Boards

The impact of board gender composition on dividend payouts

This paper investigates whether female independent directors are more likely to impose high dividend payouts. We find evidence that firms with a larger...

Better Governance of Financial Institutions

Corporate governance of banks and other financial institutions differs considerably from general corporate governance. For financial institutions...

What Matters and for Which Firms for Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets? Evidence from Brazil (and Other BRIK Countries)

A central issue in corporate governance research is the extent to which “good” governance practices are universal (one size mostly fits all) or...

Protecting Minority Shareholders: Listed versus Unlisted Firms

Can Staggered Boards Improve Value? Causal Evidence from Massachusetts

Staggered boards (SBs) are one of the most potent common entrenchment devices, and their value effects are considerably debated. We study SBs'...

Director Networks, Turnover, and Appointments

This paper analyzes the labor market (turnover and appointments) of executive and non-executive directors by means of social network methodology. We...

Selecting Directors Using Machine Learning

Can algorithms assist firms in their decisions on nominating corporate directors? Directors predicted to do poorly by algorithms indeed do poorly...

Sexism, Culture, and Firm Value: Evidence from the Harvey Weinstein Scandal and the #MeToo Movement

During the revelation of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the subsequent re-emergence of the #MeToo movement, firms with a non-sexist corporate...

Does Board Overlap Promote Coordination Between Firms?

We investigate how board overlap affects coordination and performance among public firms. Our identification exploits the staggered introduction of...

Does Majority Voting Improve Board Accountability?

Directors have traditionally been elected by a plurality of the votes cast. This means that in uncontested elections, a candidate who receives even a...

Understanding the Board of Directors after the Financial Crisis

There are numerous studies on the effectiveness of boards that primarily focus on legal formalities, including gender diversity, board size,...

European Company Law and Corporate Governance: Where Does the Action Plan of the European Commission Lead?