Synthesizing and extending behavioral research on boards of directors

This dissertation focuses on a group of decision makers at the top of the organization, the board of directors. The past decades have seen an increase in research on board and director behavior to better understand what makes them more effective. I synthesize the existing research by conducting two meta-analyses, one on the board size – firm performance relationship (Chapter 2) and one on the relationship between two other characteristics (independence and human capital) and board performance of monitoring and advice-giving tasks (Chapter 3). Both meta-analyses examine the processes through which board characteristics influence firm and board performance. Chapter 4 focuses on how social relationships between individual directors and CEOs influence the behavior of individual directors. I test this using one large-scale survey of Dutch directors and three experiments with directors. My findings throughout the dissertation show that popular explanations invoking processes that connect board characteristics (size, independence, and human capital) with performance do not universally hold and are context dependent. For example, the positive or negative association of board size with firm performance depends on firm size. To extend the current knowledge, I highlight which processes receive empirical support, suggest alternative processes, and develop new insights that can be used for behavioral interventions in the boardroom.