IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v54y2019icp29-41.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of caste for board membership, CEO, and interlocking

Author

Listed:
  • Dayanandan, Ajit
  • Donker, Han
  • Nofsinger, John

Abstract

We examine the caste affiliation of corporate leadership in India. We find that the affirmative action policies targeted to the public sector have not filtered into the private sector. Indian boards are not very diverse—usually dominated by directors from a single caste. Boards dominated by one caste also tend to have a CEO from the same caste, putting into question how independent some directors may be. Over one third of the directors are interlocked by holding multiple directorships. However, this interlocking is done with firms dominated by the same caste. Therefore, Indian corporate leadership fails to obtain the benefits of having directors with weak social ties. The lack of caste diversity in boards, CEOs, and interlocks are all associated with lower firm value.

Suggested Citation

  • Dayanandan, Ajit & Donker, Han & Nofsinger, John, 2019. "The role of caste for board membership, CEO, and interlocking," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 29-41.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:54:y:2019:i:c:p:29-41
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2019.01.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X17302986
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2019.01.009?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. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Agency Problems and Residual Claims," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 327-349, June.
    2. Lauren Cohen & Andrea Frazzini & Christopher Malloy, 2008. "The Small World of Investing: Board Connections and Mutual Fund Returns," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 951-979, October.
    3. Marianne Bertrand & Paras Mehta & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2002. "Ferreting out Tunneling: An Application to Indian Business Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 121-148.
    4. Maia Güell & José V. Rodríguez Mora & Christopher I. Telmer, 2015. "The Informational Content of Surnames, the Evolution of Intergenerational Mobility, and Assortative Mating," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 82(2), pages 693-735.
    5. Ratan J S Dheer & Tomasz Lenartowicz & Mark F Peterson, 2015. "Mapping India’s regional subcultures: Implications for international management," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 46(4), pages 443-467, May.
    6. Bönte, Werner & Filipiak, Ute, 2012. "Financial literacy, information flows, and caste affiliation: Empirical evidence from India," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 3399-3414.
    7. Anzhela Knyazeva & Diana Knyazeva & Ronald W. Masulis, 2013. "The Supply of Corporate Directors and Board Independence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(6), pages 1561-1605.
    8. Conley, John P. & Neilson, William S., 2013. "Endogenous coordination and discoordination games: Multiculturalism and assimilation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 176-191.
    9. Eliezer M. Fich & Anil Shivdasani, 2006. "Are Busy Boards Effective Monitors?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(2), pages 689-724, April.
    10. Gregory Clark & Neil Cummins, 2015. "Intergenerational Wealth Mobility in England, 1858–2012: Surnames and Social Mobility," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(582), pages 61-85, February.
    11. Randall Morck, 2008. "Behavioral finance in corporate governance: economics and ethics of the devil’s advocate," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 12(2), pages 179-200, May.
    12. Wang, Lihong, 2015. "Protection or expropriation: Politically connected independent directors in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 92-106.
    13. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation," Scholarly Articles 29407535, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    14. Guan, Yuyan & Su, Lixin (Nancy) & Wu, Donghui & Yang, Zhifeng, 2016. "Do school ties between auditors and client executives influence audit outcomes?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 506-525.
    15. Claudia Olivetti & M. Daniele Paserman, 2015. "In the Name of the Son (and the Daughter): Intergenerational Mobility in the United States, 1850-1940," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(8), pages 2695-2724, August.
    16. Khamis, Melanie & Prakash, Nishith & Siddique, Zahra, 2012. "Consumption and social identity: Evidence from India," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 353-371.
    17. Jha, Saumitra, 2014. "‘Unfinished business’: Historic complementarities, political competition and ethnic violence in Gujarat," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 18-36.
    18. Mehran, Hamid, 1995. "Executive compensation structure, ownership, and firm performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 163-184, June.
    19. Hoff, Karla & Stiglitz, Joseph E., 2016. "Striving for balance in economics: Towards a theory of the social determination of behavior," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 126(PB), pages 25-57.
    20. Kenneth A. Kim & John R. Nofsinger, 2005. "Institutional Herding, Business Groups, and Economic Regimes: Evidence from Japan," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(1), pages 213-242, January.
    21. Kim, Kenneth A. & Kitsabunnarat-Chatjuthamard, P. & Nofsinger, John R., 2007. "Large shareholders, board independence, and minority shareholder rights: Evidence from Europe," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 859-880, December.
    22. Holderness, Clifford G., 2017. "Culture and the ownership concentration of public corporations around the world," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 469-486.
    23. Bang Dang Nguyen, 2012. "Does the Rolodex Matter? Corporate Elite's Small World and the Effectiveness of Boards of Directors," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 236-252, February.
    24. 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.
    25. Mark Granovetter, 2005. "The Impact of Social Structure on Economic Outcomes," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 33-50, Winter.
    26. Weisbach, Michael S., 1988. "Outside directors and CEO turnover," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 431-460, January.
    27. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 991-1013, September.
    28. Klein, April, 1998. "Firm Performance and Board Committee Structure," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 275-303, April.
    29. Dong‐Woon Kim, 2003. "Interlocking Ownership in the Korean Chaebol," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 132-142, April.
    30. Anne Susann Bachmann, 2006. "Melting pot or tossed salad? Implications for designing effective multicultural workgroups," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 721-748, December.
    31. Ashwini Deshpande, 2000. "Does Caste Still Define Disparity? A Look at Inequality in Kerala, India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 322-325, May.
    32. Lauren Cohen & Christopher J. Malloy, 2014. "Friends in High Places," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 63-91, August.
    33. Balasubramanian, N. & Black, Bernard S. & Khanna, Vikramaditya, 2010. "The relation between firm-level corporate governance and market value: A case study of India," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 319-340, December.
    34. Deshpande, Ashwani, 2011. "The Grammar of Caste: Economic Discrimination in Contemporary India," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198072034.
    35. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 1991. "The Effects of Board Composition and Direct Incentives on Firm Performance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 20(4), Winter.
    36. Kendall, Jake, 2012. "Local financial development and growth," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1548-1562.
    37. Black, Bernard & Kim, Woochan, 2012. "The effect of board structure on firm value: A multiple identification strategies approach using Korean data," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 203-226.
    38. Karla Hoff & Priyanka Pandey, 2006. "Discrimination, Social Identity, and Durable Inequalities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 206-211, May.
    39. Smith, Adam, 1776. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1776.
    40. John Bizjak & Michael Lemmon & Ryan Whitby, 2009. "Option Backdating and Board Interlocks," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(11), pages 4821-4847, November.
    41. Siwan Anderson, 2011. "Caste as an Impediment to Trade," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 239-263, January.
    42. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation : An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 293-315, January.
    43. Martin J. Conyon & Mark R. Muldoon, 2006. "The Small World of Corporate Boards," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9‐10), pages 1321-1343, November.
    44. Mariassunta Giannetti & Guanmin Liao & Xiaoyun Yu, 2015. "The Brain Gain of Corporate Boards: Evidence from China," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(4), pages 1629-1682, August.
    45. Paul, Donna L., 2007. "Board Composition and Corrective Action: Evidence from Corporate Responses to Bad Acquisition Bids," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 759-783, September.
    46. Martin J. Conyon & Mark R. Muldoon, 2006. "The Small World of Corporate Boards," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9-10), pages 1321-1343.
    47. Byrd, John W. & Hickman, Kent A., 1992. "Do outside directors monitor managers? *1: Evidence from tender offer bids," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 195-221, October.
    48. Lee, Jongsub & Lee, Kwang J. & Nagarajan, Nandu J., 2014. "Birds of a feather: Value implications of political alignment between top management and directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 232-250.
    49. 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.
    50. Connelly, J. Thomas & Limpaphayom, Piman & Nagarajan, Nandu J., 2012. "Form versus substance: The effect of ownership structure and corporate governance on firm value in Thailand," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1722-1743.
    51. George Akerlof, 1976. "The Economics of Caste and of the Rat Race and Other Woeful Tales," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 90(4), pages 599-617.
    52. Stephen P. Borgatti & Daniel S. Halgin, 2011. "On Network Theory," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1168-1181, October.
    53. David A. Carter & Betty J. Simkins & W. Gary Simpson, 2003. "Corporate Governance, Board Diversity, and Firm Value," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 38(1), pages 33-53, February.
    54. Dooley, Peter C, 1969. "The Interlocking Directorate," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(3), pages 314-323, June.
    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. Hari Bapuji & Snehanjali Chrispal & Balagopal Vissa & Gokhan Ertug, 2023. "Local, yet global: Implications of caste for MNEs and international business," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(2), pages 201-234, June.
    2. Ghosh, Saibal, 2022. "Religiosity and bank performance: How strong is the link?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    3. Bibek Bhattacharya & Ipsu Khadka & Dalhia Mani, 2022. "Shaking Up (and Keeping Intact) the Old Boys’ Network: The Impact of the Mandatory Gender Quota on the Board of Directors in India," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(4), pages 763-778, May.
    4. Arun Kumar & Hari Bapuji & Raza Mir, 2022. "“Educate, Agitate, Organize”: Inequality and Ethics in the Writings of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(1), pages 1-14, June.
    5. Luo, Jin-hui & Dong, Huaili & Liu, Yue, 2023. "Does high cash compensation compromise the independence of outside directors? Evidence from directors' dissenting votes in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Hwang, Byoung-Hyoun & Kim, Seoyoung, 2009. "It pays to have friends," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 138-158, July.
    4. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, June.
    5. Erickson, John & Park, Yun W. & Reising, Joe & Shin, Hyun-Han, 2005. "Board composition and firm value under concentrated ownership: the Canadian evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 387-410, September.
    6. Nicola Moscariello & Michele Pizzo & Dmytro Govorun & Alexander Kostyuk, 2019. "Independent minority directors and firm value in a principal–principal agency setting: evidence from Italy," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 23(1), pages 165-194, March.
    7. Sarkar, Jayati & Sarkar, Subrata, 2009. "Multiple board appointments and firm performance in emerging economies: Evidence from India," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 271-293, April.
    8. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Michael S. Weisbach, 2012. "The State of Corporate Governance Research," Springer Books, in: Sabri Boubaker & Bang Dang Nguyen & Duc Khuong Nguyen (ed.), Corporate Governance, edition 127, pages 325-346, Springer.
    9. Vagliasindi, Maria, 2008. "The effectiveness of boards of directors of state owned enterprises in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4579, The World Bank.
    10. Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh Al-Faryan, 2021. "The effect of board composition and managerial pay on Saudi firm performance," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 693-758, August.
    11. Sheeba Kapil & Rakesh K Mishra, 2019. "Corporate Governance structure and firm performance in Indian context: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach," Working Papers 1937, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.
    12. Isabel-María García-Sánchez, 2010. "The effectiveness of corporate governance: board structure and business technical efficiency in Spain," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 18(3), pages 311-339, September.
    13. Borokhovich, Kenneth A. & Boulton, Thomas J. & Brunarski, Kelly R. & Harman, Yvette S., 2014. "The incentives of grey directors: Evidence from unexpected executive and board chair turnover," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 102-115.
    14. ØYvind Bøhren & R. Øystein Strøm, 2010. "Governance and Politics: Regulating Independence and Diversity in the Board Room," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(9‐10), pages 1281-1308, November.
    15. Volonté, Christophe, 2015. "Boards: Independent and committed directors?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 25-37.
    16. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    17. McKnight, Phillip J. & Weir, Charlie, 2009. "Agency costs, corporate governance mechanisms and ownership structure in large UK publicly quoted companies: A panel data analysis," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 139-158, May.
    18. Yuan George Shan, 2019. "Managerial ownership, board independence and firm performance," Accounting Research Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(2), pages 203-220, July.
    19. Chongwoo Choe & Gloria Tian & Xiangkang Yin, 2008. "Managerial Power, Stock-Based Compensation, And Firm Performance: Theory And Evidence," Monash Economics Working Papers 21/08, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    20. Singh, Manohar & Davidson III, Wallace N., 2003. "Agency costs, ownership structure and corporate governance mechanisms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 793-816, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Caste; Boards; CEO; Interlocks; Strength of weak ties; Firm value;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • N16 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • O25 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Industrial Policy
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    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:pacfin:v:54:y:2019:i:c:p:29-41. 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/pacfin .

    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.