What Determines Corporate Board Diligence? Evidence from Emerging Market

This study investigates the impact of board attributes (board size, board independence, gender diversity, and nationality diversity) on corporate board diligence through employing panel data of listed firms in Muscat Securities Market from 2014 to 2024. Through the application of multiple regression analysis, the paper determines predictors for board diligence and offers an agency theory-based and resource dependence theory-based perspective on this construct. The findings reveal positive relations between board independence and board diligence, which suggests that the independent director has monitoring function. On the other hand, board size and nationality diversity are negatively related to diligence levels indicating a lack of coordination and communication. However, board gender diversity does not seem statistically related to board diligence. Several robustness tests, such as lagged independent variables, fixed industry effects, alternative estimation techniques, and instrumental variable approach, support the validity of our findings. This research helps investors and policymakers to better understand the extent to which board structure is related to meeting activity and director engagement in emerging markets. The study contributes to the literature on board diligence in emerging markets and evidence the impact of gender and nationality diversity on corporate board performance in Oman.