I analyze 1,493 first-time director appointments to Fortune 1000 boards, during 1997-99, to investigate whether certain outside directors are better than others. Reactions to director appointments are higher when appointees are CEOs of other companies than when they are not. CEOs are more likely...

We study firms adopting stock-option plans for outside directors in a sample of Fortune 1000 firms from 1997 to 1999. Fixed-effects models accounting for self-selectivity bias indicate that companies with such plans have higher market-to-book ratios and profitability metrics. Option plan...