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Governance through shame and aspiration: Index creation and corporate behavior

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  • Chattopadhyay, Akash
  • Shaffer, Matthew D.
  • Wang, Charles C.Y.

Abstract

After decades of de-prioritizing shareholders’ economic interests and low corporate profitability, Japan introduced the JPX-Nikkei400 in 2014. The index highlighted the country’s “best-run” companies by annually selecting the 400 most profitable of its large and liquid firms. We find that managers competed for inclusion in the index by significantly increasing return on equity (ROE), and they did so at least in part due to their reputational or status concerns. The ROE increase was predominantly driven by improvements in margins, which were in turn partially driven by cutting research and development (R&D) intensity. Our findings suggest that indexes can affect managerial behavior through reputational or status incentives.

Suggested Citation

  • Chattopadhyay, Akash & Shaffer, Matthew D. & Wang, Charles C.Y., 2020. "Governance through shame and aspiration: Index creation and corporate behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(3), pages 704-724.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:135:y:2020:i:3:p:704-724
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2019.07.005
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    JPX-Nikkei 400 index; Corporate governance; Index inclusion; Reputation incentives; Status incentives; Return on equity; Capital efficiency; Social norms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

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