Welbourne and Cyr (1999)
Welbourne, Theresa M., and Linda A. Cyr. "The Human Resource Executive Effect in Initial Public Offering Firms." Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 42, No. 6., 1999.
Studies 360 companies that went public in 1993 to determine the impact of senior human resource professionals on firm performance. Finds that "having a senior HRM executive is positively correlated with 1996 stock price (.14) and earnings per share (.12) and with initial stock price (.16) and union presence (.16). The strongest relationship is with size (.26), indicating that larger firms are more likely to have senior HRM executives reporting to their CEOs." Although adjustments were made for firm size and risk factors mentioned in prospectuses, other common adjustments (e.g., industry, advertising intensity, R&D expenditure) were not included.