The productivity effects of stock option schemes: evidence from Finnish panel data

In this study we investigate the productivity effects of employee stock option schemes. We estimate Cobb-Douglas production functions by using new panel data for all Finnish publicly listed firms during 1992–2002. The data enable us to distinguish broad-based option plans, for which all employees are eligible, from those selectively allocated to particular employees. For both type of schemes, our baseline fixed effects estimators consistently find statistically insignificant associations with firm productivity. When endogeneity of production inputs and option-schemes are taken into account we continue to find no evidence of a link with firm productivity. Our main findings are consistent with hypotheses that predict negligible effects of option plans for enterprise performance, such as those based on free riding, psychological expectancy theory, accounting myopia, or rent-seeking. We consider reasons why our empirical findings on the impact of broad-based options differ from those found in earlier studies.     

Trade and product innovations as sources for productivity increases: an empirical analysis

Increases in total factor productivity (TFP) are commonly associated with technological innovations measured by the stock of R&D. Empirical evidence seems to corroborate this relationship. However, in trading countries like The Netherlands, productivity increases, even in industry, can also be the result of innovations in the way transactions are managed. These innovations reduce transaction costs and exploit the welfare gains from (further) international division of labour. Such innovations are only partly included in R&D data. Consequently there is not much attention for these ‘trade innovations’—as we label them—in policy. In an empirical analysis this paper compares the influence of trade innovations with the influence of the stock of R&D on TFP in The Netherlands. The regression results show that in this country trade innovations are as important for TFP as technological innovations which directly affect the efficiency of production, which we label ‘product innovations’.      

Productivity,efficiency and technical change: measuring the performance of China’s transforming agriculture

As China enters the twenty-first century the health of the agricultural economy will increasingly rely, not on the growth of inputs, but on the growth of total factor productivity (TFP). However, the tremendous changes in the sector—sometimes back and sometimes forwards—as well as evolving institutions make it difficult to gauge from casual observation if the sector is healthy or not. Research spending has waxed and waned. Policies to encourage the import of foreign technologies have been applied unevenly. Structural adjustment policies also triggered wrenching changes in the sector. Horticulture and livestock production has boomed; while the output of other crops, such as rice, wheat and soybeans, has stagnated or fallen. At a time when China’s millions of producers are faced with complex decisions, the extension system is crumbling and farmer professional associations remain in their infancy. In short, there are just as many reasons to be optimistic about the productivity trends in agriculture as to be pessimistic. In this paper, we pursue one overall goal: to better understand the productivity trends in China’s agricultural sector during the reform era—with an emphasis on the 1990–2004 period. To do so, we pursue three specific objectives. First, relying on the National Cost of Production Data Set—China’s most complete set of farm input and output data—we chart the input and output trends for 23 of China’s main farm commodities. Second, using a stochastic production frontier function approach we estimate the rate of change in TFP for each commodity. Finally, we decompose the changes in TFP into two components: changes in efficiency and changes in technical change. Our findings—especially after the early 1990s are remarkably consistent. China’s agricultural TFP has grown at a healthy rate for all 23 commodities. TFP growth for the staple commodities generally rose around 2% annually; TFP growth for most horticulture and livestock commodities was even higher (between 3 and 5%). Equally consistent, we find that most of the change is accounted for by technical change. The analysis is consistent with the conclusion that new technologies have pushed out the production functions, since technical change accounts for most of the rise in TFP. In the case of many of the commodities, however, the efficiency of producers—that is, the average distance of producers from the production frontier—has fallen. In other words, China’s TFP growth would have been even higher had the efficiency of production not eroded the gains of technical change. Although we do not pinpoint the source of rising inefficiency, the results are consistent with a story that there is considerable disequilibrium in the farm economy during this period of rapid structural change and farmers are getting little help in making these adjustments from the extension system.     

A Study on the Productivities of IT Capital and Computer Labor: Firm-level Evidence from Taiwan’s Banking Industry

The current paper extends the non-neutral stochastic frontier production function—which belongs to the class of a one-step procedure as defined by Wang and Schmidt (2002) and developed by Huang and Liu (1994)—from a cross-sectional setting to a panel data modeling. Using a newly-surveyed dataset from Taiwan’s commercial banks on their investments in information and communication technologies (IT), I find that IT capital and computer labor tend to exhibit higher productivities than their non-IT and non-computer counterparts, that IT capital has positive impacts on the marginal productivities of computer labor and borrowed funds, and that the mean technical efficiency is around 87.7%. Evidence is found that the total factor productivity of the banking sector grew at an average rate of 0.28% per annum, albeit fluctuating, for the past 8 years.     

Transition, the Evolution of Stock Market Efficiency and Entry into EU: The Case of Romania

In this paper we demonstrate that the measurement of stock market efficiency is an important activity in establishing whether eastern European countries satisfy the Copenhagen Criteria for EU membership. Specifically, we argue that developing an efficient stock market should be an important policy focus for countries with aspirations to join the EU as it helps to demonstrate the existence of a functioning market economy. We illustrate this issue by examining the evolution of stock market efficiency in the Bucharest Stock Exchange from mid-1997 to September 2002. We use a GARCH model on daily price data and model the disturbances using the Student-t distribution to allow for ‘fat-tails’. We find strong evidence of inefficiency in the Bucharest Stock Exchange in that the lagged stock price index is a significant predictor of the current price index. This result is robust to the inclusion of variables controlling for calendar effects of the sort that have been observed in more developed stock markets. The level of inefficiency appears to diminish over time and we find evidence consistent with stock market efficiency in Romania after January 2000.     

Foreign investors and stock price efficiency: Thresholds,underlying channels and investor heterogeneity

This paper examines the relationship between foreign shareholding and stock price efficiency for Malaysian public listed firms over the 2002–2009 sample period. We use stock price delay as an inverse measure of price efficiency, and consider the speed of adjustment to local and global common factor information. The results show that foreign investors accelerate the incorporation of both types of common information into the prices of Malaysian stocks, mainly due to their superior skills in processing systematic market-wide factors. However, we find evidence of optimality in foreign shareholding, suggesting that the efficiency benefit disappears after foreign ownership exceeds a certain threshold level. Further analyses shed lights on the channels and moderating variables driving this non-monotonic relationship. Our disaggregate analysis on foreign investor heterogeneity shows that foreign investors who trade through nominee accounts are elite processors of public market-wide and firm-specific news in the Malaysian stock market.     

交叉网络外部性在证券交易所定价中的应用分析

本文利用双边市场理论对证券交易所进行实证检验和模型研究,采用格兰特因果检验方法对上海交易所数据进行了实证分析,研究结果表明相比上市公司而言,投资者是“鸡蛋相生”问题的关键点,因此根据实证结果提出扩大投资者规模是证券市场发展的关键所在.然后针对上市公司和投资者的自网络外部性特征及投资者内部之间交易的特点,采用模型研究得出较强的负自网络外部性使得交易所会降低上市公司的注册费来吸引公司;当注册费太高时,交易所会降低交易费来保留住投资者,反之亦然.     

Does CEO-chairman dialect similarity affect stock price informativeness for Chinese listed firms?

Does CEO-chairman dialect similarity (CCDS) affect stock price informativeness? Based on a sample of Chinese publicly listed firms for the period of 2012–2017, we find that CCDS significantly improves stock price informativeness. Our result implies that CCDS increases the loyalty of managers to their board, and deters them from extracting private benefits, which leads to more informative stock prices. Furthermore, our subsample analyses show that this relationship between CCDS and stock price informativeness is only found in firms that have more media coverage, higher institutional ownership and a non-busy board. Our results also suggest that mutual trust between the CEO and chairman is a possible channel through which CCDS improves stock price informativeness.     

基于环境负产出的能效动态Malmquist模型研究

本文旨在研究环境效率—能源效率—经济效率的"三位一体动态全要素生产率"。首先基于数据包络分析建立了环境约束下的能效动态Malmquist模型,定义了能效效率改变指数、污效效率改变指数和动态进步指数。通过对中国18个行业2000～2007年的数据分析,指出未考虑环境效应、动态效应的Malmquist模型会带来误判,进而揭示出在中国能效全要素生产率改变过程中,能源环境效应起到了不可忽略的作用,而动态效应则是最大的瓶颈,却没得到应有的重视。     

Firm efficiency and stock returns

In this paper, we investigate the role of firm efficiency in asset pricing using a sample of US publicly listed companies for the period 1988–2007. We employ non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) on various input/output combinations, focusing on sales and market value as output measures in the construction of the frontier technologies. Using these performance measures, we examine whether efficient firms perform differently from inefficient firms following standard financial analysis procedures. First, we employ performance attribution regressions, by forming portfolios based on efficiency scores and tracking the performance of the various portfolios over time. Second, we perform cross-sectional/panel regressions to determine whether firm efficiency indeed has explanatory power for the cross-section of stock returns. Our results suggest that firm efficiency plays an important role in asset pricing and that efficient firms significantly outperform inefficient firms even after controlling for known risk factors.     

上市公司产品市场竞争与资本结构选择的实证分析

本文通过对2001￣2003年我国沪深两地上市公司的实证研究表明,产品市场竞争程度是资本结构决定的重要影响因素,产品市场竞争程度与资本结构的选择高度正相关,认为这种经营风险与财务风险不匹配现象与我国上市公司的股权融资效率低下和上市公司的竞争性战略选择有关。     

Measurement of innovation efficiency in logistic enterprises: Evidence from China based on the three-stage DEA-Malmquist index model approach

Continuous improvement of technological innovation ability, adjustment of the development strategy, and enhancement of operational performance are of great theoretical and practical significance for logistics enterprises. This paper aims to analyze and evaluate the innovation efficiency of the logistics industry. The study utilizes the static three-stage DEA model and the dynamic Malmquist index model, considering a total of 12 indicators related to innovation input, output, and environmental variables. A dataset of 2940 entries from 49 listed logistics enterprises from 2017 to 2021 was calculated. The analysis provides insights into the innovation efficiency of logistics enterprises from a static perspective and the innovation total factor productivity from a dynamic perspective and decomposition terms. Based on the analysis of environmental variables by the SFA model, it was found that DEA inefficiency is the combined result of environmental factors and management inefficiency. Environmental variables have both positive and negative effects on innovation. The improvement of the economic development level will lead to excess R&D investment. Increased government simple fund subsidies are not conducive to the efficient allocation of innovation resources within enterprises. The expansion of enterprise scale will increase R&D personnel and investment in fixed assets. A thriving technology market can encourage enterprises to improve their own conversion rate of scientific and technological output and give full play to their innovation ability. The dynamic Malmquist model analysis reveals a recution in the overall innovation efficiency of listed logistics enterprises over 5 years. The changes in total factor productivity and technological progress efficiency of all listed logistics enterprises are synchronized, with most enterprises exhibiting higher technological progress efficiency compared to comprehensive technical efficiency. The total factor productivity of logistics enterprise innovation is mainly affected by comprehensive technical efficiency.     

Order imbalance and stock returns: Evidence from China

We investigate the relation between daily order imbalance and return in the Chinese stock markets of Shenzhen and Shanghai. Prior studies have found that daily order imbalance is predictive of subsequent returns. On the two Chinese exchanges we find the autocorrelation in order imbalances is similar to that of the New York Stock Exchange as reported by Chordia and Subrahmanyam [Chordia, T., & Subrahmanyam, A. (2004). Order imbalance and individual stock returns: Theory and evidence. Journal of Financial Economics, 72, 485–518]. We also find a strong contemporaneous relation between daily order imbalances and returns. However, we do not find evidence that order imbalances predict subsequent returns. We attribute the difference in predicative power to differences in trading mechanisms on the two exchanges and to differences in the share turnover rates.     

Insider ownership and firm performance in Taiwan's electronics industry: a technical efficiency perspective

This paper applies agency theory to explore the relationship between insider stock ownership and firm performance, particularly in terms of technical efficiency. Insiders are further classified into executives, outside directors, and large shareholders to conduct a detailed study. Six‐year (1996–2001) panel data of 416 Taiwanese listed electronics firms are examined by the stochastic production frontier approach. It is observed that raising the executive‐to‐insider holding ratio first causes a decrease and then an increase in technical efficiency, forming a U‐shaped relationship. However, the board‐to‐insider holding ratio is negatively associated with technical efficiency. The results indicate that equity ownership of top officers in high‐tech firms should be encouraged to enhance firm productivity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficiency and stock returns: evidence from the insurance industry

This study investigates whether the capital market values the efficiency of firms. After tracing stock returns and efficiency changes of 399 listed insurance firms in 52 countries during the 2002–2008 period, the paper reports a positive and statistically significant relationship between profit efficiency change and market adjusted stock returns. However, there is no robust evidence that cost efficiency change is associated with stock returns.     

Assessing the Value Relevance of Accounting Data After the Introduction of IFRS in Europe

Since 2005, European‐listed companies have been required to prepare their consolidated financial statements in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). We examine whether value relevance increased following the introduction of IFRS, using a sample of 3,721 companies listed on five European stock exchanges: Frankfurt, Madrid, Paris, London, and Milan. We find mixed evidence of an increase in value relevance. However, the influence of earnings on share price increased following the introduction of IFRS in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, while the influence of book value of equity decreased (except for the United Kingdom).     

Large changes in stock prices: Market,liquidity, and momentum effect

This article investigates the determinants of large changes in stock prices. Empirical evidences suggest that the asymmetry phenomenon in determinants of large changes in stock prices is found in three stock exchanges. In the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), momentum effect accounts for most of the likelihood of big gains in stock prices, while liquidity characteristics account for sharp declines of stock prices. An interesting finding is that the opposite is true for stocks traded in Amex and NASDAQ. The possible explanations of the different results in different stock exchanges may attribute to the characteristics of firms listed in these stock exchanges are different.     

Disclosure quality,price efficiency,and expected returns

Using a composite disclosure quality measure, we examine the effect of disclosure quality on price delay and the effect of price delay determined by disclosure quality on expected returns in the Taiwan stock market. We find that higher disclosure quality can reduce stock price delay through more investor attention and higher stock liquidity after we control for accounting quality variables and consider the endogeneity issue. Furthermore, we show that disclosure quality reduces expected stock returns through the price efficiency channel associated with both investor attention and stock liquidity. Our results indicate that increasing a firm’s standardized information rating by one standard deviation can reduce its expected stock return by 0.63% annually. Taken together, our evidence suggests that regulatory activities enforced to improve public firms’ disclosure quality in the Taiwan stock market can make the stock market more efficient and therefore lower investors’ required return for stocks.     

Supply chain integration and shareholder value: Evidence from consortium based industry exchanges

Recent trade and academic literature point to the importance of supply chain integration among partners as a key determinant of value creation. This paper analyzes the shareholder value effects of setting up industry exchanges, a prominent mechanism used to achieve supply chain integration. Shareholder value effects are estimated by measuring the stock market reaction (abnormal returns) associated with announcements to form or join industry exchanges. We find that abnormal returns from participation in industry exchanges are positive but only marginally significant in the whole sample of 144 firms in 18 exchanges formed during 2000–2001. In the sub-sample of 88 exchange founders who were part of the original announcements to form the exchange, the abnormal market reaction is about 1% and significant. We also find that firms with greater bargaining power and higher process efficiency benefit more from participation in industry exchanges.     

The Neuer Markt as an institution of creation and destruction

The market for publicly traded equity is the heart of a modern capitalist system. In particular, the market for newly listed firms is in turn a bellwether for the public equity market because the entry gives firms expanded access to capital, allowing them to emerge and grow. On the other hand, stock markets also serve as an institution to reallocate productive resources from non-surviving to surviving firms. We describe the Neuer Markt—a special segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany—as an institution to foster the creation of new firms and their destruction.