The aim of this paper was to examine the effect of managerial/board gender diversity and corporate governance structure on firm performance in a Jordanian business environment—a developing economy that has a distinct environment from that of developed economies. The current study focuses on the unique context of an emerging economy (i.e., Jordan). Data were collected from nonfinancial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange from 2018 to 2020. Data analysis was carried out using the random-effects estimator, which was considered as the most suitable for this study. The results disclose that female representation on the board of executives of Jordanian companies had a positive but insignificant effect on corporate performance, as measured by the return on equity, indicating that this variable has no effect on the performance of firms in Jordan. Both family ownership and board size had negative significant effects on performance, but for the moderating effect, corporate governance structure had no effect on the relationship among CEO duality, institution ownership, government ownership, independent directors, and firm performance. The current study only focused on Jordanian industrial firms listed on ASE, thus rendering the findings nongeneralizable to other sectors and nations. Further investigations are urged to broaden the context of the study to achieve more enriched findings. Managers can use the findings to achieve a deeper understanding of the way governance structure affects firm performance. Additionally, regulators at the Jordan Securities Commission can attain valuable insight about the adequacy of the current regulations regarding the role of gender diversity and corporate governance structure in Jordan. The current study contributes to the literature concerning the effect of managerial gender diversity and corporate governance structure on performance. Furthermore, this investigation aims to fill the current research gap in the context of Jordan, which is an emerging economy in the Arab region that is under-represented in this field of research.

Previous literature supports the view that the financial inclusion leads to economic growth and helps alleviate poverty; however, it is still unclear whether financial inclusion increases bank profitability. The study assumes that financial inclusion is significant in enhancing the economy and minimizing loan accounts, and along with this assumption, the deposit size decreases the Jordanian banks’ profitability despite the fact that the financial services and access to them have no significant influence upon such profitability. The major profitability drivers examined in this study comprised financial inclusion and financial leverage. In this study, 13 Jordanian banks’ data from 2009 to 2019 were examined to determine the above issue. The study applied fixed effects on a panel data regression model. The findings indicated that the number of loan accounts and size of deposits negatively and significantly impacted the profitability of the commercial banks in Jordan. However, the number of branches and ATMs had no significant effect on the bank’s profitability. In sum, both leverage and bank size were the top two determinants of commercial banks’ profitability in Jordan. Based on the findings, Jordanian policymakers can shift their focus to offering affordable financial services that support SMEs’ loans and start-ups.

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The study aimed to explore the relationship between corporate governance (i.e., tasks and responsibilities of the Board of Directors, disclosure and transparency, shareholders’ rights and fair treatment of shareholders, and audit and internal control) and bank performance. Data were collected using a questionnaire distributed to a sample consisting of managers of commercial banks in the northern region in Jordan. The study found a significant and positive relationship between corporate governance and bank performance. Particularly, the study pointed out two principles (i.e., tasks and responsibilities of the Board of Directors, and audit and internal control) were positively related to bank performance, while there were no significant relationships between the other two principles (i.e., disclosure and transparency as well as shareholders’ rights and fair treatment of shareholders). It was concluded that corporate governance is very critical for enhancing bank performance. Additionally, commercial banks should pay more attention to all principles of corporate governance.

This study mainly aimed to examine the effect of internal risks on the financial performance of the Jordanian commercial banks. The study sample comprised the entire commercial banks that are included in the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) spanning the period from 2009 to 2019. The study formulated four hypotheses, which are related to the effects of liquidity risk and leverage risk on the bank’s performance, proxied by ROA and ROE. Based on the results, liquidity risk did not have a significant effect on both ROA and ROE, while leverage risk did not have a significant effect on ROA, but it did on ROE. It can thus be concluded that the use of financial leverage should be taken into consideration because of its negative influence on the banks’ financial performance, specifically on the shareholders’ returns. It is recommended that future studies examine the effect of additional risk types, like credit risk and operational risk on the performance of banks.