Board Ethnic Diversity in Newly Listed Malaysian Companies

Abstract

This paper examines the ethnic profile of board members in 235 newly listed Malaysian companies at the time of public offerings during the period 1999 to 2006. Using Blau�s (1977) index of heterogeneity, this paper finds evidence of the existence of ethnic diversity among board members of these companies. Further analysis reveals that the boardrooms of the sample are dominated by the Chinese ethnic group that accounts for 57percent of board seats, followed by Malays, Indians and Others. Interestingly, on average, foreigners account for 7 percent of board seats. The results indicate that newly listed Malaysian companies are ethnically diversified.