Propping by controlling shareholders,wealth transfer and firm performance: Evidence from Chinese listed companies

Propping acts by controlling shareholders are common in Chinese listed firms. In this paper, we use data on related-party transactions of all listed Chinese firms from 2002 to 2008 to investigate the motivation behind controlling shareholders’ propping acts and subsequent wealth-transfer behavior and how both affect firm performance. We find that such institutional motivators as the maintenance of shell resources and qualification for refinancing have a significant effect on the propping behavior of controlling shareholders of Chinese listed firms and that such behavior is often followed by more serious tunneling when shareholders are driven by these motivators. Compared with non-state-owned firms, state-owned firms with the motivation to qualify for refinancing exhibit more severe tunneling after engaging in propping behavior. We also find that while propping by controlling shareholders improves a firm’s current operating performance, in firms whose controlling shareholders’ are motivated by the desire to maintain shell resources or obtain a refinancing qualification their performance declines in the following year because of subsequent tunneling. The results presented in this paper provide us with a better understanding of the relationship between propping and tunneling, controlling shareholders’ engagement in both and the consequences of that behavior.     

Controlling shareholder,expropriations and firm's leverage decision: Evidence from Chinese Non-tradable share reform

This paper examines the effect of excess control rights on the leverage decisions made by Chinese non-SOEs before and after the Non-tradable share reform (NTS reform). We find that firms with excess control rights have more excess leverage and their controlling shareholders use the resources for tunneling rather than investing in positive NPV projects. We also find that excess leverage in firms with excess control rights decreases and the market reaction to announcements of related party transactions are more positive after NTS reform. This confirms that tunneling by the controlling shareholders actually reduced. We argue that in emerging markets where legal protection for creditors and shareholders is weak, controlling shareholders borrow excess debt to tunnel through inter-corporate loans and related party transactions. Furthermore the privatization of these economies can reduce the controlling shareholders' tunneling activities and associated excess leverage which destroys firm value.     

Tunneling or propping: Evidence from connected transactions in China

Friedman et al. (2003) develop a model in which, in equilibrium, controlling shareholders may choose either tunneling or propping of their listed companies depending on the magnitude of an adverse shock and the magnitude of the private benefits of control. In this paper, we employ connected transaction data from China to test the implications of their model. We hypothesize that, when listed companies are financially healthy (in financial distress), their controlling shareholders are more likely to conduct connected transactions to tunnel (prop up) their listed companies and the market reacts unfavorably (favorably) to the announcement of these transactions. Our empirical findings strongly support our hypotheses. We also find that all of the transaction types in our sample can be used for tunneling or propping depending on different financial situations of the firms. Finally, political connection is negatively associated with the announcement effect. Overall, our analysis supports Friedman et al.'s (2003) model by furnishing clear evidence for propping and tunneling to occur in the same company but at different times.     

关联交易对企业价值的影响——基于中国上市公司的实证研究

关联交易可以降低交易成本和交易风险,提高企业价值,但也可能成为控股股东对上市公司或中小股东进行利益侵占的手段,对企业价值造成负面影响。通过实证分析的方法检验我国A股上市公司关联交易对企业价值的影响,结果显示,在全部关联交易类型中,购买商品、销售商品、资产重组、提供或接受劳务、担保抵押、许可协议、其他计入收入方的交易这7类对企业价值具有负面影响,且关联交易总体的发生也降低了企业价值。为抑制非公允关联交易的发生,建议优化上市公司的股权结构、完善独立董事和监事会制度、完善关联交易的信息披露制度等。     

Does Concentrated Founder Ownership Affect Related Party Transactions? Evidence from an Emerging Economy

This study examines the impact of concentrated founder ownership on related party transactions (RPTs) for Indian firms. We find that concentrated founder ownership is positively related to RPTs and is more likely to encourage RPTs that are beneficial for the minority shareholders. We also observe that RPTs are associated with higher firm value. This relationship is more pronounced for business group firms and firms with more highly concentrated founder ownership. We show that the reputation incentive plays a very important role in founders’ decisions, and they use RPTs as an efficient transaction mechanism.     

掏空、财富效应与投资者保护——基于上市公司关联担保的经验证据

LLS(1999)指出,上市公司的主要代理问题并不是在管理者和股东之间,而是在大股东与小股东之间。国外众多研究提供了大股东掏空的证据。控股股东掏空是各国普遍存在的问题,但在投资者利益保护水平低的国家尤为严重。本文以2001—2004年我国非金融业A股上市公司为研究样本,实证研究了最恶劣的掏空形式之一——关联担保,得出的主要结论如下:(1)关联担保发生的概率、次数与相对金额从2001年到2004年呈递增趋势。(2)有关联担保的上市公司的Tobin-Q比无关联担保的公司平均低0．2,关联担保每增加一次, Tobin-Q下降0．09,关联担保率每增加一个百分点,Tobin-Q下降0．4;有关联担保的公司的年度异常回报率比无关联担保公司低3%,关联担保每增加一次,年度异常回报率下降2%,关联担保率每增加一个百分点,年度异常回报率下降9%。(3)第一大股东持股比例与关联担保显著负相关,股权制衡没有发挥对关联担保的抑制作用。(4)投资者利益保护水平与关联担保显著负相关。总之,本文发现上市公司的关联担保损害了投资者利益,提高投资者利益保护水平在一定程度上可以缓和控股股东的掏空。     

关联交易资金占用与内部资本市场资源配置

关联交易资金占用行为通常被视作大股东对上市公司的掏空而出现在诸多文献当中。但是从企业集团内部资本市场资源配置的视角来分析,这种行为可能是出于提高企业集团资金使用效率的目的。利用我国A股上市公司2009~2011年度的关联交易数据,对我国上市公司关联交易资金占用情况与上市公司面临的融资约束、经营不确定性之间的关系进行了实证检验,结果支持了关联交易资金占用行为的企业集团内部资本市场资源配置假说。     

Ownership Concentration,State Ownership,and Effective Tax Rates: Evidence from China’s Listed Firms*

This paper examines the effect of ownership concentration and state ownership on the tax reporting practices of China’s publicly listed firms. I argue that ownership concentration and state ownership are important for tax reporting practices in China because listed firms have high ownership concentrations and high levels of state ownership. Using a sample of 758 listed Chinese firms over the 1998–2008 time period, I find that firms with concentrated share ownership have lower effective tax rates. I also find that firms whose largest shareholders are government‐related have higher effective tax rates compared to firms whose largest shareholders are nongovernment related. In other words, the nature of the largest shareholder (government vs. nongovernment) matters. I also show that ownership‐concentrated firms are able to achieve preferential statutory tax rates compared to firms with low ownership concentration regardless of the identity of the largest shareholder.     

Do related party transactions affect family firm valuations?

We examine the likelihood and value relevance of related party transactions in family firms. Based on an extensive hand-collected sample, we find that founder-led family firms are more likely to enter into related party transactions than other firms. We also find that the founder-led family firm valuation premium is reduced when these firms disclose related party transactions, especially opportunistic related party transactions. We also examine the significant change in related party transaction reporting regulations enacted in 2006 and find that it led to a decline in the number of value-decreasing related party transactions for founder-led family firms. We find a corresponding decrease in the detrimental effect of related party transactions on founder-led family firms’ valuation. Our results suggest that changes in the 2006 SEC related party transaction reporting regulations better protected minority shareholders from wealth extraction via related party transactions in founder-led family firms.     

Decisions Made by the Controlling Shareholder Under Financial Crisis

We employ a sample of 12,200 observations from 2,321 companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges in China between 2005 and 2013 to test five hypotheses. The empirical results show that the cost of tunneling and ownership structure play important roles in restraining incentives to expropriate firms. Financial crisis will reinforce the incentive to propping rather than tunneling with higher ownership concentration. Moreover, controlling shareholders of state-owned enterprises show a stronger motivation to prop up during crisis periods than do those of non-state-owned enterprises. The results indicate that both an entrenchment effect and a convergence-of-interest effect actually exist and vary according to ownership structure and macroeconomic circumstances.     

Political Connections and Related Party Transactions: Evidence from Indonesia

This paper examines whether politically connected firms use related party transactions as a tunneling mechanism in Indonesia. We further investigate whether the presence of tunneling compels managers to manage earnings to conceal such expropriation of resources. Our study is motivated by conflicting evidence in the extant literature about the role of political connections and related party transactions. Using data from Indonesia, we document that politically connected firms use related party loans to tunnel resources, and that this effect is more pronounced for firms with government connections. We further document that politically connected firms manage earnings to conceal their tunneling activities. By documenting the role of related party transactions as a specific channel through which connected firms expropriate resources, we enrich the political connection and related party transactions literature.     

现金持有水平、投资者保护与关联交易

以沪深两市的非金融类上市公司为样本,考察现金持有水平、投资者与关联交易之间的关系,结果发现上市公司的现金持有水平与关联交易显著正相关,这意味着上市公司的现金持有水平越高,基于大股东掏空的关联交易侵占越多;在投资者保护较差的公司,现金持有水平与关联交易之间的正相关关系更强,这说明有效的投资者保护体系能够起到约束大股东通过关联交易从上市公司转移现金的作用。因此进一步引导和规范上市公司的现金分红,以及加强投资者保护的执法力度,是治理关联交易的有效选择。     

外部环境、内部制度与控股股东支持行为

控股股东支持是与掏空相反的一种利益输送行为,表现为控股股东用私人资源或其控制的资源支持处于困境中的上市公司。基于对近期文献的回顾与梳理,从外部环境、内部制度与支持方式三个角度研究控股股东支持行为。发现控股股东通常是在弱法律保护环境与中度经济冲击的背景下利用企业集团内部资本市场对其控制的上市公司进行包括负债、关联交易等在内的各种方式的利益输送。     

政府干预、大股东资产注入:支持抑或掏空

政府干预企业经营活动是普遍存在的现象。本文研究了国有控股上市公司资产注入中的"支持"、"掏空"现象。研究发现,政府控股股东比民营控股股东资产注入的动机更强烈。当上市公司盈利时,政府控股股东通过向上市公司注入资产"掏空"上市公司的动机比民营控股股东更加强烈,从而导致盈利的国有控股上市公司在资产注入之后业绩下降更多;而当政府控股上市公司被ST时,政府控股股东通过向国有控股上市公司注入资产"支持"上市公司的动机和力度比民营控股股东更加强烈,从而导致ST国有控股上市公司在资产注入之后业绩增长更快。     

基于效率观和掏空观的关联交易与盈余质量关系研究

目前学术界关于大股东控制下的关联交易对上市公司的影响主要存在"效率促进"和"掏空"两种主流观点。郑国坚等(2007)发现关联交易与上市公司价值之间存在N型关系,表明两种效应在我国同时存在。本文进一步从会计盈余质量的角度检验这两种观点。通过对我国2000-2005年5576家上市公司的实证研究发现,关联交易与会计盈余质量之间是一种直线关系,关联交易程度越高,盈余管理程度越大、价值相关性也越低。这说明,从会计盈余质量的角度看,关联交易主要表现为掏空效应,损害会计盈余质量。     

Product market competition,ultimate controlling structure and related party transactions

Previous studies have shown that product market competition has an important effect on corporate strategies and internal governance mechanisms. Using a sample of China’s listed firms from 2004 to 2009, we explore the relationship between product market competition and normal related party transactions and find a significant positive relationship. In addition, we investigate the substitutive effect of product market competition and the cash flow rights owned by ultimate controlling shareholders on the extent of normal related party transactions. In particular, our results suggest a positive relationship between the ultimate controlling shareholders’ cash flow rights and normal related party transactions that is strongest in noncompetitive industries and weakens as product market competition increases.     

Split Share Structure Reform,corporate governance,and the foreign share discount puzzle in China

We examine the impact of the Split Share Structure Reform on the well-known foreign share discount puzzle in China. Existing literature confirms that foreign investors are more concerned about insider expropriation because of their information disadvantage relative to domestic investors. The split share structure of the ownership of Chinese listed firms created a conflict of interests between state and private shareholders. Since, before the reform, state shareholders held restricted shares that denied them any wealth effect from share price movements, they had a limited incentive to work with private shareholders to ensure that managers maximized the stock market value of the firm. By abolishing the trading restrictions for state shareholders, this reform has increased the incentive alignment between state and private shareholders, encouraging them to monitor managers. If foreign investors’ concerns over the corporate governance implications of the split share structure at least partly contributed to their discounting of Chinese listed firms, then this discount should be reduced following the reform. Indeed, our evidence confirms this prediction, especially among Chinese listed firms with more state ownership or restricted shares. Our findings imply that this significant institutional reform of the Chinese stock market has benefitted minority investors.     

上市公司大股东的“掏空”路径及制衡机制研究

在中国股权相对集中或高度集中的上市公司中,由于控股股东或大股东掌握着公司的实际控制权,大股东的自利天性与机会主义行为可能导致其利用资金占用、关联交易、股利政策和内幕交易等种种手段实现大股东掏空。为遏制大股东掏空现象的泛滥,需从内部治理和外部制衡两个角度,构建大股东掏空的内外部制衡机制,以保护中小股东权益的不受侵害。     

Ownership concentration and executive compensation in closely held firms: Evidence from Hong Kong

Controlling shareholders, who often manage the firms they control, can expropriate minority shareholders in many ways, which are usually referred to as “tunneling”. One of these ways is for owners–managers to set the level of their own compensation. We test the relationship between ownership concentration and executive compensation, using panel data for a sample of 412 Hong Kong firms during 1995–1998. We find a positive relationship between managerial ownership and cash emoluments for levels of ownership of up to 35% in small and in family controlled firms, and for up to 10% in large firms. Our tests show that the observed relationships do not result from compensation serving as a proxy for managerial effort. We interpret these findings as suggesting that in the presence of information asymmetry between entrenched managers and outside investors the former may use their ownership rights to extract higher salaries for themselves. There is also weaker evidence that top executives with larger shareholdings may be using dividends as a way of supplementing their cash salaries.     

The impact of state ownership on share price informativeness: The case of the Split Share Structure Reform in China

This study examines the impact of state ownership on share price informativeness using the unique setting of the Split Share Structure Reform in China. This reform abolishes the trading restriction on shares held mainly by state shareholders. In doing so, it renders state shareholders' wealth more sensitive to share price movements and decreases their conflict of interests with private shareholders. This change is expected to strengthen the corporate governance incentives of state shareholders and reduce the information asymmetry in Chinese listed firms. This prediction is confirmed through empirical evidence of increased share price informativeness among firms that are more sensitive to the impact of this reform, i.e. those with more state ownership or restricted shares. These findings imply that this reform benefits the information environment and minority shareholders in the Chinese stock market.