This study documents that the perception of high private control benefits in firms induces them to disclose private information about future earnings and cash flows through the practice of earnings smoothing. It also shows that this relationship is non-linear in nature. At low levels of...

This study investigates the role of independent board members in insider-controlled firms by examining the effectiveness of independent boards in reducing information asymmetry in family versus non-family firms. We show a negative relation between the proportion of independent directors and...

Boards of directors are frequently criticized for their lack of monitoring in executive decision making. Increasing board effort to reduce information asymmetry between executives and shareholders is commonly viewed as desirable. This study challenges this common view by demonstrating that...

We study how interest alignment between CEOs and corporate boards influences investment efficiency and identify a novel force behind the benefit of misaligned preferences. Our model entails a CEO who encounters a project, gathers investment-relevant information, and decides whether or not to...