Eurasian Econ Rev https://doi.org/10.1007/s40822-018-0102-8 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER Role of governance on performance of microfnance institutions in Bangladesh Tanweer Hasan 1  · Shakil Quayes 2  · Baqui Khalily 3 Received: 1 December 2017 / Revised: 16 March 2018 / Accepted: 4 April 2018 © Eurasia Business and Economics Society 2018 Abstract Using a sample of sixty-eight microfnance institutions (MFIs) from Bangladesh, this study investigates the possible impact of various governance attrib- utes on their fnancial performance. Our results show that powerful CEOs do have a positive impact on fnancial performance of MFIs, and that gender diversity in board can only have a positive impact when it is also augmented by gender diversity in management. However, the correlation between fnancial performance and board size was not statistically signifcant in our empirical analysis. Keywords Governance · Financial performance · Microfnance institution JEL classifcation G29 · G39 · O16 This research was conducted while Hasan and Quayes were visiting fellows at the Institute of Microfnance (InM), Bangladesh. Preliminary fndings from this research were presented at a seminar organized by InM in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2011 and then, in 2012, the frst draft of this paper was presented at the “5th International Research Workshop on Microfnance Management and Governance” in Oslo, Norway. The authors gratefully acknowledge the comments from the seminar participants in both Bangladesh and Norway. Akib Khan provided excellent research assistance. * Shakil Quayes shakil_quayes@uml.edu Tanweer Hasan thasan@roosevelt.edu Baqui Khalily bkhalily51@gmail.com 1 Heller College of Business, Roosevelt University, 430 Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605, USA 2 Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, USA 3 Institute of Inclusive Finance, 2/1 Block D, Lalmatia, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh