Putting Their Money Where Their Mouth Is: The Importance of Shareholder Directors Post Listing

While Luoma and Goodstein (1999) find increased stakeholder representation on the boards of American companies, Dimovski and Brooks (2004) provide evidence that the Australian initial public offering (IPO) market does not require non equity stakeholder representation on their boards. This paper analyses the change in composition of the boards of large Australian companies post listing. We find a substantial increase in the number of directors holding equity capital in the firms in which they hold their directorships. We also find a decrease in the number of non equity stakeholder directors post listing. This suggests that directors putting their money into the firms in which they have a stewardship function is an important element in the Australian capital market.