Skin in the Game: Is Board Independence Destroying Firm Value?

Australian School of Business professor Peter Swan and colleague Marc-Oliver Fischer have stirred up the business community by refuting the popular view that independent board directors increase firm value. The researchers studied the performance of almost 1000 Australian companies since the ASX introduced voluntary governance guidelines in 2003. Those that followed the board independence recommendations increased CEO and director pay yet under-performed financially. “We estimate these losses conservatively at about A$69 billion over the period 2003-2011,” Swan says. “If the director has no substantial financial interest in the affairs of the company, the only thing they’re going to care about is their own wellbeing.”