Corporate Governance: An Ethical Perspective

This paper discusses corporate governance issues from a compliance viewpoint. It makes a distinction between legal and ethical compliance mechanisms and shows that the former has clearly proven to be inadequate as it lacks the moral firepower to restore confidence and the ability to build trust. The concepts of freedom of indifference and freedom for excellence provide a theoretical basis for explaining why legal compliance mechanisms are insufficient in dealing with fraudulent practices and may not be addressing the real and fundamental issues that inspire ethical behavior. The tendency to overemphasize legal compliance mechanisms may result in an attempt to substitute accountability for responsibility and may also result in an attempt to legislate morality which consequently leads to legal absolutism. The current environment of failures of corporate responsibility are not only failures of legal compliance, but more fundamentally failures to do the right (ethical) thing. Surendra Arjoon is an Associate Professor of Business Ethics at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad. He served as Chair, Department of Management Studies (2002–2005) and as Associate Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences (1996–2002). He is also the Vice-President of the Trinidad and Tobago Economics Association. His work has appeared in the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Markets and Morality, Global Development Studies, Applied Financial Economics, and Social and Economic Studies.     

我国民营企业的蜕变和“二次创业”——基于企业生命周期的视角

从企业的生命周期来看 ,我国大多数民营企业已经渡过了孕育期、求生存期 ,目前正处在高速成长期的初期。然而 ,由于外部环境的突变 ,使我国民营企业还没来得及进入高速成长期之前就有可能提前滑入衰退期。因此 ,民营企业必须进入规模、组织制度、管理制度、实物形态等方面的蜕变 ,实现“二次创业” ,并以此获得再生。     

Reconciling Rules and Principles: An Ethics-Based Approach to Corporate Governance

In this paper, we consider the nature of recent corporate abuses both in the U.S. and in Europe, and how globalization has had an impact on amplifying their consequences. We discuss the rules-based and principles-based remedies that have been proposed in each region, respectively. With a focus on the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA), we examine the principles forwarded by this act, and how it addresses those principles with specific rules and governance mechanisms. Invoking Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT), we conclude with a reconciliation of the principles and rules-based approaches to corporate governance as suggested by theory.     

绿色金融政策、公司治理与企业环境信息披露——以502家重污染行业上市公司为例

以502家重污染行业上市公司为研究对象,选取2006-2008年度上市公司披露的环境信息,构建环境信息披露指数,系统考察绿色金融政策下公司治理因素对企业环境信息披露水平的影响。研究结果发现,国有股权、第一大股东持股比例、审计委员会以及设立环保部等公司治理因素对环境信息披露水平的提高影响非常显著,而绿色金融政策则强化了这些因素的环保作用。     

股权结构、公司治理与企业业绩——来自中国上市公司的新证据

在充分考虑股权替代变量之间可能存在多重共线性问题的基础上 ,本文对股权结构在公司治理中作用的各种理论假设进行了检验。研究发现 ,经理人员持股比例与上市公司业绩相关性不显著 ;国有股比例与上市公司业绩显著负相关 ;法人股比例与上市公司业绩正相关 ;社会公众股比例对公司财务业绩的影响虽然是负面的 ,但极不显著 ,而与公司市场业绩显著正相关 ;股权集中度与公司业绩显著负相关。     

信任与战略决策绩效:对中国家族企业高层管理团队的一个实证研究

大量文献讨论了我国私营企业中的“信任”问题;许多轶闻式的证据也表明,私营企业高层管理团队成员的彼此信任程度极大地影响了其绩效和成长。本文试图从高层管理团队的角度,探讨信任与企业战略决策绩效的关系,并揭示高层管理团队内信任的影响因素。通过实证研究发现,我国私营企业高层管理团队内的信任度与团队成员间的社会交往程度有非常密切的联系,同时,信任度直接影响了高管层的战略决策绩效。     

Entrepreneurial Orientation and Performance of Chinese High-Tech Firms： The Mediating Role of Organizational Learning and Moderating Role of Firm Life Cycle

The evidence about how entrepreneurial orientation （EO） affects firms＇ performance remains inconclusive. This study joins the research by incorporating organizational learning （OL） as a micro-macro link and by extending empirical work to the largely underexplored context of Chinese high-tech industries. Results from a survey of 252 Chinese high-tech firms demonstrate： （1） entrepreneurial orientation is positively related to firm performance; （2） organizational learning is also positively related to firm performance; （3） organizational learning partly mediates the positive impact of entrepreneurial orientation on firm performance; and （4） high-tech companies in the start-up and growth stage are likely to demonstrate stronger linkages in the EO-OL-performance relationship than in mature stage, which shows that the EO-OL-performance relationship is moderated by firms＇ life cycle.     

Overview of Collaborative Entrepreneurship: An Integrated Approach Between Business Decisions and Negotiations

In recent years, the complex, turbulent and changing environment in which firms operate has greatly intensified. A new era of continuous innovation has emerged in which knowledge is the key asset, and whose exploitation determines success for many firms. In this context, it is generally accepted that effective knowledge management depends heavily on a company’s ability to collaborate, both inside (Collective Entrepreneurship) and outside (Collaborative Entrepreneurship) the organization. Collaboration enables a firm to be entrepreneurial and continuously innovative by exploring new markets. Continuous innovation and market exploration are the building blocks of collaboration. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to develop the concept of Collaborative Entrepreneurship, linking the most relevant issues with the concept of Collective Entrepreneurship, from a preliminary integrative approach. From this approach, three elementary dimensions are emphasized: strategy, structure and management philosophy. Strategy refers to the shared common project among collaboration partners; Structure concerns the flexibility of structures and adaptation to environmental changes; and Management Philosophy is about trust. Also, networks within the firm and among firms could form the basis of Collaborative Entrepreneurship in the context of negotiation and decision processes. A brief overview of the content of each of the articles included in this special issue on Collaborative entrepreneurship is presented following this article.     

公司治理与公司绩效关系的实证分析——以竞争性行业上市公司为例

运用深沪两市126家竞争性行业上市公司2002年的数据,从股权结构、董事会结构和高管激励等内外两种治理机制综合考虑了我国公司治理与公司绩效之间的关系。认为多元化股东、外部董事比例和高管激励是公司治理最为重要的三个因素,是影响公司绩效最为显著的变量;第一大股东是否为法人股、独立董事的作用、是否在国外上市对公司绩效没有显著的影响作用。     

Corporate governance and returns to emerging economy firm acquisitions in tax havens: An empirical test on Indian firms

Cross‐border acquisitions (CBAs) by emerging economy firms are known to yield positive stockholder returns. A nontrivial fraction of CBAs by emerging economy firms are in tax havens. We argue because of weak corporate governance in emerging economies and the secrecy afforded by tax havens, emerging economy firm CBAs in tax havens yield lower stockholder returns than their CBAs in nontax havens. We also argue the negative effect of tax haven destinations is greater for firms with greater business group ownership and for firms with greater foreign insider ownership. Furthermore, we argue the negative effect of tax haven destinations is mitigated for firms whose stock is actively traded in the market. Empirical tests in a sample of nearly 800 CBAs by Indian firms from 2002 to 2011 support our hypotheses. Our study contributes to a better understanding of stockholder returns to CBAs by emerging economy firms and the influence of corporate governance on these returns.     

大股东所有权、控制权与公司治理绩效的灰色关联分析——基于三一重工的案例研究

以中国"股权分置改革第一股"——三一重工为研究对象,采用案例研究的方法,对三一重工的公司治理绩效和控制性大股东的所有权、控制权以及两权分离度进行灰色关联度分析。实证研究结果表明:三一重工的最终控制大股东所持有的的所有权(现金流量权)在一定程度上抑制了其进行"隧道挖掘"的行为,起到了利益汇聚的激励效应,并且随着其所有权比例的上升,公司治理绩效随之提高。同时,三一重工的最终控制大股东虽然通过采用金字塔控股结构分离所有权与控制权,用较少的所有权掌握大部分的控制权,但是两权分离并没有降低上市公司的治理绩效,即两权分离并未产生隧道挖掘的防御效应。但是激励效应和防御效应均不显著。     

Corporate life cycle and the accrual model: An empirical study based on Chinese listed companies

Based on data from China’s listed companies from 1998 to 2005, this paper investigates whether the incorporation of corporate life cycle variables into the accrual model improves the model’s explanatory power. Results of the empirical study show that the inclusion of corporate life cycle variables reduces the likelihood of both type I and II errors, and it also significantly improves the explanatory power of the accrual model.