Marc-Oliver Fischer have stirred up the business community by refuting

the popular view that independent board directors increase firm value.

The researchers studied the performance of almost 1000 Australian

companies since the ASX introduced voluntary governance guidelines in

2003. Those that followed the board independence recommendations

increased CEO and director pay yet under-performed financially. “We

estimate these losses conservatively at about A$69 billion over the

period 2003-2011,” Swan says. “If the director has no substantial

financial interest in the affairs of the company, the only thing they’re

going to care about is their own wellbeing.”