Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine if certain board characteristics have an impact on the financial performance of manufacturing firms in India.
Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on data from 275 firms listed in NSE during from 2011 to 2015, using a multiple regression model. The present study examines the effect of board characteristics such as board size, CEO duality, independence and board activity devoted to the effectiveness of firms performance regarding market and accounting based financial performance measures.
Findings

The finding supports an inverse association between the extent of board characteristics and the firms’ performance indicators. The study also finds a statistically significant negative relationship between board size and Tobins Q , ROA and ROE. The evidence also shows that the board independence and meeting frequency moderate the relationship between return on equity and return on assets by enhancing these measures among corporate governance mechanisms.
Research limitations/implications

The present study does not include all possible board characteristics, i.e., large shareholders dominance on the board and promoter’s and institutional shareholding, to support firm’s performance. Further research might include the ownership structure of the board to improve firm’s performance.
Originality/value

The study focuses on the corporate governance issues such as size, duality, independence and activity of the boards and their influence on firm performance. The subject analyzes the possible impact of board characteristics and firm-related features that have received much attention from academic research, which has largely focused on studying the publications of corporate governance in India and Asian context.