Ownership Concentration and Firm Performance: The Case of Kuwait

Using Kuwaiti data, this study examined the relationship between the concentration and composition of ownership and the performance of firms. In the study, we estimated and examined this relationship using ordinary least squares (OLS) for a sample of 130 Kuwaiti firms listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) from 2009 to 2012. The overall concentration of ownership by large shareholders showed no impact on firms’ performance. However, when the type of large shareholders was introduced, only the concentrations of government ownership and families’ (individuals) ownership influenced firms’ performance. Therefore, not all concentrations of ownership among large shareholders are useful to listed Kuwaiti firms.