Using the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the associated change in listing standards as a natural experiment, we find that while board independence decreases the cost of debt when credit conditions are strong or leverage low, it increases the cost of debt when credit conditions are poor or...

In this study, we examine the effect of worldwide board reforms on the cost of debt financing. We find an overall increase in loan spreads in countries that initiate board reforms versus those without the reforms, which suggests that board reforms strengthen the power of shareholders at the cost...

Existing research on CEO turnover focuses on CEO ability. This paper argues board ability is also important. Corporate boards will be reluctant to replace CEOs as this makes financing expensive by sending a negative signal about board ability. This differs from existing literature: entrenchment...

In recent years considerable attention has been devoted to differences across countries in the institutional environments in which corporations operate, and the consequences of these institutional differences for corporate performance. In this paper we test for the presence of differences in...

We examine the effects of board diversity on corporate cost of equity (CoE). Using a composite index for diversity, we find that greater diversity leads to lower CoE. In further analysis, we report that this association is more prominent when the firm is experiencing lower internal (or external)...

This study examines the impact of the quality of corporate governance, as measured by a specially constructed corporate governance index, on the expected cost of equity calculated using the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) approach. A total of 114 listed companies were investigated to analyze...