IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/jleorg/v31y2015i1p1-29..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corruption in Chinese Privatizations

Author

Listed:
  • Raymond Fisman
  • Yongxiang Wang

Abstract

We document evidence of corruption in Chinese state asset sales. These sales involved stakes in partially privatized firms, providing a benchmark—the price of publicly traded shares—to measure underpricing. Underpricing is correlated with deal attributes associated with misgovernance and corruption. Sales by "disguised" owners that misrepresent their state ownership to elude regulatory scrutiny are discounted 5–7 percentage points more than sales by other owners; related party transactions are similarly discounted. Analysis of subsequent operating performance provides suggestive evidence that aggregate ownership transfers improve profitability, though not in cases where the transfers themselves were corrupted. (JEL D73, G30, L33).

Suggested Citation

  • Raymond Fisman & Yongxiang Wang, 2015. "Corruption in Chinese Privatizations," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 31(1), pages 1-29.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jleorg:v:31:y:2015:i:1:p:1-29.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jleo/ewu003
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

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

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Kahl, Matthias & Liu, Jun & Longstaff, Francis A., 2003. "Paper millionaires: how valuable is stock to a stockholder who is restricted from selling it?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 385-410, March.
    3. Eitan Goldman & Jörg Rocholl & Jongil So, 2009. "Do Politically Connected Boards Affect Firm Value?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(6), pages 2331-2360, June.
    4. Heather A. Haveman & Yongxiang Wang, 2013. "Going (More) Public: Institutional Isomorphism and Ownership Reform among Chinese Firms. (更多的)上市流通：制度同构与中国公司的股权改革," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 9(1), pages 17-51, March.
    5. 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.
    6. Liu, Qiao & Lu, Zhou (Joe), 2007. "Corporate governance and earnings management in the Chinese listed companies: A tunneling perspective," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 881-906, December.
    7. Andrei Shleifer & Daniel Treisman, 2005. "A Normal Country: Russia After Communism," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 151-174, Winter.
    8. Huyghebaert, Nancy & Quan, Qi, 2009. "Share issuing privatizations in China: Sequencing and its effects on public share allocation and underpricing," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 306-320, June.
    9. Lihui Tian, 2001. "Government Shareholding and the Value of China's Modern Firms," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 395, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    10. Chen, Gongmeng & Firth, Michael & Gao, Daniel N. & Rui, Oliver M., 2006. "Ownership structure, corporate governance, and fraud: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 424-448, June.
    11. Jones, Steven L. & Megginson, William L. & Nash, Robert C. & Netter, Jeffry M., 1999. "Share issue privatizations as financial means to political and economic ends," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 217-253, August.
    12. repec:arz:wpaper:eres2010-229 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Dewenter, Kathryn L & Malatesta, Paul H, 1997. "Public Offerings of State-Owned and Privately-Owned Enterprises: An International Comparison," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(4), pages 1659-1679, September.
    14. Marianne Bertrand & Paras Mehta & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2002. "Ferreting out Tunneling: An Application to Indian Business Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 121-148.
    15. Cull, Robert & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2005. "Institutions, ownership, and finance: the determinants of profit reinvestment among Chinese firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 117-146, July.
    16. Nandini Gupta, 2005. "Partial Privatization and Firm Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(2), pages 987-1015, April.
    17. Chen, Gongmeng & Firth, Michael & Xin, Yu & Xu, Liping, 2008. "Control Transfers, Privatization, and Corporate Performance: Efficiency Gains in China's Listed Companies," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(1), pages 161-190, March.
    18. Haveman, Heather A. & Wang, Yongxiang, 2013. "Going (More) Public: Institutional Isomorphism and Ownership Reform among Chinese Firms," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 17-51, March.
    19. Bruno Biais & Enrico Perotti, 2002. "Machiavellian Privatization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 240-258, March.
    20. Rafael La Porta & Florencio López-de-Silanes, 1999. "The Benefits of Privatization: Evidence from Mexico," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(4), pages 1193-1242.
    21. Peng, Winnie Qian & Wei, K.C. John & Yang, Zhishu, 2011. "Tunneling or propping: Evidence from connected transactions in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 306-325, April.
    22. Haveman, Heather A. & Wang, Yongxiang, 2013. "Going (More) Public: Institutional Isomorphism and Ownership Reform among Chinese Firms," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, pages 17-52.
    23. Chen, Charles J.P. & Li, Zengquan & Su, Xijia & Sun, Zheng, 2011. "Rent-seeking incentives, corporate political connections, and the control structure of private firms: Chinese evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 229-243, April.
    24. A. Craig MacKinlay, 1997. "Event Studies in Economics and Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 13-39, March.
    25. Tarun Chordia, 2005. "An Empirical Analysis of Stock and Bond Market Liquidity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 85-129.
    26. Raymond Fisman, 2001. "Estimating the Value of Political Connections," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1095-1102, September.
    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. Piotroski, Joseph D. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2014. "Politicians and the IPO decision: The impact of impending political promotions on IPO activity in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 111-136.
    2. Fuxiu Jiang & Kenneth A Kim, 2020. "Corporate Governance in China: A Survey [The role of boards of directors in corporate governance: a conceptual framework and survey]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 24(4), pages 733-772.
    3. Calomiris, Charles W. & Fisman, Raymond & Wang, Yongxiang, 2010. "Profiting from government stakes in a command economy: Evidence from Chinese asset sales," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 399-412, June.
    4. Ljungqvist, Alexander & Chen, Donghua & Lu, Haitian & Jiang, Dequan & Zhou, Mingming, 2015. "State Capitalism vs. Private Enterprise," CEPR Discussion Papers 10423, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Cheryl Long & Jing Zhang & Jin Yang, 2021. "Uncovering asset stripping during China's privatization," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 651-680, October.
    6. Huyghebaert, Nancy & Quan, Qi, 2009. "Share issuing privatizations in China: Sequencing and its effects on public share allocation and underpricing," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 306-320, June.
    7. Ding, Shujun & Jia, Chunxin & Wu, Zhenyu & Zhang, Xiaoqing, 2014. "Executive political connections and firm performance: Comparative evidence from privately-controlled and state-owned enterprises," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 153-167.
    8. Seung‐Doo Choi & Inmoo Lee & William Megginson, 2010. "Do Privatization IPOs Outperform in the Long Run?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 153-185, March.
    9. Berkman, Henk & Cole, Rebel A. & Fu, Lawrence J., 2010. "Political Connections and Minority-Shareholder Protection: Evidence from Securities-Market Regulation in China," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(6), pages 1391-1417, December.
    10. Lars Helge Haß & Sofia Johan & Maximilian André Müller, 2016. "The Effectiveness of Public Enforcement: Evidence from the Resolution of Tunneling in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(4), pages 649-668, April.
    11. Cull, Robert & Li, Wei & Sun, Bo & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2015. "Government connections and financial constraints: Evidence from a large representative sample of Chinese firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 271-294.
    12. Firth, Michael & Lin, Chen & Liu, Ping & Wong, Sonia M.L., 2009. "Inside the black box: Bank credit allocation in China's private sector," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1144-1155, June.
    13. Rim Ben Hassen & Omri Abdelwahed, 2014. "Privatization of Tunisian Companies: A Study of Corporate Governance Mechanisms," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 4(2), pages 94-104, April.
    14. 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.
    15. repec:lic:licosd:16205 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Wei Zhang & Xiong Xiong & Guanying Wang & Jing Li, 2022. "The accounting and trading information channels of excess control rights on IPO long-term return in China," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1609-1646, November.
    17. Liu, Yu & Wei, Zuobao & Xie, Feixue, 2014. "Do women directors improve firm performance in China?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 169-184.
    18. Boubakri, Narjess & Cosset, Jean-Claude & Saffar, Walid, 2017. "The constraints on full privatization: International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 392-407.
    19. Bilei Zhou & Jie (Michael) Guo & Jun Hua & Angelos J. Doukas, 2015. "Does State Ownership Drive M&A Performance? Evidence from China," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 21(1), pages 79-105, January.
    20. Jiang, Kun & Wang, Susheng, 2012. "Staged privatization: A market process with multistage lockups," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 1051-1070.
    21. Ingolf Dittmann & Ernst Maug & Christoph Schneider, 2008. "How Preussag Became TUI: A Clinical Study of Institutional Blockholders and Restructuring in Europe," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 37(3), pages 571-598, September.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out

    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:oup:jleorg:v:31:y:2015:i:1:p:1-29.. 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: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/jleo .

    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.