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Private Equity Buyouts and Workplace Safety

Author

Listed:
  • Jonathan Cohn
  • Nicole Nestoriak
  • Malcolm Wardlaw
  • Wei Jiang

Abstract

This paper presents evidence of a large, persistent decline in establishment-level workplace injury rates after private equity (PE) buyouts of publicly traded U.S. firms. We find that firms experience fewer OSHA safety violations after buyouts and that a larger decline in injury rates is associated with an increased probability of exit via IPO. Employment reductions after buyouts are concentrated in relatively low-injury-risk establishments. Overall, our results suggest that buyouts improve workplace safety and that PE acquirers benefit from this improvement. We explore possible causes of these changes through interviews with executives of companies acquired in buyouts and through cross-sectional analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Cohn & Nicole Nestoriak & Malcolm Wardlaw & Wei Jiang, 2021. "Private Equity Buyouts and Workplace Safety," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(10), pages 4832-4875.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:34:y:2021:i:10:p:4832-4875.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhab001
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Romec, Arthur, 2023. "Stakeholder orientation and managerial incentives: Evidence from a natural experiment," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Liu, Hang & Luo, Jin-hui & Wang, Xin, 2021. "Do controlling shareholders expropriate employees? Evidence from workplace fatalities in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    3. Cesare Fracassi & Alessandro Previtero & Albert Sheen, 2022. "Barbarians at the Store? Private Equity, Products, and Consumers," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(3), pages 1439-1488, June.
    4. Xuan Wu & Yueting Li & Yangxin Yu, 2023. "CEO Inside Debt and Employee Workplace Safety," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(1), pages 159-175, January.
    5. Deng, Saiying & Mao, Connie X. & Pu, Xiaoling & Xu, Yuan, 2023. "Import penetration and workplace safety," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 149-161.
    6. Daniel Bradley & Connie X. Mao & Chi Zhang, 2022. "Does Analyst Coverage Affect Workplace Safety?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3464-3487, May.
    7. Alex Edmans, 2023. "The end of ESG," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 52(1), pages 3-17, March.
    8. Paul Lavery & Jose-Maria Serena & Marina-Eliza Spaliara & Serafeim Tsoukas, 2021. "Private equity buyouts, credit constraints, and firm exports," Working Papers 2021_06, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    9. Paul Lavery & John Tsoukalas & Nick Wilson, 2024. "Private equity financing & firm productivity," Working Papers 041, The Productivity Institute.
    10. Xin Cheng & Orhun Guldiken & Wei Shi, 2023. "Geographic Concentration of Institutional Blockholders and Workplace Safety Violations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(3), pages 593-613, September.
    11. Seung Kwak & Charles Press, 2023. "Pre-LBO Credit Market Conditions and Post-LBO Target Behavior," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-077, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    12. Duncombe, Samuel & Park, Min & Tarsalewska, Monika & Trojanowski, Grzegorz, 2023. "ESG positioning in private infrastructure fundraising," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    13. Olsson, Martin & Tåg, Joacim, 2023. "From Wall Street to Work Floor: How Private Equity Buyouts Affect Workers," Working Paper Series 1475, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    14. Douglas Cumming & Satish Kumar & Weng Marc Lim & Nitesh Pandey, 2023. "Mapping the venture capital and private equity research: a bibliometric review and future research agenda," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 173-221, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy

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