IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/mulfin/v21y2011i5p257-278.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CEO power, M&A decisions, and market reactions

Author

Listed:
  • Dutta, Shantanu
  • MacAulay, Kenneth
  • Saadi, Samir

Abstract

In this study we examine the relationship between CEO power, corresponding acquisition activities and market reactions to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announcements with a Canadian M&A dataset (1997–2005). We use CEO excess pay as a proxy for CEO power. Our empirical results show that the market reactions to M&A announcements are not related to CEO power. It implies that powerful CEOs do not necessarily make value destroying acquisitions. Our results further show that CEO power levels are significantly higher for acquiring firms compared to the CEOs of non-acquiring firms. In other words, CEOs with more relative power make more acquisitions. Such acquisitions will increase the size of the firm and will allow CEOs to demand a higher compensation level for managing larger asset pools and to derive higher performance incentives that are also generally tied to firm size.

Suggested Citation

  • Dutta, Shantanu & MacAulay, Kenneth & Saadi, Samir, 2011. "CEO power, M&A decisions, and market reactions," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 257-278.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:mulfin:v:21:y:2011:i:5:p:257-278
    DOI: 10.1016/j.mulfin.2011.07.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1042444X11000363
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.mulfin.2011.07.003?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. Malmendier, Ulrike & Tate, Geoffrey, 2008. "Who makes acquisitions? CEO overconfidence and the market's reaction," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 20-43, July.
    2. Smith, Clifford Jr. & Watts, Ross L., 1992. "The investment opportunity set and corporate financing, dividend, and compensation policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 263-292, December.
    3. Bryan, Stephen & Hwang, LeeSeok & Lilien, Steven, 2000. "CEO Stock-Based Compensation: An Empirical Analysis of Incentive-Intensity, Relative Mix, and Economic Determinants," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(4), pages 661-693, October.
    4. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 43-58, January.
    5. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 2002. "Investor Protection and Corporate Valuation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(3), pages 1147-1170, June.
    6. Grinstein, Yaniv & Hribar, Paul, 2004. "CEO compensation and incentives: Evidence from M&A bonuses," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 119-143, July.
    7. Pekka Hietala & Steven N. Kaplan & David T. Robinson, 2003. "What is the Price of Hubris? Using Takeover Battles to Infer Overpayments and Synergies," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 32(3), Fall.
    8. Doidge, Craig & Andrew Karolyi, G. & Stulz, Rene M., 2007. "Why do countries matter so much for corporate governance?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 1-39, October.
    9. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    10. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Cremers, K.J. Martijn & Peyer, Urs C., 2011. "The CEO pay slice," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 199-221, October.
    11. Randall Morck & David Stangeland & Bernard Yeung, 2000. "Inherited Wealth, Corporate Control, and Economic Growth The Canadian Disease?," NBER Chapters, in: Concentrated Corporate Ownership, pages 319-372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Lucian Arye Bebchuk & Jesse M. Fried, 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 71-92, Summer.
    13. 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.
    14. Loughran, Tim & Vijh, Anand M, 1997. "Do Long-Term Shareholders Benefit from Corporate Acquisitions?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(5), pages 1765-1790, December.
    15. Duffhues, Pieter & Kabir, Rezaul, 2008. "Is the pay-performance relationship always positive: Evidence from the Netherlands," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 45-60, February.
    16. Morck, Randall K. (ed.), 2000. "Concentrated Corporate Ownership," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226536781, September.
    17. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1995. "Size and Book-to-Market Factors in Earnings and Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(1), pages 131-155, March.
    18. Roll, Richard, 1986. "The Hubris Hypothesis of Corporate Takeovers," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(2), pages 197-216, April.
    19. Yermack, David, 1995. "Do corporations award CEO stock options effectively?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 237-269.
    20. Berkovitch, Elazar & Narayanan, M. P., 1993. "Motives for Takeovers: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(3), pages 347-362, September.
    21. Ozkan, Neslihan, 2007. "Do corporate governance mechanisms influence CEO compensation? An empirical investigation of UK companies," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 349-364, December.
    22. Barber, Brad M. & Lyon, John D., 1997. "Detecting long-run abnormal stock returns: The empirical power and specification of test statistics," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 341-372, March.
    23. Randall K. Morck, 2000. "Concentrated Corporate Ownership," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number morc00-1.
    24. Bliss, Richard T. & Rosen, Richard J., 2001. "CEO compensation and bank mergers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 107-138, July.
    25. Richard Bozec, 2007. "US Market Integration and Corporate Governance Practices: evidence from Canadian companies," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 535-545, July.
    26. Eckbo, B. Espen & Thorburn, Karin S., 2000. "Gains to Bidder Firms Revisited: Domestic and Foreign Acquisitions in Canada," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 35(1), pages 1-25, March.
    27. John A. Doukas & Dimitris Petmezas, 2007. "Acquisitions, Overconfident Managers and Self‐attribution Bias," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 13(3), pages 531-577, June.
    28. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 2003. "Boards of directors as an endogenously determined institution: a survey of the economic literature," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 9(Apr), pages 7-26.
    29. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Fried, Jesse M., 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt81q3136r, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
    30. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Jesse M. Fried, 2005. "Pay Without Performance: Overview of the Issues," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 17(4), pages 8-23, September.
    31. Chourou, Lamia & Abaoub, Ezzeddine & Saadi, Samir, 2008. "The economic determinants of CEO stock option compensation," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 61-77, February.
    32. Ghosh, Aloke, 2001. "Does operating performance really improve following corporate acquisitions?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 151-178, June.
    33. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G. & Ruback, Richard S., 1992. "Does corporate performance improve after mergers?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 135-175, April.
    34. Dong, Min & Ozkan, Aydin, 2008. "Institutional investors and director pay: An empirical study of UK companies," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 16-29, February.
    35. Dutta, Shantanu & Jog, Vijay, 2009. "The long-term performance of acquiring firms: A re-examination of an anomaly," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1400-1412, August.
    36. Linn, Scott C. & McConnell, John J., 1983. "An empirical investigation of the impact of `antitakeover' amendments on common stock prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-4), pages 361-399, April.
    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. Hoa Luong & Abeyratna Gunasekarage & Syed Shams, 2021. "CEO pay slice and acquisitions in Australia: the role of tournament incentives," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 18(5), pages 833-868, September.
    2. Nazliben, Kamil K. & Renneboog, Luc & Uduwalage, Emil, 2023. "CEO social power, board inclusiveness, and corporate performance after ethnic conflicts," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    3. Leung, Henry & Tse, Jeffrey & Westerholm, P. Joakim, 2019. "CEO traders and corporate acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 107-127.
    4. Bhabra, Harjeet S. & Hossain, Ashrafee T., 2017. "Impact of SOX on the returns to targets and acquirers in corporate tender offers," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1-19.
    5. Shen, Huayu & Liang, Yue & Li, Hanwen & Liu, Jie & Lu, Guangxi, 2021. "Does geopolitical risk promote mergers and acquisitions of listed companies in energy and electric power industries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Pham, Nga & Oh, K.B. & Pech, Richard, 2015. "Mergers and acquisitions: CEO duality, operating performance and stock returns in Vietnam," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(PA), pages 298-316.
    7. Hammad, Maryam, 2023. "Power to the CEO? Sources of CEO Power and Its Influences on Strategic Choices and Firm Performance," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 8(4), pages 827-844.
    8. Ghannam, Samir & Matolcsy, Zoltan P. & Spiropoulos, Helen & Thai, Nathan, 2019. "The influence of powerful non-executive Chairs in Mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 87-104.
    9. Hwang, Hyoseok (David) & Kim, Hyun-Dong & Kim, Taeyeon, 2020. "The blind power: Power-led CEO overconfidence and M&A decision making," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    10. Jongmoo Jay Choi & Omer F. Genc & Ming Ju, 2020. "Is an M&A self‐dealing? Evidence on international and domestic acquisitions and CEO compensation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(9-10), pages 1290-1315, October.
    11. Uduwalage, Emil, 2022. "Essays on corporate governance in Sri Lanka," Other publications TiSEM 9f4bd99f-e55d-471a-8aa1-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    12. Hoa Luong & Lien Duong & John Evans, 2022. "CEO pay disparity, takeover premiums and bidder performance in Australia: efficient contracting or managerial power?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 143-179, March.

    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. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2019. "Failure and success in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 650-699.
    2. Martynova, M., 2006. "The market for corporate control and corporate governance regulation in Europe," Other publications TiSEM 8651e281-4914-41f2-ac14-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Andrey Golubov & Dimitris Petmezas & Nickolaos G. Travlos, 2013. "Empirical mergers and acquisitions research: a review of methods, evidence and managerial implications," Chapters, in: Adrian R. Bell & Chris Brooks & Marcel Prokopczuk (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Empirical Finance, chapter 12, pages 287-313, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, December.
    5. Martynova, M. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2005. "Takeover Waves : Triggers, Performance and Motives," Other publications TiSEM ed134639-33ef-4720-9935-e, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    6. Hwang, Hyoseok (David) & Kim, Hyun-Dong & Kim, Taeyeon, 2020. "The blind power: Power-led CEO overconfidence and M&A decision making," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    7. Shantanu Dutta & Vinod Kumar, 2009. "Mergers and Acquisitions (M&AS) by R&D Intensive Firms," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-37, December.
    8. Dutta, Shantanu & Saadi, Samir & Zhu, PengCheng, 2013. "Does payment method matter in cross-border acquisitions?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 91-107.
    9. Martynova, Marina & Renneboog, Luc, 2008. "A century of corporate takeovers: What have we learned and where do we stand?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 2148-2177, October.
    10. Jongmoo Jay Choi & Omer F. Genc & Ming Ju, 2020. "Is an M&A self‐dealing? Evidence on international and domestic acquisitions and CEO compensation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(9-10), pages 1290-1315, October.
    11. Balachandran, Balasingham & Williams, Barry, 2018. "Effective governance, financial markets, financial institutions & crises," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-15.
    12. Lahlou, Ismail & Navatte, Patrick, 2017. "Director compensation incentives and acquisition performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-11.
    13. Loureiro, Gilberto & Makhija, Anil K. & Zhang, Dan, 2011. "Why Do Some CEOs Work for a One-Dollary Salary?," Working Paper Series 2011-7, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    14. Yaowen Shan & Terry Walter, 2016. "Towards a Set of Design Principles for Executive Compensation Contracts," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 52(4), pages 619-684, December.
    15. Anna Bergman Brown & Paquita Y. Davis-Friday & Lale Guler & Carol Marquardt, 2015. "M&A Decisions and US Firms’ Voluntary Adoption of Clawback Provisions in Executive Compensation Contracts," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1-2), pages 237-271, January.
    16. Etienne Redor, 2016. "Board attributes and shareholder wealth in mergers and acquisitions: a survey of the literature," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 20(4), pages 789-821, December.
    17. Wolfgang Drobetz & Pascal Pensa & Markus M. Schmid, 2007. "Estimating the Cost of Executive Stock Options: evidence from Switzerland," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 798-815, September.
    18. Jerry Coakley & Stavroula Iliopoulou, 2006. "Bidder CEO and Other Executive Compensation in UK M&As," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 12(4), pages 609-631, September.
    19. Attiya Y. Javid & Robina Iqbal, 2010. "Corporate Governance in Pakistan: Corporate Valuation, Ownership and Financing," PIDE-Working Papers 2010:57, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    20. Gunasekarage, Abeyratna & Luong, Hoa & Truong, Thanh Tan, 2020. "Growth and market share matrix, CEO power, and firm performance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mergers and acquisitions; CEO power; Event study; Corporate governance; Long-term performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:mulfin:v:21:y:2011:i:5:p:257-278. 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/mulfin .

    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.