Keeping an eye on the founders and a thumb on the mercenaries : a study of corporate governance in IPO firms

• Main Author: Moschella, Jason F
• Format: Others
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/975244/1/MR37778.pdf; Moschella, Jason F <http://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/view/creators/Moschella=3AJason_F=3A=3A.html> (2007) Keeping an eye on the founders and a thumb on the mercenaries : a study of corporate governance in IPO firms. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

Recent scandals and regulatory activity point to the importance of an empirical investigation into corporate governance and the factors that influence the decisions to adopt various governance practices. This study uses agency theory and stewardship theory to examine differences in governance structures between founder-led and professionally-led IPO firms. I examine firms at the time they are preparing to go public and the various governance provisions adopted at this crucial point in their development. I use a sample of 423 software firms that went public in the U.S. between 1996 and 2000 and examine the governance provisions they employ. I find that founder-led firms are more likely to be less shareholder-friendly than professionally-led firms.