Ownership, Governance and Firm Performance in Malaysia

Corporate governance is often regarded as a weak link in Asia’s company performance. Most studies have focused on the relationship between ownership and firm value, but the instruments that mediate that relationship have often been overlooked. This paper attempts to address this issue by examining the relationship between ownership types and firm performance by analysing variations in governance practices and their impact on firm performance. This paper shows that different types of majority owners exhibit distinct traits of behaviour and preferences for corporate governance practices in an environment of pervasive concentration of shareholding. Such governance practices and various firm characteristics are found to have an impact on firm performance.