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Ownership structure and firm performance: Evidence from the Chinese corporate reform

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  • Kang, Young-Sam
  • Kim, Byung-Yeon

Abstract

We employ a new classification of ownership identity to analyze the impact of ownership structure on enterprise performance in China. Using both fixed effects model and Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM), this study finds that marketized state-owned enterprises outperform firms controlled by the government, indicating that partial privatization of state-owned Chinese firms improves corporate governance. Non-controlling large shareholders of marketized state-owned enterprises and private enterprises are found to play active roles in corporate governance. Lastly, there is evidence that ownership concentration of a controlling shareholder decreases the incentives to expropriate minority shareholders.

Suggested Citation

  • Kang, Young-Sam & Kim, Byung-Yeon, 2012. "Ownership structure and firm performance: Evidence from the Chinese corporate reform," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 471-481.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:23:y:2012:i:2:p:471-481
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2012.03.006
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    Cited by:

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    4. Francesco Parola & Giovanni Satta & Riccardo Spinelli, 2013. "L?impatto delle strategie corporate sulle performance delle imprese di logistica via mare," ECONOMIA E DIRITTO DEL TERZIARIO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(2), pages 201-225.
    5. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2017. "Ownership concentration, state ownership and firm performance: Empirical evidence from the Vietnamese stock market," OSF Preprints zgvsw, Center for Open Science.
    6. Shao, Yingying & Hernández, Rodrigo & Liu, Pu, 2015. "Government intervention and corporate policies: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1205-1215.
    7. 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.
    8. Robin Henderson & Ralitsa Mihaylova & Paul Oman, 2019. "A dual frailty model for lifetime analysis in maritime transportation," Lifetime Data Analysis: An International Journal Devoted to Statistical Methods and Applications for Time-to-Event Data, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 739-756, October.
    9. World Bank, 2015. "Governance Reforms of State-Owned Enterprises," World Bank Publications - Reports 22749, The World Bank Group.
    10. Cristina Gaio & Inês Pinto & Luís Rodrigues, 2016. "Are State-Owned Firms Less Profitable Than Non-State-Owned Firms? European Evidence," Portuguese Journal of Management Studies, ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, vol. 21(1), pages 3-24.
    11. Xiaojian Hu & Gang Yao & Taiyun Zhou, 2022. "Does ownership structure affect the optimal capital structure? A PSTR model for China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 2458-2480, April.
    12. Li, Larry & McMurray, Adela & Sy, Malick & Xue, Jinjun, 2018. "Corporate ownership, efficiency and performance under state capitalism: Evidence from China," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 747-766.
    13. Qiwang Zhang & Xiaorui Wang & Chunhui Huo & Wang Shulin, 2023. "A study on the optimal shareholding proportion of the controlling shareholders in the competitive mixed‐ownership enterprises: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 208-224, August.
    14. De Xia & Wenhua Chen & Qinglu Gao & Rui Zhang & Yundong Zhang, 2021. "Research on Enterprises’ Intention to Adopt Green Technology Imposed by Environmental Regulations with Perspective of State Ownership," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, January.
    15. Tran Thai Ha Nguyen & Massoud Moslehpour & Thi Thuy Van Vo & Wing-Keung Wong, 2020. "State Ownership and Risk-Taking Behavior: An Empirical Approach to Get Better Profitability, Investment, and Trading Strategies for Listed Corporates in Vietnam," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-21, June.
    16. Kandil Magda Elsayed & Markovski Minko, 2017. "The Impact of Ownership on Corporate Performance: The Case of the UAE," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 13(3), pages 1-25, December.
    17. Jin, Haizhen, 2023. "Effects of decentralization on firm performance: Evidence from Chinese county-level quasi-experiments," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    18. Nicholas Lee & Fu-Min Chang & Yale Wang & Duong Thu La & Hsiang-Jane Su, 2017. "Impacts of Macroeconomic News on Vietnamese SOEs' Performance," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 7(1), pages 1-5.
    19. Iwasaki, Ichiro & Ma, Xinxin & Mizobata, Satoshi, 2022. "Ownership structure and firm performance in emerging markets: A comparative meta-analysis of East European EU member states, Russia and China," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(2).
    20. Ming Chen & Jiao Wu, 2023. "State ownership may not be bad: Based on bibliometric research (2002–2021)," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(2), pages 1285-1304, March.
    21. Muhammad Yusuf Amin & Noor Hassan & Syed Imran Khan, 2019. "Does the Impact of State Ownership on Financial Performance of Firms Vary across different Sectors in China?," Global Economics Review, Humanity Only, vol. 4(3), pages 24-32, September.
    22. Omar Farooque & Wonlop Buachoom & Nam Hoang, 2019. "Interactive effects of executive compensation, firm performance and corporate governance: Evidence from an Asian market," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 1111-1164, December.
    23. Zu, Xu & Diao, Xinyi & Meng, Zhiyi, 2019. "The impact of social media input intensity on firm performance: Evidence from Sina Weibo," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 536(C).
    24. Doğan, Mesut, 2020. "Institutional Ownership and Firm Value: A Study on the Bist Manufacturing Index," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 99(2), pages 59-75.
    25. Zhi Wang & Miao Yu, 2022. "Political embeddedness and firms' growth," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 127-153, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Privatization; Gradual approach; Ownership structure; Marketized state-owned enterprises; China;
    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

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