The relationship between corporate governance and firm performance has initiated many researchers to look into this area, thereby leading to a vast literary contribution. An effort has been made to review the existing literature of corporate governance on firm performance. The issues addressed in this paper are, board characteristics, ownership structure, and impact of pay on firm performance. The literature focuses on the important aspects of pay-performance like Tournament Theory and Equity Theory. The review shows patterns of inconsistency among authors with regard to the best board characteristics, ownership pattern and pay level and in determining better firm performance. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]