Does Financial Leverage Mediate the Effect of Corporate Governance on a Firms’ Performance: Indonesian Firms Case

Abstract:

This research examines the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms, such as board size, board independence, female directorship, ownership concentration, director's ownership and audit reputation on firm performance and examines the effect of financial leverage in mediating corporate governance and firm performance. This research was conducted on 113 manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2013-2017, with a total of 565 observations. A panel data regression using the STATA 15.0 program is done to test the hypothesis. We find that board size has a positive effect on firm performance, while female directorship and ownership concentration have a negative effect on firm performance. Financial leverage partially mediates the effect of board size and ownership concentration on firm performance. This study contributes to corporate governance literature, especially factors that can mediate the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance.