When does board share ownership matter Evidence from across firm life cycle in Sub-Saharan Africa

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between board share ownership and firm value, as well as to determine when in the firm's life cycle board share ownership is value relevant in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).The paper uses dividend pay-out and the ratio of retained earnings to total assets to distinguish between mature and immature firms and to estimate board share ownership and firm value for each set of firms, using system-generalised methods of moments.The findings suggest that board share ownership is value-relevant for non-financial firms in SSA.The paper further finds that board share ownership matters for immature firms, not mature firms.The findings imply that differences in requirements for financing and investment result in differences in board share ownership and firm value between mature and immature firms.The findings suggest that board share ownership is not valued at all stages of a firm's life cycle.