*2.6. Board Meeting and Firm Performance*

A limited number of studies have been conducted so far to examine the relationship between board meetings and firm performance. Vafeas (1999) found a negative correlation between board meetings and firm value. He concluded that frequent board meetings can play an important role in enhancing firm performance because it helps to reduce the informational gap among the board members. Furthermore, Chou et al. (2013) traced a positive link between the frequency of board meetings and firm profitability for Taiwanese firms. They further noted that outside directors are less likely to attend board meetings for companies with a higher percentage of family ownership. However, a study on Columbian firms revealed no significant relationship between the number of board meetings and ROA or ROE (Gomez et al. 2017).

In the Japanese context, the board of directors in family firms usually consists of directors selected from their relatives or employees who have been with the company under the life-time employment scheme, implying that there is little to no fresh ideas and perspectives in the board. Therefore, for family firms, the traditional group thinking may dominate the entire discussion process, while innovation and breakthrough ideas would often be given away for conservatism. Nevertheless, the board meeting is considered to be an essential factor for promoting firm performance because frequent board meetings make everyone aligned about various issues faced by companies and resolve them smoothly and timely. Huse (2007) noted that a higher number of board meetings provide effective monitoring on the board and quickly reach a consensus in resolving corporate issues. On this basis, we take the following hypothesis.

**Hypothesis 6 (H6).** *Frequency in board meetings encourages the performance of family firms.*
