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Monitoring capabilities of busy and overlap directors: Evidence from Australia

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  • Fernández Méndez, Carlos
  • Pathan, Shams
  • Arrondo García, Rubén

Abstract

We analyze the effects of multiple board directorships (busy directors) and multiple committee memberships of a board (overlap directors) on four board supervisory outcomes: CEO remuneration, external auditor opinion, audit fees and CEO turnover. Using a panel of 684 Australian listed firms from 2001 to 2011, we find that firms with busy directors pay high remunerations to their CEOs, and experience low CEO pay-performance and low CEO turnover-performance sensitivities. Our results also suggest that firms with overlap directors have a lower probability of receiving a qualified audit opinion and are able to negotiate lower payments, both to their CEOs and to the external auditors. These results hold for alternative specifications and proxies. Our results suggest that busy (overlap) directors are detrimental (beneficial) to the monitoring capability of the board and its committees. Finally, our findings suggest that the negative monitoring effect of busy directors are predominantly observed in large firms where over-commitment problems are severe, while the positive monitoring effects of overlap directors are observed in small firms where directorial positions are less time demanding.

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  • Fernández Méndez, Carlos & Pathan, Shams & Arrondo García, Rubén, 2015. "Monitoring capabilities of busy and overlap directors: Evidence from Australia," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(PA), pages 444-469.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:35:y:2015:i:pa:p:444-469
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2015.05.006
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    5. Zhou, Yifan & Kara, Alper & Molyneux, Philip, 2019. "Chair-CEO generation gap and bank risk-taking," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 352-372.
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    7. Oladipupo Muhrtala Tijani & Mubaraq Sanni & Karimu Adebayo Ishola, 2015. "Multiple Directorships and Related Parties Transactions: The Weakness of Numbers," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 1(2), pages 137-148, December.
    8. John Nowland & Andreas Simon, 2018. "Is poor director attendance contagious?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 43(1), pages 42-64, February.
    9. Nadarajah, Sivathaasan & Ali, Searat & Liu, Benjamin & Huang, Allen, 2018. "Stock liquidity, corporate governance and leverage: New panel evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 216-234.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Board; Executive remuneration; Busy directors; Overlap directors; Audit fees; Audit opinion; Pay-performance sensitivity; CEO turnover;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • 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
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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