Board Connections, Information Networks, and Asset Prices
Tyagi, Ashutosh
Citations
Abstract
Board interlocks are pervasive: 68.20% of firms on average from 1991-2011 have at least one interlock. Since a firm's decisions are partly based on the board's information set, interlocked firms may show synchronized movements in their outputs. At the aggregate level, the structure of the board network will determine the information allocation across firms, which will have non-trivial effects on output in the economy. In this study, I theoretically examine the asset-pricing implications of firms’ connections across sectors through the board network. I show that changes in the network structure affects aggregate output, and thereby, consumption. Specifically, two attributes of network topology matter for asset prices - diversity and sparsity. In particular, I derive them from a production-based asset-pricing model in which firms act based on their information set, which is determined by the topology of board network. I then empirically compute the two factors using board network data. Consistent with the model's predictions, I find return spreads of -0.8582% and 0.9024% per month on diversity and sparsity beta-sorted portfolios, respectively.
