Investigating Management Turnover in Italian Cooperative Banks

Management turnover is a common tool for disciplining top managers both in corporations and in financial intermediaries. This paper examines the turnover of top managers in Italian banks. By applying a survival analysis to a dataset covering all Italian banks, the study tests the hypothesis that management turnover differs according to different types of banks; and, specifically, it attempts to assess whether top managers in non-commercial banks are more likely to stay on in their managerial position longer than those in commercial banks. Results confirm that the juridical form of banks is significantly related to management turnover as top managers in cooperative banks show a higher survival probability. Similarly, banks’ history and institutional legacy have a significant influence on both management turnover and on the disciplinary mechanisms for top managers. Managers in cooperative banks tend to survive longer even when bank performance, measured as return on assets, is below average.