在本研究中,本文嘗試從(1)企業過去績效、(2)董事會結構、(3)外部法人機構之影響、以及(4)控制權與現金流量權偏離等角度,以2002至2010年之上市公司資料,包含2002至2006年與2007至2010年兩個時期之子樣本,分析上述變數與台灣上市公司獨立董事離職率之關聯性。研究結果發現在2002至2006年與2002至2010年之期間樣本中,企業前期績效(分別以ROA與財報重編次數衡量)與獨立董事離職率間呈現顯著相關(ROA呈現負相關,財報重編次數呈現正相關),外部法人董事在董事會的比重與獨立董事離職率間呈現正相關,外部法人持股比重則與獨立董事離職率間呈現負相關;研究結果顯示企業績效轉弱與獨立董事離職間存在顯著關係,且外部法人在董事會中呈現所代表的監督角色,對於獨立董事離職亦形成相當之壓力;研究結果亦隱含外部法人機構持股較高的企業,可能因為監督或公司治理執行程度較佳,而出現較低的獨立董事離職率。在法規強制聘用獨立董事的2007至2010年之期間樣本中有強制對上市櫃公司要求獨立董事之設立,但是當獨立董事是出自於非自願任職,可能在監督效果上無動於衷。
In this essay, we examine the departure of independent directors among Taiwanese publicly listed firms between 2002 and 2010. We inspect if the departure rate of independent directors is related to (1) financial performance, (2) board composition, (3) ownership structure and (4) deviation of control and cashflow right. With subset samples, we further examine if diverse results are existed when the recruitment of independent directors on board is mandated. Based on dataset in 2002-06 period, we find that the ROA in previous year (accounting restatements) is negatively (positively) associated with the rate of departures. This result implies that deteriorating financial quality is related to the departures. We also find the outside institutional investors’ shareholding is negatively related to departure rates. Our findings support the independent directors’ role for intense monitoring based on agency theory. A further interesting finding is that except accounting restatements, the other variables turned insignificant during the 2007-10 periods, the period that hiring independent directors is mandatory for all listed firms. The finding may imply that the monitoring pressure on independent directors turns into indifferent when having independent directors on board is not voluntary.