IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/chinae/v17y2009i5p52-68.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From State to State: Quasi‐privatization and Firm Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Kun Wang

Abstract

This paper uses a sample of Chinese listed companies whose controlling shareholders have changed from government agencies to state‐owned enterprises (SOEs), to examine whether reducing government intervention while maintaining government's ultimate control could improve firm performance. The results show that the overall performance of these firms improves after the transfer of their controlling shareholders, due to improvements in both operating and non‐operating performance. When we separate all samples into solely SOEs and other SOEs based on the controlling shareholder, we find that operating performance improved significantly in the solely SOE group, whereas non‐operating performance improved significantly in the SOE group. In addition, we identify sources of performance improvement from two perspectives: corporate governance and related party transactions. The results imply that the Chinese Government should continue to decentralize control and, at the same time, continue to monitor firm operating efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Kun Wang, 2009. "From State to State: Quasi‐privatization and Firm Performance," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 17(5), pages 52-68, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:chinae:v:17:y:2009:i:5:p:52-68
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-124X.2009.01166.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-124X.2009.01166.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1749-124X.2009.01166.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrei Shleifer, 1998. "State versus Private Ownership," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 133-150, Fall.
    2. Boycko, Maxim & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1996. "A Theory of Privatisation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(435), pages 309-319, March.
    3. Boardman, Anthony E & Vining, Aidan R, 1989. "Ownership and Performance in Competitive Environments: A Comparison of the Performance of Private, Mixed, and State-Owned Enterprises," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 1-33, April.
    4. Barclay, Michael J & Holderness, Clifford G, 1991. "Negotiated Block Trades and Corporate Control," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(3), pages 861-878, July.
    5. Olivier Blanchard & Andrei Shleifer, 2001. "Federalism With and Without Political Centralization: China Versus Russia," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 48(4), pages 1-8.
    6. Yingyi Qian, 1996. "Enterprise reform in China: agency problems and political control," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 4(2), pages 427-447, October.
    7. Chen, Gongmeng & Firth, Michael & Xu, Liping, 2009. "Does the type of ownership control matter? Evidence from China's listed companies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 171-181, January.
    8. Aivazian, Varouj A. & Ge, Ying & Qiu, Jiaping, 2005. "Can corporatization improve the performance of state-owned enterprises even without privatization?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(5), pages 791-808, October.
    9. Megginson, William L & Nash, Robert C & van Randenborgh, Matthias, 1994. "The Financial and Operating Performance of Newly Privatized Firms: An International Empirical Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(2), pages 403-452, June.
    10. Tian, Lihui & Estrin, Saul, 2008. "Retained state shareholding in Chinese PLCs: Does government ownership always reduce corporate value?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 74-89, March.
    11. Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1994. "Politicians and Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 995-1025.
    12. Xu, Xiaonian & Wang, Yan, 1999. "Ownership structure and corporate governance in Chinese stock companies," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 75-98.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lu, Jing & Qiu, Yuhang, 2024. "Does minority shareholder activism reduce stock idiosyncratic risk?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    2. Huang, Zhangkai & Wang, Kun, 2011. "Ultimate privatization and change in firm performance: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 121-132, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhi Wang & Miao Yu, 2022. "Political embeddedness and firms' growth," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 127-153, February.
    2. Beuselinck, Christof & Cao, Lihong & Deloof, Marc & Xia, Xinping, 2017. "The value of government ownership during the global financial crisis," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 481-493.
    3. Victor Chen & Jing Li & Daniel Shapiro, 2011. "Are OECD-prescribed “good corporate governance practices” really good in an emerging economy?," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 115-138, March.
    4. Ding, Mingfa, 2014. "Political Connections and Stock Liquidity: Political Network, Hierarchy and Intervention," Knut Wicksell Working Paper Series 2014/7, Lund University, Knut Wicksell Centre for Financial Studies.
    5. He, Yan & Chiu, Yung-ho & Zhang, Bin, 2015. "The impact of corporate governance on state-owned and non-state-owned firms efficiency in China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 252-277.
    6. Alberto Chong & Florencio de, 2003. "The Truth about Privatization in Latin America," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm436, Yale School of Management.
    7. Lihui Tian & Saul Estrin, 2005. "Retained State Shareholding in Chinese PLCs: Does Government Ownership Reduce Corporate Value?," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp750, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    8. Henk Berkman & Rebel A. Cole & Lawrence J. Fu, 2014. "Improving corporate governance where the State is the controlling block holder: evidence from China," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(7-9), pages 752-777, September.
    9. Tian, Lihui & Estrin, Saul, 2008. "Retained state shareholding in Chinese PLCs: Does government ownership always reduce corporate value?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 74-89, March.
    10. Duc Nam Phung & Anil V. Mishra, 2016. "Ownership Structure and Firm Performance: Evidence from Vietnamese Listed Firms," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 63-98, March.
    11. Céline Du Boys, 2009. "Government As A Shareholder In Listed Companies: Consequences On Performance, Governance And Repartition Of Power Between Stakeholders," Post-Print hal-01470317, HAL.
    12. Nancy Huyghebaert & Qi Quan, 2011. "Ownership Dynamics after Partial Privatization: Evidence from China," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(2), pages 389-429.
    13. Phi, Nguyet Thi Minh & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Tu, Chuc Anh & Yoshino, Naoyuki & Kim, Chul Ju, 2019. "Performance Differential Between Private and State-Owned Enterprises: An Analysis of Profitability and Leverage," ADBI Working Papers 950, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    14. Du, Min & Boateng, Agyenim, 2015. "State ownership, institutional effects and value creation in cross-border mergers & acquisitions by Chinese firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 430-442.
    15. Sauro Mocetti & Giacomo Roma, 2020. "From 8,000 to 1,000? Rationalization and governance of Italian Government-owned enterprises," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 570, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    16. Kun Tracy Wang & Greg Shailer, 2018. "Does Ownership Identity Matter? A Meta‐analysis of Research on Firm Financial Performance in Relation to Government versus Private Ownership," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 54(1), pages 1-35, March.
    17. Pradeep Kautish, 2010. "Study On Impact Of Environmental Change On Selected Public Sector Enterprises In India," Romanian Economic Business Review, Romanian-American University, vol. 5(2), pages 68-88, June.
    18. O'Toole, Conor M. & Morgenroth, Edgar L.W. & Ha, Thuy T., 2016. "Investment efficiency, state-owned enterprises and privatisation: Evidence from Viet Nam in Transition," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 93-108.
    19. Choon-Yin Sam, 2013. "Partial privatisation and the role of state owned holding companies in China," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(3), pages 767-789, August.
    20. Richard W. Carney & Travers Barclay Child, 2015. "Business Networks and Crisis Performance: Professional, Political, and Family Ties," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 15-135/V, Tinbergen Institute, revised 20 Feb 2015.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:chinae:v:17:y:2009:i:5:p:52-68. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwepacn.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.