Corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and profitability of listed manufacturing companies in Ghana

Abstract

The financial performance of the manufacturing industry is very important in terms of their profitability, as one of the ways that can be done by the company's management, to meet the obligations of the parties concerned in achieving the vision and mission of the company. As such, the research aims to provide evidence on how corporate governance and corporate social responsibility affect the profitability of manufacturing firms. The data from the audited annual reports of companies trading on the Ghana stock exchange from the years 2010 to 2021 made up the scope of the study. 165 firm-year observations were the sample for this study. Using this data, the study found out that board characteristics such as board independence, board size, board diversity (gender) firm size and age are all positively and significantly related to the performance of the manufacturing firms. The study concluded that the different attributes of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility influences performance indicators differently. Thus, it is recommended for Ghanaian manufacturing companies to improve their image/reputation, corporate companies in Ghana should engage in CSR operations in all its aspects, thereby growing their returns and should make adequate disclosures on CSR activities.