← Search

Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 109 No. 1 2013

Are busy boards detrimental?

Laura Field1; Michelle Lowry1; Anahit Mkrtchyan2

1 Pennsylvania State University · 2 Northeastern University

Abstract

Busy directors have been widely criticized as being ineffective. However, we hypothesize that busy directors offer advantages for many firms. While busy directors may be less effective monitors, their experience and contacts arguably make them excellent advisors. Among IPO firms, which have minimal experience with public markets and likely rely heavily on their directors for advising, we find busy boards to be common and to contribute positively to firm value. Moreover, these positive effects of busy boards extend to all but the most established firms. Benefits are lowest among Forbes 500 firms, which likely require more monitoring than advising.

DOI
10.1016/j.jfineco.2013.02.004
Volume
109
Issue
1
Pages
63-82
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite