Sarbanes-Oxley, Governance and Performance

The author studies the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on the relationship between corporate governance and company performance. Five measures of corporate governance are considered during the period 1998-2007. The author finds a negative and significant relationship between board independence and operating performance during the pre-2002 period, but a positive and significant relationship during the post-2002 period. The stock ownership of directors is consistently positively and significantly related to performance for both sub-periods.