Does Ownership Structure Affect Firm's Performance? Empirical Evidence from Pakistan

In Pakistan, the ownership of majority of the firms is characterized by the concentration of different groups such as family members, associated firms, institutional investors and insiders. The present study aims to investigate whether different ownership structure including family ownership, associated ownership, institutional ownership, concentrated ownership, managerial ownership, block holding, and foreign ownership contribute to the financial performance of nonfinancial firms listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). Findings suggest that a firm’s performance increases significantly in the presence of associated ownership, concentrated ownership, institutional ownership and block holding. This indicates that these ownership structures add value and help in reducing agency problems. On the other hand, family and managerial ownership have a negative relationship with firm performance. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis of minority shareholder expropriation which states that when family ownership and managers’ involvement is higher in a firm, they exploit the funds of minor shareholders. Similarly, foreign ownership also does not add value.