IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v141y2017i3d10.1007_s10551-015-2677-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the Effect of Religious Piety on Corporate Governance: Evidence from Anti-takeover Defenses and Historical Religious Identification

Author

Listed:
  • Pandej Chintrakarn

    (Mahidol University International College (MUIC))

  • Pornsit Jiraporn

    (Pennsylvania State University
    SASIN Graduate Institute of Business Administration, Chulalongkorn University)

  • Shenghui Tong

    (Central University of Finance and Economics)

  • Pattanaporn Chatjuthamard

    (SASIN Graduate Institute of Business Administration, Chulalongkorn University)

Abstract

Because religious piety induces individuals to be more honest and risk averse, it makes managers less likely to exploit shareholders, thereby mitigating the agency conflict and potentially influencing governance arrangements. We exploit the variation in religious piety across the U.S. counties and investigate the effect of religious piety on anti-takeover provisions. Our results show that religious piety substitutes for corporate governance in alleviating the agency conflict. Effective governance is less necessary for firm with strong religious piety. As a result, religious piety leads to weaker governance, as indicated by more anti-takeover defenses. We exploit historical religious piety as far back as 1952 as our instrumental variable. Religious piety from the distant past is unlikely correlated with current corporate governance directly, except through contemporaneous religious piety. Our instrumental variable analysis, which is far less vulnerable to endogeneity, corroborates the conclusion.

Suggested Citation

  • Pandej Chintrakarn & Pornsit Jiraporn & Shenghui Tong & Pattanaporn Chatjuthamard, 2017. "Exploring the Effect of Religious Piety on Corporate Governance: Evidence from Anti-takeover Defenses and Historical Religious Identification," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 469-476, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:141:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2677-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2677-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-015-2677-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-015-2677-2?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hirshleifer, David & Thakor, Anjan V., 1994. "Managerial performance, boards of directors and takeover bidding," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 63-90, March.
    2. Joseph G. Altonji & Todd E. Elder & Christopher R. Taber, 2005. "Selection on Observed and Unobserved Variables: Assessing the Effectiveness of Catholic Schools," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 151-184, February.
    3. Alberto Alesina & Eliana La Ferrara, 2000. "Participation in Heterogeneous Communities," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 115(3), pages 847-904.
    4. Williamson, Oliver E, 1983. "Organization Form, Residual Claimants, and Corporate Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 351-366, June.
    5. Hilary, Gilles & Hui, Kai Wai, 2009. "Does religion matter in corporate decision making in America?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3), pages 455-473, September.
    6. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 2000. "Agency Problems and Dividend Policies around the World," Scholarly Articles 30747163, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    7. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    8. Pornsit Jiraporn & Napatsorn Jiraporn & Adisak Boeprasert & Kiyoung Chang, 2014. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Improve Credit Ratings? Evidence from Geographic Identification," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 43(3), pages 505-531, September.
    9. Laurence R. Iannaccone, 1998. "Introduction to the Economics of Religion," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1465-1495, September.
    10. Laurence R. Iannaccone, 1998. "Corrigenda [Introduction to the Economics of Religion]," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 1941-1941, December.
    11. Pattanaporn Chatjuthamard-Kitsabunnarat & Pornsit Jiraporn & Shenghui Tong, 2014. "Does religious piety inspire corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Evidence from historical religious identification," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(16), pages 1128-1133, November.
    12. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐de‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 2000. "Agency Problems and Dividend Policies around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 1-33, February.
    13. Evelyn L. Lehrer, 2004. "Religion as a Determinant of Economic and Demographic Behavior in the United States," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(4), pages 707-726, December.
    14. Scott D. Dyreng & William J. Mayew & Christopher D. Williams, 2012. "Religious Social Norms and Corporate Financial Reporting," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(7-8), pages 845-875, September.
    15. Joshua D. Coval & Tobias J. Moskowitz, 1999. "Home Bias at Home: Local Equity Preference in Domestic Portfolios," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 2045-2073, December.
    16. Christo Pirinsky & Qinghai Wang, 2006. "Does Corporate Headquarters Location Matter for Stock Returns?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1991-2015, August.
    17. John Shea, 1997. "Instrument Relevance in Multivariate Linear Models: A Simple Measure," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(2), pages 348-352, May.
    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. Leon Zolotoy & Don O’Sullivan & Keke Song, 2021. "The Role of Ethical Standards in the Relationship Between Religious Social Norms and M&A Announcement Returns," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 721-742, May.
    2. Zuobao Wei & Yicheng Zhu, 2023. "Does religiosity improve analyst forecast accuracy?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 915-948, April.
    3. Blau, Benjamin M., 2018. "Does religiosity affect liquidity in financial markets?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 72-83.
    4. Robert E. Till & Mary Beth Yount, 2019. "Governance and Incentives: Is It Really All about the Money?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 605-618, October.
    5. Richard J. Cebula & Fabrizio Rossi, 2021. "Religiosity and corporate risk-taking: evidence from Italy," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 45(4), pages 751-763, October.
    6. Jay Cai & Guifeng Shi, 2019. "Do Religious Norms Influence Corporate Debt Financing?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 159-182, June.
    7. Chen, Naiwei & Yu, Min-Teh, 2021. "National Governance and Corporate Liquidity in Organization of Islamic Cooperation Countries: Evidence based on a Sharia-compliant Liquidity Measure," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    8. Ahsan Habib & Mabel D' Costa & Ahmed Khamis Al‐Hadi, 2023. "Consequences of local social norms: A review of the literature in accounting, finance, and corporate governance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 3-45, March.
    9. Indah Fajarini Sri Wahyuningrum & Amin Chegenizadeh & Natasya Ghinna Humaira & Mochamad Arief Budihardjo & Hamid Nikraz, 2023. "Corporate Governance Research in Asian Countries: A Bibliometric and Content Analysis (2001–2021)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-20, April.
    10. Nebojsa Dimic & Veda Fatmy & Sami Vähämaa, 2024. "Religiosity and corporate social responsibility: A study of firm‐level adherence to Christian values in the United States," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 396-413, January.
    11. Uddin, Md Hamid & Kabir, Sarkar Humayun & Hossain, Mohammed Sawkat & Wahab, Nor Shaipah Abdul & Liu, Jia, 2020. "Which firms do prefer Islamic debt? An analysis and evidence from global sukuk and bonds issuing firms," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    12. Lu, Liping & Wu, Yiping, 2020. "Does religion enhance firm performance? Evidence from private firms in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(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. Jay Cai & Guifeng Shi, 2019. "Do Religious Norms Influence Corporate Debt Financing?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 159-182, June.
    2. Lijun Ma & Xin Wang & Che Zhang, 2021. "Does Religion Shape Corporate Cost Behavior?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 835-855, May.
    3. Zuobao Wei & Yicheng Zhu, 2023. "Does religiosity improve analyst forecast accuracy?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 915-948, April.
    4. Huajing Hu & Yili Lian & Wencang Zhou, 2019. "Do Local Protestant Values Affect Corporate Cash Holdings?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 147-166, January.
    5. Gao, Lei & Wang, Ying & Zhao, Jing, 2017. "Does local religiosity affect organizational risk-taking? Evidence from the hedge fund industry," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-22.
    6. Jeffrey L. Callen & Xiaohua Fang, 2020. "Local Gambling Norms and Audit Pricing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 151-173, June.
    7. Chantziaras, Antonios & Dedoulis, Emmanouil & Grougiou, Vassiliki & Leventis, Stergios, 2020. "The impact of religiosity and corruption on CSR reporting: The case of U.S. banks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 362-374.
    8. Wenlian Gao & Lilian Ng & Qinghai Wang, 2011. "Does Corporate Headquarters Location Matter for Firm Capital Structure?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 40(1), pages 113-138, March.
    9. Hilary, Gilles & Hui, Kai Wai, 2009. "Does religion matter in corporate decision making in America?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3), pages 455-473, September.
    10. Stergios Leventis & Emmanouil Dedoulis & Omneya Abdelsalam, 2018. "The Impact of Religiosity on Audit Pricing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 53-78, March.
    11. Chircop, Justin & Johan, Sofia & Tarsalewska, Monika, 2020. "Does religiosity influence venture capital investment decisions?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    12. Hohyun Kim & Kyoung T. Kim & Seung H. Han, 2021. "Religious differences and households' investment decisions," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 44(4), pages 753-788, December.
    13. Brahmana, Rayenda Khresna & You, Hui Wei, 2022. "Do Muslim CEOs and Muslim stakeholders prefer Islamic debt financing?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    14. Baxamusa, Mufaddal & Jalal, Abu, 2014. "Does religion affect capital structure?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 112-131.
    15. Lamia Chourou & Luo He & Ligang Zhong, 2020. "Does religiosity enhance the quality of management earnings forecasts?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7-8), pages 910-948, July.
    16. Rizzo, Emanuele, 2018. "Essays on corporate governance and the impact of regulation on financial markets," Other publications TiSEM b5158260-ea13-4763-b992-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    17. Pattanaporn Chatjuthamard-Kitsabunnarat & Pornsit Jiraporn & Shenghui Tong, 2014. "Does religious piety inspire corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Evidence from historical religious identification," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(16), pages 1128-1133, November.
    18. Abdelsalam, Omneya & Chantziaras, Antonios & Ibrahim, Masud & Omoteso, Kamil, 2021. "The impact of religiosity on earnings quality: International evidence from the banking sector," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(6).
    19. Kumar, Alok & Page, Jeremy K. & Spalt, Oliver G., 2011. "Religious beliefs, gambling attitudes, and financial market outcomes," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(3), pages 671-708.
    20. Mathieu Gomes & Sylvain Marsat & Jonathan Peillex & Guillaume Pijourlet, 2023. "Does religiosity influence corporate greenwashing behavior?," Papers 2312.14515, arXiv.org.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Religion; Anti-takeover; Religious piety; Corporate governance; Takeover defenses;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

    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:kap:jbuset:v:141:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2677-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.