JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP, ACCOUNTABILITY AND ETHICS
The Finance Committee of the Board and Financial Performance: A Resource
Dependence Perspective
Author(s): Craig A. Peterson, James Philpot
Citation: Craig A. Peterson, James Philpot, (2013) "The Finance Committee of the Board and Financial Performance: A Resource Dependence Perspective," Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, Vol. 10, Iss. 2, pp. 16 - 34
Article Type: Research paper
Publisher: North American Business Press
Abstract:
This study examines whether properly staffed board-level finance committees improve firm performance.
Using a sample of US firms, directors are categorized using resource dependence taxonomy. Hypotheses
related to firm performance are formulated and metrics including accounting measures, stock market
performance, and long-term investments tested. There is some support that firms with a finance
committee showed greater Jensen productivity measures. The evidence also suggests that finance
committees are most effective in improving performance when staffed with top management from publicly
traded companies and investment or commercial bankers. Consistent with others, we find little
association between firm performance and overall board composition.