This paper explores the impact of target CEOs' retirement preferences on takeovers. Using retirement age as proxy for CEOs' private merger costs, we find strong evidence that target CEOs' preferences affect merger activity. The likelihood of receiving a successful takeover bid is sharply higher...

We use a survey-based approach to provide new insight on managerial attitudes toward to market valuations — whether a corporate officer perceives her/his firm's stock price is undervalued or overvalued by the market. Though there is weak evidence in support of inside information hypothesis,...

Executive management as a distinct occupational category from general management seems to be becoming increasingly professionalized. From a power perspective, CEOs dominate the decision-making apparatus of our major business enterprises. From an attribute approach to professionalization, there...

We model the evolution of CEO quality in family firms. Agents learn about their own qualities over time by observing the successful outcome of their own actions, while failures drive agents out of the market. We show that joining the family business, while reducing the probability of failure,...

This study considers the implications of excessive non-salary-based executive pay on capital structure during the years 2005 through 2007, directly preceding the 2008 stock market crash. The hypothesis proposes that for firms in the financial sector, executives awarded generous compensation...

Corporate scandals, reflected in excessive management compensation and fraudulent accounts, cause considerable damage. Agency theory's insistence on linking the compensation of managers and directors as closely as possible to firm performance is a major reason for these scandals. They cannot be...

Many challenges face the strategic leader who must deal with both the need for continuity and the need for change. Strategic leadership sets the directions, meaning, purposes, and goals of the organization. A long-term perspective is required along with many other competencies. Examples are...

This paper examines the human network of entrepreneurs, and demonstrates the secrets of effective top management teams. More specifically, among entrepreneurs, founders in particular are dynamic by nature and familiar with their own business. However, some lack good skills in marketing and...