We examine the effect of the social connectedness of independent, non-co-opted directors on their ability to monitor and advise the firm. We begin by providing evidence that well-connected directors have greater protection from career concerns. We next examine the channels by which director...

We examine a specific channel through which director connectedness may improve monitoring: financial reporting quality. We find that the connectedness of independent, non-co-opted audit committee members has a positive effect on financial reporting quality and accounting conservatism. The effect...

We study the participation of women in golf, a predominately male social activity, and its influence on their likelihood of serving on a board of directors. Exploiting a novel dataset of all golf games in Singapore, we find that woman golfers enjoy a 54% higher likelihood of serving on a board...