This paper presents a simple model for dual-class stock shares, in which common shareholders receive both public and private cash flows (i.e. dividends and any private benefit of holding voting rights) and preferred shareholders only receive public cash flows (i.e. dividends). The dual-class...

We show that 70% of Chinese listed companies are ultimately controlled by government agencies, thereby indicating that state ownership remains widespread in China's stock markets. Three questions are considered that are related to government control structures and their impact on firm value: (1)...

Using a large sample of firms from 37 countries over the period of 2007-2015, we empirically analyse the impact of religion and national culture characteristics on the level of corporate risk-taking around the world and the channels through which this can take place. First, we initially observe...

We examine the governance transfer effect of corporate blockholders in a sample of 892 block acquisitions across 42 countries from 1990 to 2008. Using earnings management as a proxy for corporate governance outcome, we find that target firms' earnings management is aligned with that of block...

Sixteen measures of legal protections for public market investors, including the Anti-Director Rights Index, the Anti-Self-Dealing Index, and legal origins, are all unrelated to ownership concentration in a large and representative sample of firms from 32 countries. Furthermore, when laws were...

As a country's attitude toward egalitarianism increases, which means a societal preference for the equal as opposed to hierarchical treatment of individuals, the ownership of the public corporations in the country becomes more concentrated. This finding is robust to a wide range of...

Executive compensation in the U.S. banking industry has been criticized as a root cause of the recent financial crisis. This study examines the relationship between executive compensation, ownership structure, and firm performance for Chinese financial corporations during 2001-2009. The results...

This project focuses on the effects of ownership structures on the liquidity of the stock market in a context of low protection for minority shareholders and large ownership concentration. The ultimate defense strategy of an expropriated investor is to exit the position, provided that a market...

Previous studies offer evidence that foreign investors invest less money in countries or firms with weak corporate governance structures (Aggarwal et al. 2005; Dahlquist et al. 2003; Kim et al. 2010; Leuz et al. 2009). Investigating Japanese companies that go public during the 1997-2002 period, we find that...

The paper presents the results of a survey of business valuation practice in Poland. The aim of this study was to assess the premium for control as well as discounts for minority interests by practitioners involved in the valuation of companies in Poland. The survey was conducted on a sample of...