The study examined the linkage between corporate governance practices and labour productivity of Nigerian listed firms between 1989 and 2018. The paper adopted panel data technique to establish the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Hausman test result revealed that Fixed Effect is the most appropriate estimator due to firms’ differences. The panel regression result revealed that three out of the independent variables (board size, block holding and firm size have positive and significant relation with labour productivity of listed firms in Nigeria. Only leverage has an inverse correlation with the dependent indicators, while directors’ shareholding, board independence and independent audit committee have positive but insignificant linkage with labour productivity of listed firms in Nigeria. The study showed that an increase in board size influences the productivity of Nigerian firms positively but at a decreasing rate, indicating an optimal size, hence the relationship between the two variables is quadratic in nature. In addition, increase in institutional investors and firm size enhance dependent variables. On the other hand, an increase in borrowing leads to decline in productivity. However, directors’ shareholding, independent directors and independence of audit committee do not have influence on the dependent variable measured by labour productivity. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by extending the number of years covered by this study to thirty as against the average of ten years by previous studies. Labour productivity was also used as a measure of performance, which is not common among the emerging economies scholars including Nigeria
Keywords: Governance, productivity emerging economies
