IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/59217.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Corporate Governance Reforms, Interlocking Directorship and Company Performance in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Drago, Carlo
  • Millo, Francesco
  • Ricciuti, Roberto
  • Santella, Paolo

Abstract

We analyze the effects of corporate governance reforms on interlocking directorship (ID), and we assess the relationship between interlocking directorships and company performance for the main Italian firms listed on the Italian stock exchange over 1998-2007. We use a unique dataset that includes corporate governance variables related to the board size, interlocking directorships and variables related to companies’ performances. The network analysis showed only some effectiveness of these reforms in slightly dispersing the web of companies. Using a diff-in-diff approach, we then find in the period considered a slight reduction in the returns of those companies where interlocking directorships were used the most, which confirms our assumption on the perverse effect of ID on company performance in a context prone to shareholder expropriation such as the Italian one

Suggested Citation

  • Drago, Carlo & Millo, Francesco & Ricciuti, Roberto & Santella, Paolo, 2014. "Corporate Governance Reforms, Interlocking Directorship and Company Performance in Italy," MPRA Paper 59217, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:59217
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/59217/1/MPRA_paper_59217.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    2. Renneboog, Luc & Zhao, Yang, 2011. "Us knows us in the UK: On director networks and CEO compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 1132-1157, September.
    3. Hee-Jung Yeo & Christine Pochet & Alain Alcouffe, 2003. "CEO Reciprocal Interlocks in French Corporations," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 7(1), pages 87-108, March.
    4. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    5. repec:mod:depeco:0013 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Fich, Eliezer M. & White, Lawrence J., 2005. "Why do CEOs reciprocally sit on each other's boards?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 175-195, March.
    7. Alessandro Zattoni, 1999. "The Structure of Corporate Groups: the Italian case," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(1), pages 38-48, January.
    8. Alberto Rinaldi & Michelangelo Vasta, 2003. "The structure of Italian capitalism, 1952-1972: New evidence using the interlocking directorates technique," Department of Economics 0426, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    9. Raffaele Corrado & Maurizio Zollo, 2006. "Small worlds evolving: governance reforms, privatizations, and ownership networks in Italy," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 15(2), pages 319-352, April.
    10. Marcello Bianchi & Angela Ciavarella & Valerio Novembre & Rossella Signoretti, 2011. "Comply or Explain: Investor Protection Through the Italian Corporate Governance Code," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 23(1), pages 107-121, January.
    11. Santella, Paolo & Drago, Carlo & Polo, Andrea, 2007. "The Italian Chamber of Lords Sits on Listed Company Boards: An Empirical Analysis of Italian Listed Company Boards from 1998 to 2006," MPRA Paper 2265, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Andrea Melis, 2000. "Corporate Governance in Italy," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(4), pages 347-355, October.
    13. Vasta, Michelangelo & Baccini, Alberto, 1997. "Banks and industry in Italy, 1911–36: new evidence using the interlocking directorates technique1," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 139-159, October.
    14. Tod Perry & Urs Peyer, 2005. "Board Seat Accumulation by Executives: A Shareholder's Perspective," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(4), pages 2083-2123, August.
    15. Dooley, Peter C, 1969. "The Interlocking Directorate," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(3), pages 314-323, June.
    16. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:2:p:537-600 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Thomas Koenig & Robisrt Gogel & John Sonquist, 1979. "Models of the Significance of Interlocking Corporate Directorates," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 173-186, April.
    18. Roberto Di Pietra & Christos Grambovas & Ivana Raonic & Angelo Riccaboni, 2008. "The effects of board size and ‘busy’ directors on the market value of Italian companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 12(1), pages 73-91, March.
    19. Dittmann, I. & Maug, E. & Schneider, Christoph, 2010. "Bankers on boards of German firms : What they do, what they are worth, and why they are (still) there," Other publications TiSEM 610cf1b5-ae96-4112-9ff3-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    20. Hallock, Kevin F., 1997. "Reciprocally Interlocking Boards of Directors and Executive Compensation," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(3), pages 331-344, September.
    21. Carlo Drago & Roberto Ricciuti & Alberto Rinaldi & Michelangelo Vasta, 2013. "A counterfactual analysis of the bank-industry relationship in Italy, 1913-1936," Department of Economics (DEMB) 0013, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Department of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    22. Ingolf Dittmann & Ernst Maug & Christoph Schneider, 2010. "Bankers on the Boards of German Firms: What They Do, What They Are Worth, and Why They Are (Still) There," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 14(1), pages 35-71.
    23. Gianfranco Gianfrate, 2007. "What Do Shareholders’ Coalitions Really Want? Evidence from Italian voting trusts," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(2), pages 122-132, March.
    24. Eliezer M. Fich & Anil Shivdasani, 2006. "Are Busy Boards Effective Monitors?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(2), pages 689-724, April.
    25. Andrea Melis, 2006. "Corporate Governance Developments in Italy," Chapters, in: Christine A. Mallin (ed.), Handbook on International Corporate Governance, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    26. Mariëlle C. Non & Philip Hans Franses, 2007. "Interlocking Boards and Firm Performance: Evidence from a New Panel Database," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-034/2, Tinbergen Institute.
    27. Rinaldi, Alberto & Vasta, Michelanelo, 2005. "The Structure of Italian Capitalism, 1952 1972: New Evidence Using the Interlocking Directorates Technique," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(02), pages 173-198, October.
    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. Drago, Carlo & Ricciuti, Roberto, 2017. "Communities detection as a tool to assess a reform of the Italian interlocking directorship network," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 466(C), pages 91-104.
    2. Carlo Drago & Roberto Ricciuti & Paolo Santella, 2015. "An Attempt to Disperse the Italian Interlocking Directorship Network: Analyzing the Effects of the 2011 Reform," Working Papers 2015.82, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    3. Andrea Fracasso & Valentina Peruzzi & Chiara Tomasi, 2024. "Multiple banking relationships: the role of firm connectedness," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 33(5), pages 1231-1252.
    4. Drago, Carlo, 2015. "Exploring the Community Structure of Complex Networks," MPRA Paper 81024, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Bénédicte Brullebaut & Isabelle Allemand & Enrico Prinz & Florence Thépot, 2022. "Persistence in corporate networks through boards of directors? A longitudinal study of interlocks in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 1743-1782, August.
    6. Xavier Hollandts & Nicolas Aubert, 2019. "La gouvernance salariale : contribution de la représentation des salariés à la gouvernance d’entreprise," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 22(1), pages 63-88, March.
    7. Maria Rosa Battaggion & Vittoria Cerasi, 2018. "Endogenous interlocking directorates," Working Papers 380, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised 01 May 2018.
    8. Xavier Hollandts & Daniela Borodak & Ariane Tichit, 2018. "La dynamique de changement des formes de gouvernance : le cas français (2000-2014)," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 21(3), pages 129-158, December.
    9. Claudine Pereira Salgado & Vivian Sebben Adami & Jorge Renato de Souza Verschoore Filho & Cristiano Machado Costa, 2023. "Board of Directors’ Interlocks: A Social Network Analysis Tutorial," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 27(Vol. 27 N), pages 210286-2102.
    10. Carlo Drago & Roberto Ricciuti, 2019. "Bootstrapping the Gini Index of the Network Degree: An Application for Italian Corporate Governance," Working Papers 05/2019, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    11. Sabri Boubaker & Pascal Nguyen & Wael Rouatbi, 2016. "Multiple Large Shareholders and Corporate Risk†taking: Evidence from French Family Firms," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 22(4), pages 697-745, September.
    12. Evandro de Nez & Paulo Roberto da Cunha, 2018. "Influence of board interlocking in the selection of the audit firm on the mandatory caster," Contaduría y Administración, Accounting and Management, vol. 63(2), pages 5-6, Junio.
    13. repec:ctc:sdimse:dime19_01 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Carlo Drago & Francesco Millo & Roberto Ricciuti & Paolo Satella, 2011. "The Role of Women in the Italian Network of Boards of Directors, 2003-2010," Working Papers 10/2011, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    15. Drago, Carlo, 2015. "Exploring the Community Structure of Complex Networks," MPRA Paper 81024, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Battaggion, Maria Rosa & Cerasi, Vittoria, 2020. "Strategic interlocking directorates," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 85-101.
    17. Belot, François & Waxin, Timothée, 2022. "Mandatory employee board representation: Good news for family firms?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    18. Su Kun & Liu Heng, 2019. "The Effect of Interlocking Director Network on Corporate Risk Taking: Lessons from China," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, January.

    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. Ettore Croci & Rosanna Grassi, 2014. "The economic effect of interlocking directorates in Italy: new evidence using centrality measures," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 89-112, March.
    2. Carlos Drago & Francesco Millo & Roberto Ricciuti & Paolo Santella, 2011. "Corporate Governance Reforms, Interlocking Directorship Networks and Company Value in Italy (1998-2007)," CESifo Working Paper Series 3322, CESifo.
    3. Carlo Drago & Roberto Ricciuti & Paolo Santella, 2015. "An Attempt to Disperse the Italian Interlocking Directorship Network: Analyzing the Effects of the 2011 Reform," Working Papers 2015.82, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    4. Lucrezia Fattobene & Marco Caiffa & Emiliano Di Carlo, 2018. "Interlocking directorship across Italian listed companies: evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(2), pages 393-425, June.
    5. Tristan Auvray & Olivier Brossard, 2016. "French connections: interlocking directorates and ownership network in an insider governance system," Post-Print hal-01372455, HAL.
    6. Buchwald, Achim, 2015. "Competition, outside directors and executive turnover: Implications for corporate governance in the EU," DICE Discussion Papers 174, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    7. Lucia Bellenzier & Rosanna Grassi, 2014. "Interlocking directorates in Italy: persistent links in network dynamics," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 9(2), pages 183-202, October.
    8. Tristan Auvray & Olivier Brossard, 2013. "French connection: interlocking directorates and the ownership-control nexus in an insider governance system," Working Papers hal-00842582, HAL.
    9. Pombo, Carlos & Gutiérrez, Luis H., 2011. "Outside directors, board interlocks and firm performance: Empirical evidence from Colombian business groups," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 251-277, July.
    10. Szymon Kaczmarek & Satomi Kimino & Annie Pye, 2014. "Interlocking directorships and firm performance in highly regulated sectors: the moderating impact of board diversity," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 18(2), pages 347-372, May.
    11. Oliver Bischoff & Achim Buchwald, 2018. "Horizontal and Vertical Firm Networks, Corporate Performance and Product Market Competition," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 25-45, March.
    12. Andrea Melis & Silvia Carta & Silvia Gaia, 2012. "Executive remuneration in blockholder-dominated firms. How do Italian firms use stock options?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 16(3), pages 511-541, August.
    13. repec:hal:cepnwp:hal-00842582 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Fausto Bonacina & Marco D’Errico & Enrico Moretto & Silvana Stefani & Anna Torriero & Giovanni Zambruno, 2015. "A multiple network approach to corporate governance," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1585-1595, July.
    15. Andres, Christian & Fernau, Erik & Theissen, Erik, 2014. "Should I stay or should I go? Former CEOs as monitors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 26-47.
    16. Felix Meyerinck & David Oesch & Markus Schmid, 2016. "Is Director Industry Experience Valuable?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 45(1), pages 207-237, March.
    17. Larcker, David F. & So, Eric C. & Wang, Charles C. Y., 2010. "Boardroom Centrality and Stock Returns," Research Papers 2061, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    18. Henrique Castro Martins & Cristiano Machado Costa, 2020. "Does control concentration affect board busyness? International evidence," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(3), pages 821-850, September.
    19. Tetsuji Okazaki & Michiru Sawada, 2012. "Interbank networks in prewar Japan: structure and implications," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 21(2), pages 463-506, April.
    20. Balsmeier Benjamin & Buchwald Achim & Peters Heiko, 2010. "Auswirkungen von Mehrfachmandaten deutscher Vorstands- und Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender auf den Unternehmenserfolg / The Impact of Multiple Board Memberships of CEOs and Chairmen of Supervisory Boards on," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 230(5), pages 547-570, October.
    21. Nguyen, Bang Dang & Nielsen, Kasper Meisner, 2010. "The value of independent directors: Evidence from sudden deaths," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(3), pages 550-567, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate Governance; Interlocking Directorships; Social Network Analysis; Empirical Corporate Finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:pra:mprapa:59217. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.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.