融资约束与政治关系——来自深市中小板的证据

本文以2005年至2007年深市中小板上市公司的数据为样本,在控制了相关财务状况、治理结构、行业等因素影响的基础上,对企业投资支出、融资约束和政治关系之间的关系进行实证检验。结果发现:民营中小企业投资支出与内部经营活动现金流显著正相关,原因是民营中小企业面临较强的外部融资约束;无政治关系的民营中小企业与具有政治关系的民营中小企业相比,表现出更强的融资约束,说明政治关系能够缓解中小企业的融资困境,在企业的融资过程中作为一种非正规的替代机制,降低了中小企业的外部融资压力。     

Political Connections and Accounting Quality under High Expropriation Risk

Abstract

We examine the impact of political connections and accounting quality among Venezuelan industrial firms, which face one of the highest levels of expropriation risk worldwide. Based on prior literature, we expect a negative relationship between expropriation risk and accounting quality as firms manage earnings to avoid ‘benign’ state intervention. We find that politically connected firms have higher accounting quality than non-connected firms, which is consistent with connected firms’ lower risk of expropriation due to connections with high-level government officials or ruling party members. The relationship between accounting quality and political connections appears to be strongly moderated by institutional features like expropriation risk.     

Two faces of corporate lobbying: Evidence from the pharmaceutical industry

In this study, we examine how political connections increase firms’ innovation performance. By examining firm-level lobbying activities, we find that political connections lead to a greater number of medical breakthroughs among pharmaceutical firms in our sample. We then examine the underlying ways that political connections enhance innovation among medical firms. Using hand-collected data on government subsidies, we find that politically connected firms have a higher chance of receiving subsidies from federal, state, or local government agencies. These government subsidies enhance medical innovation by insulating managers from short-term threats and mitigate their career concerns by creating a “failure tolerant” environment. Overall, we show that connections between firms and politicians come with increased innovation outcomes.     

Identifying Politically Connected Firms: A Machine Learning Approach*

This article introduces machine learning techniques to identify politically connected firms. By assembling information from publicly available sources and the Orbis company database, we constructed a novel firm population dataset from Czechia in which various forms of political connections can be determined. The data about firms' connections are unique and comprehensive. They include political donations by the firm, having members of managerial boards who donated to a political party, and having members of boards who ran for political office. The results indicate that over 85% of firms with political connections can be accurately identified by the proposed algorithms. The model obtains this high accuracy by using only firm-level financial and industry indicators that are widely available in most countries. These findings suggest that machine learning algorithms could be used by public institutions to improve the identification of politically connected firms with potentially large conflicts of interest.     

Politically connected directors and firm value: Evidence from forced resignations in China

The Central Committee of the Communist Party in China issued the No. 18 Document on Oct 30, 2013 to ban government officials from taking any positions in Chinese firms. Using this decision as a unique natural experiment, we examine the causal relation between political connections and firm valuation. We find that the value of firms with politically connected directors drops significantly upon the announcements of the new rule and the resulting director resignations. Furthermore, the decline in valuation is more pronounced when a firm is in a regulated industry, and when a departing director is of vital importance for building and maintaining political connections. Moreover, non-state-owned enterprises suffer more loss of value than their state-owned peers following the resignations of politically-connected directors. Finally, firms exhibit insignificant value loss when their departing directors are of less political importance in allocating resources. These results suggest that hiring politically connected directors has a positive effect on firm valuation in China.     

Do analysts follow firms with able managers?

Although previous studies suggest that management quality impacts analyst behavior, there is a dearth in direct empirical evidence that proves this. A sample of listed Chinese firms over the period 2008–2016 proves that a firm with highly skilled managers draws more analysts. We use an instrumental variable approach to mitigate endogeneity issues. Tests show that the positive impact of managerial ability on analyst following is more salient in firms with no political connections and firms located in regions with developed formal institutions. Firms with high-capability managers help analysts improve their forecast accuracy and lower the dispersion of their opinions.     

政治联系、市场化进程与权益资本成本——来自中国民营上市公司的经验证据

以中国民营上市公司为样本,文章实证检验不同市场环境下政治联系对企业权益资本成本的影响,研究发现:政治联系对权益资本成本的影响在不同地区是有差异的;在市场化程度较低地区,由于政府干预导致企业经营业绩有较高的不确定性,有政治联系企业承担着较高的权益资本成本;在市场化程度较高地区,政府干预相对较少,政治联系更多地体现为一种荣誉或良好的政商关系,此时有政治联系企业享有较低的权益资本成本;当上市公司存在控股股东利益输送时,投资者预期到无法共享政治联系为企业带来的利益,此时有政治联系企业要承担较高的权益资本成本。本研究为厘清政治联系对企业和投资者的利弊影响提供了一个有益的视角。     

Anti-corruption,government intervention,and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China

We use China as an example to examine how anti-corruption and government intervention shape corporate cash holding decisions. The findings show that firms in provinces with less government intervention (weak anti-corruption intensity) hold smaller (larger) cash reserves than those in provinces with more government intervention (strong anti-corruption intensity). Furthermore, we find that the positive relationship between government intervention and corporate cash holdings is alleviated as the anti-corruption intensity increases, and this alleviation effect is more prominent for state-owned enterprises (SOEs), firms in high intervention areas and firms without political connections. These findings support the argument that corruption-free and low intervention governments can benefit firms in making more profitable corporate decisions.     

地区环境、政治关联与审计师选择——来自中国民营上市公司的经验证据

以2005年—2008年的民营企业为样本,实证分析地区环境、政治关系与企业审计需求之间的相互关系后发现,在市场环境差的地区,企业更倾向于选择低质量的审计师、更有动机寻求政治关系,并且在审计师选择上,政治关联与地区环境有着相互替代的作用;而有政治关系的企业更倾向于选择低质量的审计师,选择低质量审计师的企业往往对应着更大程度的盈余管理。研究结果不仅丰富了政治关联的文献,而且对我国法制化建设有一定的启示。     

Performance Implications of Ties to the Government and SOEs: A Political Embeddedness Perspective

In many countries governments not only regulate business activities, but also become involved in the corporate governance of individual firms through ownership and board ties. While existing studies usually focus either on benefits of political connections or on costs of government influence, a political embeddedness perspective helps us consider both advantages and constraints associated with ties to the government. In particular, firms with direct ties to the government will experience significant costs associated with government officials' involvement in the corporate governance process. In contrast, firms with ties to state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) are connected to the government indirectly and thus, while getting access to state‐owned resources, avoid costs associated with the government's interventions. This study compares the performance consequences of board and ownership ties to the government with the consequences of board and ownership ties to SOEs. I find that ties to SOEs are associated with higher profitability, while no significant differences are discovered for firms with direct ties to the government.     

Firm performance and knowledge spillovers from academic, industrial and foreign linkages: the case of China

Firm performance may be enhanced by linkages with academic institutions, other firms, and foreign markets that confer knowledge spillovers as well as internal R&D that creates firm-specific knowledge. In particular, firm productivity and innovation may be enhanced by positive externalities from knowledge and technology produced by universities and research institutions (URIs) and diffused to the domestic economy. Productive contributions from such linkages might be particularly expected in China, where policy measures have explicitly supported and facilitated connections between URIs and firms to stimulate economic development and competitiveness. In this paper, we measure the performance impact of such knowledge spillovers in Chinese firms by using a variety of specifications, estimators, and robustness checks, including an ??instrumental variable?? specification that controls for endogeneity. We find more patent activity in Chinese firms with URI connections and enhanced firm productivity particularly from linkages with research institutions (RIs). Introduction of new products, processes, and new businesses is also positively associated with linkages with research institutions, as well as with linkages with other firms.     

政府官员类政治联系、参政议政与盈余管理

手工搜集了2004年-2008年民营上市公司的关键高管(董事长和总经理)的政府官员类政治联系和参政议政的相关经验数据,实证研究了政府官员类政治联系和参政议政对盈余管理行为的影响。研究结果表明,政府官员类政治联系和参政议政对民营上市公司盈余管理行为的影响具有"不对称性":民营上市公司的盈余管理行为与关键高管的政府官员类政治联系边际显著负相关,而民营上市公司的盈余管理行为与关键高管的参政议政显著正相关。     

民营企业的政治联系、劳动雇佣与公司价值

本文以2007～2009年的民营上市公司作为研究样本,实证考察了民营企业的政治联系、劳动雇佣与公司价值之间的关系。研究发现,民营企业的政治联系与公司的雇佣人数及雇佣成本均呈显著的正相关关系,而且这种正相关的关系在市场化程度较低的地区更为突出;民营公司的政治联系并不影响公司的价值。结果表明,尽管民营公司通过建立与政府的政治联系可能会在银行信贷、财政补贴、市场准入等方面获取租金收益,但与此同时,公司也必须承担相应的社会职能如劳动力就业等。     

Chief executive officers' sustainability orientation and firm environmental performance: Networking and resource contingencies

Although the existing literature supports the relationship between chief executive officers' (CEOs') sustainability orientation (SO) and entrepreneurial behaviour, empirical studies exploring how SO drives firm environmental performance (FEP) are lacking. In addition, the potential moderating effects of firm-level factors on this relationship are less understood. We contribute to filling this gap by examining the moderating effects of political connections and financial slack on the relationship between SO and FEP. Using data obtained from 297 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana, our results reveal that SO is positively related to FEP. In addition, our results show that the effect of SO on FEP is negative when firms have stronger financial slack and when firms are highly politically connected.     

Board interlocks and greenhouse gas emissions

Using resource dependence theory, we analyze board interlocks, their industry origin, and their relationship to firms' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Interlocks create connections by having board members from one firm sit on other firms' boards, providing an avenue for sharing information and resources to aid in knowledge transfer and capability development. As firms face challenges for improved GHG emissions performance, they may look to their board members' connections to other firms to acquire needed resources. Using a sample of US Standard & Poor's (S&P) 1500 firms for years 2009 to 2018, we find that firms with a greater number of board interlocks achieve lower GHG emissions intensity. We also find that boards for the best performing companies have interlocks in the same industry, in other industries, and with firms leading in GHG emissions intensity, especially for firms in higher environmentally impacting industries, as they face greater emissions challenges.     

State-owned enterprises' political capital,city administrative rank and economic resources acquisition: Empirical evidence from Chinese capital markets

This paper examines the impact of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises' (SOE) corporate political capital and the administrative rank of the city where the firm is located on their ability to acquire economic resources. The study found that the stronger the political capital owned by SOEs and the higher the administrative rank of the cities in which SOEs were located, the easier it was for them to obtain more loans and subsidies. We also found that as the city administrative rank increased, the positive effect of SOEs' political capital on economic resources acquisition also increased. When SOEs were divided into commercial competitive versus specific functional enterprises, the administrative rank of the city in which the enterprise was located played a significant positive role in obtaining economic resources for commercial competitive enterprises, while the role of their political capital played a limited role. For specific functional enterprises, their own political capital played the more significant positive role. This paper expands the research scope of corporate political connections with a new perspective.     

Cultural embeddedness in supply networks

Recent studies on structural and relational embeddedness suggest that favorable position and connections in supply networks benefit a firm. While fruitful, this focus misses the motivations that prompt firms to take economic action in the first place. Understanding cultural embeddedness provides insight into why individuals and firms behave as they do and how their behavior can influence network structure. Contrary to the belief that firms act solely for profit and growth, we note that cultural contents such as values, social issues and political ideologies explain firms’ motives and guide their economic activities. We explore the role of cultural embeddedness through a grounded study of Country Natural Beef, a sustainability-oriented agricultural cooperative in the western United States. This supply network demonstrates strongly competing cultural claims among its members as well as a unique institutionalized culture. Cultural interactions at the node and network levels explain the functioning of and changes to the network. Through interviews, analysis of archival information and direct observation of pivotal events over a period of 5 years, we unpack cultural embeddedness and take an incremental step toward a theory of cultural embeddedness in cooperative supply networks.     

Liquidity and firm value in an emerging market: Nonlinearity,political connections and corporate ownership

This study re-examines the relationship between liquidity and firm value in the emerging stock market of Malaysia, exploring the issues of nonlinearity and moderating variables. Using data for all non-financial firms traded on Bursa Malaysia over the sample period of 2000–2015, the results from the baseline quadratic model suggest stocks must be traded higher than the threshold liquidity level before reaping the benefit of larger firm value. Our key finding of a nonlinear relationship remains robust to alternative liquidity measures and estimation methods, as well as passing a series of endogeneity checks. Using an ideal candidate of lot size reduction for Malaysian stocks in May 2003 as exogenous liquidity shock, we establish the causal effect from liquidity to firm value. Further interaction analyses uncover three important moderating variables in the liquidity-firm value relationship, in which the value impact demands a more liquid market for Malaysian public firms with political connections, higher foreign nominee ownership and higher foreign institutional ownership.     

Have a Go or Lay Low? Predicting Firms’ Rhetorical Commitment versus Avoidance in Response to Polylithic Governmental Pressures

This study extends prior research on corporate political behaviour (CPB) and firms’ pursuit of political legitimacy in response to monolithic government pressures by developing and testing a framework for analysis of CPB in response to polylithic pressures. We suggest that traditional forms of CPB may be ill-suited to polylithic governmental pressures, such as when firms need to navigate between conflicting home- and host-country political worldviews and policies. We posit that in such complex political situations, firms will turn to a more subtle form of CPB (i.e., rhetorical commitment versus avoidance) as a hoped-for solution to their international political legitimacy challenge. Our contingency perspective also highlights how geopolitical factors (i.e., whether governments of home and host countries are clearly aligned versus misaligned) will influence whether firms express their support for a home government’s foreign policy or avoid any such expression of support. We empirically test the predictive power of our framework by analysing how these political factors led Chinese firms to opt for rhetorical commitment versus rhetorical avoidance vis-à-vis the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). We conclude with a discussion of how our framework for analysis and our supportive findings can inform and extend research on CPB and political legitimacy.     

关键高管的政治联系能否有助于民营上市公司打破行业壁垒?

本文搜集了2004～2008年期间中国资本市场"纯"民营上市公司关键高管政治联系的经验数据,实证研究了关键高管的政治联系是否有助于民营企业打破行业壁垒,进入管制行业.本文采取两类、三种方法度量政治联系,并明确将政治联系的类型区分为政府官员类政治联系和代表委员类政治联系.本文研究发现,限定其他条件,民营上市公司关键高管的政治联系与进入管制行业的概率显著正相关;划分政治联系类型的情况下,民营上市公司关键高管的政府官员类政治联系越强,越可能进入管制行业,但关键高管的代表委员类政治联系与进入管制行业无显著的相关性;民营上市公司的业务越多元化,越可能进入管制行业.作为附加检验,本文亦发现,进入管制行业的确促使了民营上市公司业绩的提升.