We propose a measure of the advising capacity of corporate boards that focuses on the distribution of committee assignments. We then study the characteristics and impact of directors dedicated to providing strategic counsel to top management. We find that advisory directors possess professional...

We investigate an increasingly prevalent CEO succession strategy: recruiting CEOs from the board of directors (director-CEOs). Director-CEOs might be hired in a planned succession because they combine outsiders' new perspectives with insiders' firm-specific knowledge. Alternatively, directors...

Outside directors' monitoring effectiveness is curtailed by information asymmetry between boards and management. Connections between independent directors and non-CEO executives may overcome this challenge by facilitating information sharing between the connected parties. Such connections can...

This paper examines whether independent directors who are socially tied to management (inside directors) can effectively perform their fiduciary duty to monitor management on behalf of shareholders. Ex ante, it is not clear whether social ties will enhance or obstruct the quality of board...