We test the hypothesis that foreign direct investment promotes corporate governance spillovers in the host country. Using firm-level data from 64 countries during the period 2005-2014, we find that cross-border M&A activity is associated with subsequent improvements in the governance of...

Using 13,233 acquisitions from 57 countries, we examine M&A decisions made by busy boards. We find that few busy acquirers originate from emerging markets and that they tend to undertake cross-border mergers, favor public targets, finance with cash and equity, pursue non-diversifying mergers,...

We test the hypothesis that foreign direct investment promotes corporate governance spillovers in the host country. Using firm-level data from 64 countries during the period 2005-2014, we find that cross-border M&A activity is associated with subsequent improvements in the governance of...

This article examines the decades-long decline of investor protections enshrined in the Securities Act of 1933, most notably Section 11, which imposes near strict liability on corporate insiders and certain secondary actors, primarily underwriters. The provision, the most potent in the federal...

This paper examines how variation in the supply of government debt affects corporate acquisition activity. Using data from 50 countries from 1991 to 2017, the paper finds that government debt issuance is strongly negatively associated with acquisition activity at the firm and aggregate levels....

We review the governance role of private equity (PE) firms in companies that have experienced an LBO. We conjecture that PE firms may provide powerful remedies to agency conflicts associated with public and private firms, such as managerial entrenchment and opportunism

In this contribution, at first, we introduce a basic network framework to study pyramidal structures and wedges between ownership and control of companies. Then, we apply it to a dataset of 53.5 million of companies operating in 208 countries. Among others, we detect a strong concentration of...

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...

This paper describes the ownership structure in listed companies around the world. By using data for 10 000 largest listed companies, that together make up 90% of the global market capitalisation, we provide a description and comparison of the ownership structure of listed companies in 54...