IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v96y2026ics0927538x26000053.html

Board independence, promoter influence, and share pledging behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Musunuru, Praveena
  • Jawed, Mohammad Shameem
  • Krishnan, Kaveri

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between board independence and share-pledging behavior by controlling shareholders (promoters) in Indian listed firms from 2010 to 2020 using a balanced panel. Further, we examine the interplay between the independence of the board and the presence of the promoter as an executive director on the board and its impact on the share pledging by promoters. Our findings reveal that independent boards serve as a deterrent to share pledging by promoters, especially when independent directors actively participate. However, this deterrent effect diminishes when promoters hold executive positions on the board. Moreover, unlike business group firms, board independence fails to deter share pledging in concentrated standalone firms. Furthermore, we examine whether independent boards encourage promoters to provide fair reasons for share pledging following a regulation in 2019. Our analysis confirms that independent boards incentivize promoters to provide transparent and justifiable reasons for engaging in share pledging. However, promoters on board reduce this effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Musunuru, Praveena & Jawed, Mohammad Shameem & Krishnan, Kaveri, 2026. "Board independence, promoter influence, and share pledging behavior," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:96:y:2026:i:c:s0927538x26000053
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2026.103059
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X26000053
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2026.103059?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shen, Yinjie (Victor) & Wang, Wei & Zhou, Fuzhao, 2021. "Insider pledging in the U.S," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    2. Xiao, Zhongyi & Chen, Haitao & Chen, Kang, 2023. "How does institutional investors' information acquisition inhibit share pledging? Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    3. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    4. Yogesh Chauhan & Ajay Kumar Mishra & Ronald W. Spahr, 2021. "Stock pledging and firm risk: Evidence from India," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 50(1), pages 261-280, March.
    5. Xie Deren & Liao Ke, 2018. "Share pledging by controlling shareholders and real earnings management of listed firms," China Journal of Accounting Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 109-119, April.
    6. Marianne Bertrand & Paras Mehta & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2002. "Ferreting out Tunneling: An Application to Indian Business Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 121-148.
    7. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 2000. "Investor protection and corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 3-27.
    8. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    9. Jameson, Melvin & Prevost, Andrew & Puthenpurackal, John, 2014. "Controlling shareholders, board structure, and firm performance: Evidence from India," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 1-20.
    10. Masulis, Ronald W. & Zhang, Emma Jincheng, 2019. "How valuable are independent directors? Evidence from external distractions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(3), pages 226-256.
    11. Black, Bernard & Kim, Woochan, 2012. "The effect of board structure on firm value: A multiple identification strategies approach using Korean data," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 203-226.
    12. Lorenzo Patelli & Annalisa Prencipe, 2007. "The Relationship between Voluntary Disclosure and Independent Directors in the Presence of a Dominant Shareholder," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 5-33.
    13. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 2008. "Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 48(2), April.
    14. Emma Garcia-Meca & Juan Sanchez-Ballesta, 2010. "The Association of Board Independence and Ownership Concentration with Voluntary Disclosure: A Meta-analysis," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 603-627.
    15. Tarun Khanna & Krishna Palepu, 2000. "Is Group Affiliation Profitable in Emerging Markets? An Analysis of Diversified Indian Business Groups," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 867-891, April.
    16. Bansal, Shashank & Thenmozhi, M., 2020. "Does concentrated founder ownership affect board independence? Role of corporate life cycle and ownership identity," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    17. Renée B. Adams & Daniel Ferreira, 2007. "A Theory of Friendly Boards," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(1), pages 217-250, February.
    18. Gong, Min & Wang, Yanan & Yang, Xiandong, 2021. "Do independent directors restrain controlling shareholders’ tunneling? Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 548-559.
    19. Ying Dou & Ronald W Masulis & Jason Zein, 2019. "Shareholder Wealth Consequences of Insider Pledging of Company Stock as Collateral for Personal Loans," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(12), pages 4810-4854.
    20. Singh, Amanjot & Singh, Harminder, 2022. "Insiders' stock pledging disclosures and credit ratings: Evidence from India," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    21. Yeh, Yin-Hua & Woidtke, Tracie, 2005. "Commitment or entrenchment?: Controlling shareholders and board composition," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1857-1885, July.
    22. Cheng, Eugene C.M. & Courtenay, Stephen M., 2006. "Response to discussion of "board composition, regulatory regime and voluntary disclosure"," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 293-294.
    23. Cheng, Eugene C.M. & Courtenay, Stephen M., 2006. "Board composition, regulatory regime and voluntary disclosure," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 262-289.
    24. Raheja, Charu G., 2005. "Determinants of Board Size and Composition: A Theory of Corporate Boards," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(2), pages 283-306, June.
    25. Huilong Liu & Hong Wang & Liansheng Wu, 2016. "Removing Vacant Chairs: Does Independent Directors’ Attendance at Board Meetings Matter?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(2), pages 375-393, January.
    26. Dahya, Jay & Dimitrov, Orlin & McConnell, John J., 2008. "Dominant shareholders, corporate boards, and corporate value: A cross-country analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 73-100, January.
    27. Boone, Audra L. & White, Joshua T., 2015. "The effect of institutional ownership on firm transparency and information production," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 508-533.
    28. Kornelia Fabisik, 2019. "Why Do U.S. CEOs Pledge Their Own Company's Stock?," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 19-60, Swiss Finance Institute.
    29. Masulis, Ronald W. & Mobbs, Shawn, 2014. "Independent director incentives: Where do talented directors spend their limited time and energy?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 406-429.
    30. Shashank Bansal & M. Thenmozhi, 2019. "Does Board Composition Matter to Institutional Investors?," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 18(2_suppl), pages 238-266, August.
    31. He, Mingfeng & Huang, Dengshi & Zhou, Jianan, 2023. "The impacts of share pledging on firm investment timing and valuation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    32. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    33. Wei Jiang & Hualin Wan & Shan Zhao, 2016. "Reputation Concerns of Independent Directors: Evidence from Individual Director Voting," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 655-696.
    34. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    35. Sila, Vathunyoo & Gonzalez, Angelica & Hagendorff, Jens, 2017. "Independent director reputation incentives and stock price informativeness," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 219-235.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Nguyen, Thi Tuyet Mai, 2017. "An examination of independent directors in Vietnam," OSF Preprints ay6dv, Center for Open Science.
    2. Claudia Frisenna & Davide Rizzotti, 2025. "The effects of family entrenchment and board independence on CEO turnover," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 29(4), pages 977-1005, December.
    3. F. Cappellieri & R. Vinciguerra & A. Ricciardi & M. Pizzo, 2025. "Independent minority directors against self-serving and manipulative practices in non- financial reporting," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 29(2), pages 453-501, June.
    4. Wang, Qiong & Wang, Huajie & Wang, Kemin, 2024. "Making outside directors inside: Independent directors’ corporate site visits and real earnings management," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6).
    5. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, January.
    6. Volonté, Christophe, 2015. "Boards: Independent and committed directors?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 25-37.
    7. Henrique Castro Martins & Cristiano Machado Costa, 2020. "Does control concentration affect board busyness? International evidence," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(3), pages 821-850, September.
    8. Agarwal, Anushka & Chaudhry, Neeru, 2022. "Foreign controlling shareholders and corporate investment," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    9. Sena, Vania & Duygun, Meryem & Lubrano, Giuseppe & Marra, Marianna & Shaban, Mohamed, 2018. "Board independence, corruption and innovation. Some evidence on UK subsidiaries," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 22-43.
    10. Pietro Fera & Rosa Vinciguerra, 2022. "Minorities? Representativeness on the Board and their Effect on the Level of Compliance with the Italian RPTs Regulation," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(2), pages 57-88.
    11. Cheng Guping & Muhammad Safdar Sial & Peng Wan & Alina Badulescu & Daniel Badulescu & Talles Vianna Brugni, 2020. "Do Board Gender Diversity and Non-Executive Directors Affect CSR Reporting? Insight from Agency Theory Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-25, October.
    12. Sujata Banerjee & Alessandro Zattoni & Abrarali Saiyed, 2023. "Dominant-owner CEOs, board of directors and firm performance in emerging economies: Exploring the moderating impact of quad-qualified directors," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1607-1642, December.
    13. Le, Quyen & Vafaei, Alireza & Ahmed, Kamran & Kutubi, Shawgat, 2022. "Independent directors' reputation incentives and firm performance – an Australian perspective," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    14. Yaseen AlJanadi, 2026. "Gender diversity and disclosure: a meta-analysis," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(1), pages 197-211, March.
    15. Al-Faryan, Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh, 2021. "The Effect of Board Composition and Managerial Pay on Saudi Firm Performance," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Online fi.
    16. Ghosh, Arpita, 2025. "Influence of share pledging on corporate social responsibility: Evidence from India," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(PA).
    17. Ahmed A. Elamer & Collins G. Ntim & Hussein A. Abdou & Alaa Mansour Zalata & Mohamed Elmagrhi, 2019. "The impact of multi-layer governance on bank risk disclosure in emerging markets: the case of Middle East and North Africa," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(2), pages 246-281, April.
    18. Sunny Juan Hong & Oliver Marnet, 2025. "Outside board directors’ expertise and intellectual capital disclosure: evidence from FTSE 350 companies," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 862-895, December.
    19. Hichem Khlif & Kamran Ahmed & Mohsen Souissi, 2017. "Ownership structure and voluntary disclosure: A synthesis of empirical studies," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 42(3), pages 376-403, August.
    20. Liu, Yu & Miletkov, Mihail K. & Wei, Zuobao & Yang, Tina, 2015. "Board independence and firm performance in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 223-244.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:pacfin:v:96:y:2026:i:c:s0927538x26000053. 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/pacfin .

    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.