IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijfss/v11y2023i4p126-d1270987.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bond Issuance as Reputational Signal: Debunking the Negative Perception of Additional Liability

Author

Listed:
  • Dachen Sheng

    (International College of Liberal Arts, Yamanashi Gakuin University, 2-4-5 Sakaori, Kofu 400-8575, Yamanashi, Japan
    Department of Business & Economics, International Christian University, 3-10-2 Osawa, Mitaka 181-8585, Tokyo, Japan)

  • Heather A. Montgomery

    (Department of Business & Economics, International Christian University, 3-10-2 Osawa, Mitaka 181-8585, Tokyo, Japan)

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants of bond issuance in the Chinese market and the influence of capital structure—in particular direct debt finance—on firm performance and the cost of debt. The results reveal that institutional factors in the Chinese market, in particular the involvement of the financial authority permission process during bond issuance, enhance the credibility of firms that are able to successfully issue bonds. Empirical analysis of Chinese listed manufacturing firms over the period from 2010 to 2021 demonstrates that firms with higher outstanding levels of bonds perform better and face lower costs of both bond and nonbond direct finance. We interpret this as bond issuance approval serving as a signal to markets of an implicit government guarantee on firms that are approved to issue bonds. The agency problem is analyzed using propensity-score matching and Logit analysis, revealing a trade-off between the principal–agent conflict and conflicts of interest among different shareholders when power is very concentrated through CEO duality: the CEO simultaneously serves as the chairman of the board. In large firms, as measured by total assets, the cost-reducing effect of the principal–agent problem being mitigated by CEO duality outweighs the agency costs arising from conflicts of interest between large and small shareholders, leading to an increased likelihood of successful bond issuance. However, in large firms, as measured by market capitalization, where share ownership is likely more diversified, this effect diminishes. In conclusion, this paper posits that policymakers ought to investigate strategies for granting preferential treatment to high-growth, small to mid-sized enterprises, enabling them to secure funding through direct debt financing.

Suggested Citation

  • Dachen Sheng & Heather A. Montgomery, 2023. "Bond Issuance as Reputational Signal: Debunking the Negative Perception of Additional Liability," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijfss:v:11:y:2023:i:4:p:126-:d:1270987
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/11/4/126/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/11/4/126/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eduardo Borensztein & Lei Sandy Ye, 2021. "Corporate debt overhang and investment in emerging economies: Firm‐level evidence," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 18-39, April.
    2. Berger, Allen N, 1995. "The Profit-Structure Relationship in Banking--Tests of Market-Power and Efficient-Structure Hypotheses," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 27(2), pages 404-431, May.
    3. Stewart Myers & John McConnell & Alice Peterson & Dennis Soter & Joel Stern, 2023. "Vanderbilt university roundtable on the capital structure puzzle," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 35(1), pages 38-49, January.
    4. Sung C. Bae & Daniel P. Klein & Raj Padmaraj, 1994. "Event Risk Bond Covenants, Agency Costs of Debt and Equity, and Stockholder Wealth," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 23(4), Winter.
    5. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:1:p:1-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Castanias, Richard, 1983. "Bankruptcy Risk and Optimal Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(5), pages 1617-1635, December.
    7. Sam Mensah & Joshua Yindenaba Abor, 2014. "Agency Conflict and Bank Interest Spreads in Ghana," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(4), pages 549-560, December.
    8. João A. C. Santos & Andrew Winton, 2008. "Bank Loans, Bonds, and Information Monopolies across the Business Cycle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1315-1359, 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. Théo Nicolas., 2023. "Bank Market Power and Interest Rate Setting: Why Consolidated Banking Data Matte [Pouvoir de marché des banques et fixation des taux d’intérêt : de l’importance de prendre en compte les données ban," Débats économiques et financiers 40, Banque de France.
    2. Jonas Ladime & Rayenda Khresna Brahmana, 2021. "Role of controlling shareholders on the performance of efficient African banks," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(2), pages 316-328, June.
    3. Wei Yin & Kent Matthews, 2016. "The determinants and profitability of switching costs in Chinese banking," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(43), pages 4156-4166, September.
    4. Nana Kwasi Karikari & Kwadwo Kwakye Gyan & Muhammad Ahad Hayat Khan & Baah Aye Kusi, 2023. "Institutional quality and social cost of intermediation in Africa: Does the level of financial market development matter?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 1899-1910, April.
    5. Kitamura, Tomiyuki & Muto, Ichiro & Takei, Ikuo, 2016. "Loan interest rate pass-through and changes after the financial crisis: Japan’s evidence," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 10-30.
    6. Constanza Martínez Ventura, 2005. "Una revisión empírica sobre los determinantes del margen de intermediación en Colombia, 1989-2003," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 23(48), pages 118-183, Junio.
    7. Baah Aye Kusi & Lydia Adzobu & Alex Kwame Abasi & Kwadjo Ansah-Adu, 2020. "Sectoral Loan Portfolio Concentration and Bank Stability: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 19(1), pages 66-99, April.
    8. Ebenezer Bugri Anarfo, 2015. "Determinants of Capital Structure of Banks: Evidence from Sub-Sahara Africa," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 5(4), pages 624-640, April.
    9. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Pensa, Pascal & Wöhle, Claudia B., 2004. "Kapitalstrukturtheorie in Theorie und Praxis: Ergebnisse einer Fragebogenuntersuchung," Working papers 2004/09, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    10. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2018_017 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Berger, Allen N. & Boot, Arnoud W.A., 2024. "Financial intermediation services and competition analyses: Review and paths forward for improvement," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    12. Kladakis, George & Chen, Lei & Bellos, Sotirios K., 2023. "Ethical bank disclosures and liquidity creation," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    13. Henrik Andersen & Ragnar E Juelsrud & Carola Müller, 2024. "Risk-based pricing in competitive lending markets," BIS Working Papers 1169, Bank for International Settlements.
    14. José Eduardo Gómez Gónzalez & Jorge Marío Uribe Gil & Hernán Piñeros Gordo, 2009. "Determinantes de la Rentabilidad de los Bancos en Colombia: ¿Importa la Tasa de Cambio?," Borradores de Economia 556, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    15. Wahyoe Soedarmono & Philippe Rous & Amine Tarazi, 2011. "Bank Capital and Self-Interested Managers: Evidence from Indonesia," Working Papers hal-00918584, HAL.
    16. Jalal D. Akhavein & Allen N. Berger & David B. Humphrey, "undated". "The Effects of Megamergers on Efficiency and Prices: Evidence from a Bank Profit Function," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1997-09, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), revised 10 Dec 2019.
    17. Olszak, Małgorzata & Kowalska, Iwona, 2023. "Do competition and market structure affect sensitivity of bank profitability to the business cycle?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Bo Liu & James D. Shilling & Tien Foo Sing, 2020. "Large Banks and Efficient Banks: how Do they Influence Credit Supply and Default Risk?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 1-28, February.
    19. Galina Hale & João A. C. Santos, 2006. "Evidence on the costs and benefits of bond IPOs," Working Paper Series 2006-42, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    20. de-Ramon, Sebastián & Iscenko, Zanna & Osborne, Matthew & Straughan, Michael & Andrews, Peter, 2012. "Measuring the impact of prudential policy on the macroeconomy: A practical application to Basel III and other responses to the financial crisis," MPRA Paper 69423, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Ongena, Steven & Tümer-Alkan, Günseli & Westernhagen, Natalja v., 2012. "Creditor concentration: An empirical investigation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 830-847.

    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:gam:jijfss:v:11:y:2023:i:4:p:126-:d:1270987. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.