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Common Ownership in America: 1980–2017

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  • Matthew Backus
  • Christopher Conlon
  • Michael Sinkinson

Abstract

We empirically assess the implications of the common ownership hypothesis from a historical perspective using the set of S&P 500 firms from 1980 to 2017. We show that the dramatic rise in common ownership in the time series is driven primarily by the rise of indexing and diversification and, in the cross section, by investor concentration, which the theory presumes to drive a wedge between cash flow rights and control. We also show that the theory predicts incentives for expropriation of undiversified shareholders via tunneling, even in the Berle and Means (1932) world of the widely held firm.

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  • Matthew Backus & Christopher Conlon & Michael Sinkinson, 2021. "Common Ownership in America: 1980–2017," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 273-308, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmic:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:273-308
    DOI: 10.1257/mic.20190389
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Common Ownership: Back to Basics
      by Steve Cecchetti and Kim Schoenholtz in Money, Banking and Financial Markets on 2019-02-11 14:47:56

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. José Azar & Xavier Vives, 2021. "General Equilibrium Oligopoly and Ownership Structure," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(3), pages 999-1048, May.
    2. Oz Shy, 2021. "College Education, Earning Inequality, and Market Power," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 334-357, December.
    3. Brito, Duarte & Ribeiro, Ricardo & Vasconcelos, Helder, 2020. "Overlapping ownership, endogenous quality, and welfare," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    4. Gibbon, Alexandra J. & Schain, Jan Philip, 2023. "Rising markups, common ownership, and technological capacities," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. Dasgupta, Amil & Fos, Vyacheslav & Sautner, Zacharias, 2021. "Institutional investors and corporate governance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112114, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Emmanuel Petrakis & Panagiotis Skartados, 2022. "Vertical Opportunism, Bargaining, and Share-Based Agreements," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 60(4), pages 549-565, June.
    7. Albina Gibadullina, 2024. "Who owns and controls global capital? Uneven geographies of asset manager capitalism," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 56(2), pages 558-585, March.
    8. Porter, Robert H., 2020. "Mergers and coordinated effects," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    9. Xu, Lili & Zhang, Yidan & Matsumura, Toshihiro, 2022. "Cournot–Bertrand comparison under common ownership in a mixed oligopoly," MPRA Paper 114644, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Gilje, Erik P. & Gormley, Todd A. & Levit, Doron, 2020. "Who's paying attention? Measuring common ownership and its impact on managerial incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(1), pages 152-178.
    11. Matthew Backus & Christopher Conlon & Michael Sinkinson, 2021. "Common Ownership and Competition in the Ready-to-Eat Cereal Industry," NBER Working Papers 28350, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Liu, Yi & Matsumura, Toshihiro, 2022. "Welfare effects of common ownership in an international duopoly," MPRA Paper 115177, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Gao, Lei & Han, Jianlei & Kim, Jeong-Bon & Pan, Zheyao, 2024. "Overlapping institutional ownership along the supply chain and earnings management of supplier firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    14. Oz Shy & Rune Stenbacka, 2020. "Common ownership, institutional investors, and welfare," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 706-723, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • 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
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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