We study when firms choose to install boards and their roles in a historical setting where neither boards nor their duties are mandated by law. Boards arise in firms with large, heterogenous shareholder bases. We propose that an important role of boards is to mediate between heterogenous...

This dissertation consists of three articles striding topics from corporate governance to asset pricing. It seeks to understand the costs and benefits of better corporate governance, and how assets such as real estate are priced. My ultimate focus is on corporate governance on both sides of the...

It is one of the well-known cornerstones of corporate governance that (minority) share-holders are subject to a risk of being expropriated by the controller of the firm, i.e. either entrenched management under a dispersed ownership structure or a controlling share-holder under concentrated...