We investigate the impact of family control on both the share price level and the decision to split the firm's stock. Low stock prices are associated with higher volatility and have been shown to attract more speculative trading, which may force managers to excessively focus on short-term...

This paper analyzes the social connections between a firm's chief executive officer (CEO) and its chief financial officer (CFO). We focus on French educational networks and examine the corporate governance and performance of firms whose CEO and CFO attended the same elite college (Grande...

French-listed companies exhibit a concentrated ownership structure, with the largest shareholder holding more voting rights than cash flow rights. This wedge predominantly stems from a typical system of double voting shares. This paper studies the acquisitions made by French-listed firms over...

The 2014 passage of the Florange Act in France changed an opt-in provision for loyalty shares (allocating a second voting right for shares held at least two years) to an opt-out provision with shareholder approval. We find that before 2014, loyalty shares were popular among small family firms....

This study investigates the effect of a CEO's gender on his/her decision to engage in earnings management. We focus on private small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a code-law accounting framework, namely, that of France. From a sample of 30,476 French SMEs for the year 2012, we use...

In listed companies, some shareholders can be signatories to agreements that govern their relations. This paper investigates the effects of such agreements on the valuation of firms. I use a sample of French firms that is well suited for my analysis insofar as French law requires the disclosure...

We examine board structure in France, which since 1966 has allowed firms freedom to choose between unitary and two-tier boards. We analyze how this choice relates to characteristics of the firm and its environment. Firms with severe asymmetric information tend to opt for unitary boards; firms...

Many governance reform proposals focus on strengthening board monitoring. In contrast, Adams and Ferreira (2007) and Harris and Raviv (2008) conclude that a passive board is often optimal. We examine determinants of board structure choice in France, where firms are free to choose between a...

French law mandates that employees of large publicly listed companies be allowed to elect two types of directors to represent employees. First, partially privatized companies must reserve two or three (depending on board size) board seats for directors elected by employees by right of...