Hospitality and tourism firms' board characteristics, board policies and tourism sector performance: what is the nexus?
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
ISSN: 1741-0401
Article publication date: 10 January 2023
Issue publication date: 2 February 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated the micro–macro link in the hospitality and tourism (H&T) sector, specifically considering whether the gender diversity, independence and board attendance rates of H&T firms' boards, alongside the moderation effect of board policies, played a significant role in tourism sector performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The 2011–2018 data were retrieved from the World Bank and the Thomson Reuters Eikon databases, and fixed effects panel regression was conducted.
Findings
While female directors were a significant driver of tourism sector performance in terms of tourist arrivals and tourism receipts, independent directors were effective in improving tourist arrivals only. Furthermore, moderation analyses demonstrated the inefficacy of board policies in enhancing these directors' contributions to the sector's development. Moreover, the findings revealed the inefficiency of board meetings.
Practical implications
Concerning the efficacy of board policies, the results suggest that firms' boards should review and revise their policies. Surprisingly, while board-diversity policies made no difference to female directors' role in the sector's development (although females were influential), board-independence policies produced unexpected results. In the absence of a board-independence policy, independent directors are influential, but if a policy exists, they are not.
Originality/value
Although prior firm-level studies tested whether board characteristics enhanced firms' performance in the H&T sector, they did not investigate whether board characteristics promoted tourism sector performance. Moreover, the moderating effect of board policies on boards' structures and tourism sector performance has not yet been examined.
Keywords
Citation
Nimer, K., Kuzey, C. and Uyar, A. (2024), "Hospitality and tourism firms' board characteristics, board policies and tourism sector performance: what is the nexus?", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 73 No. 2, pp. 523-562. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-07-2021-0384
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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