BOARD STRUCTURE AND BANK PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM SERBIAN BANKING SECTOR

Traditional perspective relying on agency theory is based on the assumption that the board structure, as an internal corporate governance mechanism, determines board effectiveness and, therefore, financial performance. Board size, board composition and leadership structure are distinguished as relevant variables of the board structure. Since the results of previous empirical studies are often contradictory, examining the correlation between board structural characteristics and corporate performance is a relevant research question, particularly in banking sector. In order to improve effectiveness of internal corporate governance mechanism, and consequently bank performance, the main research objective is to identify the impact of the board size and the board composition on bank performance in the Republic of Serbia using the CAMELS model. We analyze this relation using Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis on balanced panel data-set of 54 observations. The paper contributes to recent research efforts by making conclusions on the effects of board structure on bank performance, in order to define recommendations for improving performance in banking sector.