Examining the Impact of the Separation of Ownership from Management on the Performance of Small and Medium Poultry Agribusinesses in Ghana

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to examine the relationship between the Separation of Ownership and Management (SOM) and the performance of poultry farms in Ghana. Binary Probit regression was used to examine the factors influencing SOM and the owner’s willingness to separate management from ownership. The Propensity Score Matching (PSM) model and Instrumental Variable Tobit Regression were used to analyze the impact of SOM on financial and non-financial performances. The results revealed that most farms studied had separate ownership and management roles, but owners still exerted the same amount of control over farm operations. SOM was determined to significantly impact the financial performance variable of total assets but did not impact total sales revenue and non-financial performance variables of employee satisfaction or corporate social responsibility. Owner’s demographics, perception and control variables, and farm characteristics have varying influences on the separation of ownership and management and the willingness to undertake the same.

KEYWORDS:

• Corporate governance
• SMEs
• separation of ownership and management (SOM)
• CEO duality
• agribusiness
• poultry

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In this study, Separation of Ownership and Management (SOM) is used interchangeably with CEO Non-Duality.