A study of chief executive officer (CEO) turnover in Vietnam: The link between firm performance and CEO turnover

The main findings of the thesis show that firm performance had significant inverse relationship with the likelihood of CEO turnover. Meanwhile, the influence of ownership structure on CEO turnover was insignificant. Interestingly, aged CEOs in Vietnamese-listed enterprises were more likely to be dismissed than young CEOs.

Additionally, the probability of CEO turnover significantly increased when CEOs reached the ages of 59-61. The certain age also reduced the influence of CEO duality on CEO turnover. Together, CEO ownership negatively influenced the sensitivities of the link between firm performance and CEO turnover, although the influence is insignificant when CEOs own less than 5% of firm shares. Importantly, the thesis provides the significant and positive relationship between the percentage of independent directors and CEO turnover. Based on those findings, the thesis concludes that the efficiency of corporate governance and effectiveness of management are able to improve by increasing the independence of the Board of Management rather than other factors.