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Does corporate governance influence corporate risk-taking? Evidence from the Institutional Shareholders Services (ISS)

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  • Jiraporn, Pornsit
  • Chatjuthamard, Pattanaporn
  • Tong, Shenghui
  • Kim, Young Sang

Abstract

We provide evidence on the effect of corporate governance on the extent of corporate risk-taking. Provided by the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), our governance metrics are among the most comprehensive in the literature. Our results show that firms with more effective governance exhibit corporate strategies that are significantly less risky. Left to their own devices, managers tend to take excessive risk. Effective governance, however, reduces the degree of risk-taking significantly. Exploiting the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 as an exogenous shock that improves governance quality, we show that the effect of corporate governance on risk-taking is likely causal.

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  • Jiraporn, Pornsit & Chatjuthamard, Pattanaporn & Tong, Shenghui & Kim, Young Sang, 2015. "Does corporate governance influence corporate risk-taking? Evidence from the Institutional Shareholders Services (ISS)," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 105-112.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:13:y:2015:i:c:p:105-112
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2015.02.007
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    10. Kun Su & Liuchuang Li & Rui Wan, 2017. "Ultimate ownership, risk-taking and firm value: evidence from China," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 10-26, January.
    11. Searat Ali & Benjamin Liu & Jen Je Su, 2022. "Does corporate governance have a differential effect on downside and upside risk?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(9-10), pages 1642-1695, October.
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    13. Ahmed, Ammad & Ali, Searat, 2017. "Boardroom gender diversity and stock liquidity: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 148-165.
    14. Lee, Sang Mook & Jiraporn, Pornsit & Kim, Young Sang & Park, Keun Jae, 2021. "Do co-opted directors influence corporate risk-taking and credit ratings?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 330-344.
    15. Maria Giuseppina Bruna & Rey Dang & Marie-José Scotto & Aymen Ammari, 2019. "Does board gender diversity affect firm risk-taking? Evidence from the French stock market," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 23(4), pages 915-938, December.
    16. AlHares, Aws & Ntim, Collins & King, David, 2018. "Block Ownership and Companies' R&D Intensity: The Moderating Effect Of Culture," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 15(2), pages 19-32.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate governance; Risk-taking; ISS; Institutional shareholder services; Agency theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G39 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Other

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