The determinants of the voting premium in Italy: The evidence from 1974 to 2003
Abstract
We examine the voting premium in Italy in the period 1974 to 2003, when it ranged from 1% to 100%. At firm level, the measure of the price differential between voting and non-voting stocks cannot be fully explained without taking into account the effect of the largest shareholder's identity. Family-controlled firms have higher voting premiums, especially when the family owns a large stake in the company's voting equity and the founder is the firm's CEO and/or Chairman. We explain this result by showing that families attach greater importance to control and are more prone than other types of controlling shareholders to expropriate the non-voting class of shareholders.Download Info
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Bibliographic Info
Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Banking & Finance.
Volume (Year): 32 (2008)
Issue (Month): 11 (November)
Pages: 2433-2443
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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbf
Related research
Keywords: Non-voting shares Voting premium Dual-class share firms Family Italy;References
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