This article examines the effect of anti-takeover provisions on executive excess compensation and find a positive association. Five further findings are as follows. First, among specific provisions, the anti-takeover provisions mainly used to delay the takeover process have a stronger effect on...

The paper examines the motivation and consequences of Golden Parachute (GP) contracts in the context of TBEA, a Chinese company whose GP payment was 1,000 times executive annual salary and which rescinded its GP provision in 2019. We find that for TBEA, whose ownership is dispersed,...

This study provides evidence suggesting that CEOs’ physical fitness has a positive impact on firm value, consistent with the beneficial effects of fitness on, e.g., cognitive functions, stress coping and job performance. For each of the years 2001 to 2011, we define S&P 1500 CEOs as fit if...

We provide evidence for a positive impact of CEO fitness on firm value (Tobin's Q). For each of the years 2001 to 2011, we define S&P 1500 CEOs as fit if they finish a marathon. Fit CEOs are associated with higher firm profitability and M&A announcement returns. Effects on firm value are...

Our study is the first to provide systematic evidence of a hump-shaped CEO tenure-firm value relation. This pattern is supported by announcement returns to sudden CEO deaths, which mitigate endogeneity concerns. Cross-sectionally, firm value starts to decline after fewer years of CEO tenure in...