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Are US founding families expropriators or stewards? Evidence from quasi-natural experiment

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  • Lawrence, Edward R.
  • Nguyen, Dung T.
  • Upadhyay, Arun

Abstract

We use board structure changes brought by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX; 2002) and subsequent listing standards as a natural experiment to investigate if founding families are expropriators or stewards of shareholder value. We hypothesize gain in a firm's value post-SOX if founding families are expropriators and a value loss if they are stewards. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we find that family firms that did not meet the requirements of SOX-related, board independence provisions before 2002, suffered significant value loss post-SOX. Our results favor the steward role for founding families.

Suggested Citation

  • Lawrence, Edward R. & Nguyen, Dung T. & Upadhyay, Arun, 2021. "Are US founding families expropriators or stewards? Evidence from quasi-natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:69:y:2021:i:c:s0929119921001085
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2021.101987
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Family firms; Founder; Descendant; Sarbanes Oxley; Firm value;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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