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What do private firms do after losing political capital? Evidence from China

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  • Li, Zhimin
  • Cheng, Lei

Abstract

This paper studies the real effects of losing political capital by exploiting exogenous shocks from the sudden deaths of politically connected independent directors in Chinese firms. Using difference-in-differences estimation, we find that upon losing political capital, a firm boosts its physical capital expenditures by 28%, or 2.93 percentage points, which is an order of magnitude larger than estimates from the United States. The loss of political capital leads to a decrease in the economic benefits a firm can obtain, in terms of bank loans, tax benefits, and government subsidies, and an increase in its production costs. Our evidence suggests that private firms use physical capital investment as a substitute for political capital.

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  • Li, Zhimin & Cheng, Lei, 2020. "What do private firms do after losing political capital? Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:60:y:2020:i:c:s0929119919309356
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2019.101551
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    6. Cheng, Lei, 2022. "Political capital and physical capital: Substitute or complement? Evidence from China's anti-corruption campaign," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PB).
    7. Choi, Jaehyuk & Lu, Lei & Park, Heungju & Sohn, Sungbin, 2022. "The financial value of the within-government political network: Evidence from Chinese municipal corporate bonds," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    8. Ding, Haoyuan & Hu, Yichuan & Kim, Kenneth A. & Xie, Mi, 2023. "Relationship-based debt financing of Chinese private sector firms: The role of social connections to banks versus political connections," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
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