The influence of ownership structures and board characteristics towards firm performance: Evidence from listed companies in Dubai

Corporate governance has received much attention globally, especially after numerous
accounting scandals and failures that involve large companies throughout the world. Numbers of previous studies have been conducted in examining the association of corporate governance with firm performance. This study examines the role of board of directors and ownership structures towards firm performance in Dubai. This study is being tested on 79 listed companies in Dubai for year 2014. The results of this study show that independent directors and foreign ownership structure influence the firm performance as measured by ROA and ROE. In addition, the results show that firm size is positively significant to firm performance either ROA or ROE. However, there are no significant relationship between board size and firm performance. Similarly, GCC and Arab ownership structures, which are
insignificant in this relationship