I am therefore I own: Implications of organization-based identity for employee stock ownership

Most research on employee stock plan participation investigates the effects of such forms of ownership on employee attitudes, leaving our understanding of the individual differences that contribute to employee ownership largely unknown. Drawing from the consumer behavior literature, our study explores the effect of organization-based identity on the decision to participate in an employee stock purchase plan. The study was conducted in a newly public firm where we examine the effect of organization-based identity on the purchase decision in two time periods. The first point in time was the initial public offering (IPO), when the employee has little information on how the firm's stock will perform in the market. The second point in time was the first quarter following the IPO, when employees have market data to help them with decision-making. Results indicate that, as predicted, organization-based identity is associated with participation in an employee stock purchase plan, at both points in time, above and beyond the influence of several economic and psychological predictors reported in prior studies.     

Mixed ownership reform,political connections,and overinvestment

The study discovers that mixed ownership reform aimed at enhancing the performance and resource allocation efficiency of state-owned enterprises may have unintended consequences in China. When the nature of state-owned control remains unchanged, there is a risk of increased overinvestment due to misaligned interests between state-owned equity representatives and companies. This incentive can be mitigated by introducing nonstate shareholders with political connections. The study employs a double machine learning method to analyze data from state-owned listed companies that introduced nonstate shareholders through stock issuance between 2008 and 2019. The research underscores that modern corporate governance mechanisms are crucial for successful mixed ownership reform.     

Fairness perceptions and work attitudes revisited: roles of employee specialty,hospital level and ownership

Compensation is widely acknowledged as an important job element in the eyes of employees. Health care is a special industry in which compensation received by employees differs greatly. This study examines empirically the relationships between hospital employees' perceptions of compensation fairness and their work attitudes, taking into account the roles of employee specialty, hospital level and ownership. Using data from 2,938 employees of thirty hospitals in Taiwan, the results indicate that fairness perceptions and work attitudes differ significantly among hospital employees according to their specialties. Hospital level and ownership exert impacts on employees' fairness perceptions, although not on their work attitudes. A positive relationship is observed between fairness perceptions and work attitudes of hospital employees.     

混合所有制改革是否有助于缓解人力资本配置扭曲

将人力资本在所有制企业间的配置扭曲（错配）理解为技术配置扭曲和规模配置扭曲两个方面,基于1998—2013年中国工业企业数据库的相关数据,探讨国有企业混合所有制改革影响人力资本配置扭曲的内生机理,结果表明：混合所有制改革鼓励非国有资本通过参股、控股和并购等方式参与到国有企业的生产决策中,这有助于完善国有企业的公司治理结构和利润分配机制,进一步缓解人力资本的技术配置扭曲和规模配置扭曲程度;相对于非行政垄断行业,行政垄断行业中国有企业混合所有制改革对于人力资本配置扭曲的缓解作用较小。     

Challenged and satisfied: the role of organisational ownership and employee involvement

Abstract

This study aims to offer a more fine-grained approach to our understanding of the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction. Building on organisational theory and Job Demand-Control model, we investigated an important institutional characteristic – organisational ownership – as an additional moderator to influence the interactive effects of job demands and control upon job satisfaction. Using data collected from 1838 Chinese retail sector employees, we found that this three-way interaction was strongest for employees working in foreign-invested firms, who experienced higher employee involvement at work and perceived a high level of challenge-related stress. The relationship was weakest for employees in state-owned enterprises who reported low levels of both employee involvement and challenge-related stress. Our study constitutes an early attempt to assess the impact of institutional characteristics such as ownership on aspects of human resources management, and highlights the need for further research to recognise the importance of such characteristics as contextual factors that influence the effect of organisational practices and the work environment upon individual work-related outcomes. The paper’s concluding sections elaborate on the contributions our research makes both to theory as well as to the practicalities faced by human resource managers in contexts such as China.     

When East meets West: interaction effects of organisational ownership structure,gender and (un)met expectations on workers' attitudes in China

This study adopts a framework of structural contingency and gender theories in a case-study-based investigation of changes in workers' attitudes towards their jobs and employers when working for enterprises with alliances with varying degrees of closeness to Western partners (equity joint venture- and contract joint venture [CJV]-type alliances). Workers moving from non-foreign-invested enterprise (FIE) to FIE employment perceived their enterprise FIEs to have more HR practices, and their attitudes towards their jobs and companies became moderately more positive. There were, however, limited differences by alliance type. This was explained by the intervening role of gender in the relationship between structure and attitudes, producing the unexpected result that CJV women experienced the least positive change in their attitudes, a finding the authors explained utilising (un)met expectation theory.     

Flexible work arrangements in Greece: a study of employee perceptions

The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to explore factors that affect employees' perceptions towards flexible work options; second, to examine whether the perceived benefits and barriers associated with work flexibility predict one's decision to participate in flexible work arrangements or not. A total of 362 Greek employees participated in the study to determine their attitudes towards flexible work practices. Univariate analyses of variance and logistic regression analysis were conducted with the aim of exploring the research hypotheses. It is found that attitudes towards flexible work options are dependent on gender, sector of employment and prior participation in a flexible work scheme. In general, women, public sector employees and employees who have participated in flexible work arrangements are more likely to perceive more benefits and fewer costs with regard to the use of work flexibility. Further analysis provided evidence that work–life balance benefits are stronger predictors of participation in flexible work practices. These findings suggest that employee-centred organisations that view flexibility as a valuable management tool, should deal with specific barriers that discourage people from taking up flexible work arrangements. Given the dearth of empirical research on work flexibility in Greece, the findings of this study provide the wider academic community with new insights on employees' perceptions of flexible work options.     

Environmental attitude in the board. Who are the “green directors”? Evidences from Italy

Board members' attitudes towards environmental protection are an important antecedent of how companies define and implement sustainability initiatives, but little is known about directors' attitudes and the factors associated with these. Using survey data on Italian board members, the research sought to explore the relationships between these individual's personal attributes, especially those related to their roles on boards, and their attitudes towards environmental protection. The findings suggest that female directors, directors with financial background, and independent directors are positively related to attitudes towards environmental protection. In the financial sector, younger board members and risk committee members show stronger environmental attitudes. The results could be of interest to policymakers because the board member attributes identified may require a stronger regulatory focus in order to achieve public policy's environmental protection objectives and to governance bodies in terms of defining board committees' composition and selecting “green directors” oriented towards environmental issues.     

论非正式约束对公司股权结构的影响及启示——传统公司治理模式下比较视角

根据诺思的制度变迁理论,作为一种公司治理制度安排,传统公司治理模式下的公司股权结构受到以主流文化为核心的非正式约束的影响。从国家和公司发展的历史视角上看,英美的个人主义和德日的军事集体主义作为其各自传统主流文化,间接通过政治体制和直接作用于财务筹资,对各自传统公司股权结构特点的形成扮演了重要角色。通过分析以上过程,可以获得几点对我国当前公司产权制度改革原则上的启示。     

The impact of large-scale employee share ownership plans on labour productivity: the case of Eircom

Large-scale employee share ownership plans (ESOPs) have been a distinctive characteristic of Irish public enterprise reform, with shareholdings of 14.9% being allocated to employees as part of firm restructuring and privatisation programmes. This paper presents a case study analysis of a large-scale ESOP in Eircom, Ireland's former national telecommunications operator. We identify changes in labour productivity (LP) during 8 years before and after the establishment of the company's ESOP and use a framework based on Pierce, Rubenfeld and Morgan (1991, The Academy of Management Review, 16, 121–144) and Pierce, Kostova and Dirks (2001, Academy of Management Review, 26, 298–310) to explore the role played by the ESOP. The ESOP was found to play a key role in enabling firm-level reform through concession bargaining and changes in employee relations, and thereby indirectly affecting LP. However, despite the substantial shareholding and influence of the ESOP, we find that it has failed to create a sense of psychological ownership among employees, and thereby further impact on productivity.     

Bank ownership and governance quality in India: Evolution and detection of convergence clubs

Utilizing a novel panel dataset for the period from 2009 to 2018, this paper investigates how the corporate governance of Indian banks has evolved since the post-global crisis and identifies convergence clubs among banks in distinct ownership groups. It also presents optimal policy priorities for specific aspects of corporate governance. To assess the quality of bank corporate governance, we used a non-parametric “Benefit-of-the-Doubt” (BoD) approach to create a bank-wise composite index of corporate governance based on 48 governance norms. Empirical results have shown that while Indian banks have made remarkable progress in adhering to the mostly mandatory corporate governance norms in the past few years, but their current level of governance isn’t adequate to characterize it as a “socially-efficient” structure. A typical public bank generally prioritized maintaining adequate disclosure and transparency, by and large, while a private bank focuses more spotlight on audit function, followed by risk management and board quality. The results based on Phillips and Sul’s (2007, 2009) clustering and merging algorithms reveal two convergent clubs in the private banking segment and a sole club in the public sector banking segment.     

Do types of economic ownership matter in getting employees to commit? An exploratory study in the People's Republic of China

Economic reforms launched in the People's Republic of China led to rapid growth in the non-state sector. Economic organizations in this sector adopt different styles of business operations and management practices when compared with their state counterparts. These systematic differences generate work dynamics with implications for workers' job attitudes and behaviours. The present study explores the relationship between workers' perception of the workplace and organizational commitment after the reform. Three hundred employees in Shanghai, from six enterprises, were randomly sampled for interview. Differences were found between state and non-state employees in their demographic characteristics, organizational perceptions and commitment. Findings suggested that state and non-state workers differed in their commitment and these relationships were mediated through various perceptual dimensions. Implications of the results for theory and practice are discussed.     

A Comparison Between One‐Tier and Two‐Tier Board Structures in France

French companies operate in a unique environment characterized by the strong involvement of block shareholders such as families and banks. Furthermore, the French legal system allows firms to choose between a one‐tier or a two‐tier board structure. This study investigates whether this choice can affect the firm's operating and stock performance. Our regression results provide strong evidence that ownership and board structures are used together as corporate governance tools. In particular, the agency cost of debt is strongly affected by their interaction when institutional investors are also bank lenders. Our test results show that while family control has a negative impact on corporate governance, French institutional blockholders play a positive role as monitors of one‐tier structures. In contrast, they are more likely to misuse the two‐tier board system by promoting interlocked directorship, board opacity and their own interests as creditors. Our regression analysis reveals that foreign institutional investors do not have any impact on firm performance, regardless of board structure. Finally, we do not find any inverse relationship between board size and efficiency in France.     

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.     

非国有股东治理与企业风险承担水平——来自国有企业混合所有制改革的经验证据

以A股国有上市企业为样本,考察非国有股东治理对企业风险承担水平的影响。研究发现,非国有股东治理能够显著提升国有企业的风险承担水平,这种影响在2013年底国有企业混合所有制改革强化之后更加明显,在地方国有企业和竞争性国有企业中更加突出。进一步研究发现,非国有股东治理对企业风险承担水平的影响机制在于提高高管薪酬和降低代理成本,提高股权混合制衡度和超额委派董事均能提高企业风险承担水平。研究结论从企业风险承担的视角证实了混合所有制改革的效果,为进一步推进混合所有制改革提供了经验证据和借鉴。     

Gender organizing in China: a study of female workers' representation needs and their perceptions of union efficacy

This paper investigates gender organizing in China from the perspective of women employees in different industrial sectors and across ownership forms. It identifies women workers' views on their representation needs, level and effect of trade union activities, their related attitude towards unionism as well as alternative forms, if any, of organizing. The study reveals that women employees in government organizations, public sector, state-owned enterprises and private firms have significantly different needs and levels of identification with the union. It argues that the pluralism of employment relations in China across the spectrum of ownership forms and occupational groups should be given more recognition and attention than has been warranted.     

公司治理与代理成本——来自上市公司的经验证据

本文利用上市公司的数据,分析了公司治理与代理成本之间的关系。结果发现:股权集中度国家股比例、董事会规模、监事会规模、治理环境、公司透明度、企业规模与代理成本显著负相关;股权制衡度、领取报酬的董事比例、领取报酬的监事比例、董事会会议次数、股东大会会议次数与代理成本显著正相关;高管持股、独立董事比例、监事会会议次数、两职分离与代理成本无显著关系;财务杠杆率与代理成本的关系是混合的;国有上市公司和民营上市公司的公司治理与代理成本之间的关系与总样本基本一致。     

我国高校校办企业公司治理模式研究

高校校办企业的公司治理问题在于通过改制建立现代企业制度,然而当前高校校企在实施改制中,其公司治理模式依然面临着诸如产权结构、委托代理结构、股权结构、约束激励机制等问题,本文基于现代企业制度的要求,拟提出解决校办企业在公司治理中面临的问题。     

How do the ownership structure and board of directors' features impact earnings management? The Spanish case

This paper examines how the ownership structure and board of directors' features determine the managerial opportunistic behavior exemplified in the management of accounting earnings. This study contributes to the literature by investigating the relationship of firm‐level and country‐level corporate governance systems on the earnings management in the Spanish corporate sector. Results reveal that the varying efficiency of the corporate governance systems is reflected in the way in which accounting discretion is performed. We found evidence that earnings management is reduced as the voting rights of the controlling shareholder increased and that there is an inverse U‐shaped relationship between insiders' ownership and the earnings manipulation. Regarding the board characteristics, we observe that larger, independent boards, those with a larger proportion of female members, and those with an audit committee compounded by a greater proportion of outside independent directors oversee managers more efficiently, constraining their capacity to manage earnings. To the contrary, board duality increases the likelihood of opportunistic manipulation of financial reporting. We found that when the institutional environment improves in the Spanish context, the discretionary power of the corporate sector to overstate the financial statements is reduced. The findings prove the necessity of reinforcing the rules and regulations toward a more transparent disclosure of the financial statements.     

国有股权参股与民营重污染企业绿色治理

由于生态环境投入的外部性和资本的逐利性,民营重污染企业的绿色治理是我国企业绿色治理的重点和难点.本文分析了国有股权参股对民营重污染企业绿色治理的影响机理,并以2008～2019年A股上市的民营重污染企业为研究样本进行了实证检验.研究发现,国有股权参股能够通过治理效应和资源效应促进民营重污染企业绿色治理;相对于污染风险较...