dc.description.abstract | This paper investigates what factors have an impact on the profitability of
Norwegian private firms divided by size. Profitability is measured using Return
on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE). The factors tested are: Female
CEO, Female in Board, Family Firms, Tenure, CEO Salary, Capital Structure, and
Research & Development (R&D). The Centre for Corporate Governance Research
has provided both accounting- and corporate governance data for the period 2000
to 2015. We find that Female CEOs, Female board members, and Tenure have a
negative effect on ROA and ROE for Micro firms. Family firms in this category
generates a higher ROA than nonfamily firms, and the results for Capital Structure
shows that ROE decreases if the firms’ long-term debt increases. For Small firms,
Tenure has a positive effect on ROA. On the other hand, R&D has a negative
effect on ROA. We find no such effect on ROE for Small firms. For the Medium
& Large firms, none of the factors tested have any effect on neither ROA nor
ROE. The findings are considered robust to alternative definitions, measures, and
regression models. | nb_NO |