The effect of board characteristics on the efficiency of Russian public companies

In the modern world, the board of directors plays a key role in making strategic decisions, monitoring the activities of the executive body and ensuring the effectiveness of the company. One of the most important factors is the characteristics of the members of the board of Directors. The purpose of this dissertation is to study the impact that the characteristics of the board members have on the company's performance indicators. The dissertation research reveals the characteristics of the structure and personal composition of the board of directors that affect the effectiveness of public Russian companies. To conduct an empirical analysis, data were collected on 100 Russian public companies for 2015-2020 and a regression model with random effects was built. It is shown that the board of directors should be composed of qualified and experienced professionals who can make informed decisions and effectively control the activities of the executive body. The WACC rate adjustment methodology developed in this paper allows us to take into account the influence of the board of directors on the company's value in practice with a profitable valuation approach, which provides a more comprehensive assessment of the company's value.