Corporate performance is the key indicator of availing the economic performances in all economies. Especially for the emerging economy, it is the oxygen for smooth economic operations. The study aims to investigate the influence of board characteristics on the corporate performance of the listed pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector from a developing country, namely Bangladesh. This empirical study examines eight attributes of the board and four financial performance indicators of the businesses. Here, the annual reports of the DSE-listed pharmaceutical and chemicals companies are considered to examine the impact of board attributes on corporate performance. Based on panel data analysis, this empirical study concludes that the fixed effect regression model is suitable for all four models. Except board size, the results demonstrate that all board attributes are generally statistically significant. Furthermore, it confirms that all the significant characteristics of the board are positively associated with corporate performance, except for board independence. The research offers valuable insights for policymakers, investors, organizations, and scholars, promoting optimal board structures, innovative solutions, and an enhanced understanding of corporate governance matters. This research explores the challenges in board attributes, which enhances our understanding of corporate governance matters and their impact over the last decade in the listed pharmaceutical and chemicals sectors in Bangladesh.

1. Abdeljawad, I., & Masri, R. M. (2020). Board Characteristics and Corporate Performance: Evidence from Palestine. An - Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities), 34(4), 745–770. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3533334
2. Abdullah, H., & Valentine, B. (2009). Fundamental and Ethics Theories of Corporate Governance. Middle Eastern Finance and Economics, 4, 88–96. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=886dc63d287375c54f5143225243a5edecddbf59
3. Abdulsamad, A. O., Yusoff, W. F. W., & Lasyoud, A. A. (2018). The Influence of the Board of Directors’ Characteristics on Firm Performance: Evidence from Malaysian Public Listed Companies. Corporate Governance and Sustainability Review, 2(1), 6–13. https://doi.org/10.22495/cgsrv2i1p1
4. Adamu, A., Ibrahim, Ishak, R. B., & Chandren, S. A. (2017). The Effect of Board Attributes on Real Earnings Management in Nigerian Financial Institutions. Journal of Accounting, Business and Finance Research, 1(1), 76–83. https://doi.org/10.20448/2002.11.76.83
5. Aifuwa, H. O., & Embele, K. (2019). Board Characteristics and Financial Reporting Quality. Journal of Accounting and Financial Management, 5(1), 30–49. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3394421
6. Al Farooque, O., Buachoom, W., & Sun, L. (2019). Board, audit committee, ownership and financial performance – emerging trends from Thailand. Pacific Accounting Review, 32(1), 54–81. https://doi.org/10.1108/par-10-2018-0079
7. Al-Absy, M., & Hasan, M. (2023). Impact of the board of directors’ characteristics on firm performance: A case of Bahraini listed firms. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 21(1), 291–301. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.21(1).2023.25
8. Al-Daoud, K. I., Saidin, S. Z., & Abidin, S. (2016). BOARD MEETING AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM THE AMMAN STOCK EXCHANGE. Corporate Board: Role, Duties and Composition, 12(2). https://doi.org/10.22495/cbv12i2art1
9. Al-Saidi, M. (2021). Boards of directors and firm performance: A study of non-financial listed firms on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Corporate Ownership and Control, 18(2), 40–47. https://doi.org/10.22495/cocv18i2art3
10. Amedi, A. M. R., & Mustafa, A. S. (2020). Board Characteristics and Firm Performance: Evidence from Manufacture Sector of Jordan. Accounting Analysis Journal, 9(3), 146–151. https://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/aaj/article/view/39577/17562
11. Ameen, A. A. M., & Mustafa, A. S. (2022). The impact of Board Characteristics on Firm Performance in Turkey. Journal of Accounting and Finance in Emerging Economies, 8(3), 437–444. https://doi.org/10.26710/jafee.v8i3.2412
12. Anas, M., Gulzar, I., Tabash, M. I., Ahmad, G., Yazdani, W., & Alam, M. F. (2023). Investigating the Nexus between Corporate Governance and Firm Performance in India: Evidence from COVID-19. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 16(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm16070307
13. Arora, A., & Sharma, C. (2015). Impact of Firm Performance on Board Characteristics: Empirical Evidence from India. IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, 4(1), 53–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/2277975215595559
14. Atty, A. M. A., Moustafasoliman, M., & Youssef, A. E. (2018). The Effect of Board of Directors Characteristics on Firm’s Financial Performance: An Empirical Study on the Most Active Firms in the Egyptian Stock Exchange. Open Access Library Journal, 05, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1104993
15. Azar, A., Rad, F. H., & Botyari, E. (2014). Board Characteristics and Firm Performance: Malaysian Evidence. Journal of Research in Business and Management, 2(6), 28–34. https://www.questjournals.org/jrbm/papers/vol2-issue6/E262834.pdf
16. Babu, M. A., & Masum, M. H. (2019). Crucial Factors for the Implementation of Activity-Based Costing System: A Comprehensive Study of Bangladesh. ABC Research Alert, 7(1), Bangladesh.
17. Bettinelli, C. (2011). Boards of Directors in Family Firms: An Exploratory Study of Structure and Group Process. Family Business Review, 24(2), 151–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894486511402196
18. Bhuiyan, N.U. and Masum, M.H. (2010) “Balanced Scorecard: A multi-stream performance measurement tool for public sector companies in Bangladesh-A synopsis”; Journal of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh; Volume XXXVIII, September-October; pp 19-23.
19. Blibech, N., & Berraies, S. (2018). The impact of CEO’ duality and board’s size and independence on firms’ innovation and financial performance. E3 Journal of Business Management and Economics, 9(1), 022–029. https://doi.org/10.18685/ejbme(9)1_ejbme-17-021
20. Bøhren, Ø., & Staubo, S. (2015). Mandatory Gender Balance and Board Independence. European Financial Management, 22(1), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/eufm.12060
21. Borlea, S. N., Achim, M. V., & Mare, C. (2017). Board characteristics and firm performances in emerging economies. Lessons from Romania. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 30(1), 55–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677x.2017.1291359
22. Boyle, G., & Ji, J. (2012). New Zealand Corporate Boards in Transition: Composition, Activity and Incentives between 1995 and 2010. SSRN Electronic Journal, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2079314
23. BSEC. (2018). Corporate Governance Code (pp. 6871–6902). Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission. https://sec.gov.bd/slaws/Corporate_Governance_Code_10.06.2018.pdf
24. Chen, E.-T., Gray, S., & NOWLAND, J. E. (2011). Family involvement and family firm performance. Third International Conference on Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets.
25. Costa, Y. C. L. da, & Martins, O. S. (2019). CEO duality and corporate performance: evidence in the Brazilian capital market. Revista de Administração Da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, 12(3), 403–417. https://www.redalyc.org/journal/2734/273462728001/html/
26. El-Khatib, R., & Joy, N. (2021). Do Women Directors Improve Firm Performance and Risk in India? The Quarterly Journal of Finance, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.1142/s2010139221500063
27. Fariha, R., Hossain, Md. M., & Ghosh, R. (2021). Board characteristics, audit committee attributes and firm performance: empirical evidence from emerging economy. Asian Journal of Accounting Research, 7(1), 84–96. https://doi.org/10.1108/ajar-11-2020-0115
28. Fernandez, M. R., Alonso, S. F., & Rodriguez, J. R. (2014). Board characteristics and firm performance in Spain. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 14(4), 485–503. https://doi.org/10.1108/cg-01-2013-0013
29. Githaiga, P. N., & Kosgei, J. K. (2023). Board characteristics and sustainability reporting: A case of listed firms in East Africa. Corporate Governance, 23(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1108/cg-12-2021-0449
30. Hidayat, A. A., & Utama, S. (2015). Board Characteristics and Firm Performance: Evidence from Indonesia. International Research Journal of Business Studies, 8(3), 137–154. https://doi.org/10.21632/irjbs.8.3.137-154
31. Hossen, M. S., Roy, S., & Masum, M. H. (2023). Financial performance of engineering companies in an emerging economy: Before and after COVID-19. Research In Management and Accounting (RIMA), 6(2), 73-90. doi: https://doi.org/10.33508/rima.v6i2.4943
32. Huo, C., Malik, T. H., & Wang, X. (2021). Foreign Independent Directors (FID) on Chinese Firms: The Isomorphism and Conformance-Performance Conflict. SAGE Open, 11(3), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211045080
33. Hassan, N, Masum, M.H., Sarker, J.B., (2022), Ownership Structure and Corporate tax Avoidance: Evidence from the Listed Companies in Bangladesh. Polish Journal of Management Studies; 25 (1), Page: 147-161. 10.17512/pjms.2022.25.1.09
34. Hussain, H. I., Ali, A., Thaker, H. M. T., & Ali, M. (2019). Firm Performance and Family Related Directors: Empirical Evidence from an Emerging Market. Contemporary Economics, 13(2), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.5709/ce.1897-9254.307
35. Isik, O. (2017). The dynamic association between CEO-duality and bank performance: the moderating role of board size. Research Journal of Business and Management, 4(4), 460–468. https://doi.org/10.17261/pressacademia.2017.754
36. Joenoes, M. Z., & Rokhim, R. (2019). Does foreign board increase the company’s performance? the evidence from Indonesia. Journal of Economics, Business & Accountancy Ventura, 22(2). https://doi.org/10.14414/jebav.v22i2.1449
37. Johl, S. K., Kaur, S., & Cooper, B. J. (2015). Board Characteristics and Firm Performance: Evidence from Malaysian Public Listed Firms. Journal of Economics, Business and Management, 3(2), 239–243. https://doi.org/10.7763/joebm.2015.v3.187
38. Kabir, A., Ikra, S. S., Saona, P., & Kalam, A. (2023). Board gender diversity and firm performance: new evidence from cultural diversity in the boardroom. LBS Journal of Management & Research, 21(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1108/lbsjmr-06-2022-0022
39. Kalsie, A., & Shrivastav, S. M. (2016). Analysis of Board Size and Firm Performance: Evidence from NSE Companies Using Panel Data Approach. Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, 9(2), 148–172. https://doi.org/10.1177/0974686216666456
40. Kara, A., Nanteza, A., Ozkan, A., & Yildiz, Y. (2022). Board gender diversity and responsible banking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Corporate Finance, 74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2022.102213
41. Kaur, M., & Vu, M. (2017). Board Characteristics and Firm Performance: Evidence from Banking Industry in India. Asian Journal of Accounting and Governance, 8, 39–53. https://doi.org/10.17576/ajag-2017-08-04
42. Kilic, M. (2015). The Effect of Board Diversity on the Performance of Banks: Evidence from Turkey. International Journal of Business and Management, 10(9), 182–192. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v10n9p182
43. Masum, M. H., & Khan, M. M. (2019). Impacts of Board Characteristics on Corporate Performance: Evidence from Bangladeshi Listed Companies. International Business and Accounting Research Journal, 3(1), 47–57. https://stebilampung.ac.id/journal/index.php/ibarj/article/viewFile/54/30
44. Masum, M. H., Latiff, A. R. A., Osman, M. N. H., Sarkar, J. B., Rahman, M. M., & Khan, S. (2023). Impact of corporate characteristics on voluntary disclosure: a managerial insight. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 28.
45. Mnzava, B. (2022). Do Foreign Directors affect Corporate Performance? Evidence from Tanzanian listed Firms. African Development Finance Journal, 1(1), 25–46. https://uonjournals.uonbi.ac.ke/ojs/index.php/adfj/article/view/884
46. Mohammed, N. H. (2018). BOARD CHARACTERISTICS AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM TURKEY. The Journal of the University of Duhok, 21(1), 423–430. https://doi.org/10.26682/hjuod.2018.21.1.23
47. Mohd Noor, N., Rasli, A., Abdul Rashid, M. A., Mubarak, M. F., & Abas, I. H. (2022). Ranking of Corporate Governance Dimensions: A Delphi Study. Administrative Sciences, 12(4), 173.
48. Nepal, M., & Deb, R. (2022). Board Characteristics and Firm Performance: Indian Textiles Sector Panorama. Management and Labour Studies, 47(1), 74–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/0258042x211026148
49. Nguyen, T. T. (2023). Foreign directors and firm performance: a study in Vietnam. The University of Danang - Journal of Science and Technology, 21(12.2), 25–31. https://doi.org/10.31130/ud-jst.2023.137e
50. Nguyen, V. C., & Huynh, T. N. T. (2023). Characteristics of the Board of Directors and Corporate Financial Performance—Empirical Evidence. Economies, 11(2), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11020053
51. Ntim, C. G., & Osei, K. A. (2011). The impact of corporate board meetings on corporate performance in South Africa. African Review of Economics and Finance, 2(2), 2. https://www.african-review.com/journal/v2(2)june2011/Corporate%20Performance%20in%20SA.pdf
52. Okolie, A. O., & Uwejeyan, J. C. (2022). Board Characteristics and Financial Performance of Conglomerates in Nigeria. European Journal of Business and Management Research, 7(2), 149–155. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejbmr.2022.7.2.1344
53. Oluwatoyin, A. A., Agbi, S. E., & Mustapha, L. O. (2021). Board Characteristics and Sustainability Reporting of Listed Non-Financial Firms in Nigeria. Journal of Finance and Accounting, 9(5), 182–189. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfa.20210905.11
54. Palaniappan, G. (2017). Determinants of corporate financial performance relating to board characteristics of corporate governance in Indian manufacturing industry. European Journal of Management and Business Economics, 26(1), 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejmbe-07-2017-005
55. Rahman, M.M. & Masum, M. H. (2021). Extent of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Evidence from Bangladesh. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business (JAFEB), 8(4).
56. Sahoo, M., Srivastava, K. B. L., Gupta, N., Mittal, S. K., Bakhshi, P., & Agarwal, T. (2023). Board meeting, promoter CEO and firm performance: Evidence from India. Cogent Economics & Finance, 11(1), 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2023.2175465
57. Shamil, M. M., Shaikh, J. M., Ho, P.-L., & Krishnan, A. (2014). The influence of board characteristics on sustainability reporting. Asian Review of Accounting, 22(2), 78–97. https://doi.org/10.1108/ara-09-2013-0060
58. Terjesen, S., Couto, E. B., & Francisco, P. M. (2016). Does the presence of independent and female directors impact firm performance? A multi-country study of board diversity. Journal of Management & Governance, 20(3), 447–483. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10997-014-9307-8
59. Thuy, P. B. G., & Duc, V. H. (2013). Corporate Governance and Firm’s Performance: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam. Journal of Economics Development, 218, 62–77. https://jabes.ueh.edu.vn/Content/ArticleFiles/oldbv_en/2013/Thang%2010/5vohongduc.pdf
60. Valcanover, V. M., & Sonza, I. B. (2023). “Family business”: Does the family structure affect the performance of listed companies? RAM. Revista de Administração Mackenzie, 24(3), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-6971/eramf230028.en
61. Volonté, C. (2015). Boards: Independent and committed directors? International Review of Law and Economics, 41, 25–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irle.2014.10.002
62. Wang, M.-C. (2017). The Relationship between Firm Characteristics and the Disclosure of Sustainability Reporting. Sustainability, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/su9040624
63. Yasser, Q. R., Mamun, A. A., & Rodrigs, M. (2017). Impact of board structure on firm performance: evidence from an emerging economy. Journal of Asia Business Studies, 11(2), 210–228. https://doi.org/10.1108/jabs-06-2015-0067