IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbfina/v107y2019ic7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Founding family ownership, stock market returns, and agency problems

Author

Listed:
  • Eugster, Nicolas
  • Isakov, Dušan

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between founding family ownership and stock market returns. Using the entire population of non-financial firms listed on the Swiss stock market for 2003–2013, we find that the stock returns of family firms are significantly higher than those of non-family firms after adjusting the returns for different firm characteristics and risk factors. Family firms generate an annual abnormal return of 2.8% to 7.1%. We also document that family firms potentially having more agency problems earn higher abnormal returns. Our evidence suggests that outside investors receive a premium for holding shares of these firms as they are exposed to the specific agency problems present in family firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Eugster, Nicolas & Isakov, Dušan, 2019. "Founding family ownership, stock market returns, and agency problems," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:107:y:2019:i:c:7
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2019.07.020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378426619301670
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2019.07.020?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stein, Jeremy C, 1988. "Takeover Threats and Managerial Myopia," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(1), pages 61-80, February.
    2. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 69-85, Fall.
    3. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:6:p:1975-1999 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Eugster, Nicolas, 2019. "Family firms and financial analyst activity," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    5. Jos� Luis Miralles-Marcelo & Mar�a del Mar Miralles-Quir�s & Ines Lisboa, 2013. "The stock performance of family firms in the Portuguese market," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(22), pages 1721-1732, November.
    6. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    7. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2003. "Founding family ownership and the agency cost of debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 263-285, May.
    8. Jeremy C. Stein, 1989. "Efficient Capital Markets, Inefficient Firms: A Model of Myopic Corporate Behavior," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(4), pages 655-669.
    9. Isakov, Dušan & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe, 2014. "Are founding families special blockholders? An investigation of controlling shareholder influence on firm performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-16.
    10. Paul A. Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2010. "Extreme Governance: An Analysis of Dual-Class Firms in the United States," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 1051-1088, March.
    11. Galanti, Sébastien & Vaubourg, Anne Gaël, 2017. "Optimism bias in financial analysts' earnings forecasts: Do commissions sharing agreements reduce conflicts of interest?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 325-337.
    12. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    13. Dlugosz, Jennifer & Fahlenbrach, Rudiger & Gompers, Paul & Metrick, Andrew, 2006. "Large blocks of stock: Prevalence, size, and measurement," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 594-618, June.
    14. McConnell, John J. & Servaes, Henri, 1990. "Additional evidence on equity ownership and corporate value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 595-612, October.
    15. Marco Pagano & Ailsa Röell, 1998. "The Choice of Stock Ownership Structure: Agency Costs, Monitoring, and the Decision to Go Public," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(1), pages 187-225.
    16. John E. Core & Wayne R. Guay & Tjomme O. Rusticus, 2006. "Does Weak Governance Cause Weak Stock Returns? An Examination of Firm Operating Performance and Investors' Expectations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(2), pages 655-687, April.
    17. John M. Griffin, 2002. "Are the Fama and French Factors Global or Country Specific?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(3), pages 783-803.
    18. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2008. "The law and economics of self-dealing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 430-465, June.
    19. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    20. Morten Bennedsen & Kasper Meisner Nielsen & Francisco Perez-Gonzalez & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2007. "Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 647-691.
    21. Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger, 2009. "Founder-CEOs, Investment Decisions, and Stock Market Performance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 439-466, April.
    22. Harvey James, 1999. "Owner as Manager, Extended Horizons and the Family Firm," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 41-55.
    23. Schmid, Thomas, 2013. "Control considerations, creditor monitoring, and the capital structure of family firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 257-272.
    24. Amihud, Yakov, 2002. "Illiquidity and stock returns: cross-section and time-series effects," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 31-56, January.
    25. Pornsit Jiraporn & Yixin Liu & Young S. Kim, 2014. "How Do Powerful CEOs Affect Analyst Coverage?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 20(3), pages 652-676, June.
    26. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    27. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    28. Felix Lowinski & Dirk Schiereck & Thomas W. Thomas, 2004. "The Effect of Cross-Border Acquisitions on Shareholder Wealth -- Evidence from Switzerland," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 315-330, June.
    29. Clifford G. Holderness, 2009. "The Myth of Diffuse Ownership in the United States," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(4), pages 1377-1408, April.
    30. Andrea L. Eisfeldt & Dimitris Papanikolaou, 2013. "Organization Capital and the Cross-Section of Expected Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(4), pages 1365-1406, August.
    31. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:3:p:1301-1327 is not listed on IDEAS
    32. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    33. Jegadeesh, Narasimhan & Titman, Sheridan, 1993. "Returns to Buying Winners and Selling Losers: Implications for Stock Market Efficiency," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(1), pages 65-91, March.
    34. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1992. "The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 427-465, June.
    35. Ulf Von Lilienfeld-Toal & Stefan Ruenzi, 2014. "CEO Ownership, Stock Market Performance, and Managerial Discretion," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(3), pages 1013-1050, June.
    36. Villalonga, Belen & Amit, Raphael, 2006. "How do family ownership, control and management affect firm value?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 385-417, May.
    37. Anderson, Ronald C. & Lee, D. Scott, 1997. "Ownership Studies: The Data Source Does Matter," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(3), pages 311-329, September.
    38. Iacus, Stefano & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2009. "cem: Software for Coarsened Exact Matching," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 30(i09).
    39. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation," Scholarly Articles 29407535, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    40. Isakov, Dušan & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe, 2015. "Pay-out policies in founding family firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 330-344.
    41. Fama, Eugene F. & Jensen, Michael C., 1985. "Organizational forms and investment decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 101-119, March.
    42. Adams, Renée & Almeida, Heitor & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Understanding the relationship between founder-CEOs and firm performance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 136-150, January.
    43. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    44. Edmans, Alex, 2011. "Does the stock market fully value intangibles? Employee satisfaction and equity prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 621-640, September.
    45. Carney, Richard W. & Child, Travers Barclay, 2013. "Changes to the ownership and control of East Asian corporations between 1996 and 2008: The primacy of politics," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 494-513.
    46. repec:fth:prinin:455 is not listed on IDEAS
    47. Andres, Christian, 2008. "Large shareholders and firm performance--An empirical examination of founding-family ownership," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 431-445, September.
    48. Lowinski, F. & Schiereck, D. & Thomas, T. W., 2004. "The effect of (cross border) acquisitions on shareholder wealth - Evidence from Switzerland," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 35193, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    49. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    50. Xavier Giroud & Holger M. Mueller, 2011. "Corporate Governance, Product Market Competition, and Equity Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 563-600, April.
    51. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation : An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 293-315, January.
    52. Marianne Bertrand & Antoinette Schoar, 2006. "The Role of Family in Family Firms," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 73-96, Spring.
    53. Joshua Angrist & Alan Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Working Papers 834, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    54. Brennan, Michael J. & Chordia, Tarun & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 1998. "Alternative factor specifications, security characteristics, and the cross-section of expected stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 345-373, September.
    55. Armen Hovakimian & Ekkachai Saenyasiri, 2014. "US Analyst Regulation and the Earnings Forecast Bias around the World," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 20(3), pages 435-461, June.
    56. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    57. Manuel Ammann & Michael Steiner, 2008. "Risk Factors for the Swiss Stock Market," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 144(I), pages 1-35, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chalevas, Constantinos G. & Doukakis, Leonidas C. & Karampinis, Nikolaos I. & Pavlopoulou, Olga-Chara, 2024. "The impact of family ownership on tax avoidance: International evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Martin Huber & Yu‐Chin Hsu & Ying‐Ying Lee & Layal Lettry, 2020. "Direct and indirect effects of continuous treatments based on generalized propensity score weighting," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 814-840, November.
    3. Wang, Di & Liu, Guangqiang & Xie, Linlin, 2023. "Can compulsory liability insurance reduce agency costs? Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. Philippe Masset & Cédric Poretti & Jean‐Philippe Weisskopf, 2024. "In family we trust—In good and bad times," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 24(1), pages 128-138, March.
    5. Martin Tao-Schuchardt & Frederik J. Riar & Nadine Kammerlander, 2023. "Family Firm Value in the Acquisition Context: A Signaling Theory Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(4), pages 1200-1232, July.
    6. Samdani, Taufique, 2024. "Disclosure rules, controlling shareholders, and trading activity in the new issues market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    7. Eugster, Nicolas & Wang, Qingxia, 2023. "Large blockholders and stock price crash risk: An international study," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. González, Maximiliano & Guzmán, Alexander & Pombo, Carlos & Trujillo, María-Andrea, 2012. "Family firms and financial performance: The cost of growing," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 626-649.
    2. Ding, Wenzhi & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2021. "Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 802-830.
    3. Hegde, Shantaram & Seth, Rama & Vishwanatha, S.R., 2020. "Ownership concentration and stock returns: Evidence from family firms in India," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    4. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5922 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Isakov, Dušan & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe, 2014. "Are founding families special blockholders? An investigation of controlling shareholder influence on firm performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-16.
    6. Eugster, Nicolas, 2019. "Family firms and financial analyst activity," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    7. Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger, 2009. "Founder-CEOs, Investment Decisions, and Stock Market Performance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 439-466, April.
    8. Breuer, Wolfgang & Knetsch, Andreas, 2022. "Informal authority and economic outcomes of family firms: An issue of national power distance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    9. Zeineb Barka & Taher Hamza, 2020. "The effect of large controlling shareholders on equity prices in France: monitoring or entrenchment?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(3), pages 769-798, September.
    10. Bouzgarrou, Houssam & Navatte, Patrick, 2013. "Ownership structure and acquirers performance: Family vs. non-family firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 123-134.
    11. Ansari, Iram Fatima & Goergen, Marc & Mira, Svetlana, 2014. "The determinants of the CEO successor choice in family firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 6-25.
    12. Pindado, Julio & Requejo, Ignacio & de la Torre, Chabela, 2014. "Family control, expropriation, and investor protection: A panel data analysis of Western European corporations," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 58-74.
    13. Hamadi, Malika & Heinen, Andréas, 2015. "Firm performance when ownership is very concentrated: Evidence from a semiparametric panel," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 172-194.
    14. Eugster, Nicolas & Wang, Qingxia, 2023. "Large blockholders and stock price crash risk: An international study," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    15. Valentina Peruzzi, 2017. "Does family ownership structure affect investment-cash flow sensitivity? Evidence from Italian SMEs," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(43), pages 4378-4393, September.
    16. Christopher Hansen & Joern Block & Matthias Neuenkirch, 2020. "Family Firm Performance Over The Business Cycle: A Meta‐Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 476-511, July.
    17. Andrew Ellul & Marco Pagano & Fausto Panunzi, 2010. "Inheritance Law and Investment in Family Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 2414-2450, December.
    18. San Martin-Reyna, J.M. & Duran-Encalada, Jorge A., 2012. "The relationship among family business, corporate governance and firm performance: Evidence from the Mexican stock exchange," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 106-117.
    19. Bowo Setiyono & Amine Tarazi, 2014. "Does the presence of institutional investors in family banks affect profitability and risk? Evidence from an emerging market," Working Papers hal-01077118, HAL.
    20. Zhou, Haoyong & He, Fan & Wang, Yangbo, 2017. "Did family firms perform better during the financial crisis? New insights from the S&P 500 firms," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 88-103.
    21. Isakov, Dušan & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe, 2015. "Pay-out policies in founding family firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 330-344.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Family firm; Ownership structure; Abnormal returns; Performance; Earnings surprise;
    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
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:107:y:2019:i:c:7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbf .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.