Abebaw, Kassie (PhD)Reza, Demissie2018-10-082023-11-192018-10-082023-11-192018-05http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/12457A Thesis Submitted To The College Of Business And Economics Of Addis Abeba University In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirement For Degree Of Master In Business Administration In FinanceCorporate governance is an important factor for well-functioning of firms. Given the importance of banks, their governance assumes a central role. The study aims to identify the effect of corporate governance on bank performance measured by return on assets. Eight year data for the period 2010-2017 was used to study ten private Ethiopian commercial banks. Corporate governance variables considered includes board size, board gender diversity, industry related qualification of board members, board ownership, number of board meetings, number of board committees, capital adequacy ratio, legal reserve, liquidity position and management efficiency. Control variables of bank size and leverage were considered. Audited annual reports and questionnaires were used to collect data to determine causal link between the independent and dependent variables. Fixed effect regression model using SPSS was employed to analyze result output. Findings of the study indicate that board size has negative but statistically insignificant effect on return on asset. Industry related qualification, board ownership, number of board meetings, and number of board committees have positive but statistically insignificant effect on return on asset. Board gender diversity, capital adequacy ratio, legal reserve, and management efficiency have negative and statistically significant effects on the dependent variable. Whereas liquidity ratio has a positive and statistically significant effect on return on asset.en-USBank performanceCorporate governancePrivate commercial banksThesis