4.3.4 Conclusion

The agency theory and TCE theory with their conjectured positive effect of board independence on financial company performance are confirmed by the fifteen studies in this section. All studies report positive relationships between board independence and financial company performance. The stewardship theory with its hypothesis that high percentages of directors from inside the company – i.e. low levels of board independence – lead to better financial company performance is not supported by this section. This implies that higher levels of independence on the board of a company are associated with higher performance of the company. However, the definitions of independence, the time frames, the methodology, sample sizes and the types of companies included differ among the studies and might influence the results. Furthermore, other studies have found different outcomes, as is apparent in the next two sections. The conclusion in section 4.6 elaborates on the differences.