Navigating global uncertainty: Do foreign national directors protect US firms from supply chain disruptions?
研究美国企业董事会中的外籍董事能否帮助公司缓解其母国经济政策不确定性冲击带来的负面影响，发现这些董事能有效减轻供应链中断对进口、库存、销售和市值的不利影响。
Abstract We examine whether foreign national directors (FNDs) on US corporate boards help their firms mitigate the adverse effects of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) shocks originating from the directors' home countries. Using a comprehensive data set of US manufacturing firms' international supply chain relationships from 2003 to 2019, we find that EPU spikes in supplier countries lead to significant declines in aggregate US imports as well as in buyer firms' inventory purchases, sales, and market valuation. However, firms with FNDs from the affected countries are better able to mitigate these negative impacts. Cross‐sectional analyses reveal that the beneficial role of FNDs is more pronounced in firms with limited operational slack, greater difficulty accessing information about supplier countries, and higher financial constraints. Robust to a battery of sensitivity tests, our findings underscore the importance of FNDs on corporate boards during times of increased global uncertainty, especially for firms heavily reliant on foreign suppliers, and inform the debate on board diversity and supply chain resilience amid economic policy‐driven uncertainties.