Independent directors' dissent on boards: Evidence from listed companies in China

Research summary: Although opinion conformity is believed to be commonly used by corporate elites to invoke reciprocity, it is hard to study in the context of corporate boards since boards are typically “black boxes.” Focusing on publicly traded companies in China, where disclosure of dissent is mandated, we show that dissent is associated with a breakdown of the social exchange relationship within boards. Specifically, dissent is more likely to occur when the board chair who appointed the independent director has left the board, or when the board “game” is reaching its last round, defined as a 60‐day window before departure of the board chair or the director herself. Our findings lend considerable support to conceptualization of boards as a social exchange device. Managerial summary: With a novel dataset from China we ask the question of whether the social norm of reciprocity compromises independent directors' decisions. Our results lend considerable support to the hypothesis that independent directors would generally defer to top management as they feel indebted for being offered a director position and in exchange independent directors provide support. We identified two instances in which independent directors are more likely to dissent due to a breakdown of social exchange relationships: (1) when the board chair who appointed the independent director has left the board, and (2) when the board “game” was reaching its last round, that is, either the board chair or the director herself is leaving the board. © 2015 The Authors. Strategic Management Journal published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

独立董事的"独立性悖论"和有效行权的制度设计

目前独立董事制度尚不完善，限制了独立董事作用的有效发挥，尤其是认为独立董事的报酬激励与“独立性”互相矛盾的所谓“独立性悖论”．更是使独立董事制度前景堪忧。本文基于利益相关者理论，深入分析了独立董事独立性的内涵．认为“独立性悖论”不是不可克服的，独立董事也是企业的利益相关者之一．作为企业法人利益的维护者和其他利益相关者利益的协调人，分享企业剩余并不一定会丧失“独立性”。最后，从独立董事这一角色本身的特性出发，提出了改善现行独立董事制度的建议。     

Narcissism,director selection,and risk‐taking spending

We explain why CEOs favor new directors who are similar in narcissistic tendency or have prior experience with other similarly narcissistic CEOs. Because powerful CEOs are more able to select such individuals onto their boards, CEO power is predicted to be positively associated with the above characteristics of new directors. These associations are expected to be stronger when a new director is more different from the CEO in salient demographic characteristics. Moreover, we explain why new directors favored by CEOs are more supportive of their decision making, strengthening the positive relationship between CEO narcissism and risk‐taking spending. Our findings provide considerable support for our theory. This study introduces personality theories to corporate governance research on director selection and to research on how triads influence dyadic relations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reassessing board member allegiance: CEO replacement following financial misconduct

Research summary: We examine how board members' reactions following financial misconduct differ from those following other adverse organizational events, such as poor performance. We hypothesize that inside directors and directors appointed by the CEO may be particularly concerned about their reputation following deceptive financial practices. We demonstrate that directors more closely affiliated with the CEO are more likely to reduce their support for the CEO following financial misconduct, increasing the likelihood of CEO replacement. Enactment of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act similarly alters governance dynamics by creating a greater expectation for sound corporate governance. We demonstrate our findings in U.S. public firms that restated their financial earnings during a 12‐year period before and after the passage of Sarbanes‐Oxley. Managerial summary: Given past concerns about lack of oversight by boards of directors leading to firm financial misconduct, we examine how the relationship between directors and CEOs may be altered in the face of such misconduct. We argue that directors most closely tied to the CEO (inside board members and board members appointed by the CEO), typically the most supportive of the CEO, may become most concerned about their own reputation following financial misconduct. We find that CEOs receive less support from these directors, a finding in contrast to past studies demonstrating that such board members tend to shield CEOs following poor performance. These findings are accentuated following the passage of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act, which places greater responsibility on the CEO for the accuracy of financial reports. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

分类表决让独立董事真正维护中小股东的利益

我国独立董事制度存在的主要问题是独立董事受大股东的控制,没有主动监督大股东及其代理人的动力。解决这一问题的关键是落实中小股东的监督权。实行股权分类表决制度,取消大股东对独立董事有关事项的表决权,将该表决权完全交给中小股东,可以保证独立董事脱离大股东的控制,回归到中小股东的利益立场。文章最后还构建了一个完善独立董事制度后的新公司治理结构。     

What governs directors’ monitoring behavior in China? The influence of director social identification,learning goal orientation,and avoidance orientation

Drawing together literature on corporate governance, organizational behavior, and educational psychology, and using survey data from a sample of 300 Chinese company directors, this study examines the mediating role of director learning goal orientation in linking two widely-acknowledged director social identifications (identification with the organization and identification with executive-agents) and a key director task behavior, namely the monitoring of executive-agents. We also investigate the moderating role of director avoidance orientation in influencing this mediation since a predisposition to avoid loss of “face” is widely posited as having particular relevance in the Chinese context. Results show, first, that directors with stronger organizational identification monitor executive-agents more diligently than those with stronger executive-agent identification. Second, we find that while learning goal orientation mediates the positive effects of both organizational identification and executive-agent identification on monitoring, the mediated indirect effect of organizational identification on monitoring is stronger than the mediated indirect effect of executive-agent identification on monitoring. Third, results show that the indirect effects are stronger when director avoidance orientation is low. These findings underscore the importance of director social identification and learning goal orientation in inducing director monitoring in the Chinese context, as well as the worth of selecting directors who exhibit a low disposition to avoidance.     

Board vigilance,director experience,and corporate outcomes

Agency-based studies of boards of directors address factors relevant to board vigilance with respect to the monitoring of senior managers. We argue that relying solely on director vigilance may be limiting because vigilance without relevant experience is unlikely to ensure board effectiveness. Our contention is that boards comprising vigilant directors, as well as directors with appropriate knowledge gained through experience, not only will be better monitors, but also more useful advisors to top managers. The focus of our study is on the effect on acquisition outcomes of the interaction of board vigilance and director experiential learning. Consistent with our expectations, the empirical findings indicate that vigilant boards rich in appropriate experience are associated with superior acquisition outcomes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

信息获取、效率替代与董事会职能的改进——一个关于独立董事作用的假说性诠释及其应用

独立董事制度的兴起是现代公司治理理论和实践发展的产物，但独立董事信息获取能力的欠缺制约了他们持续改进董事会职能的作用。随着董事会独立性（独立非执行董事人数的比例）的提高，董事会决策的公正性效率会提高，但董事会决策的达用性效率会降低。在效率替代作用的影响下，董事会的独立性高低与董事会决策交率之间并不存在线性关系，而是倒U型关系，这一模型可以对关于独立董事问题的各种争议给出很好的解释，也可以对我国探索公司治理中独立董事的人数比例，人选确定方法，遴选途径和激励约束等方面提供一个基本框架。     

Are OECD-prescribed “good corporate governance practices” really good in an emerging economy?

This paper examines whether adopting OECD-prescribed corporate governance principles can solve the major corporate governance problem in an emerging economy—controlling-shareholder expropriation. We argue that “good governance practices” in OECD countries (e.g., an active board of directors, separation of chairperson and the CEO, significant presence of outside directors, and a two-tier board) cannot mitigate the negative effect of controlling-shareholder expropriation on corporate performance for two main reasons. First, most good governance practices are mainly designed to resolve conflicts between shareholders and the management but not conflicts between controlling and minority shareholders. Second, board directors are typically not independent to controlling shareholders, and supervisory directors often have low status and weak power in a firm. Using a panel of over 1,100 Chinese listed firms between 2001 and 2003, we find supportive evidence for our arguments. We discuss the implication of our study for public policy and strategies of investors.     

我国上市公司独立董事独立性问题研究

独立董事属于董事的范畴,它有区别于一般董事所没有的品格和特征:独立董事有其独立性。中国在向英美国家引进独立董事制度时,应借鉴其在公司治理方面的先进经验,同时必须考虑中国上市公司的实际情况,将独立董事制度因地制宜地引入中国以适应中国上市公司的具体情况,特别要协调好独立董事和监事会的关系,以实现我国引进独立董事制度的目的:保护中小股东的合法权益,完善公司的治理机制。     

独立董事能够勤勉和诚信地进行监督吗——独立董事行为决策模型的构建

本文关注的问题是独立董事在监督过程中,其勤勉性和公正性受到哪些因素的影响。通过建立个体行为决策模型,我们得出了以下结论:四项因素会对独立董事监督的效果产生影响。其中,来自独立董事个人方面的因素有两项:独立董事与控股股东之间的私人关系,会对监督的诚信度与勤勉度都产生负向影响;独立董事付出努力的机会成本,会对监督的勤勉度产生负向影响。来自外部环境的因素有两项:外部的监管力度能够同时促进独立董事监督的诚信度和勤勉度;控股股东对董事会的信息隐瞒会降低独立董事的勤勉度。基于以上结论,我们对独立董事制度的进一步完善与改进提出了相应的建议。     

Is there a “Dark Side” to Monitoring? Board and Shareholder Monitoring Effects on M&A Performance Extremeness

Research summary: W e investigate the effects of monitoring by boards of directors and institutional shareholders on merger and acquisition (M&A ) performance extremeness using a sample of M&A deals from 1997 to 2006. Both governance research and legal reforms generally have espoused a “raise all boats” view of monitoring. We instead investigate whether monitoring may serve as a double‐edged sword that limits CEO discretion to undertake both value‐destroying M&A deals and value‐creating ones. Our findings indicate that the relationship between monitoring and M&A performance is more complex than previously believed. Rather than “raising all boats” in a shift towards better M&A outcomes, monitoring instead is associated with lower M&A losses, but also with lower M&A gains . Managerial summary: M ergers and acquisitions (M&A s) are a quintessential corporate activity. There were $3.8 trillion worth of M&A deals in 2015, despite scholars and practitioners reporting that M&A s often perform poorly. We question the widespread belief that more vigilant monitoring by boards of directors and large shareholders will raise M&A performance, overall. Put differently, does monitoring constrain CEO s' discretion to pursue bad deals, while simultaneously encouraging them to pursue good ones? We find that monitoring limits both large M&A losses and large M&A gains. Contrary to widely held beliefs, our results indicate that constraining executives' ability to pursue value‐destroying M&A deals does not simultaneously encourage or enable CEO s to pursue value‐creating deals . Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Who does private equity buy? Evidence on the role of private equity from buyouts of divested businesses

Research Summary: We examine the role of nonventure private equity firms in the market for divested businesses, comparing targets bought by such firms to those bought by corporate acquirers. We argue that a combination of vigilant monitoring, high‐powered incentives, patient capital, and business independence makes private equity firms uniquely suited to correcting underinvestment problems in public corporations, and that they will therefore systematically target divested businesses that are outside their parents’ core area, whose rivals invest more in long‐term strategic assets than their parents, and whose parents have weak managerial incentives both overall and at the divisional level. Results from a sample of 1,711 divestments confirm these predictions. Our study contributes to our understanding of private equity ownership, highlighting its advantage as an alternate governance form. Managerial Summary: Private equity firms are often portrayed as destroyers of corporate value, raiding established companies in pursuit of short‐term gain. In contrast, we argue that private equity investors help to revitalize businesses by enabling investments in long‐term strategic resources and capabilities that they are better able to evaluate, monitor, and support than public market investors. Consistent with these arguments, we find that when acquiring businesses divested by public corporations, private equity firms are more likely to buy units outside the parent's core area, those whose peers invest more in R&D than their parents, and those whose parents have weak managerial incentives, especially at the divisional level. Thus, private equity firms systematically target those businesses that may fail to realize their full potential under public ownership.     

知识产权保护、行业异质性与技术创新

为了探究知识产权保护对技术创新影响的行业差异，本文运用中国37个行业2006～2011年的面板数据，基于技术差距和相对规模，探究了知识产权制度变革对产业创新影响的行业异质性。研究发现：人均专利数量是衡量技术创新的理想指标；加强知识产权保护，有利于促进技术进步；技术创新渠道正在发生变化，即更注重国内自主创新和内部技术转移；技术差距越小越有利于技术进步，相对规模越大越有利于技术创新。本文建议：在研究技术创新时，可以选择从业人员人均专利数量作为创新指标；加强知识产权执法水平，提升知识产权保护力度；技术创新过程中更应该注重自主创新和内部技术转移，不断缩小与发达国家的技术差距，同时还应该扩大行业相对规模。     

Effects of corporate governance on risk taking in Taiwanese family firms during institutional reform

Can internal corporate governance mechanisms (such as boards of directors) and external corporate governance mechanisms (such as institutional reform) promote risk-taking behavior in family firms? This paper argues that conflicts between majority and minority owners, known as principal–principal conflicts, and cronyism in the board of directors affect firm risk taking. Moreover, institutional corporate governance reform to appoint outside directors may not have an immediate effect on reducing these problems. Based on a sample of family firms in Taiwan, we find that outside directors reduce the negative relationship between family ownership/involvement and risk taking. However, when their influence is examined further, it is found that in those sample firms that went public after institutional reform, outside directors did not improve the relationship between family ownership/involvement and risk taking.     

Undervaluation of directors in the board hierarchy: Impact on turnover of directors (and CEOs) in newly public firms

Research summary: We examine the consequences of the formalization of the board leadership structure at IPO for board‐level turnover. We introduce the concept of director undervaluation. It indicates the degree to which a director’s qualifications based on normatively accepted criteria for board leadership are not duly reflected in his/her appointments to the board chair and committee chair positions. We find that the higher the average undervaluation of directors on the board (“board undervaluation”), the greater the turnover levels of undervalued directors. This effect is stronger when board interaction frequency is higher. We contribute to the behavioral perspective on corporate governance by introducing justice‐based legitimacy as a key normative institution, and by providing a novel predictor of aggregate turnover of directors (as well as the firm’s CEO). Managerial summary: Why do outside directors exit the board? We offer a novel answer to this question in the context of newly public firms. We suggest that when directors are passed over for the board chair and committee chair positions despite having higher qualifications than their peers, they have been “undervalued,” and a negative board climate is likely to develop. We find that the higher the average undervaluation of directors on the board, the higher the turnover levels of these undervalued directors. More frequent board meetings exacerbate these turnover levels. Further, these turnover effects are not restricted to undervalued directors—even the CEO is more likely to exit. This study demonstrates the critical importance of developing a legitimate and fair board leadership structure.     

独立董事制度在普通法系国家（地区）篚移植及其启示

1990年以后,许多普通法系国家（地区）引入了起源于美国的独立董事制度,以期加强公司治理,提高国家竞争力。这表明,在全球化背景下,不同国家的公司治理具有趋同的趋势。然而,从实施效果来看,这些国家（地区）的独立董事制度尚存在种种问题,其有效性与美国有一定差距。这又反映了公司治理制度移植以及全球趋同的困难性。     

Is regulatory adoption ceremonial? Evidence from lead director appointments

Research Summary: Regulatory bodies often wrestle with the thorny question of whether to mandate a governance practice or allow for organic adoption. While mandates afford rapid diffusion, we theorize that they also result in ceremonial adoptions. Leveraging a quasi‐natural experiment, we compare adoption outcomes for a governance practice—lead director adoption—that was mandated by the NYSE but not the NASDAQ. We find that NYSE firms are more likely than NASDAQ firms to have installed a lead director as a symbolic management tactic, so their lead directors are less effectual. We also find that transient institutional investors are deceived by this symbolic management, but dedicated institutional investors are not. Managerial Summary: Shareholders and analysts often desire to see companies introduce strict governance measures, such as proxy access and independent boards. Consequently, regulatory bodies often wrestle with the thorny issue of whether and when to mandate such practices for all companies. What they might not realize is that mandates may not work as well as they seem. Although more companies adopt reform under a mandate, they do so merely as a symbolic gesture. We look at one governance reform—appointing a lead director—finding that companies who introduce this reform as a result of a mandate appoint someone that is relatively toothless. We also find, though, that savvy investors are not actually fooled by this tactic and will trade out of firms that attempt such symbolic management.     

Directors' Pay in the Privatized Utilities

This exploratory paper examines the relationship between the remuneration of the highest paid director and company performance in the privatized utilities. Four conclusions regarding the structure of top directors' pay emerge from the analysis. First, the salary plus bonus remuneration of top directors in the privatized utilities has increased by 12 per cent per annum since 1990. Second, average employee pay in these utilities has grown by about 3.1 per cent per annum over the same period. This suggests that top pay growth in the privatized utilities has outstripped that of the average worker since 1990. Third, the analysis cannot isolate a robust statistical relationship between directors' compensation and measures of pre-dated company performance. Finally, directors' share option dealings can sometimes considerably inflate their overall compensation.
Taken together, these findings implicitly question the current efficacy of remuneration committees for determining boardroom pay in the privatized utilities. One solution, which may enable shareholders more accurately to assess executive performance, is for complete disclosure of all components of directors' pay in the company accounts.     

独立董事"独立性"研究

独立性是独立董事制度的核心和灵魂。本文认为,独立董事制度的独立性包括独立董事个体的独立性和独立董事整体的独立性。独立董事的独立性是相对的,也是动态的,而且与独立董事的选拔机制、激励和约束机制有关,恰当的激励和约束机制是确保独立董事独立性的重要因素,中等程度的激励和中等程度的约束是最佳的“度”。独立董事在董事会中占多数地位是独立董事整体独立性的基本保证,独立董事工作条件的配套也是提高独立董事工作效率(这也是“独立性”的最终目的)的重要条件。