Corporate Governance Reforms in Developing Countries

Corporate governance reforms are occurring in countries around the globe. In developing countries, such reforms occur in a context that is primarily defined by previous attempts at promoting "development" and recent processes of economic globalization. This context has resulted in the adoption of reforms that move developing countries in the direction of an Anglo-American model of governance. The most basic questions that arise with respect to these governance reforms are what prospects they entail for traditional development goals and whether alternatives should be considered. This paper offers a framework for addressing these basic questions by providing an account of: 1) previous development strategies and efforts; 2) the nature and causes of the reform processes; 3) the development potential of the reforms and concerns associated with them; 4) the (potential) responsibilities of corporate governance, including the (possible) responsibilities to promote development, and; 5) different approaches to promoting governance reforms with an eye to promoting development.     

Galvanising Shareholder Activism: A Prerequisite for Effective Corporate Governance and Accountability in Nigeria

Shareholder activism has been largely neglected in the few available studies on corporate governance in sub Saharan Africa. Following the recent challenges posed by the Cadbury Nigeria Plc, this paper examines shareholder activism in an evolving corporate governance institutional context and identifies strategic opportunities associated with shareholders’ empowerment through changes in code of corporate governance and recent developments in information and communications technologies in Nigeria; especially in relation to corporate social responsibility in Nigeria. It is expected that the paper would contribute to the scarce literature on corporate governance and accountability in Africa. Olufemi Amao (LLM, Warwick; LLM, Ibadan, Nigeria; LLB, OAU, Nigeria; BA, Ilorin, Nigeria; BL, NLS) is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Law, University College Cork, Ireland. He is a recipient of the President PhD Scholarship and the Department of Law Scholarship. His current research interests include Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Governance, Multinational Corporations and Human Rights. Kenneth Amaeshi is a Research Fellow at Warwick Business School. His research interests include commercialisation of intellectual property assets; governance of global innovation networks; R&D partnerships; sustainable innovation; multinational corporations and corporate social responsibility in developing economies. He is currently studying comparative political economy of corporate stakeholding and corporate social responsibility. He is the 2007 winner of the International award for excellence in the field of interdisciplinary social sciences, awarded by the international journal of interdisciplinary social sciences (Australia/USA).     

数字金融的公司治理效应--基于非家族股东治理视角

非家族股东治理能够有效助力家族企业实现可持续发展与现代化转型的目标,因而提升非家族股东治理水平具有重要意义。数字金融作为传统金融发展模式的重要创新,能够实现“金融服务实体经济”的目标,促使非家族股东积极参与家族企业治理。基于此,本文以代理理论与社会情感财富理论为基础,探讨了数字金融对非家族股东治理的影响。实证检验发现,随着数字金融的发展,非家族股东治理水平不断提升。其作用机制在于,数字金融能够通过缓解代理冲突、弱化家族控制与强化传承意愿,提升非家族股东治理水平。拓展性分析发现,对于非创业型、融资约束较强、位于金融监管程度较强地区的家族企业来说,数字金融对非家族股东治理的积极效应更显著;数字金融对异质性非家族股东制衡度存在差异化影响,即相较于外资股东与机构股东制衡度,数字金融能够强化国有股东与民营股东对家族股东的制衡;数字金融能够通过提升非家族股东治理水平促进家族企业可持续发展。本文从数字金融视角探究非家族股东治理的动机,丰富了数字金融与非家族股东治理的相关研究。     

大股东侵占、公司声誉与公司绩效——基于中国上市公司的经验证据

外部大股东一方面具有减少管理者机会主义行为的积极效果,另一方面又会利用控制权侵占小股东和其他利益相关者的利益影响公司绩效;约束大股东行为、保护中小投资者利益成为公司治理的核心问题。在诸多约束大股东侵占的机制中,公司声誉机制被认为是约束大股东利益侵占的有效机制。本文采用2004年1261家上市公司为研究对象,对大股东侵占度和公司声誉制约机制对上市公司绩效的影响进行了实证分析,结果表明,大股东侵占度对公司绩效的影响不显著,公司声誉对公司绩效产生了显著的正面效应。此外,我们还发现法律环境对公司绩效产生积极影响。     

第二大股东持股的治理效应——基于上市公司的实证分析

本文以763家上市公司2003年的横截面数据为样本,通过考察公司绩效与第二大股东持股之间的经验关系,考察了第二大股东持股的治理功能。通过结合上市公司数据建立一个多元模型来说明第二大股东是如何监督第一大股东、影响公司价值的。研究发现,第二大股东的存在没有显示出积极的治理激励功能及对第一大股东的监督激励作用;在我国目前的制度背景下,相对控股是一种最佳的平衡状态。     

Corporate Governance Reforms in India

In recent years India has been moving further in the direction of adopting an Anglo-American model of corporate governance. This decision, the result more of international economic and political pressures than public debate, in effect represents a new development strategy for the world's most populous democracy. In light of this situation, it is important to ask two basic questions: 1) why has the Anglo-American model of corporate governance been adopted? and; 2) can it be justified? This paper addresses the first of these questions by distinguish and examining three historical models of governance in India: 1) the managing agency model in the colonial period; 2) the business house model that emerged after independence, and; 3) the Anglo-American model which has recently been adopted (and is still emerging). The second question is approached through an examination of the "development impact" of the new model, as indicated by such measures as growth, employment and respect for shareholder rights.     

Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosures: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

We examine the relationship between corporate governance and the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures in the annual reports of Bangladeshi companies. A legitimacy theory framework is adopted to understand the extent to which corporate governance characteristics, such as managerial ownership, public ownership, foreign ownership, board independence, CEO duality and presence of audit committee influence organisational response to various stakeholder groups. Our results suggest that although CSR disclosures generally have a negative association with managerial ownership, such relationship becomes significant and positive for export-oriented industries. We also find public ownership, foreign ownership, board independence and presence of audit committee to have positive significant impacts on CSR disclosures. However, we fail to find any significant impact of CEO duality. Thus, our results suggest that pressures exerted by external stakeholder groups and corporate governance mechanisms involving independent outsiders may allay some concerns relating to family influence on CSR disclosure practices. Overall, our study implies that corporate governance attributes play a vital role in ensuring organisational legitimacy through CSR disclosures. The findings of our study should be of interest to regulators and policy makers in countries which share similar corporate ownership and regulatory structures.     

Corporate Social Performance in China: Evidence from Large Companies

Based on a contest analysis of the official websites of top 100 companies in China in 2007, the paper reports the social performance of large Chinese companies. We try to focus on and answer the following three questions about CSP of large companies in China: (1) how is their overall social performance?; (2) what are the social issues they addressed?; and (3) what are the stakeholders they addressed? The results are also compared among different ownership companies and among different industrial companies. The findings indicate that CSR/CSP in China is still in the beginning stage, and?CSR/CSP is different among different industrial companies.

     

Large Shareholder Tunneling and Risk of Stock Price Crash： Evidence from China

Although several studies have examined the economic consequences of large shareholders＇ tunneling behavior, little attention has been paid to the negative effects of tunneling on firms＇ extreme events. In this article, we investigate how tunneling behavior affects firm-level stock price crashes. The findings indicate that the probability of stock price crashes is positively associated with the extent of tunneling behavior by large shareholders. The positive relationship is more pronounced after the split of share structure reform and is moderated by the firm＇s financial conditions. This study contributes to the emerging body of literature focusing on the economic consequences of tunneling and stock price crashes. The conclusions drawn from the study also provide a frame of reference for investor protection and investment portfolios based on large shareholders＇ tunneling behavior in China.     

参加ISO26000工作组杂忆（七）——来自印度的卡南教授以及发展中国家的另类提醒

在参加ISO26000工作组过程中,与各方面专家在会下的讨论、交换意见对我来说一直是很有意思的事。不管大家的观点是什么,也不管是来自发展中国家还是发达国家,通过交往,各自都既收获了信息,也收获了友谊。在工作组的这几年,与专家们交往中发生了很多事情,有些至今仍记忆犹新。     

The Politics of Shareholder Activism in Nigeria

Shareholder activism has become a force for good in the extant corporate governance literature. In this article, we present a case study of Nigeria to show how shareholder activism, as a corporate governance mechanism, can constitute a space for unhealthy politics and turbulent politicking, which is a reflection of the country’s brand of politics. As a result, we point out some translational challenges, and suggest more caution, in the diffusion of corporate governance practices across different institutional environments. We contribute to the literature on corporate governance in Africa, whilst creating an understanding of the political embeddedness of shareholder activism in different institutional contexts—i.e. a step closer to a political theorising of shareholder activism.     

Globalization and Economic Growth in Developing Countries: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

This article investigates how globalization affects economic growth in developing countries. We use a dynamic growth model with data from 42 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, covering the period from 1980 to 2012. The evidence indicates an inverted U curve type response, robust to changes in globalization measures and to alternative model specifications. Our findings are promising and support the view that the relationship between globalization and economic growth is not linear for SSA. Accordingly, SSA countries have control of trade openness, particularly for the import level of consumption goods to boost their economic growth through international trade.     

Duration of Self-employment in Developing Countries: Evidence from Small Enterprises in Zimbabwe

The duration of self-employment is an important policy consideration in developing countries. We use data from a sample of the self-employed in Zimbabwe to compute hazard rates by location and economic sector of the activity. We partition the data by date of entry to assess the impact of economic liberalization measures. Our results show that cost of finance, along with location and sector to be important variables in explaining duration. We then partition our sample in order to control for the effects of location, year of entry and type of activity. Our sub-samples thus consist of individuals facing the same history of macroeconomic trends in similar locations and activities. The results show that personal characteristics are significant in explaining differences between individuals in the duration of self-employment.     

National Governance and Corporate Liquidity in Organization of Islamic Cooperation Countries: Evidence based on a Sharia-compliant Liquidity Measure

This paper investigates the determination of corporate liquidity in Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries with emphasis on whether and how national governance (NG) has bearings on corporate liquidity in such countries. Using the Sharia-compliant liquidity measure to examine non-financial firms' liquidity in 22 OIC countries during the period 2000–2016, results reveal that liquidity determination in OIC countries resembles that in other countries. Additionally, NG positively affects corporate liquidity. Furthermore, the positive and negative effects of growth opportunities and leverage, respectively, on corporate liquidity strengthen with NG. Overall, results suggest that NG improves corporate governance in OIC countries.     

Non-Governmental Organizations, Shareholder Activism, and Socially Responsible Investments: Ethical, Strategic, and Governance Implications

In this article, we document the growing influence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the realm of socially responsible investing (SRI). Drawing from ethical and economic perspectives on stakeholder management and agency theory, we develop a framework to understand how and when NGOs will be most influential in shaping the ethical and social responsibility orientations of business using the emergence of SRI as the primary influencing vehicle. We find that NGOs have opportunities to influence corporate conduct via direct, indirect, and interactive influences on the investment community, and that the overall influence of NGOs as major actors in socially responsible investment is growing, with attendant consequences for corporate strategy, governance, and social performance.     

Corporate Environmental Citizenship Variation in Developing Countries: An Institutional Framework

This study focuses on why some companies in developing countries go beyond environmental regulations when implementing their corporate environmental social responsibilities or citizenship behavior. Drawing mainly upon the new institutional theory, this study develops a conceptual framework to explain three institutional factors: companies’ market orientations, industrial characteristics, and corporate identities. Accordingly, we suggest that companies from developing countries that are oriented to markets in developed countries, operate in highly concentrated industries, and have missionary identities adopt corporate environmental citizenship behavior by going beyond environmental regulations. The study also discusses the theoretical, policy, and managerial implications of the conceptual framework.     

Corporate Governance System and Regional Heterogeneity: Evidence from East and West Russia

Abstract

Using a unique firm-level dataset obtained from a large-scale questionnaire survey conducted in late 2015, we examined the generality and heterogeneity of corporate governance systems between the eastern and western regions of Russia. The survey results strongly suggest that the governance system in the surveyed firms is generally characterized by: the dominance of closed corporate forms, the polarization trend in boards of directors and audit committees in terms of their independence from senior management, the reluctance to employ independent directors or expert auditors, and the strong preference for local auditors and indigenous audit firms as external auditors. At the same time, however, we also found that the probability of establishment of the governance bodies, appointment of independent directors and expert auditors, and execution of external audit in the eastern companies is significantly lower than that in the western counterparts. This finding is robust, even after a series of firm-level attributes are simultaneously controlled for.     

E-commerce in Least Developing Countries: Summary Evidence and Implications

ABSTRACT

We undertook a review and classification of research on electronic commerce (e-commerce) in developing countries. We analyzed 181 articles published in a broad range of journals covering e-commerce, global information technology, and development issues. The analysis provides a roadmap that not only indicates the current state of e-commerce for development research but also identifies gaps and priorities for future research. This will be of significant value to both academics and practitioners who are working on, or plan to work on, e-commerce in developing countries.     

卖空的公司治理效应:来自高管薪酬业绩敏感性的证据

基于2006-2017年中国A股上市公司数据,考察了卖空对公司高管薪酬业绩敏感性的影响.研究结果表明,卖空机制显著提高了公司的高管薪酬业绩敏感性,且这种作用在非国有企业和市场化程度较高地区的样本中更为明显;其次,在使用融券卖空量来衡量卖空势力,以及使用基于倾向得分匹配的安慰剂检验和双重差分法缓解了内生性之后,结论依然成立;进一步,通过考虑转融券试点的影响、更换高管薪酬业绩敏感性的衡量指标以及改变样本区间等进行一系列稳健性检验,发现以上的结论保持不变;最后,分析了卖空对高管薪酬业绩敏感性影响的潜在机制,发现卖空可以通过提高股价信息含量来提升高管薪酬业绩敏感性.研究结果表明,卖空能够有效监督和约束管理层的行为,这也证明了卖空是一种有效的外部公司治理机制.     

Infrastructure Development and FDI Inflow to Developing Economies: Evidence from India

Nowadays, developing economies are becoming the preferred destination of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow. We draw insights from Dunning's eclectic paradigm to explore how FDI inflow is influenced by the quality of the physical infrastructure and human resources of the host country. We investigate various India‐specific infrastructural factors affecting FDI inflow between 1991 and 2010. Our empirical findings indicate that factors like railway transportation and road network as well as the quality of human resources played a crucial role in attracting FDI. However, air transportation or communication infrastructure is yet to play a significant role. Our study makes a modest attempt to identify areas of concern and scope for the further improvement of India's infrastructure facilities to attract foreign investment in the future. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.