Marie H. Bani Khaled

This study aimed to examine the relationship between the compensation received by chief executive officers (CEOs) and the financial performance of Jordanian public shareholding industrial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) from 2010 to 2017. To measure the variables of interest, secondary data published on the ASE website were processed to become preliminary data suitable for the study. The study population consisted of 56 companies, 25 of which met the inclusion criteria. The results of the analysis of the data on these 25 companies revealed a large difference between the amount of financial compensation received by CEOs and the earnings per share (EPS) received by shareholders. The results also showed a statistically positive and significant relationship between the amount of CEO compensation and the financial performance of industrial companies. Furthermore, return on assets (ROA), EPS, and leverage have a statistically negative and significant relationship with financial performance. However, the net profit margin has a statistically positive and significant relationship with financial performance. Besides, the results showed a positive and significant relationship between the age of the CEO and the amount of compensation received. On the other hand, Tobin’s Q model demonstrated that the relationship between CEO duality and the amount of CEO compensation is not statistically significant. Therefore, the study recommends using more than one type of compensation for the CEOs of public shareholding industrial companies in Jordan and that CEO compensation should be related to financial performance.

Due to the uniqueness of the services sector in terms of its characteristics and profitability, as well as the lack of studies on this sector, this study is considered to be the first to improve the knowledge of the key factors that play an important role in the profitability of the Jordanian services sector. This study investigates the effect of financial characteristics and capital structure on the profitability of all 46 services companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange over the period 2014–2018. This study applies fixed and random effects models to panel data variables, namely, size, tangible assets, growth, business risk, debt to equity ratio and debt to assets ratio as independent variables. At the same time, profitability was measured by operating profits (earnings before interest and tax divided by total assets), return on assets (ROA), and return on equity (ROE), which acted as the dependent variables. This study reveals the first evidence that the debt to assets ratio has a negative and significant impact on the profitability of services companies in Jordan. In line with the pecking order theory, this finding suggests that more profitable services companies tend to prioritize the use of retained earnings in financing business activities rather than in financing debt. This study shows that profitability is significantly and positively affected by size and business risk, while ROA is negatively affected by business risk. It also shows that tangible assets have a negative and significant effect on profitability, while growth has a positive and significant effect on operating profits.