In this paper we examine the valuation effects of equity carve-outs in Europe. We demonstrate that equity carve-out announcements yield significant abnormal returns for the shareholders of parent firms. This positive market reaction is stronger in countries that better protect minority shareholder rights. However, a remarkable price reversal is detected in the aftermath of a carve-out transaction that lasts up to two years. In contrast, parent-firm operating performance improves as long as the disposal of subsidiary assets is proven to be an optimal corporate decision. Subsidiaries stemming from the restructuring transaction also experience an initial positive market reaction which then reverses to severe price losses within a few months of the first day of listing.

The introduction of accounting and auditing oversight boards (OBs) has been promoted on a global scale as a key component of the international financial architecture that has emerged over the past two decades. Such institutions, modeled on the Anglo-American tradition, are domestically organized and embedded within distinctively diverse institutional contexts. Their role is to ease agency problems, improve the quality of financial reporting, and help provide stability in the global financial system. We employ an institutional approach, located within the broader political economy framework of global capitalism, to examine the establishment and operation of the new regulatory regime in Greece. Greece, a member of the European Union, exhibits characteristics of a “delegative” democracy, i.e. a traditionally weak institutionalization, reform (in)capacity problems and a clientelistic political system. Our case study shows that the formation and operation of the newly-established system of oversight is conditioned by local political and economic constraints and, thus, does not automatically translate into concrete benefits for the quality of financial reporting. We also draw attention to the structural mismatch between a progressing globalized financial integration and the fragmented nature of the system of oversight, and illustrate that OBs’ independence from local governments is an important but neglected issue.

We investigate the impact of policy uncertainty (PU) on the economic impact of bank mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Using a sample of 3142 deals announced by US banks between 1986 and 2020, we find a significant positive effect of PU on acquirer short- and long-term market value. PU also positively affects acquirer post-merger accounting performance and increases the incentives for synergy-driven bank M&A. Amid PU, acquirers avoid stock-only financed deals, delay deal completion, and pay higher bid premiums. Our results are robust to model specifications that control for different proxies of PU, endogeneity, asset pricing models, and event windows surrounding deal announcements.

We explore the association between board gender diversity and shareholder value creation. Specifically, we investigate the impact of gender diversity on the economic impact of bank mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We employ a multi-year sample of M&A announced by European listed banks and find that: (i) the presence of women on the board of directors has a positive and statistically significant effect on acquirer gains; and (ii) boards with three or more women, or where women represent more than 25% of the board, have a stronger impact on acquirer gains than in the opposite case, consistent with critical mass theory. Moreover, banks with a critical mass of female directors perform better in undertaking value-enhancing M&A after the global financial crisis. Policy makers and practitioners could benefit from the findings by exploiting the advantages of board heterogeneity in terms of gender.