Gordon (2010: 4) explains diversified investor attitude to risk: “Competitors of the failed
firm may do better; suppliers to the failed firm may do worse, but the consequences are
‘unbiased.’ If all firms are taking good bets, however, then on average the diversified investor
will be better off.” Consequently, shareholders are risk neutral. Institutional investors can
invest in different equities to diversify risk and maintain liquidity. We expect a positive
association between the size of institutional ownership and firm risk, because research tells
us that shareholders prefer more risk (Jensen & Meckling, 1976; Pathan, 2009) due to the
anticipated higher return for greater risk. Subsequently, firms are likely to take on more highrisk
projects to attract greater institutional investment. This leads to our first hypothesis