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Why Are Firms With More Managerial Ownership Worth Less?

Author

Listed:
  • Kornelia Fabisik

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Swiss Finance Institute)

  • Rüdiger Fahlenbrach

    (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Swiss Finance Institute)

  • René M. Stulz

    (Ohio State University (OSU) - Department of Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI))

  • Jérôme Taillard

    (Babson College)

Abstract

Using more than 50,000 firm-years from 1988 to 2015, we show that the empirical relation between a firm’s Tobin’s q and managerial ownership is systematically negative. When we restrict our sample to larger firms as in the prior literature, our findings are consistent with the literature, showing that there is an increasing and concave relation between q and managerial ownership. We show that these seemingly contradictory results are explained by cumulative past performance and liquidity. Better performing firms have more liquid equity, which enables insiders to more easily sell shares after the IPO, and they also have a higher Tobin’s q.

Suggested Citation

  • Kornelia Fabisik & Rüdiger Fahlenbrach & René M. Stulz & Jérôme Taillard, 2018. "Why Are Firms With More Managerial Ownership Worth Less?," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 18-75, Swiss Finance Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp1875
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    Cited by:

    1. Cui, Huan-yu & Cao, Yue-qun, 2025. "Environmental justice, ethical transformation: Environmental courts and corporate ESG performance," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    2. Borja Larrain & Peter Roosenboom & Giorgo Sertsios & Francisco Urzúa, 2024. "Ownership Concentration and Firm Value: New Evidence from Owner Stakes in IPOs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(7), pages 4441-4464, July.
    3. Elżbieta Bukalska & Jakub Czerniak & Irmina Florek, 2025. "Does CEO Ownership in High-Tech Companies Affect Corporate Financial Decisions?," Central European Business Review, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2025(4), pages 81-106.
    4. Zeng, Huixiang & Ren, Lei & Chen, Xiaohong & Zhou, Qiong & Zhang, Tao & Cheng, Xu, 2024. "Punishment or deterrence? Environmental justice construction and corporate equity financing––Evidence from environmental courts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Irina I. Smotritskaya & Nadezhda D. Frolova, 2023. "Insider ownership and performance of Russian public companies: Econometric estimates," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 14(3), pages 2-16, July.
    6. Florackis, Chris & Kanas, Angelos & Kostakis, Alexandros & Sainani, Sushil, 2020. "Idiosyncratic risk, risk-taking incentives and the relation between managerial ownership and firm value," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 283(2), pages 748-766.
    7. Wood, Steven, 2025. "Owners vs. agents: A global examination of the behavior of owner operators," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    8. Chaudhry, Neeru & Kattamuri, Rohit, 2024. "Do defined contribution plans create value for shareholders?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 616-633.
    9. Chaudhry, Neeru & Gupta, Aastha, 2023. "Do derivatives benefit shareholders? Evidence from India," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
    10. Bianchi, Milo & Luomaranta, Henri, 2021. "Agency Costs in Small Firms," TSE Working Papers 21-1252, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Sep 2025.
    11. Henry Kimathi Mukaria, 2020. "Managerial Shareholding, Asset Utilization Efficiency and Shareholders Wealth: A Structural Equation Model Analysis," International Journal of Applied Economics, Finance and Accounting, Online Academic Press, vol. 7(1), pages 32-38.
    12. Li, Weiping & Li, Tingyu & Jiang, Dequan & Zhang, Xuezhi, 2024. "Bridging the information gap: How digitalization shapes stock price informativeness," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    13. Chaudhry, Neeru & Dhawan, Priya, 2025. "Does firms' commitment towards CSR influence idiosyncratic volatility? Evidence from India," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    14. Maria Boutchkova & Diego Cueto & Angelica Gonzalez, 2022. "Test power properties of within-firm estimators of ownership and board-related explanatory variables with low time variation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1215-1269, October.

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    Keywords

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    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

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