On September 30, 2018, California became the first U.S. state to set quotas for women directors on corporate boards. The passage of this law resulted in a significant decline in shareholder value for firms headquartered in California. The decline in shareholder value is directly related to the...

Using unique data on board meeting types of Chinese firms, we examine the effect of remote board meetings on board monitoring effectiveness. We find that compared to face-to-face meetings, remote meetings are associated with better meeting attendance behavior of directors, higher likelihood of...

Using a large sample of Chinese firms, we examine performance differences between firms with female and male chairs and the channels through which such differences arise. After controlling for the presence of female CEOs and non-chair female directors, we find that chairwoman firms perform...

We find that firms appointing first-time independent directors experience an increase in firm value, especially among firms with well-functioning boards, firms with less powerful CEOs, and non-complex firms. Unlike seasoned independent directors, first-time directors are associated with higher...

We examine how friendly boards affect firm innovation. Using CEO-director social connections as a measure of board friendliness, we find that firms with friendly boards create more patents and citations. The positive relation between friendly boards and innovation are more pronounced when firms'...