Volume 9, No. 1, April 2010

 

Classified Boards and Managerial Entrenchment:
Evidence from Seasoned Equity Offerings
Ranadeb Chaudhuri
Department of Accounting and Finance, Oakland University, U.S.A.
Hoontaek Seo
Commerce Department, Niagara University, U.S.A.
Abstract
We investigate the effect of classified boards on the market reaction to seasoned equity offering (SEO) announcements and the operating performance following SEOs. We find that firms with classified boards on average earn lower SEO announcement returns and have worse abnormal operating performance following SEOs relative to firms with unitary boards. Our results support the view that classified boards entrench managers and are ineffective in preventing them from misusing funds raised in SEOs.
Key words: classified boards; secondary equity offering; managerial entrenchment
JEL classification: G31; G32; G34

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