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Accounting for Taste: Board Member Preferences and Corporate Policy Choices

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  • Richardson, Scott
  • Tuna, A. Irem
  • Wysocki, Peter D.

Abstract

This paper explores whether firms that share common directors also pursue similar corporate policies. Using a sample of 885 U.S. firms with common directors, we find that director fixed effects strongly explain variation in firms' governance, financial, disclosure, and strategic policy choices. Moreover, the director fixed effects provide incremental explanatory power over traditional economic determinants of firms' policies. consistent with our hypotheses, the director effects are less pronounced in large firms, in firms with more outside board members, and for directors with numerous outside board appointments. Our evidence is more consistent with directors and firms "matching" their policy preferences rather than directors "imposing" their policy preferences on firms

Suggested Citation

  • Richardson, Scott & Tuna, A. Irem & Wysocki, Peter D., 2003. "Accounting for Taste: Board Member Preferences and Corporate Policy Choices," Working papers 4307-03, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:mit:sloanp:3515
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/3515
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    2. Charlie Weir & Oleksandr Talavera & Alexander Muravyev, 2011. "The Return on Human Capital: the Case of UK Non-executive Directors that are also Executive Directors," University of East Anglia Applied and Financial Economics Working Paper Series 029, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    3. Sandra Cavaco & Patricia Crifo & Antoine Rebérioux & Gwenael Roudaut, 2014. "Independent directors: less informed, but better selected? New evidence from a two-way director-firm fixed effect model," Working Papers hal-04141284, HAL.
    4. Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger & Low, Angie & Stulz, René M., 2010. "Why do firms appoint CEOs as outside directors?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 12-32, July.
    5. Ravi Dharwadkar & David Harris & Linna Shi & Nan Zhou, 2020. "The initiation of audit committee interlocks and the contagion of accounting policy choices: evidence from special items," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 120-158, March.
    6. Francois Brochet & Lucile Faurel & Sarah Mcvay, 2011. "Manager‐Specific Effects on Earnings Guidance: An Analysis of Top Executive Turnovers," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5), pages 1123-1162, December.
    7. Kanellos S. Toudas & Jinxiu Zhu, 2023. "The Effect of Religion in European Financial Statement Disclosures: A Real Earnings’ Management Case," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-24, October.
    8. Arena, Matteo P. & Braga-Alves, Marcus V., 2013. "The discretionary effect of CEOs and board chairs on corporate governance structures," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 121-131.
    9. Cavaco, Sandra & Crifo, Patricia & Rebérioux, Antoine & Roudaut, Gwenael, 2017. "Independent directors: Less informed but better selected than affiliated board members?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 106-121.
    10. Roberto Di Pietra & Christos Grambovas & Ivana Raonic & Angelo Riccaboni, 2008. "The effects of board size and ‘busy’ directors on the market value of Italian companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 12(1), pages 73-91, March.
    11. Mayorga, Diane & Trotman, Ken T., 2016. "The effects of a reasonable investor perspective and firm's prior disclosure policy on managers' disclosure judgments," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 50-62.
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    13. Peter Hahn & Meziane Lasfer, 2011. "The compensation of non-executive directors: rationale, form, and findings," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 15(4), pages 589-601, November.

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