Corporate Governance and Performance of Nepal’s General Insurance Industry: The Roles of Board Oversight, Disclosure, and Regulatory Compliance

Abstract

Background: Corporate governance plays a central role in the stability, accountability, and performance of financial service institutions, particularly in insurance markets that manage public funds and risk-transfer mechanisms.

Methods: This study examines the relationship between corporate governance practices and the performance of Nepal's general insurance industry, focusing on board oversight and accountability, disclosure and transparency, and regulatory compliance. A mixed-methods design was adopted, using survey data from 233 respondents across four selected general insurance companies, secondary financial data for fiscal years 2074/75 to 2078/79, and seven key informant interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression, while qualitative data were used to contextualize and interpret the quantitative findings.

Results: The results suggest that board oversight and regulatory compliance are positively associated with industry performance, whereas disclosure and transparency show an unexpected negative coefficient. These findings indicate that formal governance structures exist in Nepal's general insurance sector, but their performance contribution depends on substantive implementation rather than symbolic compliance.

Conclusion: The study contributes to the corporate governance literature by providing evidence from an emerging insurance market and by highlighting the need for stronger board independence, regulatory enforcement, transparency standardization, and methodological clarity in assessing governance-performance relationships.