Common ownership - when an investor holds shares in two or more companies - has recently attracted significant attention from policy-makers and researchers, studying mainly US firms. European firms, however, are different as top investors with large stakes, like governments, founding families...

This paper addresses the questions whether European mutual fund managers rely on sell-side analyst information and whether this behavior impacts fund performance. Results show that mutual funds significantly increase (decrease) their holdings in stocks when any of the consensus forecast measures...

This paper examines the relationship between performance and top executive turnovers using a sample of 81 turnovers and matching companies listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. We find that poor market performance increases the probability of management replacements and that forced layoffs...

This study investigates the relationship between dividends and ownership structure for a panel of 330 large quoted UK firms. Controlling for unobserved firm-specific effects, results indicate a negative relationship between dividends and ownership concentration. Ownership composition also...

We study the effect of institutional ownership on firm coverage by equity analysts. To account for the endogeneity of institutional ownership we employ instrumental variable approach. Acquisition for cash of a company from an institutional investor's portfolio serves as an exogenous shock to the...

We use a natural experiment to identify a causal effect of the threat of shareholder litigation on ownership structure, governance, and firm performance. We find that when it becomes harder for small shareholders to litigate, ownership becomes more concentrated and shifts from individuals to...

In this paper, we propose a model including the trading stage (acquisition of shares and blockholder disclosure) and the governance stage of activism. We analyze the blockholder's timing of disclosure, allowing for a strategic behavior. In some cases, the blockholder voluntarily renounces to use...

Since 2008, a massive shift has occurred from active towards passive investment strategies. The passive index fund industry is dominated by BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, which we call the ‘Big Three'. We comprehensively map the ownership of the Big Three in the United States and find...

We identify the power of institutional blockholders to influence management using previous occurrences of forced CEO turnover at other firms in the blockholders' overall portfolio. We create a “powerful blockholder linkage” measure that strongly predicts future forced CEO turnover. These...

We study the effect of institutional ownership on firm coverage by equity analysts. To account for the endogeneity of institutional ownership we employ instrumental variable approach. Acquisition for cash of a company from an institutional investor's portfolio serves as an exogenous shock to the...