Does tenure matter: Role of the corporate secretary in chinese-listed firms

We study the impact of corporate secretary tenure on the governance quality of Chinese A-share listed firms. Results show that corporate secretary tenure is negatively associated with board meeting frequency, outside director in-meeting dissent, and incidence of fraud and lawsuit. Key findings are robust to an array of additional tests including propensity score matching, instrument variable analysis, as well as alternate governance measures such as analyst coverage, modified auditor opinion, number of institutional shareholders, and outside director board meeting absence. Overall, our study confirms the importance of corporate secretary in favor of modern corporate governance outcomes and board processes.