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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the connection between board composition and value relevance of financial information in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a panel data of 144 firm-year observations of listed firms in Ghana.FindingsThe study finds that a higher fraction of independent directors is associated with lower firm value. The study further finds that board size is positively related to firm value, whereas duality is negatively associated with firm value.Practical implicationsThe practical implication of this paper is that investors and regulators should be mindful that specifying governance composition should not only be based on “so-called” codes of best practices but also the level of the country's or the sector's development and local institutional structures.Originality/valueThis study uses five different measurements of market share and considers the impact of the provision of the Code of Best Practices in Ghana.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between board attributes and firm value to identify board attributes that are “pleasant” to have from what is required to have in financial and non-financial firms.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses five measures of firm value to estimate the relationship between internal governance mechanism for financial and non-financial firms using system generalized methods of moments.FindingsThe paper finds that board independence and board size is a “must” have and value-enhancing board attributes for financial firms. On the contrary, board independence may be considered as a “pleasant” board attribute for non-financial firms. Further, the paper finds that duality is not value-enhancing board attribute for both financial and non-financial firms.Practical implicationsThe findings imply that differences in requirements for strategic or resource and monitoring functions in financial and non-financial firms are responsible for the differences in board attributes that are value-relevant for these firms.Originality/valueThe findings suggest that the value relevance of board attributes differs in financial and non-financial firms.