IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/glofin/v47y2021ics104402831930225x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Board tenure and firm performance

Author

Listed:
  • Livnat, Joshua
  • Smith, Gavin
  • Suslava, Kate
  • Tarlie, Martin

Abstract

We view director tenure as an indicator of a firm's stability. Longer board tenure indicates that shareholders are satisfied with their director appointments, that the board has the relevant mix of capital, that it is effective at monitoring and advising management, and that the firm is unlikely to face operational and strategic problems that require drastic changes to its board. Using a broad sample of up to 3800 firms over a 20-year period, we show that firms with longer board tenure have higher future abnormal returns. Our evidence suggests that investors misprice board tenure: longer board tenure is associated with higher market valuations but not with higher expected returns as measured by analysts' target prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Livnat, Joshua & Smith, Gavin & Suslava, Kate & Tarlie, Martin, 2021. "Board tenure and firm performance," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:glofin:v:47:y:2021:i:c:s104402831930225x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2020.100535
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S104402831930225X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.gfj.2020.100535?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. Ying Dou & Sidharth Sahgal & Emma Jincheng Zhang, 2015. "Should Independent Directors Have Term Limits? The Role of Experience in Corporate Governance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 583-621, September.
    2. Sharma, Vineeta, 2011. "Independent directors and the propensity to pay dividends," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 1001-1015, September.
    3. Larcker, David F. & So, Eric C. & Wang, Charles C.Y., 2013. "Boardroom centrality and firm performance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 225-250.
    4. Flora Niu & Greg Berberich, 2015. "Director tenure and busyness and corporate governance," International Journal of Corporate Governance, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(1), pages 56-69.
    5. Novy-Marx, Robert, 2013. "The other side of value: The gross profitability premium," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-28.
    6. Fracassi, Cesare & Petry, Stefan & Tate, Geoffrey, 2016. "Does rating analyst subjectivity affect corporate debt pricing?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(3), pages 514-538.
    7. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    8. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    9. Nikos Vafeas, 2003. "Length of Board Tenure and Outside Director Independence," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7‐8), pages 1043-1064, September.
    10. Goyal, Vidhan K. & Park, Chul W., 2002. "Board leadership structure and CEO turnover," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 49-66, January.
    11. Alon Brav & Reuven Lehavy & Roni Michaely, 2005. "Using Expectations to Test Asset Pricing Models," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 34(3), Fall.
    12. Shelly W. Howton, 2006. "Effect of Governance Characteristics on the State of the Firm after an Initial Public Offering," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 41(3), pages 419-433, August.
    13. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    14. Sterling Huang & Gilles Hilary, 2018. "Zombie Board: Board Tenure and Firm Performance," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 1285-1329, September.
    15. Yermack, David, 1996. "Higher market valuation of companies with a small board of directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 185-211, February.
    16. Daniel, Kent, et al, 1997. "Measuring Mutual Fund Performance with Characteristic-Based Benchmarks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1035-1058, July.
    17. Denis, David J. & Sarin, Atulya, 1999. "Ownership and board structures in publicly traded corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 187-223, May.
    18. Hermalin, Benjamin E & Weisbach, Michael S, 1998. "Endogenously Chosen Boards of Directors and Their Monitoring of the CEO," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(1), pages 96-118, March.
    19. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    20. Nikos Vafeas, 2003. "Length of Board Tenure and Outside Director Independence," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30, pages 1043-1064.
    21. Fama, Eugene F, 1980. "Agency Problems and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(2), pages 288-307, April.
    22. Foued Hamouda & Mounira Ben Arab, 2013. "Board of directors and insider trading with share repurchase programs," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(2), pages 405-418, May.
    23. Matthew A. Rutherford & Ann K. Buchholtz, 2007. "Investigating the Relationship Between Board Characteristics and Board Information," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 576-584, July.
    24. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    25. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2006. "Profitability, investment and average returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(3), pages 491-518, December.
    26. Core, John E. & Holthausen, Robert W. & Larcker, David F., 1999. "Corporate governance, chief executive officer compensation, and firm performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 371-406, March.
    27. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    28. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 1988. "The Determinants of Board Composition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(4), pages 589-606, Winter.
    29. Baker, Malcolm & Gompers, Paul A, 2003. "The Determinants of Board Structure at the Initial Public Offering," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(2), pages 569-598, October.
    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. Veeravel, V & Murugesan, Vijaya Prabhagar & Narayanamurthy, Vijayakumar, 2024. "Does ESG disclosure really influence the firm performance? Evidence from India," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 193-202.
    2. Kimberly A. Whitler & Ben Lee & Sarah Young, 2022. "The impact of boards of directors on chief marketing officer performance: Framing and research agenda," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 12(1), pages 116-136, June.
    3. Habiba Al‐Shaer & Cemil Kuzey & Ali Uyar & Abdullah S. Karaman, 2024. "Corporate strategy, board composition, and firm value," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 3177-3202, July.
    4. Doaa Aly & Muath Abdelqader & Tamer K. Darwish & Arshad Hasan & Anna Toporkiewicz, 2024. "How organizational board compositions lead to a higher job satisfaction: an empirical analysis of US and UK companies," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(2), pages 277-289, June.
    5. Peter Kwarteng & Kingsley Opoku Appiah & Joseph Akadeagre Agana & Newman Amaning, 2024. "Effect of corporate governance mechanisms on corporate strategy for listed firms in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 4(6), pages 1-39, June.
    6. Harakeh, Mostafa & Leventis, Stergios & El Masri, Tarek & Tsileponis, Nikolaos, 2023. "The moderating role of board gender diversity on the relationship between firm opacity and stock returns," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(4).
    7. Mujeeb Saif Mohsen Al-Absy, 2022. "Board Chairman Characteristics and Real Earnings Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-17, November.
    8. Leviticus Mensah & Murad Abdurahman Bein, 2023. "Sound Corporate Governance and Financial Performance: Is There a Link? Evidence from Manufacturing Companies in South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.
    9. Francesco Paolone & Matteo Pozzoli & Nicola Cucari & Rosario Bianco, 2023. "Longer board tenure and audit committee tenure. How do they impact environmental performance? A European study," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 358-368, January.
    10. V. Veeravel & E. K. S. Sadharma & Bandi Kamaiah, 2024. "Do ESG disclosures lead to superior firm performance? A method of moments panel quantile regression approach," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 741-754, January.

    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. Patro, Sukesh & Zhang, Lu Y. & Zhao, Rong, 2018. "Director tenure and corporate social responsibility: The tradeoff between experience and independence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 51-66.
    2. Drobetz, Wolfgang & von Meyerinck, Felix & Oesch, David & Schmid, Markus, 2014. "Board Industry Experience, Firm Value, and Investment Behavior," Working Papers on Finance 1401, University of St. Gallen, School of Finance, revised Dec 2015.
    3. Fich, Eliezer M. & Starks, Laura T. & Yore, Adam S., 2014. "CEO deal-making activities and compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(3), pages 471-492.
    4. Goh, Lisa & Gupta, Aditi, 2016. "Remuneration of non-executive directors: Evidence from the UK," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 379-399.
    5. Ying Dou & Sidharth Sahgal & Emma Jincheng Zhang, 2015. "Should Independent Directors Have Term Limits? The Role of Experience in Corporate Governance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 583-621, September.
    6. Hui Liang James & Hongxia Wang, 2021. "Independent director tenure and dividends," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5-6), pages 1057-1091, May.
    7. Coles, Jeffrey L. & Daniel, Naveen D. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2008. "Boards: Does one size fit all," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 329-356, February.
    8. Hoje Jo & Yongtae Kim & Dongsoo Shin, 2012. "Underwriter syndication and corporate governance," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 61-86, January.
    9. Renee B. Adams & Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 2010. "The Role of Boards of Directors in Corporate Governance: A Conceptual Framework and Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 58-107, March.
    10. Francesco Paolone & Matteo Pozzoli & Nicola Cucari & Rosario Bianco, 2023. "Longer board tenure and audit committee tenure. How do they impact environmental performance? A European study," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 358-368, January.
    11. Jang, Jeewon & Kang, Jangkoo, 2019. "Probability of price crashes, rational speculative bubbles, and the cross-section of stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(1), pages 222-247.
    12. Clifford S. Asness & Andrea Frazzini & Lasse Heje Pedersen, 2019. "Quality minus junk," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 34-112, March.
    13. James, Hui Liang & Ngo, Thanh & Wang, Hongxia, 2021. "Independent director tenure and corporate transparency," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    14. Datta, Deepak K. & Basuil, Dynah A. & Agarwal, Ankita, 2020. "Effects of board characteristics on post-acquisition performance: A study of cross-border acquisitions by firms in the manufacturing sector," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    15. Doron Avramov & Si Cheng & Allaudeen Hameed, 2020. "Mutual Funds and Mispriced Stocks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(6), pages 2372-2395, June.
    16. Bartram, Söhnke M. & Grinblatt, Mark, 2018. "Agnostic fundamental analysis works," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(1), pages 125-147.
    17. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Qiang Wu, 2015. "Professors in the Boardroom and Their Impact on Corporate Governance and Firm Performance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 547-581, September.
    18. Malagon, Juliana & Moreno, David & Rodríguez, Rosa, 2015. "The idiosyncratic volatility anomaly: Corporate investment or investor mispricing?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 224-238.
    19. Zhou, Yi, 2022. "Option trading volume by moneyness, firm fundamentals, and expected stock returns," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    20. Gil-Bazo, Javier & Ruiz-Verdú, Pablo, 2006. "Yet another puzzle? the relation between price and performance in the mutual fund industry," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB wb066519, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.

    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:glofin:v:47:y:2021:i:c:s104402831930225x. 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/inca/620162 .

    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.