The non-linear relationship between managerial ownership and firm performance

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between operating performance and ownership structure using a sample of Italian IPO-firms in the period 1995-1999. Overall, we find that their performance declines after the IPO. We find evidence of a non-linear relationship between ownership and performance using different measures of operating performance and managerial ownership. This result supports the hypothesis of a combined effect of ownership on firm performance, with a positive effect at low and high levels of managerial ownership (alignment of interest hypothesis) and a negative effect at intermediate levels (entrenchment hypothesis).