The research investigates how the social qualities of the corporate managers in Sri Lanka influence the functioning of the corporate boards and firm performance. The sample for the study comprises firms listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), excluding banks, financial, and insurance companies. Data were collected manually, from the annual reports, including mandatory disclosures like financial statements, governance compliance, and directors’ shareholdings, covering 1435 firm-year observations for 205 non-financial companies between April 2011–March 2018. This period marks the start of available data and a significant corporate governance reform. Directors' social identities were derived from annual report profiles, focusing on surnames to determine ethnic backgrounds, distinguishing among Sinhalese-Buddhists, Sinhalese-Catholics, Tamils, Moors, and foreign directors.

Universe: Corporate board members in Sri Lanka, listed companies on the Colombo Stock Exchange, and the ethnicities and cultural backgrounds of the managers.