Research Outputs
Do board gender diversity and remuneration impact earnings quality? Evidence from Spanish firms
Purpose: This study aims to investigate how gender diversity and remuneration of boards of directors’ influence earnings quality for Spanish-listed firms. Design/methodology/approach: The sample includes 105 nonfinancial Spanish firms from 2013 to 2018, corresponding to an unbalanced panel of 491 firm-year observations. The primary empirical method uses a Tobit semiparametric estimator with firm- and industry-level fixed effects and an innovative set of measures for earnings quality developed by StarMine. Findings: Results exhibit a positive correlation between increased gender diversity and a firm’s earnings quality, suggesting that a gender-balanced board of directors is associated with more transparent financial reporting and informative earnings. We also find a nonmonotonic, concave relationship between board remuneration and earnings quality. This indicates that beyond a certain point, excessive board compensation leads to more opportunistic manipulation of financial reporting with subsequent degradation of earnings quality. Research limitations/implications: This study only covers nonfinancial Spanish listed firms and is silent about how alternative board features’ influence earnings quality and their informativeness. Originality/value: This study introduces measures of earnings quality developed by StarMine that have not been used in the empirical literature before as well as measures of board gender diversity applied to a suitable Tobit semiparametric estimator for fixed effects that improves the precision of results. In addition, while most of the literature focuses on Anglo-Saxon countries, this study discusses board gender diversity and board remuneration in the underexplored context of Spain. Moreover, the hand-collected data set comprising financial reports provides previously untested board features as well as a nonlinear relationship between remuneration and earnings quality that has not been thoroughly discussed before.
Determinants of firm value in Latin America: An analysis of firm attributes and institutional factors
This study analyses the impact of firm-level variables as well as country-level institutional factors on firm value in the Latin American region. The theoretical framework used to develop the research hypotheses has followed a corporate governance approach. The sample includes public firms from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru for the 1997–2013 period. The main findings indicate that ownership concentration, capital structure, and dividend policy are significant drivers of the market value of the firm. The results from determinants at the country-level show that legal enforcement and regulatory systems positively impact the market value of the firm, whilst the findings show unexpected results concerning the development of the financial system.
How regulation affects the relevance of bank-debt maturity as a control mechanism in developed countries
Improvements in transparency at the country level have modified the relevance of bank debt maturity as a control mechanism. The novelty of this research is that we provide empirical evidence that the maturity of bank borrowing is contingent on the characteristics of the regulatory and the institutional setting about corporate governance. The main implication of our paper is that corporate governance rules have greater influence in civil-law countries than in common-law countries in promoting efficiency in the use of bank debt maturity. The value of this paper is that our results confirm that the implementation of similar regulations on transparency across countries with different legal systems favors the alignment of the role played by short-term bank debt in addressing asymmetric information, agency costs, and inefficient liquidation.
Board of director's gender diversity and its impact on earnings management: An empirical analysis for select European firms
From a corporate governance point of view, this paper addresses the question about how board gender diversity influences managerial opportunistic behavior for solving agency conflicts from a sample of European countries. Specifically, we analyzed indexed non-financial companies from Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and United Kingdom for the period 2006–2016. Several panel data techniques are used in the empirical analysis to deal with the endogeneity and heterogeneity problems. To the best of our knowledge our research is novel in the literature by providing a multi-country approach in board gender diversity, as well as considering contextual country variables and the role of the regulatory system as determinants of earnings management. Our results confirm the benefits of having a balanced board in terms of gender diversity. An equilibrated board tends to mitigate earnings management practices, reinforcing the value of the laws passed in recent decades in Europe. Our analysis reveals that the regulatory framework regarding board gender diversity established by each country has a determinant role in reaching equality in decision-making positions, as a founding value of the European Union. We provide several policy recommendations from our main findings.
Group affiliation and ownership concentration as determinants of capital structure decisions: Contextualizing the facts for an emerging economy
This study considers the firm’s affiliation with business groups and the ownership structure as determinants of leverage decisions in Chilean firms. The major findings show that group-affiliated firms take advantage of internal capital markets and transactions with related parties (e.g., low transference price or loans at competitive interest rates) that reduces the demand for external debt. Majority shareholders in affiliated firms behave as controllers of managers, on the one hand, and avoid the supervisory role of debt, on the other hand. In stand-alone firms, supervision led by majority shareholders is complemented by the monitoring role of debt through higher levels of leverage. We conclude that further developments in capital structure theories adjusted to the particularities of the different institutional contexts are needed
The zero-debt puzzle in BRICS countries: Disentangling the financial flexibility and financial constraints hypotheses
This study analyzes the zero-debt decisions of BRICS firms using a bivariate probit model. The leading hypotheses are financial flexibility and financial constraints. On the demand-side, our findings reveal that managerial debt aversion, early lifecycle stage, growth opportunities, solvency, and concentrated ownership contribute to the lack of debt. Similarly, a country's institutional quality correlates with firms' debt-free status. On the supply-side, creditors fund companies with poor financial records in countries with robust markets and economic freedom. Financial flexibility and restrictions leading to zero debt are linked to firm and institutional characteristics in emerging countries.
Country level governance variables and ownership concentration as determinants of firm value in Latin America
The goal of this paper, which follows a corporate governance approach, is to assess whether within country changes in governance (e.g. in legal and regulatory systems and financial development) and changes in corporate ownership concentration can predict a change in the value of Latin American firms. Using fixed-effect panel data models with a representative sample of firms for the period from 1997 to 2013, we observe that the investors’ rights and their legal protection as well as the rule of law are associated with a premium in the firm market value. Contrary to what was expected, in immature financial markets, as found in Latin America, firms take advantage of both the asymmetries of information and the multiple market frictions to be overvalued. So, as the financial system develops, firm value drops. At the firm-level, results confirm the hypothesis of the expropriation of minority shareholders.
Instrumentos derivados, concentración de propiedad y valor de la firma. Evidencia para Chile
Antecedentes: El uso de instrumentos derivados como política corporativa de cobertura de riesgos financieros genera un impacto positivo en el valor de la empresa. Sin embargo, en países caracterizados por una débil protección legal al inversionista y alta concentración de la propiedad, como es el caso de Chile, los accionistas mayoritarios pudiesen utilizar esta política para extraer riqueza a los accionistas minoritarios. Método: Haciendo uso del Método Generalizado de los Momentos (GMM), este trabajo analiza un panel de 133 empresas no financieras que cotizan en la Bolsa de Comercio de Santiago de Chile, entre los años 2008 y 2013. Resultados: Los resultados indican una relación positiva y estadísticamente significativa entre el uso de instrumentos derivados y valor de la empresa. No obstante, esta evidencia se condiciona cuando el(los) principal(es) accionista(s) posee(n) el control de la compañía. Si el accionista principal o los tres accionistas más importantes concentran más de 67% de la propiedad, entonces la relación entre monto de derivados utilizados y valor de la firma es negativa. Conclusiones: Al analizar la dinámica entre la concentración de la propiedad y el uso de instrumentos derivados, encontramos que el principal y los tres accionistas más importantes, al alcanzar la súper mayoría de votos, utilizan los derivados para resguardar su propia riqueza, estrategia que es valorada negativamente por el mercado y que entrega evidencia en favor de la hipótesis de redistribución de riqueza entre los accionistas controladores y los minoritarios.
Influence of institutional investors in the decisions of capital structure of the company. Evidence for an emerging market
Este artículo analiza empíricamente la influencia de las Administradoras de Fondos de Pensión (AFP) como principales accionistas institucionales, sobre las decisiones de estructura de capital de la empresa chilena. Estos inversionistas pueden influir en la estructura de capital mediante distintos papeles como los de monitoreo a la gestión y de recopilación y transferencia de información al mercado. El análisis es desarrollado durante el periodo 2009-2011 para una muestra de 109 empresas chilenas que cotizan en la bolsa. Las AFP no sólo participan en el mercado accionario sino que también compiten por la deuda pública, por lo que nuestros resultados son relevantes al indicar la positiva influencia de este tipo de inversionistas en la contratación y emisión de deuda, particularmente la pública.
Ibero-American corporate ownership and boards of directors: Implementation and impact on firm value in Chile and Spain
From a corporate governance point of view, this paper addresses the question of how corporate ownership and board characteristics influence firm value for a sample of Ibero-American companies. Specifically, we analyse indexed non-financial companies from Chile and Spain for the period 2007 – 2016, using the GMM panel data technique. Our research is novel in considering a two-country approach, with one emerging and one developed country, and in analysing how corporate ownership and board characteristics, in addition to contextual variables, determine firm value. Our results assess the efficiency of corporate governance mechanisms. Although findings are intriguing regarding ownership concentration, they confirm the benefits of a good board of directors. This type of board is characterised by a large size, sufficiently independent directors, and a balance in terms of gender diversity. We provide several policy recommendations from our main findings.