Ownership Concentration and Firm Risk. Evidence from the US

Silvia Rossetto , Raffaele Staglianò (1)

1 MRM - Montpellier Research in Management

This paper investigates empirically the link between mid-sized blockholders and firm risk. Controlling for potential endogeneity problems, we find that the presence of multiple blockhold-ers positively affects firm risk. We also find that the stake of the largest blockholder reduces firm risk only when the firm has no other blockholders. Otherwise, the effect is insignificant. Overall our evidence is consistent with theories showing that firms' decisions are not determined by the largest shareholder alone and highlight the role of mid-sized blockholders. Findings are robust to various model specifications and controls.

Mots clés: Corporate governance; ownership structure; risk; blockholders

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Silvia Rossetto, Raffaele Staglianò. Ownership Concentration and Firm Risk. Evidence from the US. 15ème Conférence Internationale de Gouvernance de l’Association Académique Internationale de Gouvernance (AAIG), May 2016, Montpellier, France. ⟨hal-02144846⟩