Purpose - This paper provides a systematic comparison of the level of business diversification in China and eight other large economies for the 2001 to 2005 period. We investigate reasons why Chinese firms are more diversified than companies elsewhere.Design/methodology/approach - We collect...

We examine the determinants of the size and composition of corporate boards for a sample of 82 U.S. companies that survived during the period 1935-2000. Our hypotheses lead to predictions that firm size, growth opportunities, merger activity, and geographical expansion are important determinants...

We proxy for board members' opinions and values using directors' ancestral origins and show that diversity has costs and benefits, which lead to high performance volatility. Consistent with the idea that diverse groups experiment more, firms with ancestrally diverse boards have more numerous and...

After the completion of an Mamp;A transaction, the target firm is delisted but some analysts who covered it retain coverage of the merged firm. We hypothesize that this decision is based on two factorsmdash;the analyst's ability to cover the merged firm and his or her assessment of the Mamp;A...

Cross-sectional research finds that corporate financing choices are not only affected by firm and industry factors, but also by country institutional factors. This study focuses on the roles of public governance in firm financing patterns. To conduct a natural experiment that avoids endogeneity,...

We examine the relation between bidder returns and the probability of CEO turnover in acquiring firms. Using a sample of 714 acquisitions during 1990 to 1998, we find that 47% of CEOs of acquiring firms are replaced within five years, including 27% by internal governance, 16% by takeovers, and...

We examine the privatization process of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the largest bank in the world by market capitalization, and its dual IPOs in the Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock exchanges in 2006. The Chinese government retains majority equity ownership of ICBC while...