We present a model to test the null hypothesis that firms organize their corporate governancearrangements optimally given the constraints they face. Following the literature, the modelrejects the null if the conditional correlation between governance and performance issignificantly different...

In this article, we conduct a longitudinal study of women’s progress on French corporate boards of directors. We particularly focus on the extent to which women directors have circumvented the glass ceiling. Using a sample of SBF 120 companies over a 10-year period from 2000 to 2009, our...

Using an agency model of firm behavior, the paper analyzes whether the cost of investment should be tax exempt. The findings suggest that, when managers engage in wasteful capital expenditures, welfare may decline if the cost of investment is tax deductible, as commonly advocated. The extent to...

In all the defensive measures against takeover bids, those based on rules limiting voting rights are generally cited as the most effective. Ironically, the supposed efficacy seems to have never been tested or modeled. This is precisely the subject of our article that focuses in terms of...

The current paper studies the impact of board gender-diversity on firm risk-taking in a developing market. Our study is drawn on a sample of 30 Tunisian listed firms between 1997 and 2010. First, we found that women have a risk perception that leads to a risk avoidance behavior: the presence of...

The under-representation of female directors in the boardroom where corporate strategic decisions are made has recently become not only an ethical business case but also a public pressure to improve this gender imbalance. While there is some practical evidence to suggest that gender-diverse...

The object of this contribution is to address the question of the ownership of the firm. Both law and economics shape representations of the world: law focuses on rules and justice; economics focuses on efficiency and allocation. They describe common situations and "objects'' such as firms and...

Institutional investors are predominant on the financial markets and are becoming more active in their portfolio management. This article attempts to enhance our understanding of the incidence of shareholder activism on market reaction in the wake of seve