Bolagens vinstutdelning har länge varit omdiskuterad och rönt mycket uppmärksamhet under de senaste årtiondena. Tidigare forskning har påvisat dess relevans ur ett flertal perspektiv, trots detta finns inget enstämmigt svar på vilka faktorer som påverkar bolagens vinstutdelning. Ett relativt nytt forskningsområde avser styrelsens sammansättning och dess relation till bolagens vinstutdelning. Studien utgår ifrån detta forskningsområde för att kunna urskilja hur diverse styrelsevariabler påverkar utdelningsnivåerna. Därför ämnar studien att svara på om styrelsens sammansättning har något samband med de svenska large cap- bolagens vinstutdelning och i så fall hur sambandet ser ut. Studiens syfte är att undersöka om styrelsens sammansättning relaterar, och i så fall hur, med bolagens vinstutdelning på den svenska börsen. Utifrån tidigare forskning och teori har författarna lyckats urskilja följande styrelsevariabler som är relevanta att undersöka: styrelsestorlek, styrelsens oberoende, andel kvinnliga styrelseledamöter, styrelsens ämbetstid, styrelsens aktieinnehav och den verkställande direktörens dualitet. Datan för dessa variabler samlades in manuellt via respektive bolags årsredovisning under en femårsperiod mellan 2010 och 2014. För att kunna besvara studiens frågeställning utgick författarna från ett kvantitativt metodval. Utifrån befintlig teori och tidigare empirisk forskning konstruerades hypoteser över hur respektive styrelsevariabel bör påverka bolagens vinstutdelning. För att kunna avgöra om styrelsens sammansättning påverkar bolagens vinstutdelning utförde författarna en OLS- regression och en robust regression. Därtill tillkom tester för multikollinearitetsproblem och heteroskedasticitet. Baserat på studiens resultat verkar det finnas ett samband mellan styrelsens sammansättning och vinstutdelningens storlek för svenska large cap- bolag. Resultatet indikerar att både styrelsestorlek och andel kvinnliga styrelseledamöter har en positiv påverkan på bolagens vinstutdelning. Resultatet indikerade också att styrelsens oberoende och aktieinnehav samt dualitet har en negativ påverkan på bolagens vinstutdelning. Vidare har styrelsens ämbetstid ingen signifikant relation till bolagens vinstutdelning. Studiens resultat tenderar att kunna förklaras utifrån Principal agentteorin, då många av variablerna påvisade relationer som förväntas i enlighet med denna teori. Avslutningsvis kan dessa resultat vara av intresse för investerare, lagstiftare och svenska bolag.

Background - The underrepresentation of women in corporate boardrooms has been a central corporate governance issue for decades; still, improvement is made at a slow pace and varies by industry sector. On average, the Swedish financial industry displays high levels of female board representation compared to other industry sectors; however, there are large differences between the companies. Therefore, investigating whether certain organizational and/or board characteristics have an impact on female board representation in this industry may provide valuable insights as to whether some factors enhance gender diversity on these boards and, consequently, could serve as tools for further growth of female board representation. Purpose - The purpose of this study is to evaluate the development of female board representation in Swedish publicly listed financial firms and to investigate whether certain organizational and/or board characteristics have an impact on female board representation. As such, the study answers call for research regarding women on boards in the finance industry, while also contributing to the limited amount of research examining whether certain organizational factors may act as predictors of female board representation. Method - The study is of quantitative nature with a deductive approach and longitudinal design. Data is collected from annual reports and corporate governance reports of Swedish public financial firms listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and NGM Equity between 2011 and 2017. The initial sample contains all 60 listed firms, while the final sample consists of 37 firms. The dependent variable is female board representation and the independent variables are firm size, female employment base, board size, outside directors, multiple directorships, older directors, and female chairman. Control variables for market capitalization segments and year-fixed effects are included. Data is analysed using multiple linear regression, which is in line with prior research. Conclusion - The results of the study show that there is a significant negative relationship between female board representation and board size, while there are significant positive relationships between female board representation and the variables outside directors and female employment base. Significant positive relationships are also found between female board representation and effects related to time and market capitalization segment. The results are both in line with and contradictory to prior research, indicating the need for further research to clarify the relationship – if any – between certain factors and female board representation. Moreover, the results provide indications for policymaking, especially concerning the large inequalities found regarding the position as chairman as well as the relationship between the female employment base and female board representation.

This study examines empirically whether ownership structure and board composition, political costs and media agenda setting, and proprietary costs influenced the related-party disclosures of Chinese listed companies during 2001 to 2005. The results indicate that ownership concentration, foreign ownership, the proportion of independent directors, firm size, media attention and growth opportunities have significantly affected related-party disclosures in China.

This study examines empirically whether ownership structure and board composition, political costs and media agenda setting, and proprietary costs influenced the related-party disclosures of Chinese listed companies during 2001 to 2005. The results indicate that ownership concentration, foreign ownership, the proportion of independent directors, firm size, media attention and growth opportunities have significantly affected related-party disclosures in China.

Svensk bolagsstyrning regleras enligt Koden. Bolagsstyrning är ett omdiskuterat ämne som behandlar aspekter som bland annat anger hur många oberoende styrelseledamöter som ska finnas i ett företag eller exempelvis att svenska företag ska sträva efter en jämn könsfördelning i styrelsen. Det finns flera exempel på länder som infört lagstadgad könskvotering och detta har även varit uppe för diskussion i Sverige. Huruvida olika styrelsesammansätt- ningar faktiskt påverkar ett företags finansiella prestation är väl studerat ur ett internationellt perspektiv, däremot är den befintliga forskningen av den svenska marknaden något begränsad. Syftet med studien är att undersöka huruvida det finns ett sam- band mellan bolagsstyrningen och finansiell prestation hos före- tag noterade på Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. Bolagsstyrning defi- nieras utifrån styrelsens sammansättning och den finansiella pre- stationen utifrån ett värderingsmått och ett redovisningsmått. Samtliga av studiens hypoteser förkastas, däremot konstateras ett positivt signifikant samband mellan styrelsestorlek och Tobin’s Q. Mellan variablerna andel oberoende, andel kvinnor och ge- nomsnittsålder återfinns däremot inget signifikant samband i regressionen med samtliga företag. Däremot återfinns ett antal spridda samband när Nasdaq OMX Stockholm analyseras uppde- lat i small cap, mid cap och large cap var för sig. Exempelvis för företag tillhörande large cap finns ett positivt samband mellan an- delen kvinnliga ledamöter och finansiell prestation. / Background Swedish corporate governance is governed by ‘Koden’. Corporate governance is a controversial topic that deals with aspects that indicate, among other things, how many independent board members to be present in a company or, for example, that Swe- dish companies should strive for an even gender distribution in the board. There are several examples of countries that have introduced statutory gender quotas, and this has also been discussed in Sweden. Whether different board compositions actually affect a company’s financial performance is well studied from an inter- national perspective, on the other hand, the existing research of the Swedish market is somewhat limited. Purpose The purpose with this study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between corporate governance and financial performance of companies listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. Corpo- rate governance is defined on the basis of the composition of the board and the financial performance is based on both a valuation measure and an accounting measure. Conclusion All of the hypotheses in the study are rejected. However, a positive significant relationship is found between board size and To-bin’s Q. No significant relationship can be found between the var- iables independence, women and age in the regression with all companies. However when Nasdaq OMX Stockholm is analyzed divided into small cap, mid cap and large cap, a number of relationships are identified.

Syftet är att studera sambandet mellan kvinnor i styrelsen och hållbarhetsredovisningen hos företag börsnoterade i Sverige. Tidigare studier som genomförts i andra länder har visat att det finns ett positivt samband mellan andelen kvinnor i styrelser och ett företags hållbarhetsredovisning. Därför har vi i den här studien valt för att studera om andelen kvinnor i styrelsen kan hjälpa till att förklara mängden hållbarhetsredovisning även i bolag noterade på den svenska börsen, samt om andelen kvinnor kan förklara val av standard för hållbarhetsredovisningen. Studien har utgått från den positivistiska forskningsfilosofin och har en deduktiv ansats. Forskningsstrategin är kvantitativ och inhämtade sekundärdata från databasen Retriever samt årsredovisningar. Populationen i studien består av 318 företag noterade på svenska börsen där det slutliga urvalet blev 278 företag. Data har analyserats med hjälp av statistikprogrammet SPSS via en korrelationsanalys och slutligen en multivariat regressionsanalys. Studiens resultat finner inget samband mellan andelen kvinnor och mängd information i hållbarhetsredovisningen. Vi finner inte heller något samband mellan andelen kvinnor och val av ISO eller Global Compact som redovisningsstandard, dock finner vi ett samband med val av GRI som redovisningsstandard. Studien finner inte något enhälligt resultat som visar vilken den kritiska andelen kvinnor i styrelsen är. / The aim with the study is to study if there exists a relation between the number of women on board and the sustainability report in companies that´s listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Earlier studies show a positive relation between the number of women on board and the sustainability reports. Therefore have we chosen to study this in companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The study is based on positivist research philosophy and uses a deductive approach. We have used a quantitative method and used data from annual reports and Retriever. The population consists of 318, the final sample is 278 companies all listed at the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The data is analysed with the help of SPSS and we have done a correlation analysis and several regression analysis. The study could not find any relation between the number of women on board and the sustainability report. We also could not find any relation between the number of women on board and the choice of ISO or Global Compact. However, we could find a positive relation with GRI. The study could not find a conclusive result to show critical mass.

Board gender diversity has been on the corporate agenda for several years, despite numerous gender diversity initiatives around the EU-Member States, women remain underrepresented in the boardroom. There is an intense debate and the problem is frequently raised and discussed by politicians, journalists, shareholders and investors. The thesis examines if gender diversity in the boardroom has any significant effects on firm performance and stock volatility based on 318 firm-year observations with firms listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, Copenhagen Stock Exchange and Helsinki Stock Exchange from 2013 to 2015. The authors find no significant relationship between gender diversified board and firm performance for the overall sample at any conventional level. However, the authors find a positive and statistically significant relationship between gender diversified board and firm performance for only Swedish firms, measured by Tobin’s q. Furthermore, the empirical findings from the relationship between board gender diversity and stock volatility using 1 272 firm-quarter observations, are statistical significant and shows that firms with high gender diversified board have lower stock volatility compared to firms with low gender diversified board.

Background: Females are underrepresented in Swedish boards, and in 2016 females represented 29 % of all board members. Many researchers have studied the relationship between the gender composition of company boards and company performance, but they have not managed to reach consensus in explaining the relationship. Pure shareholder theory suggests that the company philosophy is to focus on profitability and shareholder maximization. If the gender distribution in the board affects the performance of the company, some companies may underperform because of their board composition. If so, this is an issue that should be solved according to the shareholder theory and some adjustments to the composition should be done.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether or not companies with female directors on their boards perform better than companies without female directors on their boards. The target group of the study is Swedish listed companies with a statutory domicile in Sweden.   Method: For conducting this research, data for a period of three years (2013-2015) are collected from a sample of 94 Swedish listed companies. The performance measurements investigated are the ratios; ROE, profit margin, ROCE, EBIT margin and EPS. As for control variables, the board size and company size are used. An independent samples t-test is conducted, as well as a correlation matrix analysis and a regression analysis, to fulfil the purpose of this study.   Conclusion: The results show that there is a significant positive correlation between female representation in the boardroom and the ratio EBIT margin. However, the correlation strength is so weak that it is not fair to draw the conclusion that female representation has a positive effect on the financial performance of the companies. Also, the regression analysis shows no relationship between the two variables. However, this study contributes by showing that there is no negative correlation between the presence of females on boards and the financial performance of the companies.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain how the share of independent boardmembers, controlling for different forms of independence, and agency costs correlate within Swedish firms listed on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm list for large firms. The goal is to extend the understanding of board independence in relation to agency costs while adding empirical insight into the Swedish Code requirements on the board of directors. Theoretical Perspective: With a theoretical anchor in agent theory, this study presents the two conflicts assumed to exist between the agent and the principals within the firms. The first conflict is between agent and principal, and the second is between principal and principal. The agency perspective is used to explain how agency costs arise, within which conflict they arise, and how board members' independence should mitigate these. Method: This study applied a positivistic, deductive research approach using a quantitative strategy. Data was collected from annual reports and the databases Orbis, Holdings, and Retriever Business. Proxies were used for measuring agency costs. The statistical analysis ofthe data consisted of Pearson correlation, linear regressions, and binary logistic regressions. Conclusion: No unambiguous negative correlation could be confirmed between independent board members and agency costs when examined separately. A tradeoff in board members'independence and total agency costs can be confirmed. This implies that when coexisting board members’ different independence works in opposing directions for reducing the residual loss tied both to the agent-principal conflict and the principal-principal conflict

Studien syftar till att undersöka sambandet om huruvida bolag ökar eller minskar sin utdelning när olika styrelse och VD specifika variabler förändras. Undersökta variabler avser andel kvinnor i styrelsen, styrelsens storlek och styrelsemedlemmars interna aktieinnehav. Med tillämpning av en kvantitativ panelstudie baserad på en deduktiv ansats ämnar studien belysa hur sambanden ser ut för svenska börsnoterade bolag som inkluderas i OMXS30 under åren2009–2021. Genom ordinal probit regressioner kommer studiens empiriska resultat jämföras mot ett teoretiskt ramverk i syfte att förkasta eller bekräfta studiens hypoteser. Det teoretiska ramverket består av irrelevansteorin, agentteorin och Lintners utdelningspolicy.Resultatet finner skiftande stöd i studiens teoretiska ramverk. Andelen kvinnor uppvisar ett negativt samband, vilket står i kontrast till övervägande del av teorier och tidigare forskning. Styrelsens storlek uppvisar ett positivt samband gentemot utdelningsförändring, vilket går i linje med tidigare forskning. För internt innehav som förväntas vara negativt, återfinns ett svagt negativt samband för värdet på aktieinnehav för VD och styrelseordförande. Styrelseledamöternas aktieinnehav uppvisar i motsats ett positivt samband och styrka innehav visar ingen riktning i sitt samband. / The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between companies’ decision to increase or decrease their dividend and changes in board and CEO specific variables. The specificvariables refer to the proportion of women on the board, the size of the board and the internal shareholding of the board. Using a quantitative panel study with a deductive approach, the study explores this relationship by looking at companies included in the stock market indexOMXS30 during the years 2009–2021. The empirical results are compared against a theoretical framework to reject or confirm the study's hypotheses using ordinal probit regressions. The theoretical framework consists of the irrelevance theory, the agency theory and Lintner's dividend policy.The results show varied support in the theoretical framework. The proportion of women shows a negative relationship, which is inconsistent with most theories and previous research. The size of the board shows a positive relationship to dividend change, which is in line with previous research. For internal holdings, which are expected to be negative, a weak negative correlation is found for the value of shareholdings with the CEO and chairman of the board. In contrast, the board members' shareholdings show a positive relationship and strength holdings show no direction in their relationship.