In a large sample of European firms we analyze the value discount associated with disproportional ownership structures first documented by Claessens et al (2002). Consistent with a theoretical model of incentives and entrenchment effects, we find higher value discount in family firms, in firms...

We analyse controlling owners incentive to provide non-controlling owners with better protection against self-dealing through offering new shares with tag-along rights, - the private contracting alternative to equal price provision in takeover legislation. Our model identifies two counteracting...

Mergers in Japan have the dubious distinction of not creating wealth for shareholders of target firms, in sharp contrast to much of the rest of the world. Using a sample of 91 mergers from 1982 through 2003 we document several distinctive features of the merger market in Japan: mergers tend to...

Although some argue that tokenism drives the selection of female directors, we show that they have a significant impact on measures of board effectiveness. In a large panel of data on publicly-traded firms from 1996-2003, we find that (1) the likelihood that a female director has attendance...

Existing studies on the financial system in East Asia have emphasized its excessive debt financing, the lack of a bond market and its limited function on corporate governance. Other apparent facts, such as the average low debt ratio, the existence of large but unlisted firms, and the...

This study investigates the effects of controlling shareholders on corporate performance. The empirical results, based on a unique database of Thai firms, do not support the hypothesis that controlling shareholders expropriate corporate assets. In fact, the presence of controlling shareholders...

I examine the relation between Tobin's Q and the structure of foreign equity ownership for a sample of 945 industrial firms listed in the 1st Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. I find evidence of significant curvilinear relation between Q and the fraction of common stocks owned by foreigners...

This paper examines the ownership structure of listed Thai firms in 1996. The ownership structure is concentrated. In 82.59 percent of the firms in the sample, the largest shareholders are also controlling shareholders. The controlling shareholders are mainly families. Foreign investors form the...

From 1988 to 2003, the average change in managerial ownership is significantly negative every year for American firms. We find that managers are more likely to significantly decrease their ownership when their firms are performing well, but not more likely to increase their ownership when their...

The allocation of credit by banks and financial institutions on 'soft' terms to friends and relatives rather than on the basis of 'hard' market criteria in the years leading up to the East Asian crisis of 1997-98 has been widely noted. Using a detailed dataset on Thai firms prior to the crisis...