board size, board composition and audit committee). The implication of this is that, the board size should be limited to a sizeable limit and board must be a right mixture of executive and non-executive directors. The study, however, could not provide a significant relationship between the two performance measures (ROE and PM) and CEO/Chairman duality. These results are consistent with prior empirical studies.

Purpose -The aim of this paper is to examine the association between board demographics and firm financial performance of Karachi Stock

This study examined relationship between board gender diversity and its effect on firm performance, based on evidence from the Pakistan. We use empirical data on KSE 100 Index firms observed in 2008 to 2010. Twenty Five percent (25%) of the sample firms have at least one woman in the boardroom and only 3.33% of the CEOs are female. In order to investigate the rapport of gender diversity in board on firm performance, two-stage least-squares estimation used, using Economic Valued Added (EVA) as performance measurement technique. Our results indicate that there is no significant relationship between board gender diversity on firm performance in Pakistan. This implies that the business case for board gender diversity is not supported for this particular sample

Purpose -This paper aims to focus mainly on the relationship between ownership structure and earnings management of a developed and two developing economies, and is distinct from prior research.Design/methodology/approach -Using a sample of firms from three countries (Australia, Malaysia and Pakistan), the detailed ownership evolutions for the period 2011-2013 were observed.Findings -Overall, the authors find that in the East, ownership concentration is negatively associated with financial reporting quality. Individual ownership and group ownership were negatively associated with earnings management in Pakistan, however, not in Malaysia where the same were positively associated. Further, the result of this study indicated that state ownership is negatively associated with firm performance. Among the control variables, it was found that larger firms were negatively correlated with financial reporting, while firms with a larger board size and mature in the maneuver were coupled positively with earnings management.Originality/value -The results highlight the highly individualized effects of blockholders and the need for research to further understand the mechanisms through which shareholders impact financial reporting quality.