There has been a broad push in recent years to increase diversity at the board and CEO levels of public corporations. Despite this effort, diversity on boards and in senior leadership positions has not reached the levels to which advocates aspire. We provide new insight into this topic by...

It is very difficult for shareholders to know detailed information about CEO succession planning among the companies they have invested in. Although CEO deaths are rare, the sudden death of a CEO can provide insight into the quality of succession planning and governance of a company. Whereas...

Executive compensation has become one of the most contentious topics in corporate governance. However, public perception about executive pay suffers from many misconceptions. These include the notions that:1. The ratio of CEO-to-average-worker pay is a useful statistic:2. Compensation...

This paper examines the relationship between firm performance and the recommendations provided by proxy advisory firms in the United States, regarding shareholder votes in stock option exchange programs. Using a comprehensive sample of stock option exchanges announced between 2004 and 2009, we...

In recent years, much attention has been paid to CEO succession planning as a risk management issue. However, it is not clear what information the company should disclose on this matter or how extensive the disclosure should be. This is particularly true when it comes to companies whose CEOs are...

In recent years, there has been considerable debate as to whether CEO compensation is actually correlated with performance in U.S. companies. This issue is known as “pay for performance.” While the debate is often heated, there tends to be little in the way of concrete analysis to inform...

A director's social and professional network contributes to his or her qualifications as a board member. In recent years, much attention has been paid to the negative aspects of inter-board connections, such as the spread of bad practices and a reduction in independence.At the same time, not...

One of the most important decisions that a board of directors must make is the selection of the CEO of the company. And yet survey data indicates that many boards are not prepared for this process.In recent years, shareholder groups have pressured boards to increase transparency about their...

This case takes an inside look at CEO succession planning at Energy Corp. The case provides an overview of various models of succession planning, including external search, COO appointment, a horse race, and the inside-outside model. The case then outlines the process by which Energy Corp...

We estimate classification models of deceptive discussions during quarterly earnings conference calls. Using data on subsequent financial restatements (and a set of criteria to identify especially serious accounting problems), we label each call as “truthful” or “deceptive”. Our models...