Abstract:

The aim of this study is to ascertain the impact of various corporate governance characteristics on firm share prices. Hence the study involves an empirical and comparative analysis of the various responses of firm share prices to governance attributes such as board size, female gender, board meetings, board independence and board ownership. The relationship is explained by the agency and stewardship theory which provide a theoretical background to this study. The ex-post facto design was employed, which involved 66 non-financial firms from the 114 non- financial companies. A 4year period from 2013-2017 was selected because of the introduction of IFRS in Nigeria. The study utilized the pooled Ordinary Least Square to analyse the data and found that the drivers of firm share prices are Board independence, presence of female gender on the board and board ownership. A robustness test carried out revealed that board size is a driver of firm share price. The results have implication for various stakeholders who wish to understand the dynamics surrounding the firm’s share price. In addition, the findings will reduce the cost of governance. The study recommends that firms embrace corporate governance practices to drive performance