The Dynamics of Firm Growth and Survival Under Alternative Forms of Control

The publication of the passive learning model of Jovanovic [Jovanic, B., "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, 1982, 60, 649–670.] initiated a resurgence of interest in firm growth and survival processes. Yet all the recent work has focused on the profit maximizing firm, without considering how robust the results are to alternative forms of control. This paper applies the model to the case of the labour managed firm, a type of firm studied extensively for its divergent behaviour from profit maximising firms. The findings indicate that Jovanovic's key predictions are rendered indeterminate under labour management, although there is evidence to show that the actual empirical relationships continue to hold. In considering possible explanations for the breakdown of the results, we conclude that the Jovanovic model overemphasizes institutional structure to the neglect of more fundamental determinants of growth and survival.midt, Paul Geroski and an anonymous referee for helpful comments and discussions. Any remaining errors are my own.     

Changes in CEO compensation structure and the impact on firm performance following CEO turnover

We document changes in compensation structure following CEO turnover and relate them to future performance. Compared to outgoing CEOs, incoming CEOs derive a significantly greater percentage of their compensation from option grants and new stock grants. The voluntary turnover sample shows similar changes in compensation structure while the forced turnover sample results suggest that new stock grants drive the significant increase in incentive compensation following turnover. Post-turnover performance is positively associated with new stock grants as a percentage of total compensation in the full sample and when analyzing forced and voluntary turnovers separately. We find limited evidence that future operating income is positively associated with option grants following forced turnover. Post-turnover improvement in operating income is positively associated with an increase in new stock grants for the incoming relative to the outgoing CEO.

Earnings quality and firm valuation: international evidence*

This study uses a sample of over 7000 firms in 38 countries to investigate the relation between firm valuation and earnings quality. We find a positive and significant relation between firm valuation and an aggregate earnings quality measure based on seven earnings attributes (accruals quality, persistence, predictability, smoothness, value relevance, timeliness, and conservatism). This relation is particularly strong for firms with greater investment opportunities and more need for external finance, and for firms in low investor protection countries. Thus, firms are able to compensate for a weak legal environment by adopting higher earnings quality standards, particularly when they need to gain access to global capital markets. Overall, our findings suggest that firms with higher earnings quality are valued more highly in stock markets, supporting the idea that investors require a premium for the information risk associated with lower‐quality earnings.     

What Do Investment Banks Truly Bring to the Table?

This paper investigates the role of intermediaries in the initial public offering (IPO) process. In the U.S. market, investment banks have traditionally been involved in a firm‐commitment or best‐efforts underwriting capacity. However, in the Australian IPO market, investment banks are increasingly being named in association with new issues in diverse roles such as issue managers, sponsoring brokers and corporate advisers. Using a sample of 468 IPOs over the 1996 to mid‐2006 period, we examine the influence of investment banks across these different engagements. In support of the signalling and information production roles of intermediaries, we find that issuers choosing high intermediary involvement are typically older, retain more capital, seek to raise larger amounts of capital and are without independent expert certification. We find mixed support for the certification hypothesis when testing for the effect of intermediary reputation on IPO issuer wealth loss. Further, the impact of intermediary involvement on underpricing is not significantly different for the different levels of intermediary involvement once issue characteristics have been accounted for. This is puzzling since these different roles by definition do not provide the same level of issue quality assurance.     

The effects of corporate governance and audit and non-audit fees on IPO Value

This paper examines the effects of non-executive board members, audit committee composition and financial expertise, and fees paid to audit firms on the value of 375 UK initial public offerings (IPOs). Empirical findings show that underpricing decreases in audit fees whereas it increases in non-audit fees. A higher proportion of non-executive directors on the firm’s board and audit committees with a higher proportion of non-executive directors and financial accounting expertise of their members positively moderate the inter-relationships between underpricing and both audit and non-audit fees paid by companies going through an IPO. Further investigations using the adjusted price-to-book value as a proxy for firm value at IPO confirm our main findings that internal governance mechanisms may complement services provided by the auditors in terms of generating higher valuations. Controlling for the simultaneous determination of audit and non-audit fees, our results remain consistent.     

高管背景特征与企业绩效关系实证研究

高层管理团队(TMT)背景特征与企业绩效之间的关系引起广泛的关注。以房地产上市公司为例,基于高层管理团队的异质性理论,实证研究了TMT背景特征对公司财务绩效不同指标的影响。并且对不同绩效公司进行分组检验背景特征的影响变化,结果发现,TMT背景特征对不同企业的绩效影响不同,年龄与教育背景多样化程度能提高企业绩效,薪酬水平与企业绩效负相关,其余背景特征对企业绩效并无显著影响,不同绩效分组的影响因素也不同。最后据此提出了针对性的政策建议。     

Do Labour Strategies Matter? An Analysis of Two Enterprise-Level Data Sets in China

This paper examines the effect of labour strategies and management types on firm performance in Chinese enterprises. We use two large panel surveys on Chinese enterprises, spanning almost two decades of transition. Our findings suggest that, as commonly thought, there are significant differences across ownership types in China in the degree to which flexible labour market strategies are utilized; and more flexible strategies (such as bonus-reward systems) do seem to significantly enhance performance. However, after controlling for different degrees of labour market flexibility, ownership differences have little influence on enterprise performance (with the exception that foreign joint ventures clearly outperform other types in growth and labour productivity). This important result suggests that the impact of Chinese ownership types on performance is felt through cost-impacts rather than via direct differences in competitive behaviour or the goals of enterprise decision-makers.     

流通企业的(规模)边界

现代企业理论对企业边界为何受到限制做了详细分析,且大都将其归因于有限理性条件.但流通企业具有不同于生产企业的经济性质,其本质是交易的专业化生产者(或提供者);信息技术提高市场交易效率,推动流通产业发展,同时也提高企业管理和控制效率,使流通企业比生产企业更容易利用品牌和统一经营模式进行"复制"和"选择性干预",实现分店扩张.     

产业活动的价值构成与主导模式

顾客和厂商在产业活动中存在着地位的差别,这种差别来源于产业活动中的价值关系.在创新水平高的产业领域,厂商价值占据了产业活动的主要部分;而在市场容量大的产业领域,顾客价值占据了产业活动的主要部分.产业发展的主导模式探讨了我国企业在创新水平高的产业领域获得厂商价值;而在市场容量大的产业领域获得顾客价值的发展条件.     

委托-代理模型及其在商业银行中的应用

委托—代理理论是契约理论的重要发展。本文将委托—代理理论模型归纳为两个模型,模型Ⅰ采用纯激励机制,模型Ⅱ采用激励和监督混合机制。在纷杂的商业银行企业契约中,最为关键的是所有者和经营者之间的委托—代理关系,因此,我们可以将委托—代理模型应用于商业银行,并以此为基础构建商业银行的激励和约束机制。