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A leap of faith that echoes well? The value impact of Chinese firms starting up business overseas

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  • Lu, Baizhou
  • Hao, Wei
  • Liao, Jing
  • Wongchoti, Udomsak

Abstract

We investigate the impact of greenfield outward foreign direct investment (GODI) by Chinese firms on their subsequent Tobin's Q. Our findings indicate that Chinese listed companies from 2003 to 2019 generally experience a significantly positive boost in perceived firm value (or growth prospects) when engaging in overseas business start-ups (i.e., with no foreign partners) when compared to their inactive peers. The positive GODI effect is more prominent among privately owned enterprises vs. state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Our mechanism tests indicate that lowered effective tax rates and reduced illiquidity due to conducting greenfield ODI serve as the value-enhancing channels. Possibly driven by political objectives, SOEs tend to prioritize developing and Belt-Road countries as the destination for their greenfield overseas endeavors.

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  • Lu, Baizhou & Hao, Wei & Liao, Jing & Wongchoti, Udomsak, 2023. "A leap of faith that echoes well? The value impact of Chinese firms starting up business overseas," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:glofin:v:57:y:2023:i:c:s1044028323000650
    DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2023.100870
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Greenfield ODI; Firm performance; State ownership; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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