Integration of Micro and Macro Studies in Governance Research: CEO Duality, Board Composition, and Financial Performance

The authors provide two examples of contemporary and contentious issues related to the governance of publicly traded corporations—the composition of boards of directors and the choice of CEO or board chairperson leadership structures. In each case, despite voluminous empirical attention, there is virtually no evidence related to the financial performance of the firm with regard to either of these fundamental elements of firms’ governance structures. The authors suggest that these null results may be related to the inadequacy of analyses relied on to examine such issues, an inadequacy that might be constructively addressed by more attention to multi-level alternatives.