Ownership Concentration and Firm Risk. Evidence from the US

International audienceThis paper investigates empirically the link between mid-sized blockholders and firm risk. Controlling for potential endogeneity problems, we find that the presence of multiple blockhold-ers positively affects firm risk. We also find that the stake of the largest blockholder reduces firm risk only when the firm has no other blockholders. Otherwise, the effect is insignificant. Overall our evidence is consistent with theories showing that firms' decisions are not determined by the largest shareholder alone and highlight the role of mid-sized blockholders. Findings are robust to various model specifications and controls