The determinants and effects of board nomination committees

This article assesses the corporate governance-related antecedents of nomination committee adoption, and the impact of nomination committees’ existence and their composition on board independence and board demographic diversity. We conducted a longitudinal study of board composition amongst 210 Swiss public companies from January 2001 through December 2003, a period during which the Swiss (Stock) Exchange (SWX) introduced new corporate governance-related disclosure guidelines. We find firms with nomination committees are more likely to have a higher number of independent and foreign directors, but not more likely to have a higher number of female board members. Further, the existence of nomination committees is associated with a higher degree of nationality diversity but is not related to board educational diversity. We also find that nomination committee composition matters in the nomination of independent and foreign, but not of female directors. Our results suggest that understanding different board roles and composition require a multi-theoretical approach, and that agency theory, resource-dependence theory and group effectiveness theory help to explain different aspects of board composition and effectiveness. Finally, the article discusses the concept of diversity and appropriate ways to study diversity in a boardroom context.

Corporate governance and securities class actions

This study investigates the governance attributes of firms that have been subject to securities class actions (SCAs). There has been a recent sizable increase in the number of firms subject to SCAs in Australia. We examine a sample of firms that have been subject to SCAs due to disclosure breaches and match the firms by industry and size to a control sample. First, we examine the compliance culture of the SCA firms via the frequency of Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)queries of the firm and find that the frequency of ASX queries is positively associated with the occurrence of a SCA. Secondly, we provide evidence that SCA firms exhibit weaker levels of corporate governance than the matched control sample. In addition, we contribute to the understanding of firms subject to SCAs and their corporate governance attributes. Our results suggest the presence of a nomination committee may be associated with higher agency costs and that the influence of CEO duality may reduce the effectiveness of a nomination committee.

Who selects the 'right' directors? An examination of the association between board selection, gender diversity and outcomes

Using a sample of companies from the top 500 listed firms in Australia, we investigate whether the presence of a designated nomination committee and female representation on the nomination committee affect board gender diversity. We also examine whether gender diversity on the board affects firm risk and financial performance. We find that board gender diversity is significantly and positively associated with the presence of a designated nomination committee and that female representation on the nomination committee is a significant explanatory factor of increasing board gender diversity following the release of the 2010 Australian Securities Exchange Corporate Governance Council (ASXCGC) recommendations. Further, our results support the business case for board gender diversity as we find greater gender diversity moderates excessive firm risk which in turn improves firms’ financial performance. Our results are robust after correcting for selection bias and controlling for other board, firm and industry characteristics.

Shlaudeman nomination : hearings before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress, second session, on the nomination of Harry W. Shlaudeman, of California, a Foreign Service officer of class 1, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, May 25, and June 10 and 11, 1976.

Includes bibliographical references.

Nomination of Robert B. Pirie, Jr. : hearing before the Subcommittee on Manpower and Personnel of the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, on the nomination of Robert B. Pirie, Jr., to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs, and Logistics, April 6, 1979.

Mode of access: Internet.

Nomination of Amy L. Comstock : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, second session, on the nomination of Amy L. Comstock, to be Director of the Office of Government Ethics, May 12, 2000.

Shipping list no.: 2000-0341-P.

Nomination of Arnold G. Holz to be chief financial officer of NASA : hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Tranpsortation, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, second session, April 13, 1994.

Shipping list no.: 94-0395-P.

Nomination of Wendy L. Gramm [microform] : hearing before the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, United States Senate, One Hundredth Congress, second session on the nomination of Wendy L. Gramm, of Texas, to be Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, February 3, 1988.

CIS Microfiche Accession Numbers: CIS 88 S161-26

Nomination of John Andrew Koskinen, : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, second session, on nomination of John Andrew Koskinen, to be Deputy Director for management, Office of Management and Budget June 30, 1994.

Shipping list no.: 95-0021-P.

Nomination of Benjamin L. Erdreich : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, first session, on nomination of Benjamin L. Erdreich, to be member and chairman, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, June 23, 1993.

Shipping list no.: 95-0043-P.

Nomination of Harvey G. Ryland : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, second session on nomination of Harvey G. Ryland to be Deputy Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency, September 20, 1994.

Shipping list no.: 95-0000-P.

Nomination of George A. Omas : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, second session on the nomination of George A. Omas, to be a Commissioner of the Postal Rate Commission, September 19, 2000.

Shipping list no.: 2001-0103-P.

Nomination of Wayne Arthur Schley : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, second session, on nomination of Wayne Arthur Schley, to be commissioner, Postal Rate Commission, October 2, 1992.

Shipping list no.: 93-0126-P.

Nomination of Ronald Harmon Brown to be secretary of commerce : hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, One Hundred Third Congress, first session, January 6, 1993.

Shipping list no.: 93-0504-P

Nomination of John Skelton Williams : hearing before the Committee on Banking and Currency, United States Senate, first session on the nomination of John Skelton Williams to be Comptroller of the Currency.

Mode of access: Internet.