Aluora, Brian Ochieng2026-02-132026-02-132025-08-30http://repository.embuni.ac.ke/handle/123456789/4521Masters ThesisOwnership structure of listed non-financial firms impacts a firm’s incentive environment, which influences a firm’s risk taking and cash holding decisions. Higher levels of cash holding by the managers is linked to lower levels of risk taking which is in turn linked to lower level of financial performance. However, the contribution of ownership structure, cash holding and risk taking towards financial performance has sparkled discussions among scholars, because of the declining financial performance reported by listed non-financial firms. The study assessed the effect of ownership structure, cash holding and risk-taking on the financial performance of 83 listed non-financial corporations from the year 2016 through the year 2021 using the two-step system GMM method. GMM technique was used in the study because of its ability to solve problems with asymmetric panels and multiple endogenous variables. GMM’s outcome was then compared across the agricultural, manufacturing and construction industries. The study was anchored on the free cashflow, modern portfolio, agency and trade-off theories. The study’s outcome reveals a positive significant association between ownership structure and the performance of Sub-Saharan listed non-financial corporations, which was significant at 1%. Similarly, the outcome suggests a 1% significant positive association between cash holding and the performance of Sub-Saharan listed non-financial corporations. The outcomes, however demonstrated a 5% significant negative association between risk-taking and the performance of Sub-Saharan listed non-financial corporations. Moreover, a sub-sector comparison of the study’s outcome implied that ownership structure, cash holding and risk-taking had a statistically significant positive association with ROA, ROE and Tobin’s Q in agricultural and manufacturing listed firms. However, ownership structure, cash holding and risk-taking had a statistically significant negative association with ROA, ROE and Tobin’s Q in construction-listed corporations. To the authors’ knowledge, this is among the first studies to investigate the linkage between ownership structure, cash holding, risk-taking and performance of listed non-financial corporations across different industries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study contributesto and extendsthe literature with current empirical evidence, with analysis based on the various sub-sectors of the listed non-financial corporations. The study is useful to policymakers when establishing guidelines that suggest optimal cash-holding and risktaking levels for listed non-financial corporations. Additionally, the study is useful to corporate owners of listed non-financial corporations when making strategic decisions, helping them balance liquidity management and risk exposure.enPerformance of Non-Financial FirmsOwnership StructureRisk-TakingSecurities Exchanges