Cultural Values, CEO Risk Aversion and Corporate Takeovers

Essays in empirical corporate finance: asset sales and takeovers, CEO compensation, and investment under uncertainty

Corporate governance and hostile takeovers

In the preceding paper Shivdasani (1993) estimates equations predicting the probability of a hostile takeover as a function of governance characteristics. He finds that additional outside directorships by board members decrease the probability of a takeover. Ownership by management and by affiliated blockholders also decreases the probability of a takeover, while ownership by unaffiliated block...

Governance of Corporate Takeovers: Time for Say-on-Takeovers?

Table A1. Glossary of Governance and Takeover Germs Term Description Hostile takeover Acquirer makes takeover offer without target firm board consent or approval Unsolicited takeover Generally synonymous with hostile takeover. Also means the offer was not requested by the target firm board. Antitakeover provisions Target firm provisions in the bylaws or board approved motions to prevent unsolic...

The Cultural Origin of Preferences: CEO Cultural Heritage and Corporate Acquisitions

Does culture shape economic preferences? While economic models of the origins of preferences point to an important role of culture, supporting empirical evidence is largely missing for risk and time preferences. In this study, we exploit variation in cultural heritage across CEOs of public U.S. companies and demonstrate that CEOs’ culturally inherited attitudes towards uncertainty and risk nega...

The Cultural Origin of Preferences: CEO Cultural Heritage and Corporate Investment

Does culture shape risk preferences? While economic models of the origins of preferences point to an important role of culture, supporting empirical evidence is largely missing for risk and time preferences. In this study, we exploit variation in cultural heritage across CEOs of public U.S. companies and demonstrate an important effect of CEOs’ culturally transmitted risk preferences on corpora...