Three Essays on Bottom-Up Governance: New Evidence from Management Connection

In response to the debatable conclusion on the governance role of the board of directors, emerging literature in corporate governance starts to examine the characteristics of another major governing body - the senior executive suite. In line with this stream of research, this thesis investigates the impact of the connections CEOs develop with other top executives on corporate behaviours. The thesis consists of three distinct empirical chapters. While the first two chapters look into managerial misbehaviours conceived in the presence of management connections, the third chapter reveals the potential benefit of these connections in the context of an economic recession.