We examine the impact of corporate board reforms on firm value in 41 countries. Using a difference-indifferences design, we find that firm value increases after enactment of the reforms. The valuation increase is associated with both the intensity and major components of the reform, including board independence, audit committee, and the separation of the roles of chief executive officer and chairman. We also find that the effect of these reforms primarily exists in countries with weak legal institutions. In addition, the effect of reforms is concentrated among comply-or-explain reforms, and the role of country-level institutions is less important for these reforms than for regulation reforms. Taken together, our findings suggest exogenously introduced governance changes benefit shareholders, mainly in countries with weak institutional quality and for reforms with a comply-or-explain approach.
We study how differences in bank regulation influence cross-border bank acquisition flows and share price reactions to cross-border deal announcements. Using a sample of 7,297 domestic and 916 majority cross-border deals announced between 1995 and 2012, we find evidence of a form of "regulatory arbitrage" whereby acquisition flows involve acquirers from countries with stronger regulations than their targets. Target and aggregate abnormal returns around deal announcements are positive and larger when acquirers come from more restrictive bank regulatory environments. We interpret this evidence as more consistent with a benign form of regulatory arbitrage than a potentially destructive one.
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