The role of corporate governance in attracting foreign investment: An empirical investigation of Saudi-listed firms in light of vision 2030

Following the introduction of the Saudi Vision 2030, diverse developments have been considered concerning corporate governance as an effort to open Saudi Arabia's economy to the world. Identifying the significance of attracting foreign investment is considered an approach to accomplish one of the vision's targets. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of improved corporate governance policies on the magnitude of foreign investment. Regression analysis was employed using the data of 153 listed companies in the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) from 2015 to 2019 to examine the effect of three corporate governance indicators on foreign investment. Specifically, ownership structure was represented by institutional ownership, ownership concentration and managerial ownership. Board composition was identified by board size and independence. Executive pay was measured by the total top executive pay and the presence of long-term incentive plans (LTIPs). Findings indicated that foreign investment is positively associated with ownership concentration, board independence and the presence of LTIPs in compensation packages. A negative and significant association was found with institutional ownership and managerial ownership.