Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2015
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Staggered Boards and Shareholder Value: A Reply to Amihud and Stoyanov

By: Alma Cohen and Charles C.Y. Wang
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:21
ShareBar

Abstract

In a paper published in the Journal of Financial Economics in 2013, we provided evidence that market participants perceive staggered boards to be on average value-reducing. In a recent response paper, Amihud and Stoyanov (2015) “contest” our results. They advocate using alternative methods for estimating risk-adjusted returns and excluding some observations from our sample. Amihud and Stoyanov claim that making such changes renders our results not significant (though retaining their direction) and conclude that staggered boards have no significant effect on firm value. This paper examines and replies to the Amihud-Stoyanov challenge. We question their methodological claims, study the consequences of following their suggestions, and conduct additional robustness tests. Our analysis shows that the evidence is overall consistent with the results and conclusions of our JFE paper.

Keywords

Staggered Boards; Takeover Defense; Antitakeover Provision; Firm Value; Agency Costs; Delaware; Chancery Court; Airgas; Governing and Advisory Boards; Acquisition; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Delaware

Citation

Cohen, Alma, and Charles C.Y. Wang. "Staggered Boards and Shareholder Value: A Reply to Amihud and Stoyanov." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-097, February 2016.
  • SSRN
  • Read Now

About The Author

Charles C.Y. Wang

Accounting and Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • Journal of Financial Economics

    How Much Should We Trust Staggered Difference-In-Differences Estimates?

    By: Andrew C. Baker, David F. Larcker and Charles C.Y. Wang
    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Corporate Governance in Business Analysis and Valuation

    By: Charles C.Y. Wang
    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Turkcell Instructor Template

    By: Charles C.Y. Wang
More from the Authors
  • How Much Should We Trust Staggered Difference-In-Differences Estimates? By: Andrew C. Baker, David F. Larcker and Charles C.Y. Wang
  • Corporate Governance in Business Analysis and Valuation By: Charles C.Y. Wang
  • Turkcell Instructor Template By: Charles C.Y. Wang
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College