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Beauty and appearance in corporate director elections
Geiler,Philipp Renneboog,Luc Zhao,Yang
Geiler,Philipp
Renneboog,Luc
Zhao,Yang
Abstract
We study the role of facial appearance in corporate director (re-)elections by means of director photographs published in annual reports. We find that shareholders use inferences from facial appearance in corporate elections, as a better (higher rated) appearance measure of a director reduces voting dissent. These heuristics are based on perceived competence, trustworthiness, likability, and intelligence, but not on physical beauty. The results are valid for director re-elections but not for first appointment elections as in the latter cases, shareholders may not as yet be familiar with a director’s looks. In firms with few institutional shareholders and more retail investors owning small equity stakes, the latter tend to rely more on facial appearance than institutional shareholders, presumably as institutions conduct more research on the director’s background and performance, and consequently rely less on facial appearance. While female directors generally experience lower voting dissent, their facial appearance does not affect their elections results.
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Date
2018-07
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Keywords
Appearance, Beauty, Competence, Corporate Elections, Gender, behavioral finance, Annual general meeting, Extraordinary meeting, G34 - Mergers ; Acquisitions ; Restructuring ; Corporate Governance, G39 - Other, G41 - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets, SDG 5 - Gender Equality
Citation
Geiler, P, Renneboog, L & Zhao, Y 2018, 'Beauty and appearance in corporate director elections', Journal of International Financial Markets Institutions & Money, vol. 55, pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intfin.2018.03.004
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info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess