The Relationship Between Board Educational Background and Firm Performance in Chinese Education Industry

Abstract

Taking 51 listed Chinese companies in the education industry that disclosed the board of directors’ characteristics from 2008 to 2020 as samples, this paper constructed a robust regression model and fixed effects model with lags to study the relationship between the educational background of the board of listed companies and their corporate performance. The results show that there is no significant effect of board education background on company performance immediately, but the lagged degree level of board directors two to three years ago has a negative impact on firm performance while the lagged degree level of board directors above four years ago has a positive effect. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap of domestic research on the relationship between the characteristics of the board, especially the degree background aspect, and corporate performance. The results of this study provide a guide for the future board structure of listed companies in Chinese education industry.