Using data across European corporate boards, we investigate the effects of quota-induced female representation on firm value and operations. We use quasi-random assignment induced by rounding and find that promoting gender equality is aligned with shareholder interests. This result is in stark...

Previous studies have found that board composition influences CEO compensation. However, these findings are susceptible to bias caused by endogeneity and outliers. This paper re-examines the above relation by exploring the impact on CEO total pay of a mandate for board composition imposed...

Using panel data on U.S. public firms, we document a positive effect of board independence on corporate innovation. This effect is concentrated in firms that are larger in size, in the non-technical industries, facing less product market competition, and using more debt, where managers are more...

The governance reforms of 2003 require corporate boards to establish various committees. This paper studies how these committees are structured and the corresponding impacts. I find that independent directors with long tenures and multiple board seats tend to multitask and sit on more...

Using the full set of committee memberships for the directors of Fortune 100 firms (which I collect from annual proxy statements), I introduce a measure to capture the extent of a director's involvement in discussion and decisions that affect corporate policy. I document substantial variation in...

The aim of this paper is to examine whether or not the structure of the board of directors and, in particular, board size, independence and remuneration have an impact on firm performance. The sample examined is UK FTSE 100 non-financial companies using data from the period 2012 to 2015. A...

This paper examines board structure and the effect of board size and composition on firm value for firms in high technology industries for the period 1995-2008. I find that high-tech firms, generally characterized by asymmetric information and growth opportunities, have board sizes 2.9% smaller...

This study investigates the impact of Delaware law on the composition and size of the board of directors. Our empirical evidence reveals that Delaware firms have smaller and more independent boards than their non-Delaware counterparts. Given that we find no value-premium for firms that...

We document that firms that are larger, have stronger governance and more able CEOs are more likely to combine CEO and board chair roles (i.e., duality). We also document that firms that split these roles have significantly lower announcement and post-announcement returns, and lower...

Chinese listed firms recruit independent directors in order to build up connections with people who can provide useful sources and/or protection rather than for their monitoring of top managements. It is found that Chinese listed firms particularly prefer two types of Guanxi provided by...