Finance, economic and management literature document the reduced agency problems, increased productivity, and greater financial benefits that accrue to firms that adopt Employee Stock Ownership Plans, (ESOPs). The literature also documents the increased agency problems, decreased employee productivity, and poor operating performance that usually accompany corporate downsizing activity. To date, none of the studies have examined the effect that downsizing decisions have on companies with existing ESOP plans; this dissertation fills that empirical void. In this study, two essays are presented that examine the effect of corporate downsizing on ESOP versus non-ESOP firms. In the first essay, I investigate the short-term wealth effects of the downsizing announcement using event study methodology. I find that there is no significant change in the wealth effects for ESOP firms (they are positive, yet small), whereas non-ESOP firms have significantly negative abnormal returns. There is, however, a significant difference in the abnormal returns of ESOP versus non-ESOP firms, where ESOPs have significantly higher abnormal returns. Finally, with respect to wealth effects, I find that downsizing interacts negatively with managerial ownership and with employee ownership, but there is a positive interaction between the ownership of managers and employees.In the second essay, I examine the long-term employee productivity and financial performance of the downsized firms, as measured by Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and Tobins Q, respectively. I find that neither the percentage of employee ownership nor the level of downsizing has an impact on the productivity of the downsizing ESOP firm. However, the level of downsizing exerts a significantly positive impact on the productivity of non-ESOP firms. With respect to financial performance, the existence of an ESOP plan has a significantly negative influence on the Tobins Q of the downsizing firm. Furthermore, the level of downsizing has a significantly negative impact on non-ESOP firms, whereas the financial performance of ESOP firms appear to be unaffected by the level of downsizing. For Tobins Q, there is evidence of interaction between employee and managerial ownership for ESOP firms. There is also interaction between managerial ownership and downsizing for the TFP and Tobins Q of non-ESOP firms.

Andelen kvinnlig representation i bolagsstyrelser har ökat sedan ett decennium tillbaka vilket rangordnar Sverige som ett av de länder i Europa med högst andel kvinnor i bolagsstyrelserna. Trots positiv utveckling är kvinnor fortfarande underrepresenterade i förhållande till det lagstiftade förslag som den svenska regeringen arbetat fram som förordar att kvinnor ska representeras till 40 procent i bolagsstyrelserna. Tidigare forskning har uppmärksammat på vilket sätt ett ökat kvinnligt perspektiv kan bidra till företagens utveckling och ekonomiska prestation men att finna teoretiska underlag har visat sig vara problematiskt. Forskningen kring hur ett ökat kvinnligt perspektiv kan påverka företagens lönsamhet är tvetydigt. Vår studie ämnar undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan könsdiversifiering i styrelsen och Tobins Q. Tillika undersöks om det finns en samvariation mellan andelen kvinnlig styrelserepresentation med kvinnligt aktieägande samt om styrelsen representerar det kvinnliga aktieägarnas röster. Vår teoretiska referensram grundar sig i teorier som ger en överblick över förståelsen i den underliggande dynamiken i hur bolagsstyrelser agerar samt fungerar. Studiens tillvägagångssätt bygger på en deduktiv forskningsmetodik som sedermera grundar sig i tidigare forskning inom det valda ämnet. Syftet med denna studie är att bidra till den rådande samhällsdebatt kring hur begreppet jämställdhet i bolagsstyrelser har en betydelse för aktieägarvärdet samt att försöka fylla det forskningsgap som påvisar dubbeltydiga resultat. Vår studie visar att det föreligger ett positivt signifikant samband mellan andelen kvinnor i bolagsstyrelser och Tobins Q och att andelen kvinnor i styrelsen kan representera de kvinnliga aktieägarna. Med hänsyn till denna studie föreslås att representationen av kvinnor i bolagsstyrelser kan bidra till ökad ekonomisk prestation, legitimitet samt förbättrad representation av företagets intressenter. / The female representation in swedish corporate boards has increased over the last decades. Despite positive development women are still underrepresented in relation to the statutory proposal the swedish government try to pursuit, which advocates female representation to be defined by 40 percent in corporate boards. In this report, we examine whether there is a coherence between gender diversity in corporate boards and Tobins Q ratio. Also, if there is a co-variation among the proportion of female board members with female shareholders. Our results indicate that there is a positive significant correlation between the proportion of women in corporate boards and Tobins Q ratio and that the proportion of female board members can represent the female shareholders. In view of this study, it is proposed that the representation of women in corporate boards can contribute to increased economic performance, legitimacy and improved representation of the company's stakeholders. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the prevailing social controversy about how the concept of gender equality in corporate governance has a fundamental connotation for the shareholder value and to try to fill the research gap that shows equivocal results.