Ownership, Corporate Governance, and Bank Performance in Iran

ABSTRACT

An efficient banking system with the right monetary policy by controlling liquidity and inflation and directing resources to productive economic activities plays an essential role in economic development. However, banks’ performance is influenced by various political, economic, managerial, and social factors, and the study of these factors has been considered the topic of interest to researchers. This paper uses the structural equation modeling method to investigate the effect of ownership structure and corporate governance on listed banks’ performance in the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2017. Based on the results, ownership structure dimensions have a relatively insignificant impact on corporate governance. However, the financial performance dimension has a statistically significant negative effect. The results also indicate that corporate governance is significantly associated with a positive effect on financial performance. Consequently, the results indicate that corporate governance may mitigate the negative impact that ownership structure dimensions may have on bank financial performance.