One man two hats: What’s all the commotion!

Abstract

We examine performance in publicly listed U.K. companies over a period that encompasses the issuance of the Cadbury Committee’s Code of Best Practice, which calls for the abolition of the combined CEO/COB position. We find that companies splitting the combined CEO/COB position to conform to the Code’s requirement did not exhibit any absolute or relative improvement in performance when compared to various peer-group benchmarks. We do not necessarily scoff at mandated board structures, but the evidence suggests that this particular legislature coerced the abandonment of the combined CEO/COB position and appears to be wide of the mark. © 2009, The Eastern Finance Association.