DP9716 The Value of Corporate Culture

Author(s):	Luigi Guiso, Paola Sapienza, Luigi Zingales
Publication Date:	November 2013
Keyword(s):	Corporate culture, Going Public, Integrity
JEL(s):	G30, Z1
Programme Areas:	Financial Economics
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=9716

We study which dimensions of corporate culture are related to a firm?s performance and why. We find that proclaimed values appear irrelevant. Yet, when employees perceive top managers as trustworthy and ethical, firm?s performance is stronger. We then study how different governance structures impact the ability to sustain integrity as a corporate value. We find that publicly traded firms are less able to sustain it. Traditional measures of corporate governance do not seem to have much of an impact.