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The costs of a (nearly) fully independent board

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  • Faleye, Olubunmi

Abstract

A significant and growing percentage of U.S. firms now have boards where the CEO is the only employee director (hereinafter fully independent boards). This paper studies whether and how this practice impacts board effectiveness. I find that fully independent boards are associated with a significant reduction in firm performance. Further tests suggest two channels for this effect. First, full independence deprives the board of spontaneous and regular access to the firm-specific information of other senior executives. Second, full independence eliminates the first-hand exposure of future CEOs to board-level discussions of strategy, which steepens the learning curve for eventually promoted candidates.

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  • Faleye, Olubunmi, 2015. "The costs of a (nearly) fully independent board," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 49-62.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:32:y:2015:i:c:p:49-62
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2014.12.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Mollah, Sabur & Liljeblom, Eva & Mobarek, Asma, 2021. "Heterogeneity in independent non-executive directors' attributes and risk-taking in large banks," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    4. Lim, Jesslyn & Do, Viet & Vu, Tram, 2020. "Co-opted directors, covenant intensity, and covenant violations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Ng, Anthony C. & Rezaee, Zabihollah, 2015. "Business sustainability performance and cost of equity capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 128-149.
    6. Xiaoyan Cheng & David Smith & Paul Tanyi, 2018. "An analysis of proxy statement leadership structure justification disclosures," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1071-1106, November.
    7. Lartey, Theophilus & Danso, Albert & Boateng, Agyenim, 2021. "Co-opted boards and capital structure dynamics," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    8. Pamela Brandes & Ravi Dharwadkar & Jonathan F. Ross & Linna Shi, 2022. "Time is of the Essence!: Retired Independent Directors’ Contributions to Board Effectiveness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(3), pages 767-793, September.
    9. Sun, Liang, 2021. "Does the location of directors' additional positions matter? A new dimension of board structure," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    10. Eunice S. Khoo & Li Chen & Gary S. Monroe, 2023. "Shareholder election of CSR committee members and its effects on CSR performance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3-4), pages 716-763, March.
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    12. Erin H. Kao & Ho-Chuan Huang & Hung-Gay Fung & Xiaojian Liu, 2020. "Co-opted directors, gender diversity, and crash risk: evidence from China," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 461-500, August.
    13. Castro, Paula & Keasey, Kevin & Amor-Tapia, Borja & Tascon, Maria T. & Vallascas, Francesco, 2020. "Does debt concentration depend on the risk-taking incentives in CEO compensation?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Board independence; Employee directors; CEO-only boards; Firm performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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