IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v54y2023ics1544612323001289.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does minority shareholder activism enhance corporate innovation? Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Zhibin
  • Li, Zelei

Abstract

Minority shareholder activism (MSA) on online interactive platforms is a novel form of corporate governance in China. This paper investigates whether, and how, innovation-related minority shareholder activism affects corporate innovation. We find that MSA is significantly positively related to firms’ future innovation output. We establish a causal relationship between MSA and future innovation output using both instrumental variable and propensity score matching approaches. We further find that MSA's governance effect on innovation is consistent with career concerns rather than the quiet life hypothesis. Additionally, we find that MSA's effects substitute for institutional investor activism's effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Zhibin & Li, Zelei, 2023. "Does minority shareholder activism enhance corporate innovation? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:54:y:2023:i:c:s1544612323001289
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2023.103755
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612323001289
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2023.103755?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brav, Alon & Jiang, Wei & Ma, Song & Tian, Xuan, 2018. "How does hedge fund activism reshape corporate innovation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(2), pages 237-264.
    2. Philippe Aghion & John Van Reenen & Luigi Zingales, 2013. "Innovation and Institutional Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 277-304, February.
    3. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    4. Zhang, Xiaoqian & Yu, Mingqiang & Chen, Gaoquan, 2020. "Does mixed-ownership reform improve SOEs' innovation? Evidence from state ownership," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Pang, Caiji & Wang, Ying, 2020. "Stock pledge, risk of losing control and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    6. Xiong, Jiacai & Ouyang, Caiyue & Tong, Jamie Yixing & Zhang, Feida Frank, 2021. "Fraud commitment in a smaller world: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    7. Cao, Jerry & Wang, Hanyang & Zhou, Sili, 2022. "Soft activism and corporate dividend policy: Evidence from institutional investors site visits," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    8. He, Jie (Jack) & Tian, Xuan, 2013. "The dark side of analyst coverage: The case of innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 856-878.
    9. Kong, Dongmin & Liu, Lihua & Liu, Shasha, 2020. "Market information traveling on high-speed rails: The case of analyst forecasts," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    10. Vivian W. Fang & Xuan Tian & Sheri Tice, 2014. "Does Stock Liquidity Enhance or Impede Firm Innovation?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(5), pages 2085-2125, October.
    11. Nan Li, 2021. "Do Majority‐of‐Minority Shareholder Voting Rights Reduce Expropriation? Evidence from Related Party Transactions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 1385-1423, September.
    12. Jiang, Guohua & Lee, Charles M.C. & Yue, Heng, 2010. "Tunneling through intercorporate loans: The China experience," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 1-20, October.
    13. Yinju Nie & Ming Jia, 2021. "The power of crowds: can minority shareholder activism promote management earnings forecast accuracy," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(5), pages 6333-6385, December.
    14. Lin, Jing & Li, Fang & Zheng, Steven Xiaofan & Zhou, Mingshan, 2023. "Minority shareholder voting and dividend policy," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    15. Shai Bernstein, 2015. "Does Going Public Affect Innovation?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(4), pages 1365-1403, August.
    16. Jiang, Xuanyu & Yuan, Qingbo, 2018. "Institutional investors' corporate site visits and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 148-168.
    17. Jie Gan & Yan Guo & Chenggang Xu, 2018. "Decentralized Privatization and Change of Control Rights in China," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(10), pages 3854-3894.
    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. Xue, Kunkun & Wu, Lidong & Sun, Peipei, 2023. "Board informal hierarchy and firm innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    2. Wang, Maochuan & Yan, Youliang, 2023. "The dark side of investor interactive platforms: Evidence from corporate investment efficiency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    3. Han, Han & Wang, Zhibin & Zhao, Xueqing, 2023. "Minority shareholder activism, threat of exit and pay-performance sensitivity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    4. Gao, Yihong & Pan, Xingyu & Ye, Qiaoyan, 2023. "Corporate governance effects of state asset protection: A perspective on real earnings management," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PD).
    5. Huang, Xue & Wang, Zhibin, 2024. "Does minority shareholder activism impede corporate default risk? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    6. Tan, Zhuohong & Wang, Handi & Hong, Yunzhe, 2023. "Does bank FinTech improve corporate innovation?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PA).
    7. Chen, Wenchuan & Liu, Yu & Liu, Siyi & Chen, Yugang & Zhang, Pengdong, 2024. "The governance effects of social media engagement on M&A outcomes: Evidence from China," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Zhao, Yang, 2024. "Retail shareholder activism and investment efficiency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    9. Li, Lu & Zheng, Gaoping & Zhong, Angel, 2024. "Reforming private securities litigation in China: Does private enforcement by minority shareholders matter to corporate fraud?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

    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. Han, Han & Wang, Zhibin & Zhao, Xueqing, 2023. "Minority shareholder activism, threat of exit and pay-performance sensitivity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    2. Zhang, Ping & Wang, Yiru & Gao, Jieying, 2023. "Going public and innovation: Evidence from the ChiNext stock market," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 586-613.
    3. Zhang, Qianqian & Jiang, Chunzi & Liu, Baohua & Chan, Kam C., 2024. "Small but salient: Minority shareholders’ innovation attention in interactive online platforms and corporate innovation," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(PB).
    4. Tan, Yongxian & Tian, Xuan & Zhang, Xinde & Zhao, Hailong, 2020. "The real effect of partial privatization on corporate innovation: Evidence from China's split share structure reform," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Guan, Yuyan & Zhang, Liandong & Zheng, Liu & Zou, Hong, 2021. "Managerial liability and corporate innovation: Evidence from a legal shock," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    6. Chen Lin & Sibo Liu & Gustavo Manso, 2021. "Shareholder Litigation and Corporate Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 3346-3367, June.
    7. Seong K. Byun & Jong-Min & Han Xia, 2021. "Incremental vs. Breakthrough Innovation: The Role of Technology Spillovers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(3), pages 1779-1802, March.
    8. Tan, Youchao & Liu, Xiumei & Sun, Hanwen & Zeng, Cheng(Colin), 2022. "Population ageing, labour market rigidity and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).
    9. Hyoseok (David) Hwang, 2023. "The real effects of local mutual funds: Evidence from corporate innovation," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 23(2), pages 272-300, June.
    10. Pang, Caiji & Wang, Ying, 2020. "Stock pledge, risk of losing control and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    11. Blanco, Iván & Wehrheim, David, 2017. "The bright side of financial derivatives: Options trading and firm innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1), pages 99-119.
    12. Chen, Jie & Leung, Woon Sau & Evans, Kevin P., 2018. "Female board representation, corporate innovation and firm performance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 236-254.
    13. Ching-Hung Chang & Qingqing Wu, 2021. "Board Networks and Corporate Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 3618-3654, June.
    14. Fu, Yishu, 2019. "Independent directors, CEO career concerns, and firm innovation: Evidence from China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    15. D. Daniel Keum, 2021. "Innovation, short‐termism, and the cost of strong corporate governance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 3-29, January.
    16. Ding, Xiaoya (Sara) & Guo, Mengmeng & Kuai, Yicheng & Niu, Geng, 2023. "Social trust and firm innovation: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 474-493.
    17. Moshirian, Fariborz & Tian, Xuan & Zhang, Bohui & Zhang, Wenrui, 2021. "Stock market liberalization and innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(3), pages 985-1014.
    18. Xiangchao Hao & Qingbin Meng & Kaijuan Gao & Kam C. Chan, 2020. "The impact of initial public offerings on innovations: Short‐termism or initial governance force exit?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(6), pages 924-942, September.
    19. Wang, Jimin & Ho, Choy Yeing (Chloe) & Shan, Yuan George, 2024. "Does cybersecurity risk stifle corporate innovation activities?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    20. Fich, Eliezer M. & Nguyen, Tung & Petmezas, Dimitris, 2023. "The effects of terrorist attacks on inventor productivity and mobility," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Minority shareholder activism; Innovation; Corporate governance; Career concern;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

    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:eee:finlet:v:54:y:2023:i:c:s1544612323001289. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    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.