本文以2008年至2009年臺灣上市櫃公司為樣本,檢驗公司投保董監責任保險與董事會獨立性之關聯。經控制公司規模、股權結構、負債比率、及公司首次公開發行時間等因素後,研究結果發現有投保董監責任險之公司,相較於未投保董監責任險之公司,其董事會獨立性較高;經加入信用評等與董監責任險交乘項加以分析後,亦發現信用風險較高之公司,相對於信用風險較低之公司,投保董監責任險對於董事會獨立性增強之效果更為顯著。本文實證結果,有助於瞭解董監責任險實施現狀,及其對於臺灣上市櫃公司董事會獨立性之影響,並可作為管理當局政策修訂及投資人決策之參考依據;對於公司治理中董事會結構之相關研究,亦將提供一定貢獻。
Focusing on Taiwan listed companies, this study aims to examine the association between directors’ and officers’ liability insurance (D&O insurance) and the independence of the board of directors. After controlling for company size, ownership structure, debt ratio, and the IPO timing etc., the results show that the board of directors is more independent for companies with D&O insurance than companies with no D&O insurance. The results also show that the effect of D&O insurance on board independence is more significant for poor credit rating companies than better credit rating companies. This study contributes to the corporate governance literature as well as to the regulator on the understanding of how D&O insurance affect the board independence.