ABSTRACT This study contributes to broadening our knowledge of the corporate governance of firms. In particular, we consider board independence as a fundamental variable in the explanation of good governance practices. For this purpose, we analyse the Annual Corporate Governance Reports of the Spanish listed companies on the Continuous Market of the Madrid Stock Exchange during the period 2010–2016. The results for all companies reveal that firm size, ownership dispersion and board independence have a positive relationship with good practices, and the relationship between board independence and good governance practices is moderated by ownership dispersion. When we distinguish between firms that comply with board independence recommendation and those that do not, however, the results differ substantially, in terms of sign, magnitude and significance level. This highlights the importance of board independence in explaining good governance practices.

中文翻译：

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良好治理实践的决定因素：董事会独立性的作用

摘要这项研究有助于拓宽我们对公司的公司治理的认识。特别是，我们将董事会独立性作为解释良好治理实践的基本变量。为此，我们分析了2010-2016年期间在马德里证券交易所连续市场上西班牙上市公司的年度公司治理报告。所有公司的结果都表明，公司规模，所有权分散和董事会独立性与良好实践具有正相关关系，而董事会独立性与良好治理实践之间的关系则由所有权分散所调节。但是，当我们区分符合董事会独立性建议的公司与不符合董事会独立性建议的公司时，结果在符号方面存在很大差异，数量级和显着性水平。这突出了董事会独立性在解释良好治理实践中的重要性。