Structure and Process Characteristics of Board of Directors and Financial Risks: Changes in Liquidity - Changes in Financial Slack

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of characteristics of board of directors, including structure and process characteristics, on financial slack, regarding a sample of158 companies from Tehran Stock Exchange in the period 2003 to 2011. In this study, the variables of changes in liquidity and financial slack were regarded as dependent variables for financial risks, and the variables of structure and process characteristics of board of directors as independent variables, and the variables of company’s features as control variables affecting financial risks and consist of company size, growth opportunity, profitability, and type of industry. To measure process characteristics of the board, the questionnaire of McNulty et al., (2013) was used.Results indicated that if changes arising from financial crisis are considered measuring financial slack, the effect of board size on financial slack in all companies is significantly positive; the effect of duality state of CEO responsibilities on financial slack in automobile and automotive parts manufacturing industry is significantly negative; and among the process characteristics of board, only the effect of using knowledge and skill on financial slack in all the surveyed companies is significantly negative. Moreover, if changes in liquidity are considered financial slack, the effect of board size in chemical products industry, and the effect of growth in automobile manufacturing industry on financial slack, is significantly negative. Other results showed that the other board characteristics have no effect on financial slack in all the companies in different industries.