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Full-Text Articles in Business
Women Directors On Public Company Boards: Does A Critical Mass Affect Leverage?, Cindy K. Harris
Women Directors On Public Company Boards: Does A Critical Mass Affect Leverage?, Cindy K. Harris
Business and Economics Faculty Publications
This study examines the relationship between corporate leverage (the ratio of total debt to total assets) and gender diversity on US public company boards, with particular focus on boards that have at least 25% women directors. Using this critical mass of women eliminates from consideration boards with lesser female representation, whose female directors may be marginalized in their contributions to board functioning and decision-making. I hypothesize that when boards have this minimum threshold of gender diversity, the influence of risk-averse female directors will impact board decisions related to financing, resulting in lower debt ratios when compared to boards with no …
The Power Of One: Effects Of Ceo Duality On Compensation Committee Quality And Ceo Compensation, Cindy K. Harris, Carol C. Cirka, Eric Farris
The Power Of One: Effects Of Ceo Duality On Compensation Committee Quality And Ceo Compensation, Cindy K. Harris, Carol C. Cirka, Eric Farris
Business and Economics Faculty Publications
This paper contributes to the corporate governance literature by focusing on how Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) duality and compensation committee quality are related to CEO compensation in the period since passage of the Sarbanes Oxley Act (“SOX”). Unlike research prior to SOX that focused chiefly on committee members’ independence, we measure compensation committee quality in two ways. We consider the average number of board directorships held by compensation committee members as well as the proportion of committee members with prior or current CEO duality experience. We introduce the latter variable as a new measure of quality as it has not …