Does the board diversity impact bank performance in the MENA countries? A multilevel study

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of board diversity (e.g. nationality, gender and educational level) on financial performance for a sample of banks listed in 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. This paper uses the system generalized method of moments estimation approach on the data of banks listed in the MENA countries over the period 2011–2018 to investigate the relationship between board diversity and financial performance. Also, the findings are supported by additional robustness tests, including ordinary least squares, fixed and random effect techniques. The empirical results show that there is a significant relationship between board diversity and financial performance in banks. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that board diversity related to nationality has a significant positive impact on bank performance. The findings also show an insignificant association between gender and educational level diversity and bank performance. The robustness analysis supports the findings of the baseline model. The study provides multi-country evidence on the importance of board diversity in the MENA region and it sheds light on possible tracks for future reforms aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the board’s functions. This paper extends the existing literature by providing empirical evidence on the association between board diversity and financial performance of banks in the MENA countries. This paper also provides preliminary evidence on the importance of board diversity to influence financial performance.