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Journal of Financial Stability Vol. 75 2024

Independent directors’ connectedness and bank risk-taking

Abu Amin1; Sabur Mollah2; Syed Kamal3; Yang Zhao4; Rasim Simsek

1 Central Michigan University · 2 University of Sheffield · 3 University of Central Oklahoma · 4 University of Liverpool

open access

Abstract

This study examines the role of independent directors’ network centrality in bank risk-taking. Following the shareholder-incentive hypothesis and social-network theory, we predict and find that independent directors’ connectedness is positively associated with bank risk-taking. The results hold after a battery of robustness checks and endogeneity tests. Furthermore, consistent with the influence channel of networks, we show that connectedness empowers independent directors, whereas influential independent directors facilitate aggressive investment. We also find that the risk-taking effects are more pronounced for complex banks and banks with higher equity capital, higher income diversity, and lower cost-efficiency.

DOI
10.1016/j.jfs.2024.101324
Volume
75
Pages
101324
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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