Did corporate governance safeguard investor interest in the global financial crisis? Evidence from Hong Kong SAR

The global financial crisis of 2008 aroused renewed interest in the effectiveness of corporate governance mechanisms to safeguard investor interests. In this paper, we measure the effects of the crisis from 2008 to 2009 on the share performance of 976 companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the Hong Kong SAR and examine the link between share performance and corporate governance mechanisms. Our results present evidence that firms with a higher proportion of independent directors and a greater concentration of ownership had lower share performance, but lower price volatility, during the global financial crisis. These results suggest that no single corporate governance mechanism is fit for all economic environments and time frames. To strengthen investors' confidence, companies should enhance the efficiency and adaptability of their governance mechanisms in turbulent times.     

What explains default risk premium during the financial crisis? Evidence from Japan

As is well documented, subprime mortgage markets carried significant default risk. This paper investigates the relationship between default risk premium, stock market conditions and macroeconomic variables during the financial crisis. Using iTraxx Japan Credit Default Swap (CDS) index spreads covering the period from March 2006 to November 2009, we employ a time-varying dynamic factor model with Markov regime switching to generate regime probabilities for default risk. We analyze the sensitivity of default risk premium changes to stock market conditions and macroeconomic variables by using two-state Markov switching models: a crisis regime sparked by rising loan defaults in the sub-prime mortgage market, and a non-crisis regime. We found strong evidence that the relationship between default risk premium changes, stock market and macroeconomic variables is regime-dependent. Our results suggest that during periods of crisis, CDS indices behave as a higher-risk indicator and become more sensitive to stock market conditions and macroeconomic variables. This paper examines the effects of the financial crisis in explaining the default risk premium. Understanding the determinants of default risk premium is important for financial analysts, economic policy makers and credit risk management.     

Did foreign exchange holding influence growth performance during the global financial crisis?

In a context of increased foreign exchange reserves holding from emerging and developing countries, this paper investigates the diminishing return of reserves holding assumption over the most severe phase of the global financial crisis (2008Q1–2010Q4). Relying on a Panel Smooth Transition Regression model, we highlight the differential effect of the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves for a set of financial vulnerabilities variables. In a specific manner, although reserves accumulation is effective above a critical threshold to cope with vulnerabilities related to the financial channel, we show that it becomes less effective beyond a certain threshold for domestic bank vulnerabilities. Our results are robust to alternative specifications.     

Off the cliff and back? Credit conditions and international trade during the global financial crisis

We study the collapse of international trade flows during the global financial crisis using detailed data on monthly US imports. We show that credit conditions were an important channel through which the crisis affected trade volumes, by exploiting the variation in the cost of capital across countries and over time, as well as the variation in financial vulnerability across sectors. Countries with higher interbank rates and thus tighter credit markets exported less to the US during the peak of the crisis. This effect was especially pronounced in sectors that require extensive external financing, have limited access to trade credit, or have few collateralizable assets. Exports of financially vulnerable industries were thus more sensitive to the cost of external capital than exports of less vulnerable industries, and this sensitivity rose during the financial crisis. The quantitative implications of our estimates for trade volumes highlight the large real effects of financial crises and the potential gains from policy intervention.     

The 2007–2008 financial crisis: Is there evidence of disaster myopia?

The disaster myopia hypothesis is a theoretical argument that may explain why crises are recurrent events. Under very optimistic circumstances, investors disregard any relevant information concerning the increasing degree of risk. This risky behavior may contribute to the formation of a bubble that bursts into a crisis. This paper shows that the 2007 financial crisis exhibits disaster myopia in the banking sector. Moreover, it identifies macro and specific determinant variables in banks' risk taking since the beginning of the years 2000.     

The global financial crisis and small- and medium-sized enterprises in Japan: how did they cope with the crisis?

In this paper, we examine the nature of the shocks that hit the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan during the global financial crisis that occurred in the wake of the massive number of non-performing subprime loans in the U.S. We examine how the SMEs responded to the shocks, using the unique surveys that were conducted by the Research Institute of the Economy, Trade and Industry in 2008 and 2009. The shocks were identified as demand, supply, and financial shocks. The demand shock was the most prevalent of the shocks, while the financial shock was least frequent. The SMEs took a spectrum of measures against the demand shock by seeking help from suppliers and financial institutions. We find that the measures taken by the SMEs crucially depended on the bank–firm relationship as well as the customer–supplier relationship. The bank-dependent SMEs asked their closely-affiliated financial institutions for help, while the SMEs less dependent on financial institutions sought help primarily from their suppliers. A long customer–supplier relationship plays an important role in mitigating the supply shock.     

Multinational family firms’ internationalization depth and breadth following the global financial crisis

This study examines how large family firms react to a macroeconomic shock in terms of their internationalization depth and breadth. Building on new internalization theory and acknowledging the dysfunctional manifestations of bifurcation bias in large family-owned MNEs, we argue that an unexpected shock induces family firms to recombine their family firm-specific resources with their thus far underutilized or unequally treated nonfamily resources. This recombination allows most family firms to economize on bifurcation bias and leverage their resources as firm-specific advantages (FSAs) resulting in an increased depth and breadth of internationalization post shock (while some of them may continue to suffer from bifurcation bias). Testing our theory on a panel dataset incorporating large family-owned (compared to nonfamily-owned) MNEs headquartered in Germany before and after the global financial crisis lends support to our theory. We discuss how our study contributes to new internalization theory, to the broader IB literature on MNEs’ unexpected shock response, and to family firm internationalization research.     

What can sector accounts tell about the financial crisis?

The current sovereign debt crisis is widely believed to have been caused by insufficient budget discipline. However, the financial sector accounts reveal that public as well as private borrowing in the euro area was dwarfed by the synchronised explosion of assets and liabilities of financial corporations. The paper suggests that the current concentration on a speedy cutback of public debt is premature at best. Policy should pay more attention to the main causes of the crisis: the excesses of the financial sector and the flaws in the design of the heterogeneous currency union.     

Does financial liberalization reduce income inequality? Evidence from Africa

This paper investigates the impact of financial liberalization on income inequality by using the country-level panel data from 51 African countries in more than two decades. We find that income inequality increases, rather than decreases, with the level of financial liberalization. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that financial liberalization likely induces banks to allocate the scarce financial resources in African countries more discriminatively to rich clienteles but excludes the poor ones from financial access, which thus widens the income gap.     

How red is China's red capitalism? Continuity and change in China's financial services sector during the global crisis

Chinese capitalism cannot be captured by theoretical frameworks and concepts such as the ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ approach. Despite its integration into the world economy and the financial crises, the country has kept a stable Leninist basis of formal institutions. The case of financial services shows: (i) a resilience of the sector to the ‘Great Financial Crisis’ of 2008 and (ii) the use of the crisis as an opportunity. Examining the control of Chinese financial services shows that private interests and the regulatory authorities are intimately linked to the state apparatus and that there is no radical break in sight with China's unique blend of party state-led capitalism.     

Can professional skepticism be learned? Evidence from China

The purpose of the present study was to explore whether professional skepticism can be learned in a classroom setting, an issue that has received scant attention in the prior literature. A questionnaire was administered to students enrolled either in the accounting program or in the business administration program of a large college in China. The author finds that participation in ethics education is positively related to students’ professional skepticism, whereas participation in auditing education is not related to accounting students’ professional skepticism. The author also finds that accounting and nonaccounting business students exhibit no significant difference in their scores of professional skepticism.     

Humanistic and economistic approaches to banking – better banking lessons from the financial crisis?

We sketch out two basic paradigms informing banking practice: the economistic paradigm focusing on profit maximization and the humanistic one, serving the common good. We then highlight paradigmatic cases to explore how each of these business models fared during the quasi‐natural experiment of the financial crisis. We find that many humanistic banks outperformed traditional economistic banks. Despite the uneven playing field humanistic banks fared remarkably well with regard to traditional financial performance judgements, muting criticisms of competitiveness. We find that overall both paradigms can provide a basis for successful banking as long as social and financial value generation are blended. We conclude by providing lessons learned for better banking.     

Can returnee managers promote CSR performance? Evidence from China

With growing economic globalization, returnee managers who have obtained education or work experience overseas play a much more crucial role in corporations, especially in emerging economies. Using hand-collected managerial background data from a sample of firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2010 to 2014, this paper investigates the impact of returnee managers on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. We find that returnee managers can promote CSR performance. Further analyses show that the impact of returnee managers on CSR is more pronounced when managers have a foreign study background compared to managers with foreign work experience. The impact only holds when managers obtained their experience in developed economies. When enterprises face greater information asymmetry, returnee managers are more willing to use CSR as a tool to convey a positive image to stakeholders. CSR can help managers reduce information asymmetry and improve firm value. The results are robust through a series of robustness checks including a propensity score matching (PSM) procedure and a Heckman two-state sample selection model. This paper contributes to growing studies on the economic consequences of returnee managers and advances our understanding of the determinants of CSR at the individual level. The results also have implications for government and enterprises attracting talents with overseas experience.     

Is there global inclusion of authors in the five leading advertising journals?

A question that has been raised in academia has to do with whether there is global inclusion of authors in publishing. While this issue has been explored in some areas in business and marketing it has generally not been investigated across 30 years of advertising research activity. This paper seeks to examine the global inclusion of authors in five advertising-focused journals. We found that, while there appears to be an increase in international publishing activity in advertising compared to data extrapolated from past studies, published advertising research still reveals a North American bias/domination. A failure to be globally inclusive may lead to an under-exploration of academic issues and perspectives, as important ‘non-US’ issues could possibly be ignored.     

Can corporate financing through the stock market create systemic risk? Evidence from the BRVM securities market

This paper investigates the systemic risk in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) stock exchange (Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières - BRVM). It examines the extent to which growing activities in this stock market generate systemic risk. We find strong linkages across all economic sectors of listed firms, with the financial and industrial sectors being the center of the system around which the other sectors revolve. Financial institutions are not the only source of systemic risk in the WAEMU region, even though they play an important role in the system. Finally, using panel regressions, we find that big, high-growth and profitable firms contribute more to systemic risk than others. Overall, we find that the determinants of systemic risk depend on the indicator used to assess it and the sectors in which companies operate.     

Does financial development reduce income inequality and poverty? Evidence from emerging countries

The objective of this paper is to examine whether bank and stock market development contributes to reducing income inequality and poverty in emerging countries. Using dynamic panel data methods with an updated dataset for the period 1987–2011, we assess the finance–inequality–poverty nexus by taking the separate and simultaneous impacts of banks and stock markets into account. Mixed explanatory findings on panel studies suggest that although financial development promotes economic growth, this does not necessarily benefit those on low-incomes in emerging countries. For the finance–poverty link, we find that neither banks nor stock markets play a significant role in poverty reduction.     

Can Accounting Earnings Predict Future GDP Growth? Evidence from China

This study investigates whether accounting earnings can predict future Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth within China’s institutional settings. Konchitchki and Patatoukas (2014a) find that accounting earnings is a significant leading indicator of GDP growth for the next three or four quarters. We conjecture, however, that earnings management would weaken such predictive power for accounting earnings because it distorts earnings from real corporate profit. As earnings of Chinese firms are more seriously manipulated than those of US firms, this study finds that earnings of Chinese listed firms can only predict GDP growth for a single quarter. We further decompose accounting earnings into operating cash flow and accrual earnings and find that operating cash flow which is less affected by earnings management has better predictive power for GDP over the longer horizon of the next three quarters, but accrual earnings can only predict GDP growth for the next quarter.     

How Can Globalization Affect Income Distribution? Evidence from Developing Countries

ABSTRACT

The standard Hecksher-Ohlin-Samuelson framework claimed that foreign trade benefits developing countries, but many empirical studies suggest otherwise. After analyzing data on income deciles from the World Income Distribution Database for 66 developing countries, we found that trade openness benefits underprivileged people in affluent countries but not in developing countries. Also, external financial flows and democracy in conjunction do not exert significant effects, suggesting that these variables might affect income distribution through different channels. Finally, we reinforce the Kuznets inverted-U hypothesis; namely, the presence of an economic development threshold beyond which low-income deciles would increase.