An Institution-Based View of Ownership

The past two decades have witnessed an exponential growth of research on corporate governance around the world and on the role of the ownership concentration more specifically. In line with a longer tradition of ownership studies in U.S. context, most corporate governance researchers have commonly taken a classical agency theoretical view of ownership concentration. The research presented in this dissertation show that classical view of ownership seems overly crude. I provide a more fine-grained understanding about the role of ownership in different contexts; one that takes into account the subtly different formal and informal institutional that can be found around the world on the one hand, and that distinguish between the identity of concentrated owners on the other. I show, first, that a crucial factor with respect to the ownership concentration – firm strategy and performance relationships involve owner identity: i.e. who owns a firm matters significantly for that firm’s objectives, strategies, and performance. Second, I contribute to emerging institution-based view of corporate governance by expanding its empirical domain and testing empirically the interaction between formal and informal institutions

The effect of blockholders in corporate governance

Unlike the Anglo-Saxon model, whereby ownership of publicly traded companies is typically in the hands of dispersed shareholders, in continental Europe ownership often lies in the hands of what are known as ‘blockholders’. But how does this affect corporate governance, especially when employees, protected by strong labour institutions, are also powerful

Doing More with Less : Innovation Input and Output in Family Firms

International audienceFamily firms are often portrayed as an important yet conservative form of organization that is reluctant to invest in innovation; however, simultaneously, evidence has shown that family firms are flourishing and in fact constitute many of the world’s most innovative firms. Our study contributes to disentangling this puzzling effect. We argue that family firms—owing to the family’s high level of control over the firm, wealth concentration, and importance of nonfinancial goals—invest less in innovation but have an increased conversion rate of innovation input into output and, ultimately, a higher innovation output than nonfamily firms. Empirical evidence from a meta-analysis based on 108 primary studies from 42 countries supports our hypotheses. We further argue and empirically show that the observed effects are even stronger when the CEO of the family firm is a later-generation family member. However, when the CEO of the family firm is the firm’s founder, innovation input is higher and, contrary to our initial expectations, innovation output is lower than that in other firms. We further show that the family firm–innovation input–output relationships depend on country-level factors; namely, the level of minority shareholder protection and the education level of the workforce in the country.<br/

Agency Theory and Corporate Governance in China: A Meta-Analysis

Do agency theory-based “good corporate governance” principles indeed apply to China? A straightforward answer to this question is lacking, because evidence is inconclusive across studies. We endeavor to fill this gap by conducting the first meta-analysis on the China literature with two focuses. First, we assess the impact of (i) board independence, (ii) board leadership structure, and (iii) managerial incentives on firm performance, as these elements have been central to both agency theory as well as to Chinese corporate governance reforms. Second, we extend current theorizing by showing support for the temporal hypothesis, which states that over time, with the improvement in the quality of market institutions and development of financial markets, the monitoring mechanisms become more important whereas the incentive mechanisms lose their significance. In conclusion, in the world’s second-largest economy, agency theory is not only applicable but is also found to be more strongly supported than in its original context

Towards a Democratic New Normal? Investor Reactions to Interim-Regime Dominance during Violent Events

Although interim regimes in former autocracies are generally tasked with initiating a democratic ‘new normal’, they may privately intend to become their country’s new autocratic rulers. We argue that, to cope with the uncertainty stemming from this possibility, investors infer an interim regime’s intentions from the dominance displayed by the regime during government-related violence, as reflected in the share of civilian fatalities. Specifically, we propose that investors interpret highe

Strategic CSR: A Concept Building Meta-Analysis

This study develops the concept of Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (Strategic CSR) by meta-analyzing the available empirical evidence on the relationship between CSR and corporate financial performance (CFP). Using meta-analytic structural equation modeling on effect size data from 344 primary studies, our study documents four empirical mechanisms explaining how CSR positively affects CFP: by 1) enhancing firm reputation, 2) increasing stakeholder reciprocation, 3) mitigating firm risk, and 4) strengthening innovation capacity. We propose these four mechanisms to identify four causally relevant attributes that allow us to conceptually distinguish Strategic CSR from CSR more generally. Our findings indicate that the four mechanisms combined explain 20 per cent of the CSR-CFP relationship, suggesting that considerable room remains for future empirical research. The development of an empirically informed, causal conceptualization of Strategic CSR responds to a long-heard call for better-specified concepts in empirical CSR research

Intravascular ultrasonography allows accurate assessment of abdominal aortic aneurysm: An in vitro validation study

AbstractObjective: The objective of this study was to acquire insight into the interpretation of intravascular ultrasound images of the abdominal aorta and to assess to what extent this technique can provide useful parameters for the endovascular treatment of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm. Study Design: This was a descriptive study. Methods: Fifteen abdominal aortic specimens (normal, atherosclerotic, or aneurysmal) were studied. Ultrasonic images and corresponding histologic sections were compared for vessel wall characteristics, lesion morphologic characteristics, and lumen diameter. The length of the aneurysm and the length of the proximal and distal neck were measured and compared with external measurements. Tomographic images were reconstructed to a three-dimensional format. Results: Normal aortic wall was seen as a two- or three-layered structure corresponding with intima, media, and adventitia. A distinction could be made among fibrous lesion, calcified lesion, and thrombus and between normal and aneurysmal aorta. Correlation between the histologic specimens and intravascular ultrasonography for lumen diameter measurements was high (r = 0.93; p < 0.001). In a similar fashion, correlation between external measurements and intravascular ultrasound measurements on the length of the aneurysm and its proximal and distal neck was high (r = 0.99; p < 0.001). Three-dimensional analysis enhanced interpretation of the tomographic images by visualizing the spatial position of anatomic structures and contributed to understanding the shape and dimensions of the aneurysm. Conclusions: Intravascular ultrasonography provides accurate information on the vessel wall, lesion morphologic characteristics, and quantitative parameters of the abdominal aorta. Spatial information supplied by three-dimensional analysis contributes to a more realistic interpretation of the tomographic images. (J Vasc Surg 1998;27:347-53.

When Are Voluntary Environmental Programs More Effective? A Meta-Analysis of the Role of Program Governance Quality

We meta-analyze 103 studies of 23 voluntary environmental programs (VEPs) to assess how their governance quality, or the rigor of their internal institutional mechanisms, drives their ability to improve their participants corporate environmental and financial performance. The goal of VEPs is to incentivize firms to reduce firms’ environmental impacts by bolstering their reputations and helping them learn practices that improve their financial performance. Research on VEP effectiveness, however, is inconclusive, in part, because most studies sampled individual programs, and were unable to analyze how difference in program characteristics drive their effectiveness. We draw on institutional theory to argue that VEP governance quality determines whether they improve participants’ environmental performance, and the natural resource-based view to argue that they improve their financial performance. Results confirm our predictions, and in doing so, help to establish a business case for VEPs with high-quality governance. </jats:p