Kurt A. Desender

• Assistant professor
• Professor (Associate) at University Carlos III de Madrid

Corporate governance research has largely focused on internal governance mechanisms (i.e., the board of directors, controlling owners, and managerial incentives). However, much of this work ignores the role that external corporate governance practices play in preventing managers from engaging in activities detrimental to the welfare of shareholders...

We ask whether and when shareholder-oriented foreign owners are likely to change corporate governance logics in a stakeholder-oriented setting by introducing shareholder-oriented governance practices. We focus on board monitoring and claim that because the bundle of practices used in a stakeholder context does not protect shareholder-oriented forei...

We extend agency theory with the notion that boards have distinct incentives and abilities to monitor management and develop a contingency approach to explain how firm ownership influences the monitoring function of the board — measured as the magnitude of external audit fees contracted by the board. Analyzing Continental European companies, our re...

We seek to bring to the core of the study of comparative corporate governance analysis the idea that within countries and industries, there exist multiple configurations of firm level characteristics and governance practices leading to effective corproate governance. In particular, we propose that configurations composed of different bundles of cor...

Using theory and empirical data from social psychology to measure for cultural differences between countries, we study the effect of individualism as defined by Hofstede (1980) and egalitarianism as defined by Schwartz (1994, 1999, 2004) on earnings management. We find a significant influence of both cultural measures. In line with Licht et al. (20...

While corporate gender diversity has substantially increased over the last decade in Latin America, there is still a large gender gap with North America and Europe. This study examines the country and firm-level drivers of this gap, providing insights into factors promoting higher gender diversity in Latin American companies. Our analysis shows tha...

This Study examines whether and how gender diversity at the board and top management team (TMT) level, as well as commitment to the UN's Sustainable Development Goal on Gender Equality (SDG5), influences financial reporting quality by studying the independent auditors' assessment of the risk of material misstatement. Employing a large global datase...

Research Question/Issue The prominent ownership position of the Big Three asset management firms (i.e., BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street Global Advisors) in many leading companies around the world has sparked a lively debate regarding whether their concentration of power is beneficial or detrimental for corporate governance (CG). We conduct a...

This paper draws on the articles in the Forum on Corporate Governance to discuss how corporate governance and accounting research complement each other well in explaining how companies are governed as well as properly managed from an accounting point of view. We put special attention to the cross-national differences in both corporate governance sy...

Research summary Drawing on the “varieties of capitalism” literature, we develop an actor‐centered framework that explains firm‐level corporate social performance (CSP) by emphasizing the importance of considering owners’ and other stakeholders’ motives towards CSP—which can be instrumental, relational or moral—and their salience in the national in...

Research Question/Issue Our study examines whether international corporate governance systems shape the relationship between a firm's engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and their cost of financing (both equity and debt). Research Findings/Insights Using a large international sample, our findings reveal that although the link betwe...

Research summary Building on the comparative capitalism's notion of institutional complementarities, we examine whether firms’ simultaneous adoption of managerial entrenchment provisions (MEPs) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reinforces or undercuts one another in influencing firm financial performance. We propose that the financial impac...

This paper investigates whether, and how, firms’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Performance influences the auditors’ assessment of the risk of material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, at the financial statement level by analysing their pricing decision (i.e., audit fees). Using a panel data set of 12,330 firms from 28 countries...

Within the backdrop of comparative corporate governance research, we draw on the managerial reporting and impression management literatures to examine how the type, level, and nature of foreign shareholders, infused with their own governance logic, influence initial managerial earnings optimism and how foreign ownership shapes earnings guidance in...

This study systematically analyzes how within-firm variations in board independence and ownership concentration affect the firm’s corporate social performance (CSP). Drawing from the agency and stakeholder perspectives, we argue that recognizing differences in the distribution and timeframe of the costs and benefits to shareholders and other stakeh...

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between stock market performance and ownership structure during plummeting and soaring financial markets in a Continental-European setting. Our results demonstrate the importance of ownership concentration, the presence of multiple blockholders and the type of ownership to explain stock...

We analyze how ownership concentration and type, and board independence are related to corporate social performance (CSP). Drawing from agency and team production theories, we argue that the distribution of costs and benefits to shareholders and other stakeholders is crucial to understand what drives CSP. We analyze an international panel of listed...

By integrating the agency and stakeholder perspectives, this study aims to provide a systematic understanding of the firm- and institutional-level corporate governance factors that affect corporate social performance (CSP). We analyze a large global panel dataset and reveal that CSP is positively associated with board independence, but negatively w...

Although current corporate governance studies have emphasized that institutions matter for the diffusion of corporate practices, less attention has been paid to how different institutions matter for the implementation of corporate practices, especially when different shareholders who have been embedded in different institutional environments coexis...

Purpose – This chapter discusses the role that indices of corporate governance have had in comparative corporate governance research. Design/Methodology/Approach – The authors begin with a short discussion of what corporate governance is and its main debates. Then, the authors review the main indices (which are also summarized in Table 1), highligh...

This paper develops a contingency approach, to explain how bank ownership influences bank stability, as well as the effect of competition and regulation on bank stability. Using a country-level panel dataset for the period 1993-2007, we show that savings banks and cooperative banks (stakeholder banks) are more stable than commercial banks, while in...

The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between stock market performance and ownership structure during plummeting and soaring financial markets in a Continental-European setting. Our results show the importance of ownership concentration, the presence of secondary blockholders and the type of the controlling owner to explain...

Purpose: The objective of this study is to understand which corporate governance mechanisms lead in practise to lower information asymmetry and the cost of equity capital and to shed some light on the supplementary or complementary relationship of governance mechanisms in reducing information asymmetry and cost of equity capital.Design/methodology/...

We use a Hotelling-type model with innovation in order to explore some of the main guidelines proposed by M. Porter (1991) in what refers to competitive advantage by differentiation and innovation. We find that Porter’s remark about the fundamental importance of innovation as the origin of competitive advantages is particularly relevant in the case...

Corporate governance failures and new legislation have emphasized the importance of enterprise risk management (ERM) in preventing fraudulent reporting. The objective of this paper is to explore how the composition of the board and the audit committee and the ownership structure is related to the degree of enterprise risk management implementation....

The paper explores how the adoption of enterprise risk management (ERM) practices influences external audit fees in large pharmaceutical firms. The results show that the mere presence of a Chief Risk Officer does not influence external audit fees. However, when we take the different ERM practices into account, we find that firms that heavily rely o...

Analysing 247 French and Spanish listed companies, we evaluate the influence of the ownership structure and the board of directors on the demand for audit. We argue that controlling shareholders influence the priorities of the board to focus on the provision of resources rather than monitoring. In contrast, boards in widely-held firms have a strong...

The paper develops a theoretical model to better understand how the role (control versus direction) of the board of directors is influenced by the ownership structure and how that affects the board effectiveness. Most corporate governance research focuses on a universal link between corporate governance practices and performance outcomes, but negle...

This paper analyzes the stability of financial systems with different bank’s ownership structures. We distinguish between profit oriented banks (commercial banks) and non-profit maximizing bank such as savings banks and cooperative banks (stakeholder banks). Using a country-level panel dataset over the period 1993-2007, and two different measures o...

This paper develops a theoretical model to better understand how the priorities of the board of directors are influenced by the ownership structure and how that affects firm performance. Most corporate governance research focuses on a universal link between corporate governance practices (e.g., board structure, shareholder activism) and performance...

Using Spanish data, this research investigate whether a company's ownership structure has an impact on its stock price performance during periods of crisis. Our results show that both inside ownership and ownership concentration are important to explain stock price adjustments during periods of crisis. Stock market performance is positively related...

Although international portfolio theory prescribes that optimal portfolios should be well diversified internationally, in practice investors have a clear preference for domestic assets. This study investigates the relationship between culture and home bias for both aspects of the home bias, i.e. the domestic and the foreign bias, for two, related,...

Corporate governance failures and new legislation have emphasized the importance of enterprise risk management (ERM) in preventing fraudulent reporting. Despite the increased attention on ERM, little research has been done to explain why some organizations embrace ERM while others do not. The objective of this paper is to explore how the board comp...

This study examines the relationship between external pressure to perform and earnings management for a broad sample of Spanish listed firms. We define external pressure by two variables, the number of comparable firms and the degree of diversification. For non-family firms, we find a positive relationship between the number of comparable firms and...

Using Spanish data, we investigate whether the stock price performance depend on the ownership structure of the company during stock market crises. Our results show that both inside ownership and ownership concentration are considered by investors to make price adjustments during periods of crisis, after controlling for size and sector. Stock marke...