Title: Tunisian CEO power and controlling shareholder identity: principal-principal perspective

Authors: Sana Ben Cheikh; Nadia Loukil

Addresses: Higher Institute of Management of Gabes, Rue Jilani Habib, 6002, Gabes, Tunisia ' Higher Institute of Management of Sousse, Rue Abdlaziz il Behi, Bp 763, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia

Abstract: This study examine does controlling shareholder identity affects CEO power in the Tunisian context. Using a sample of 38 Tunisian listed companies for the period study 2000 to 2007, we measure CEO power by Adams et al. (2005) index and we classify controlling shareholders by identity: state, family and foreign investors. This study brings new and interesting findings. Most importantly, it find that CEO power level depend on controlling shareholding identity. Indeed, we demonstrate that family controlled firms, like firms with dispersed ownership, exhibit a high managerial power. However, we show that in state and foreign controlled firms delimited CEO entrenchment and mitigate agency problems between shareholders and managers.

Keywords: CEO power; controlling shareholders; Tunisian listed companies; corporate governance; shareholder identity; Tunisia; state controlled firms; family shareholders; foreign investors; agency problem.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCG.2012.051860

International Journal of Corporate Governance, 2012 Vol.3 No.2/3/4, pp.163 - 181

Published online: 10 Apr 2015 *

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