“…Hence, standard results may not apply in an emerging economy, specifically in the GCC context, which is characterized by weak corporate governance (Arayssi and Jizi, 2018). GCC countries have witnessed rapidly growing capital markets and devote serious effort to attract foreign investments (Arayssi and Fakih, 2015) to divert their economies from oil and gas reliance (Elfakhani et al, 2008;Reiche, 2010). Additionally, the GCC countries are currently focusing on the formation of a governance system (Zeitun, 2014); however, privatization and separation between owners and management are lacking, as corporate boards are dominated by families and governments (Shehata, 2015;Baydoun et al, 2012).…”