Using ownership as an incentive - Does the "too many chiefs" rule apply inentrepreneurial firms?

Agency theory is used to develop hypotheses regarding the effects of owners hip proliferation on firm performance. The authors examine the effects of c hief executive officer (CEO) ownership, executive team ownership, and all e mployee ownership in addition to the moderating effect of risk on firm surv ival and stock price. Firms with low CEO ownership outperform those with hi gh levels of CEO ownership across all levels of risk, but the effect is mos t pronounced for low-risk firms. Executive team ownership is negatively rel ated to firm performance, whereas ownership for all employees is positively associated with firm performance, particularly for higher risk firms.