More than a Fair Share? Principal-Principal Conflicts in Emerging Markets: Evidence from India

The concentrated ownership structure of emerging market firms may help mitigate principal-agent conflicts; however, the presence of two sets of principals, promoters with controlling stake and dispersed shareholders, may give rise to principal-principal conflicts. India, where firms are largely organized as business groups, with stock pyramids and complex cross-ownership structures, presents a distinctive venue to study the presence of such conflicts. This paper tests if the principal-principal conflicts transpire in the form of risk aversion when Indian bidders seek to merge or acquire. We observe that Indian bidders resort to risk-aversion only when promoters have high cash flow rights, that is, when they hold a majority stake in the acquiring firm. We argue that in business group firms this happens due to ‘tunnelling distortion’, whereas in standalone firms, this occurs due to ‘portfolio concentration’.