Empirical Research On The Independent Directors In China And The Protection Of The Rights And Interests Of Minor Shareholders

In highly centralized listed companies and companies which haveimperfect corporate governance structure and controlled by insiders, dueto a lack of speaking right, small risk bearing capacity and weakself-protection ability,etc. therefore, minor shareholders has been in arelatively weak position for a long time. In fact, strengthening theprotection of minor shareholders does help to stabilize the capital marketand make it obtain sustainable development. In recent years, somescholars’studies have shown that with the emergence and development ofthe independent director system, it is as a part of the corporategovernance structure and plays a certain role in the protection of therights and interests of minor shareholders.Since2006when China Securities Regulatory Commission hasissued "on the guidance of establishing the independent director system oflisted companies” and the independent director system has formallyintroduced, the independent director system plays a certain role onimproving corporate governance and corporate performance, but becauseof its short introduction in our county, it also need to constantly investtime and effort to be perfect. Whether independent directors caneffectively assume the role of the protection of minor shareholders, it alsocaused the attention of the capital market. In this paper, based on the research achievements at home andabroad, it studies the degree of protection of the rights and interests ofminor shareholders from the perspective of independent directors. Firstly,it describes the relevant theories, concepts, and the current situation of theprotection of the rights and interests of minor shareholders; Then puts therelated parameters of minor shareholders by using analytic hierarchyprocess (AHP) to integrate into a comprehensive index, and build minorshareholders’ rights and interests regression model with the size of theindependent directors, the degree of diligence and compensation levels asexplanatory variables; By collecting the data of ordinary machinerymanufacturing plate on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange listed company innearly three years to study the relationship between independent directorsand the protection of the rights and interests of minor shareholders,empirical analysis shows that: by improving the absolute and relativenumber of independent directors, independent directors can effectivelyparticipate in corporate governance and protect the rights and interests ofminor shareholders. However, from the diligent and compensation levelof independent directors, the effect of the independent directors to protectminor stockholders’ rights and interests is not significant; Finally, byanalyzing the empirical results, it puts forward relevant countermeasuresand Suggestions, to better protect the rights and interests of minor shareholders.