IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jcecon/v36y2008i1p74-89.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Retained state shareholding in Chinese PLCs: Does government ownership always reduce corporate value?

Author

Listed:
  • Tian, Lihui
  • Estrin, Saul

Abstract

Government ownership of enterprises in China remains substantial. In this paper, we use a large data set of Chinese public listed companies between 1994 and 2004 to generate evidence on how government ownership influences company performance. We find the effect of government ownership on corporate value to be non-monotonic. In fact, the relationship is U-shaped; up to a certain threshold, corporate value decreases as government shareholding increases, but beyond this it increases. When its shareholding is large, the government can actually improve corporate value. We interpret this result in terms of ownership concentration and government partiality. Journal of Comparative Economics 36 (1) (2008) 74-89.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:36:y:2008:i:1:p:74-89
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147-5967(07)00083-2
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Bai, Chong-En & Liu, Qiao & Lu, Joe & Song, Frank M. & Zhang, Junxi, 2004. "Corporate governance and market valuation in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 599-616, December.
    2. 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.
    3. Simeon Djankov & Peter Murrell, 2002. "Enterprise Restructuring in Transition: A Quantitative Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(3), pages 739-792, September.
    4. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    5. Lawrence J. Lau & Yingyi Qian & Gerard Roland, 2000. "Reform without Losers: An Interpretation of China's Dual-Track Approach to Transition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(1), pages 120-143, February.
    6. 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.
    7. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation," Scholarly Articles 29407535, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    8. 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.
    9. Qi, Daqing & Wu, Woody & Zhang, Hua, 2000. "Shareholding structure and corporate performance of partially privatized firms: Evidence from listed Chinese companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 8(5), pages 587-610, October.
    10. Estrin, Saul & Perotin, Virginie, 1991. "Does ownership always matter?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 55-72, March.
    11. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1995. "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1421-1460, December.
    12. McConnell, John J. & Servaes, Henri, 1990. "Additional evidence on equity ownership and corporate value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 595-612, October.
    13. Kee H. Chung & Stephen W. Pruitt, 1994. "A Simple Approximation of Tobin's q," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 23(3), Fall.
    14. Xiaozu Wang & Lixin Colin Xu & Tian Zhu, 2004. "State‐owned enterprises going public The case of China," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 12(3), pages 467-487, September.
    15. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    16. Saul Estrin & Jan Hanousek & Evzen Kocenda & Jan Svejnar, 2009. "The Effects of Privatization and Ownership in Transition Economies," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(3), pages 699-728, September.
    17. Laurence Booth & Varouj Aivazian & Asli Demirguc‐Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2001. "Capital Structures in Developing Countries," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 87-130, February.
    18. Megginson, William Leon, 2005. "The Financial Economics of Privatization," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195150629.
    19. Lindenberg, Eric B & Ross, Stephen A, 1981. "Tobin's q Ratio and Industrial Organization," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(1), pages 1-32, January.
    20. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    21. Li, Wei, 1997. "The Impact of Economic Reform on the Performance of Chinese State Enterprises, 1980-1989," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(5), pages 1080-1106, October.
    22. Wei, Zuobao & Xie, Feixue & Zhang, Shaorong, 2005. "Ownership Structure and Firm Value in China's Privatized Firms: 1991–2001," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(1), pages 87-108, March.
    23. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:1:p:1-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. John Bennett & Saul Estrin & James Maw, 2005. "Why did Transition Economies Choose Mass Privatization?," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 567-575, 04/05.
    25. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation : An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 293-315, January.
    26. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    27. Zuobao Wei & Oscar Varela & Juliet D'Souza & M. Kabir Hassan, 2003. "The Financial and Operating Performance of China's Newly Privatized Firms," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 32(2), Summer.
    28. Chhibber, Pradeep K & Majumdar, Sumit K, 1999. "Foreign Ownership and Profitability: Property Rights, Control, and the Performance of Firms in Indian Industry," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 209-238, April.
    29. Claessens, Stijn & Djankov, Simeon & Lang, Larry H. P., 2000. "The separation of ownership and control in East Asian Corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 81-112.
    30. 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.
    31. Jiahua Che & Yingyi Qian, 1998. "Insecure Property Rights and Government Ownership of Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(2), pages 467-496.
    32. Xu, Xiaonian & Wang, Yan, 1999. "Ownership structure and corporate governance in Chinese stock companies," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 75-98.
    33. Wang, Changyun, 2005. "Ownership and operating performance of Chinese IPOs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1835-1856, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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.
    2. Kubo, Katsuyuki & Phan, Huu Viet, 2019. "State ownership, sovereign wealth fund and their effects on firm performance: Empirical evidence from Vietnam," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    3. Anna P. I. Vong & Duarte Trigueiros, 2014. "Reversal in the relative performance of state- and legal person-owned companies during the Chinese split share structure reform," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(15), pages 1728-1750, May.
    4. 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.
    5. Boubakri, Narjess & Cosset, Jean-Claude & Guedhami, Omrane & Saffar, Walid, 2011. "The political economy of residual state ownership in privatized firms: Evidence from emerging markets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 244-258, April.
    6. Sun, Qian & Tong, Wilson H. S., 2003. "China share issue privatization: the extent of its success," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 183-222, November.
    7. 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.
    8. Kurt Hess & Abeyratna Gunasekarage & Martin Hovey, 2010. "State‐dominant and non‐state‐dominant ownership concentration and firm performance," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(4), pages 264-289, September.
    9. 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.
    10. Agyenim Boateng & XiaoGang Bi & Sanjukta Brahma, 2017. "The impact of firm ownership, board monitoring on operating performance of Chinese mergers and acquisitions," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 925-948, November.
    11. D'Souza, Juliet & Megginson, William L. & Ullah, Barkat & Wei, Zuobao, 2017. "Growth and growth obstacles in transition economies: Privatized versus de novo private firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 422-438.
    12. Bernardo Bortolotti & Mara Faccio, 2004. "Reluctant Privatization," Working Papers 2004.130, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    13. Wenwen Zhan & John Turner, 2012. "Crossing the River by Touching Stones?: The Reform of Corporate Ownership in China," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 19(3), pages 233-258, September.
    14. Cabeza-García, Laura & Gómez-Ansón, Silvia, 2011. "Post-privatisation ownership concentration: Determinants and influence on firm efficiency," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 412-430, September.
    15. Kun Wang & Greg Shailer, 2015. "Ownership Concentration And Firm Performance In Emerging Markets: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 199-229, April.
    16. Trien Le & Amon Chizema, 2011. "State ownership and firm performance: Evidence from the Chinese listed firms," Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies, Faculty of Economics, Vilnius University, vol. 2(2).
    17. Bortolotti, Bernardo & Cambini, Carlo & Rondi, Laura, 2013. "Reluctant regulation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 804-828.
    18. Liu, Chunyan & Uchida, Konari & Yang, Yufeng, 2012. "Corporate governance and firm value during the global financial crisis: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 70-80.
    19. Li, Donghui & Moshirian, Fariborz & Nguyen, Pascal & Tan, Li-Wen, 2007. "Managerial ownership and firm performance: Evidence from China's privatizations," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 396-413, September.
    20. LI, Tao & SUN, Laixiang & ZOU, Liang, 2009. "State ownership and corporate performance: A quantile regression analysis of Chinese listed companies," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 703-716, December.

    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:eee:jcecon:v:36:y:2008:i:1:p:74-89. 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/inca/622864 .

    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.