IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v74y2022ics0927538x22000956.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can a mighty dragon crush a snake in its old haunt? The impact of QFII on board independence in China

Author

Listed:
  • Guo, Liang
  • King, Lawrence
  • Wang, Kai
  • Yan, Shuo

Abstract

This study analyzes whether local economic freedom affects foreign institutional investors' promotion of board independence. Using firm-level foreign institutional ownership data, together with an anti-corruption reform that increases local economic freedom in China, we find that the positive relationship between foreign institutional ownership and board independence has been strengthened after the reform. This is especially large in regions with worse economic freedom. Our findings indicate that local economic freedom is crucial in promoting board independence among foreign institutional investors. Our results are robust to the instrumental variable approach and the placebo test and hold by applying alternative measurements of regional economic freedom.

Suggested Citation

  • Guo, Liang & King, Lawrence & Wang, Kai & Yan, Shuo, 2022. "Can a mighty dragon crush a snake in its old haunt? The impact of QFII on board independence in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:74:y:2022:i:c:s0927538x22000956
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2022.101800
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X22000956
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2022.101800?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. Xiaping Cao & Michael Lemmon & Xiaofei Pan & Meijun Qian & Gary Tian, 2019. "Political Promotion, CEO Incentives, and the Relationship Between Pay and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(7), pages 2947-2965, July.
    2. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    3. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    4. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    5. Chaur‐Shiuh Young & Liu‐Ching Tsai & Pei‐Gin Hsieh, 2008. "Voluntary Appointment of Independent Directors in Taiwan: Motives and Consequences," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(9‐10), pages 1103-1137, November.
    6. Boone, Audra L. & Casares Field, Laura & Karpoff, Jonathan M. & Raheja, Charu G., 2007. "The determinants of corporate board size and composition: An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 66-101, July.
    7. Linck, James S. & Netter, Jeffry M. & Yang, Tina, 2008. "The determinants of board structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 308-328, February.
    8. Guest, Paul M., 2008. "The determinants of board size and composition: Evidence from the UK," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 51-72, February.
    9. Frederic S. Mishkin, 2007. "Is Financial Globalization Beneficial?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(2-3), pages 259-294, March.
    10. Hermalin, Benjamin E & Weisbach, Michael S, 1998. "Endogenously Chosen Boards of Directors and Their Monitoring of the CEO," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(1), pages 96-118, March.
    11. James Gwartney & Robert Lawson, 2003. "What have we learned from the measurement of economic freedom?," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, issue Oct, pages 217-238.
    12. Aggarwal, Reena & Erel, Isil & Ferreira, Miguel & Matos, Pedro, 2011. "Does governance travel around the world? Evidence from institutional investors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 154-181, April.
    13. Pieroni, L. & d'Agostino, G., 2013. "Corruption and the effects of economic freedom," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 54-72.
    14. Andrew K. Prevost & Ramesh P. Rao & Mahmud Hossain, 2002. "Board Composition in New Zealand: An Agency Perspective," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5‐6), pages 731-760.
    15. Christel Lane, 2003. "Changes in corporate governance of German corporations: convergence to the Anglo-American model?," Working Papers wp259, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    16. Asli M. Colpan & Toru Yoshikawa & Takashi Hikino & Esther B. Del Brio, 2011. "Shareholder Heterogeneity and Conflicting Goals: Strategic Investments in the Japanese Electronics Industry," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 591-618, May.
    17. Chaur-Shiuh Young & Liu-Ching Tsai & Pei-Gin Hsieh, 2008. "Voluntary Appointment of Independent Directors in Taiwan: Motives and Consequences," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(9-10), pages 1103-1137.
    18. Carden Art & Verdon Lisa, 2010. "When Is Corruption a Substitute for Economic Freedom?," The Law and Development Review, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 40-63, May.
    19. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    20. Rajan, Raghuram G. & Zingales, Luigi, 2003. "The great reversals: the politics of financial development in the twentieth century," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 5-50, July.
    21. Pieroni Luca & d'Agostino Giorgio, 2009. "Military Spending, Corruption and Economic Growth," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 14(3), pages 1-14, March.
    22. Frederic S. Mishkin, 2007. "Is Financial Globalization Beneficial?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(2‐3), pages 259-294, March.
    23. Rubach, Michael J. & Sebora, Terrence C., 1998. "Comparative corporate governance: Competitive implications of an emerging convergence," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 167-184, July.
    24. Paldam, Martin, 2002. "The cross-country pattern of corruption: economics, culture and the seesaw dynamics," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 215-240, June.
    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. Aziz Jaafar & Lynn Hodgkinson & Mao-Feng Kao, 2019. "Ownership Structure, Board of Directors and Firm Performance: Evidence from Taiwan," Working Papers 19011, Bangor Business School, Prifysgol Bangor University (Cymru / Wales).
    2. Chen, Ming-Yuan, 2014. "Determinants of corporate board structure in Taiwan," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 62-78.
    3. Acero Fraile, Isabel & Alcalde Fradejas, Nuria, 2014. "Ownership structure and board composition in a high ownership concentration context," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 646-657.
    4. Munisi, Gibson & Hermes, Niels & Randøy, Trond, 2014. "Corporate boards and ownership structure: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 785-796.
    5. Neupane, Biwesh & Thapa, Chandra & Marshall, Andrew & Neupane, Suman & Shrestha, Chaman, 2024. "Do foreign institutional investors improve board monitoring?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Lee, Shih-Cheng & Lin, Chien-Ting, 2010. "An accounting-based valuation approach to valuing corporate governance in Taiwan," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 47-60.
    7. Chen, Tao, 2015. "Institutions, board structure, and corporate performance: Evidence from Chinese firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 217-237.
    8. Lee, Shih-Cheng & Lin, Chien-Ting & Chang, Pei-Ting, 2011. "An Ohlson valuation framework for valuing corporate governance: The case of Taiwan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 420-434, September.
    9. Øyvind Bøhren & Siv Staubo, 2016. "Mandatory Gender Balance and Board Independence," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 22(1), pages 3-30, January.
    10. Brickley, James A. & Zimmerman, Jerold L., 2010. "Corporate governance myths: Comments on Armstrong, Guay, and Weber," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 235-245, December.
    11. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, June.
    12. Henrique Castro Martins & Cristiano Machado Costa, 2020. "Does control concentration affect board busyness? International evidence," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(3), pages 821-850, September.
    13. Yunhe Li & Faqin Lan, 2021. "The determinants of adjustment speed of board structure: evidence from Chinese listed companies," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 725-753, April.
    14. Li, Li & Song, Frank M., 2013. "Do bank regulations affect board independence? A cross-country analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2714-2732.
    15. Đặng, Rey & Houanti, L’Hocine & Reddy, Krishna & Simioni, Michel, 2020. "Does board gender diversity influence firm profitability? A control function approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 168-181.
    16. Ahsan Habib & Md. Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan & Mostafa Monzur Hasan, 2018. "Firm life cycle and advisory directors," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 43(4), pages 575-592, November.
    17. Bansal, Shashank & Thenmozhi, M., 2020. "Does concentrated founder ownership affect board independence? Role of corporate life cycle and ownership identity," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    18. Datta, Deepak K. & Basuil, Dynah A. & Agarwal, Ankita, 2020. "Effects of board characteristics on post-acquisition performance: A study of cross-border acquisitions by firms in the manufacturing sector," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    19. Bird, Robert C. & Borochin, Paul A. & Knopf, John D., 2015. "The role of the chief legal officer in corporate governance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-22.
    20. Enya He & David W. Sommer, 2010. "Separation of Ownership and Control: Implications for Board Composition," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 77(2), pages 265-295, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Foreign institutional ownership; Chinese economy; Board independence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

    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:pacfin:v:74:y:2022:i:c:s0927538x22000956. 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/pacfin .

    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.