IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedgfe/2024-85.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Inside the Boardroom: Evidence from the Board Structure and Meeting Minutes of Community Banks

Author

Listed:

Abstract

Community banks are critical for local economies, yet research on their corporate governance has been scarce due to limited data availability. We explore a unique, proprietary dataset of board membership and meeting minutes of failed community banks to present several stylized facts regarding their board structure and meetings. Community bank boards have fewer members and a higher percentage of insiders than larger publicly traded banks, and experience little turnover during normal times. Their meetings are held monthly and span about two hours. During times of distress, community bank boards convene less often in regularly scheduled meetings in lieu of impromptu meetings, experience higher turnover, particularly among their independent directors, and their meeting tone switches from neutral to significantly negative. Board attention during distressed times shifts towards discussion of capital and examination oversight, and away from lending activities and meeting formalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosalind L. Bennett & Manju Puri & Paul E. Soto, 2024. "Inside the Boardroom: Evidence from the Board Structure and Meeting Minutes of Community Banks," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-085, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2024-85
    DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2024.085
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2024085pap.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17016/FEDS.2024.085?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Tho Pham & Oleksandr Talavera, 2023. "The Voice of Monetary Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(2), pages 548-584, February.
    2. 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.
    3. Ehrmann, Michael & Wabitsch, Alena, 2022. "Central bank communication with non-experts – A road to nowhere?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 69-85.
    4. 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.
    5. Kathleen Weiss Hanley & Gerard Hoberg, 2019. "Dynamic Interpretation of Emerging Risks in the Financial Sector," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(12), pages 4543-4603.
    6. Berger, Allen N. & Kick, Thomas & Schaeck, Klaus, 2014. "Executive board composition and bank risk taking," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 48-65.
    7. Pathan, Shams & Faff, Robert, 2013. "Does board structure in banks really affect their performance?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1573-1589.
    8. Catherine M. Daily & Dan R. Dalton, 1995. "CEO and director turnover in failing firms: An illusion of change?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(5), pages 393-400.
    9. Tomaz Cajner & Leland D. Crane & Christopher J. Kurz & Norman J. Morin & Paul E. Soto & Betsy Vrankovich, 2024. "Manufacturing Sentiment: Forecasting Industrial Production with Text Analysis," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-026, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    10. 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.
    11. Lauren Cohen & Andrea Frazzini & Christopher J. Malloy, 2012. "Hiring Cheerleaders: Board Appointments of "Independent" Directors," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(6), pages 1039-1058, June.
    12. Angelico, Cristina & Marcucci, Juri & Miccoli, Marcello & Quarta, Filippo, 2022. "Can we measure inflation expectations using Twitter?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 228(2), pages 259-277.
    13. Adams, Renée B. & Mehran, Hamid, 2012. "Bank board structure and performance: Evidence for large bank holding companies," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 243-267.
    14. 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.
    15. Laeven, Luc & Levine, Ross, 2009. "Bank governance, regulation and risk taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 259-275, August.
    16. Allen N. Berger & Björn Imbierowicz & Christian Rauch, 2016. "The Roles of Corporate Governance in Bank Failures during the Recent Financial Crisis," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(4), pages 729-770, June.
    17. Adam Hale Shapiro & Daniel J Wilson, 2022. "Taking the Fed at its Word: A New Approach to Estimating Central Bank Objectives using Text Analysis," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(5), pages 2768-2805.
    18. Jensen, Michael C & Murphy, Kevin J, 1990. "Performance Pay and Top-Management Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(2), pages 225-264, April.
    19. Paul E. Soto, 2021. "Breaking the Word Bank: Measurement and Effects of Bank Level Uncertainty," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 59(1), pages 1-45, April.
    20. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2011. "When Is a Liability Not a Liability? Textual Analysis, Dictionaries, and 10‐Ks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 35-65, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Bhatia, Madhur & Gulati, Rachita, 2021. "Board governance and bank performance: A meta- analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    2. Mavrakana, Christina & Psillaki, Maria, 2019. "Do board structure and compensation matter for bank stability and bank performance? Evidence from European banks," MPRA Paper 95776, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Catarina Fernandes & Jorge Farinha & Francisco Vitorino Martins & Cesario Mateus, 2018. "Bank governance and performance: a survey of the literature," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 236-256, July.
    4. Vallascas, Francesco & Mollah, Sabur & Keasey, Kevin, 2017. "Does the impact of board independence on large bank risks change after the global financial crisis?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 149-166.
    5. Dong, Yizhe & Girardone, Claudia & Kuo, Jing-Ming, 2017. "Governance, efficiency and risk taking in Chinese banking," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 211-229.
    6. Muhammad Haris & Hongxing Yao & Gulzara Tariq & Hafiz Mustansar Javaid & Qurat Ul Ain, 2019. "Corporate Governance, Political Connections, and Bank Performance," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-37, October.
    7. Emmanuel Mamatzakis & Theodora Bermpei, 2015. "The Effect of Corporate Governance on the Performance of US Investment Banks," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(2-3), pages 191-239, May.
    8. Thierno Barry & Laetitia Lepetit & Frank Strobel & Thu Tran, 2018. "Better than independent: the role of minority directors on bank boards," Working Papers hal-01937927, HAL.
    9. Shkendije Himaj, 2014. "Corporate Governance in Banks and its Impact on Risk and Performance: Review of Literature on the Selected Governance Mechanisms," Journal of Central Banking Theory and Practice, Central bank of Montenegro, vol. 3(3), pages 53-85.
    10. Renata Karkowska & Jan Acedański, 2020. "The effect of corporate board attributes on bank stability," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 19(2), pages 99-137, May.
    11. Akbar, Saeed & Kharabsheh, Buthiena & Poletti-Hughes, Jannine & Shah, Syed Zulfiqar Ali, 2017. "Board structure and corporate risk taking in the UK financial sector," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 101-110.
    12. Unda, Luisa A. & Ranasinghe, Dinithi, 2021. "To pay or not pay: Board remuneration and insolvency risk in credit unions," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    13. Mohamed Marie & Hany Kamel & Israa Elbendary, 2021. "How does internal governance affect banks’ financial stability? Empirical evidence from Egypt," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 240-255, September.
    14. Zhou, Yifan & Kara, Alper & Molyneux, Philip, 2019. "Chair-CEO generation gap and bank risk-taking," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 352-372.
    15. José María Díez-Esteban & Jorge Bento Farinha & Conrado Diego García-Gómez & Cesario Mateus, 2022. "Does board composition and ownership structure affect banks’ systemic risk? European evidence," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(2), pages 155-172, June.
    16. Brogi, Marina & Lagasio, Valentina, 2022. "Better safe than sorry. Bank corporate governance, risk-taking, and performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    17. Neeraj Gupta & Jitendra Mahakud, 2020. "CEO characteristics and bank performance: evidence from India," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(8), pages 1057-1093, August.
    18. Chen, Tao, 2015. "Institutions, board structure, and corporate performance: Evidence from Chinese firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 217-237.
    19. Liang, Qi & Xu, Pisun & Jiraporn, Pornsit, 2013. "Board characteristics and Chinese bank performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2953-2968.
    20. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate governance; Board of directors; Banking; Machine learning; Natural language processing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access

    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:fip:fedgfe:2024-85. 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: Ryan Wolfslayer ; Keisha Fournillier (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbgvus.html .

    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.