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Based on contractual theories of the firm, this paper aims to verify whether there is a link between the characteristics of the board of directors (the presence of independent directors, the size of the board of directors,executive compensation)and performance. The latter, is measured from two perspectives: the financial and social performance. With an available sample of 50 family firms from the cities of Yaoundé, Douala and Bafoussam, the data were subject to descriptive statistics andmultiplelinearregressions. In general, our results showed that there is a positive link between the independentboard directors, the executive compensationand performance. But, the size of this board director is not critical