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Does it pay to have friends? Social ties and executive appointments in banking

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  • Berger, Allen N.
  • Kick, Thomas
  • Koetter, Michael
  • Schaeck, Klaus

Abstract

Social capital theory predicts individuals establish social ties based on homophily, i.e., affinities for similar others. We exploit a unique sample to analyze how similarities and social ties affect career outcomes in banking based on age, education, gender, and employment history to examine if homophily and connectedness increase the probability that the appointee to an executive board is an outsider (an individual without previous employment at the bank) compared to being an insider. Our results show that homophily based on age and gender raises the chance of the successful candidate being an outsider, whereas similar educational backgrounds reduce the chance that the appointee comes from outside. When we examine performance effects, we find weak evidence that social ties are associated with reduced profitability.

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  • Berger, Allen N. & Kick, Thomas & Koetter, Michael & Schaeck, Klaus, 2011. "Does it pay to have friends? Social ties and executive appointments in banking," Discussion Paper Series 2: Banking and Financial Studies 2011,18, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bubdp2:201118
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    4. Chen, Xiao & Huang, Bihong & Ye, Dezhu, 2019. "The Gender Gap in Peer-to-Peer Lending: Evidence from the People’s Republic of China," ADBI Working Papers 977, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    5. Takahashi, Hidenori & Yamakawa, Yasuhiro & Mathew, Prem G., 2018. "Board members' influence on resource investments to start-ups and IPO outcomes: Does prior affiliation matter?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 30-42.
    6. Calomiris, Charles W. & Larrain, Mauricio & Liberti, José & Sturgess, Jason, 2017. "How collateral laws shape lending and sectoral activity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 163-188.
    7. Berger, Allen N. & Kick, Thomas & Schaeck, Klaus, 2014. "Executive board composition and bank risk taking," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 48-65.
    8. Ann L. Owen & Judit Temesvary & Andrew Wei, 2021. "Gender and Professional Networks on Bank Boards," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2021-021r1, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), revised 23 Aug 2021.
    9. Mukhammadyusuf Shaymardanov & Suvi Heikkinen & Anna-Maija Lämsä, 2023. "Social Networks of Women in Organizations: Evolution of Research and Future Research Agenda," South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, , vol. 12(1), pages 97-112, April.
    10. Chen, Xiao & Huang, Bihong & Ye, Dezhu, 2020. "Gender gap in peer-to-peer lending: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    11. Shen, Lingbo, 2022. "Essays on behavioral finance and corporate finance," Other publications TiSEM a9b98a25-a208-4ba6-9344-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
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    13. Giuliana Birindelli & Antonia Patrizia Iannuzzi & Marco Savioli, 2019. "The impact of women leaders on environmental performance: Evidence on gender diversity in banks," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1485-1499, November.
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    15. El Mouaaouy Florian & Riepe Jan, 2018. "Benford and the Internal Capital Market: A Useful Indicator of Managerial Engagement," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 19(3), pages 309-329, August.
    16. Busch, Ramona & Koziol, Philipp & Mitrovic, Marc, 2018. "Many a little makes a mickle: Stress testing small and medium-sized German banks," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 237-253.
    17. Albertina Paula Monteiro & Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Beatriz Aibar-Guzmán, 2022. "Labour Practice, Decent Work and Human Rights Performance and Reporting: The Impact of Women Managers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 523-542, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social networks; executive careers; banking; corporate governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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