This study examines the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on the performance of listed firms in Saudi Arabia before and during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The study applied univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses to data collected from 258 annual reports from 2019 to 2020. The results show that during the COVID-19 pandemic, firm market performance (Tobin’s Q ratio) has decreased with larger board size, more board meetings, while it has increased with board experience, board education, and board gender (number of women on the board). Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, board gender was found to have a significant positive impact on the firm’s operational performance (return on assets), implying that gender diversity on boards plays a crucial role in times of crisis. The findings have significant implications for Saudi Arabian firms, managers, investors, and policymakers. Furthermore, the latest corporate governance regulations in Saudi Arabia are almost certain to have a significant impact on firm performance, particularly during times of crisis. In addition, corporate governance regulations should consider the importance of small board size, lower board independence, board member experience and education, and board gender diversity to improve corporate performance, especially in times of crisis. Governments and regulators should collaborate to reduce the financial and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Comprehensive policies are needed to address the negative consequences of current and future crises.

Purpose: This study aims to analyse Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Islamic and conventional banks’ productivity and to investigate the impact of Basel III on their productivity change. This study is conducted on 73 GCC banks (45 conventional and 28 Islamic) over the period of 2005-2015. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses the data envelopment analysis-type Malmquist productivity change index and its component indexes to obtain a deep insight into the source of productivity change. Findings: The results show that Islamic banks are less productive than their conventional counterparts. Also, the results indicate that Basel III accord has impeded the GCC banks’ productivity and this negative effect is larger on Islamic banks. However, there is scale efficiency progress in the past years that offsets the production frontier deterioration, which leads to stagnation in total productivity change for both banks. Originality/value: This study differs from the previous GCC banks’ productivity studies in several ways. Firstly, it covers a recent period that includes major events such as the global crisis and focuses on the influence of Basel III accord on GCC banks’ productivity. Secondly, as opposed to the previous studies, this study will estimate the GCC banks’ productivity index and its components based on separate frontiers for Islamic and conventional banks that will ensure the homogeneity in the sample and the robustness of the results. Thirdly, this study uses a combination of parametric and non-parametric tests to confirm and check the robustness of the findings. Lastly, to the best of the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that tries to analyse the GCC banking sector productivity around the new Basel III announcement.

Purpose: This study aims to extend the literature by simultaneously investigating the relationship between risk, efficiency and capital in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) dual banking system.Design/methodology/approach: The study employs the simultaneous-equation modeling technique with a three-stage least square estimator on 60 listed GCC commercial banks from 2005 through 2018.Findings: Although GCC Islamic banks are more capitalized and liquid, they are riskier and less efficient than GCC conventional banks. Moreover, a higher level of capital reduces the insolvency and credit risk of GCC banks for both types of banks. However, it enhances the cost efficiency of GCC conventional banks only. GCC conventional banks also exhibit skimping behavior, while for GCC Islamic banks, cost efficiency is negatively associated with bank risk. This implies that the risk-taking behavior in Islamic banks is prompted by the incentives of the shareholders following the risk-sharing nature of Islamic banking.Originality/value: This study differs from previous studies in many aspects. First, it relies on a recent long data set that covers the implementation of the accords of Basel II (introduced in 2004) and Basel III (introduced in 2010). Second, it estimates the efficiency of GCC banks based on separate frontiers for Islamic and conventional banks, ensuring the robustness of the results. In conclusion, to the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the intertemporal relationship between risk, efficiency and capital in the GCC dual banking industry.

The aim of this study is to extend the literature by extensively investigating the efficiency of banks in Saudi Arabia and examining its relationship with stock performance through relying on six measures of efficiency (three price efficiencies and three technical efficiencies). This study employs the data envelopment analysis (DEA) on all listed Saudi commercial banks over the period 2006–2018 ensuring the robustness of the results, and the multiple-regression analysis method is used to empirically test the impact of the efficiency changes on bank stock returns. The results indicate that Saudi banks are more technically efficient, and their price efficiencies are more volatile. Furthermore, changes in bank efficiency are positively related to stock performance; however, these positive relationships are only statistically significant with the changes in profit and scale efficiency measures implying that investors pay much attention to the improvement in bank profitability and future dividends.

Using quarterly data from 2010 to 2019, this paper investigates the impact of listing status on the performance of the National Commercial Bank (NCB), the largest commercial bank in Saudi Arabia, by applying a combination of financial ratios analysis and efficient frontier analysis with a mix of parametric and non-parametric tests. The overall results show that although the NCB performance is superior compared to their counterparts, this superiority has deteriorated after the bank was listed in 2014. This result was captured by the deterioration in the efficiency measures of NCB, indicating the significance of using the efficient frontier analysis as an additional monitoring tool by the Saudi regulators. The financial ratios analysis also shows that even though the NCB profitability has increased, there is an increase in the bank’s overall risk after being listed. Therefore, Saudi regulators should closely monitor their listed banks as these banks are directed toward high-risk assets.