This study investigates the relationship that exists between corporate governance and  firm 
performance  of some selected companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The intent of 
the study is to determine whether corporate governance mechanisms-  CEO duality, board size 
audit committee independence, and ownership concentration  have an impact on  firm  performance  surrogated by  return on assets (ROA); return on equity (ROE), profit margin (PM). 
It provides empirical evidence  for fifty two (52) non-financial firms in Nigeria for a  period of 
2003 to  2008. The  Generalised Least Square (GLS) regression is employed to  examine  the 
relationship existing between the variables.  The results reveal  that  board size,  audit committee 
independence, ownership  concentration have  a  significant relationship  with return on equity and
profit margin. It  is also observed that  CEO duality has no impact on  firm performance.  The 
advocacy is for  the  Securities and Exchange Commission to take into cognisance industry 
specific effects before formulating codes of  corporate governance  that determine the characteristic  of the audit committee or the board structure.  Proposition is also made for  the
Corporate Governance Committee  of  companies to  endeavour to do a regular appraisal of their 
corporate governance compliance status so as to understand its effect on performance.
Keywords: Corporate Governance, Firm performance, Agency Theory, Agency Costs

Certification----------------------------------------------------------------..iii
Declaration--------------------------------------------------------....................iv
Dedication ----------------------------------------------------------------....v
Acknowledgment------------------------------------------------.----------.....vi
Abstract------------------------------------------------.------------.------..vii
Table of Contents------------------------------------------------------------..ix
List of Figures --------------------------------------------------------------.xiv
List of Table --------------------------------------------------------------....xv

Chapter One: Introduction----------------------------------------.--------..--.1
1.0  Background to the study----------------------------------------------.....1
1.1  Statement of Problem--------------------------------------------------..2
1.2  Objectives of Study----------------------------------------------------.3
1.3  Research Questions--------------------------------------------------......4
1.4  Hypotheses----------------------------------------------------------...4
1.5  Scope of Study--------------------------------------------------------.4
1.6  Significance of Study--------------------------------------------------...5
1.7  Limitations of Study----------------------------------------------------.6
1.8  Methodology----------------------------------------------------------6
1.9  Definition of Terms--------------------------------------------------......7

Chapter Two: Literature Review----------------------------------------.--.----.9
2.1  Introduction --------------------------------------------------------.--.9
2.2  Conceptual Framework------------------------------------------------....10
2.2.1  Agency Concept----------------------------------------------------......10
2.2.2   Corporate Governance Mechanisms for Reducing Agency Costs----------------..14
2.2.2.1 Board Size----------------------------------------------------------...14
2.2.2.2 CEO Duality--------------------------------------------------------....15
2.2.2.2 Ownership Concentration------------------------------------------------17
2.2.2.3 Audit Committee Independence------------------------------------------..18
2.2.3  Summary of Theory, Hypothesis and Conceptual Model----------------------....19
2.3  Theoretical Framework of Corporate Governance----------------------------....21
2.3.1  Stakeholder Theory----------------------------------------------------...22
2.3.2  Stewardship theory----------------------------------------------------...22
2.3.3  Resource Dependency Theory (RDT)------------------------------------......22
2.3.4  Agency theory--------------------------------------------------------...23
2.3.5  Assumptions of Agency Theory------------------------------------------....24
2.3.6  Limitations of Agency Theory--------------------------------------------..25
2.4.  Measuring Firm Performance--------------------------------------------....26
2.5  Measuring Control Variables--------------------------------------------.--28
2.5.1  Company Size----------------------------------------------------------29
2.5.2  Leverage------------------------------------------------------------.....28
2.6  Corporate Governance and Performance Measures----------------------------...29
2.7  Methodological Review--------------------------------------------------.31
2.8  Corporate Governance Measures in Nigeria----------------------------------..32
2.8.1  The Role of the Board of Directors, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer--------..32
2.8.2  The Role of the Audit Committee------------------------------------------..33

Chapter Three: Research Methodology ----------------.------------------..------.34
3.1  Introduction------------------------------------------------------------34
3.2  Research Design--------------------------------------------------------.34
3.3  Population of Study----------------------------------------------------...34
3.4  Sample size and Sampling Technique------------------------------------..--.34
3.5  Data Gathering Method--------------------------------------------------..35
3.5.1  Sources of Data--------------------------------------------------------. 35
3.5.2  Instruments of Data Collection----------------------------------------..----35
3.5.3   Validity and Reliability of Instruments--------------------------------------.35
3.6  Data Analysis Method--------------------------------------------------...36
3.6.1  Methods of Data Analysis------------------------------------------------.36 
3.6.2  Instruments for Data Analysis (Including formulae) ----------------------------36
3.6.3  Model Specification----------------------------------------------------...37

Chapter Four: Data Presentation and Analysis --------------------..--------.----.. 39
4.1  Introduction----------------------------------------------------------..39
4.2  Data Presentation------------------------------------------------------..39 
4.2.1  Industry Based Presentation----------------------------------------------.39
4.3  Data Analysis --------------------------------------------------------....41
4.3.1  Summary Statistics------------------------------------------------------41
4.3.2  Correlation Analysis----------------------------------------------------..46
4.3.3  Econometric Analysis----------------------------------------------------47

Chapter Five: Summary, Findings, Conclusion And Recommendations--------------..52
5.1  Introduction----------------------------------------------------------..52
5.2  Summary of Work Done------------------------------------------------...52
5.3  Findings--------------------------------------------------------------.53
5.3.1  Theoretical Findings----------------------------------------------------..53
5.3.2  Empirical Findings------------------------------------------------------.54
5.4  Conclusion --------------------------------------------------------...--.55
5.5  Recommendations--------------------------------..----------------------55
5.6  Suggestions for Further Studies----------------------------------------.........56

References ----...------------------------------------------------------.58
Appendices --------------------------------------------------------------...--66
Appendix 1    Sample Companies and Their Industries----------------------.--66
Appendix 11   Generalised Least Square Regression Result Of Estimated Model (Fixed 
Effects) --------------------------------------------------68

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