The effects of demographic characteristics of boards of directors on export performance

This study focuses on the demographic diversity of the boards of directors of publicly traded exporters and examines the relationship between export performance, measured as the ratio of export sales to total sales. Export firms listed in the Borsa Istanbul (BIST) Industrial Index and which have succeeded in being included in the Top Thousand Exporters Reports of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM-1000) at least once, have been examined. Firms other than these were not included in the study. The time dimension covers the years 2016-2020. Financial data of the units are taken from KAP reports. Data that could not be obtained from KAP were obtained from open sources. The sample size consists of 65 companies and the number of observations is 325. Regression analysis and panel data analysis methods were used as research methods. Descriptive statistics are calculated using the Stata 16 program and presented in summary form. A total of 7 hypotheses are tested in the research model. The empirical findings only support (H2), while the other 6 hypotheses do not. The fact that the diversity of board member education level (KYED) expressed in (H2) has been found to have a positive significant relationship on export performance (IHPER), albeit at a limit value, provides up-to-date information. It is also very important that the effects of the size of the board of directors, the role of the chairman of the board and marketing intensity are significant. Empirical findings show that the structure of the board, firm marketing intensity, and demographics of board members affect the export performance of the firm as a whole. As a result, when examining the effect of boards of directors on export performance, findings were interpreted that it is necessary to consider the leadership structure of the company's board of directors, marketing activities and demographic characteristics of the members as parts of a whole.