IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/lar/wpaper/2010-04.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Small business groups enhance performance and promote stability, not expropriation. Evidence from French SMEs

Author

Listed:
  • Anaïs Hamelin

    (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg)

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of a firm’s distance from control on its performance, using a unique firm level data set on small business ownership, as well as balance sheet information. This study fills a gap in the empirical governance literature by investigating whether or not there is an expropriation of minority shareholders in small business groups. Contrary to what is usually observed for large business groups, results show a positive relationship between the separation of control from ownership and firm performance. Results also underline that tunneling is used to promote controlling shareholders’ profit stability rather than profit maximization in small business groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Anaïs Hamelin, 2010. "Small business groups enhance performance and promote stability, not expropriation. Evidence from French SMEs," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2010-04, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:lar:wpaper:2010-04
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ifs.u-strasbg.fr/large/publications/2010/2010-04.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simon Johnson, 2000. "Tunneling," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 22-27, May.
    2. 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.
    3. Vos, Ed & Yeh, Andy Jia-Yuh & Carter, Sara & Tagg, Stephen, 2007. "The happy story of small business financing," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 2648-2672, September.
    4. Ferris, Stephen P. & Kim, Kenneth A. & Kitsabunnarat, Pattanaporn, 2003. "The costs (and benefits?) of diversified business groups: The case of Korean chaebols," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 251-273, February.
    5. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    6. Sabri Boubaker, 2007. "Ownership-Control Discrepancy and Firm Value: Evidence from France," Multinational Finance Journal, Multinational Finance Journal, vol. 11(3-4), pages 211-252, September.
    7. Nahmias, L., 2007. "Groupes de sociétés et analyse du tissu productif : enjeux et premiers constats," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 159, pages 23-40.
    8. Berkman, Henk & Cole, Rebel A. & Fu, Lawrence J., 2009. "Expropriation through loan guarantees to related parties: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 141-156, January.
    9. Chapelle, Ariane & Szafarz, Ariane, 2005. "Controlling firms through the majority voting rule," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 355(2), pages 509-529.
    10. Lins, Karl V., 2003. "Equity Ownership and Firm Value in Emerging Markets," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 159-184, March.
    11. Stijn Claessens & Simeon Djankov & Joseph P. H. Fan & Larry H. P. Lang, 2002. "Disentangling the Incentive and Entrenchment Effects of Large Shareholdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2741-2771, December.
    12. Tobias J. Moskowitz & Annette Vissing-Jørgensen, 2002. "The Returns to Entrepreneurial Investment: A Private Equity Premium Puzzle?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 745-778, September.
    13. Bennedsen, Morten & Nielsen, Kasper Meisner, 2010. "Incentive and entrenchment effects in European ownership," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 2212-2229, September.
    14. Heitor V. Almeida & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2006. "A Theory of Pyramidal Ownership and Family Business Groups," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2637-2680, December.
    15. Cole, Rebel A., 1998. "The importance of relationships to the availability of credit," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 959-977, August.
    16. Gao, Lei & Kling, Gerhard, 2008. "Corporate governance and tunneling: Empirical evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 591-605, November.
    17. Cheung, Yan-Leung & Qi, Yuehua & Raghavendra Rau, P. & Stouraitis, Aris, 2009. "Buy high, sell low: How listed firms price asset transfers in related party transactions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 914-924, May.
    18. 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.
    19. Dow, Sandra & McGuire, Jean, 2009. "Propping and tunneling: Empirical evidence from Japanese keiretsu," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1817-1828, October.
    20. Cayssials, J-L. & Kremp, E. & Peter, C., 2007. "Dix années de dynamique financière des PME en France," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 165, pages 31-48.
    21. Larry H. P. Lang & Mara Faccio & Leslie Young, 2001. "Dividends and Expropriation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 54-78, March.
    22. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2005. "Business Groups and Risk Sharing around the World," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(1), pages 301-340, January.
    23. Kee‐Hong Bae & Jun‐Koo Kang & Jin‐Mo Kim, 2002. "Tunneling or Value Added? Evidence from Mergers by Korean Business Groups," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2695-2740, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Giulio Cainelli & Valentina Giannini & Donato Iacobucci, 2020. "Small firms and bank financing in bad times," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 943-953, December.
    2. Enrico Guzzini & Donato Iacobucci, 2014. "Ownership as R&D incentive in business groups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 119-135, June.
    3. Shahid Hussain & Nabeel Safdar, 2018. "Tunneling: Evidence from Family Business Groups of Pakistan," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 10(2), pages 97-122, June.
    4. Vivien Lefebvre, 2024. "Layoffs in SMEs: The Role of Social Proximity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(4), pages 801-820, April.
    5. Nehme Azoury & Elie Bouri, 2015. "Principal–principal conflicts in Lebanese unlisted family firms," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 19(2), pages 461-493, May.
    6. Panagiotis Avramidis & Ioannis Asimakopoulos & Dimitris Malliaropulos & Nickolaos G. Travlos, 2017. "Group affiliation in periods of credit contraction and bank’s reaction: evidence from the Greek crisis," Working Papers 237, Bank of Greece.
    7. Enrico Guzzini & Donato Iacobucci, 2014. "Business Group Affiliation and R&D," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 20-42, January.
    8. Anaïs HAMELIN, 2013. "Does Size Matter? Firm And Business Group Size Influence On The Benefits Of Group Affiliation," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2013-10, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    9. Dong Xiang & Andrew C. Worthington & Helen Higgs, 2011. "Firm-level determinants and impacts of finance-seeking behaviour and outcomes for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Australia," Discussion Papers in Finance finance:201115, Griffith University, Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics.
    10. Rosy Locorotondo & Nico Dewaelheyns & Cynthia Hulle, 2015. "Affiliates’ Bank Debt Policy: Does Parent Firm Nationality Matter?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5-6), pages 747-776, June.
    11. Luis Alfonso Dau & Randall Morck & Bernard Yin Yeung, 2021. "Business groups and the study of international business: A Coasean synthesis and extension," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(2), pages 161-211, March.
    12. Alexandre Gazaniol, 2012. "Learning from international activities? A microeconometric analysis of first-time innovators," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 129, pages 31-61.
    13. Bhaumik, Sumon Kumar & Selarka, Ekta, 2012. "Does ownership concentration improve M&A outcomes in emerging markets?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 717-726.
    14. Viswanathan Nagarajan & Pitabas Mohanty & Apalak Khatua, 2023. "Financing effects of corporate diversification: A review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(7), pages 2555-2585, October.
    15. Enrico Guzzini & Donato Iacobucci, 2012. "Business group affiliation and R&D propensity," Working Papers 1203, c.MET-05 - Centro Interuniversitario di Economia Applicata alle Politiche per L'industria, lo Sviluppo locale e l'Internazionalizzazione.
    16. Xiang, Dong & Zhang, Yuming & Worthington, Andrew C. & Liu, Yanchu, 2020. "Raising capital for the family firm for sustainability: Whence the advantage?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    17. Vivien Lefebvre, 2023. "Business group affiliation in resource-scarce locations," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 12(3), pages 121-140, September.
    18. Col, Burcin & Sen, Kaustav, 2019. "The role of corporate governance for acquisitions by the emerging market multinationals: Evidence from India," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 239-254.
    19. Giulio Cainelli & Valentina Giannini & Donato Iacobucci, 0. "Small firms and bank financing in bad times," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-11.
    20. Vivien Lefebvre, 2023. "Human resources slack and profitability: SMEs, large firms, and the role of business group affiliation," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(3), pages 611-637, September.
    21. Xiang, Dong & Chen, Jiakui & Tripe, David & Zhang, Ning, 2019. "Family firms, sustainable innovation and financing cost: Evidence from Chinese hi-tech small and medium-sized enterprises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 499-511.
    22. Daniel Ruiz-Palomo & Julio Diéguez-Soto & Antonio Duréndez & José António C. Santos, 2019. "Family Management and Firm Performance in Family SMEs: The Mediating Roles of Management Control Systems and Technological Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-22, July.

    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. Anaïs Hamelin-Schertzer, 2010. "Is there tunneling in Small Business Groups? Evidence from French SMEs," Working Papers CEB 10-003.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Viswanathan Nagarajan & Pitabas Mohanty & Apalak Khatua, 2023. "Financing effects of corporate diversification: A review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(7), pages 2555-2585, October.
    3. Sumon Kumar Bhaumik & Andros Gregoriou, 2010. "‘Family’ Ownership, Tunnelling And Earnings Management: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 705-730, September.
    4. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5922 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Khosa,Amrinder & Ahmed,Kamran & Henry,Darren, 2019. "Ownership Structure, Related Party Transactions, and Firm Valuation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108492195, October.
    6. Hsu, Audrey Wen-hsin & Liu, Sophia Hsin-Tsai, 2016. "Organizational structure, agency costs, and accrual quality," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 35-60.
    7. Bunkanwanicha, Pramuan & Gupta, Jyoti & Wiwattanakantang, Yupana, 2016. "Pyramidal group structure and bank risk in Thailand," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 272-288.
    8. Sabri Boubaker & Pascal Nguyen & Wael Rouatbi, 2016. "Multiple Large Shareholders and Corporate Risk†taking: Evidence from French Family Firms," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 22(4), pages 697-745, September.
    9. Michael N. Young & Mike W. Peng & David Ahlstrom & Garry D. Bruton & Yi Jiang, 2008. "Corporate Governance in Emerging Economies: A Review of the Principal–Principal Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 196-220, January.
    10. Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Boubaker, Sabri & Rouatbi, Wael, 2015. "Ownership structure, control contestability, and corporate debt maturity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 265-285.
    11. Feng, Xunan & Hu, Na & Johansson, Anders C., 2016. "Ownership, analyst coverage, and stock synchronicity in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 79-96.
    12. Pier Luigi Marchini & Tatiana Mazza & Alice Medioli, 2018. "The impact of related party transactions on earnings management: some insights from the Italian context," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(4), pages 981-1014, December.
    13. Cheung, Yan-Leung & Jing, Lihua & Lu, Tong & Rau, P. Raghavendra & Stouraitis, Aris, 2009. "Tunneling and propping up: An analysis of related party transactions by Chinese listed companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 372-393, June.
    14. Waseem Ullah & Shahid Ali & Sajid Mehmood, 2017. "Impact of Excess Control, Ownership Structure and Corporate Governance on Firm Performance of Diversified Group Firms in Pakistan," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 9(2), pages 49-72, June.
    15. Kang, Minjung & Lee, Ho-Young & Lee, Myung-Gun & Park, Jong Chool, 2014. "The association between related-party transactions and control–ownership wedge: Evidence from Korea," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 272-296.
    16. Mara Faccio & Maria-Teresa Marchica & Roberto Mura, 2011. "Large Shareholder Diversification and Corporate Risk-Taking," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(11), pages 3601-3641.
    17. Bansal, Shashank & Thenmozhi, M., 2020. "Does Concentrated Founder Ownership Affect Related Party Transactions? Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    18. Randall Morck, 2011. "Finance and Governance in Developing Economies," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 3(1), pages 375-406, December.
    19. Kuo-Pin Yang & Gavin M. Schwarz, 2016. "A Multilevel Analysis of the Performance Implications of Excess Control in Business Groups," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1219-1236, October.
    20. Edwards, Jeremy S.S. & Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 2009. "Control rights, pyramids, and the measurement of ownership concentration," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 489-508, October.
    21. Claessens, Stijn & Fan, Joseph P.H. & Lang, Larry H.P., 2006. "The benefits and costs of group affiliation: Evidence from East Asia," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 1-26, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ownership; Control; Tunneling; Small Business; Performance.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:lar:wpaper:2010-04. 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: Christophe J. Godlewski (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lastrfr.html .

    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.