IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecmode/v116y2022ics0264999322002607.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic policy uncertainty and debt allocation within business groups

Author

Listed:
  • Cao, Yuqiang
  • Li, Chenglin
  • Liu, Xinghe
  • Lu, Meiting
  • Shan, Yaowen

Abstract

A business group operation, as a strategic organizational form, is critical for corporate development. However, how business groups allocate their debt between parent and subsidiary companies remains an unexplored issue. This study explores the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on debt allocation within business groups. In theory, when business groups encounter high EPU, they can choose either a centralized or a decentralized debt structure. We find that Chinese business groups under EPU tend to choose centralized borrowing, especially for non-state-owned enterprises and business groups with low-quality internal controls and volatile profitability. Our findings highlight the significance of EPU in determining the allocation of decision rights within business groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Cao, Yuqiang & Li, Chenglin & Liu, Xinghe & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and debt allocation within business groups," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:116:y:2022:i:c:s0264999322002607
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2022.106021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264999322002607
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econmod.2022.106021?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. Huang, Yun & Luk, Paul, 2020. "Measuring economic policy uncertainty in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    3. Christie, Andrew A. & Joye, Marc P. & Watts, Ross L., 2003. "Decentralization of the firm: theory and evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 3-36, January.
    4. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    6. Akbel, Basak & Schnitzer, Monika, 2011. "Creditor rights and debt allocation within multinationals," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 1367-1379, June.
    7. Stein, Jeremy C, 1997. "Internal Capital Markets and the Competition for Corporate Resources," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 111-133, March.
    8. Chalmers, Keryn & Hay, David & Khlif, Hichem, 2019. "Internal control in accounting research: A review," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 80-103.
    9. 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.
    10. Li, Mangmang & Cao, Yuqiang & Lu, Meiting & Wang, Hongjian, 2021. "Political uncertainty and allocation of decision rights among business groups: Evidence from the replacement of municipal officials," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    11. Zhai, Huayun & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen & Liu, Qingzhuo & Zhao, Ying, 2021. "Key audit matters and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    12. Li, Jianqiang & Shan, Yaowen & Tian, Gary & Hao, Xiangchao, 2020. "Labor cost, government intervention, and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    13. Charles Kahn & Andrew Winton, 2004. "Moral Hazard and Optimal Subsidiary Structure for Financial Institutions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(6), pages 2531-2575, December.
    14. Liang, Quanxi & Li, Qiumei & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen, 2021. "Industry and geographic peer effects on corporate tax avoidance: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    15. Papke, Leslie E. & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2008. "Panel data methods for fractional response variables with an application to test pass rates," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1-2), pages 121-133, July.
    16. Wang, Yizhong & Chen, Carl R. & Huang, Ying Sophie, 2014. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate investment: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 227-243.
    17. Jory, Surendranath R. & Khieu, Hinh D. & Ngo, Thanh N. & Phan, Hieu V., 2020. "The influence of economic policy uncertainty on corporate trade credit and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    18. Yang, Jianlei & Yang, Chunpeng, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty, COVID-19 lockdown, and firm-level volatility: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    19. Jingjing Xu, 2021. "Relationship Between Controlling Shareholders’ Participation in Share Pledging and Accounting Conservatism in China," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 31(1), pages 9-21, March.
    20. Yuqiang Cao & Zhuoan Feng & Meiting Lu & Yaowen Shan, 2021. "Tax avoidance and firm risk: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(3), pages 4967-5000, September.
    21. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    22. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Zhu, Yun, 2021. "The impact of political uncertainty on institutional ownership," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    23. Xin Wang & Haiyan Jiang & Meiting Lu, 2019. "Does the Reporting Location of Other Comprehensive Income Matter? The Investor's Perspective," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 29(3), pages 546-555, September.
    24. J. Kornai & E. Maskin & G. Roland, 2004. "Understanding the Soft Budget Constraint," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 11.
    25. Brandt, Loren & Li, Hongbin, 2003. "Bank discrimination in transition economies: ideology, information, or incentives?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 387-413, September.
    26. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    27. Wei Jiang & Meiting Lu & Yaowen Shan & Tingting Zhu, 2016. "Evidence of Avoiding Working Capital Deficits in Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 26(1), pages 107-118, March.
    28. David S. Scharfstein & Jeremy C. Stein, 2000. "The Dark Side of Internal Capital Markets: Divisional Rent‐Seeking and Inefficient Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(6), pages 2537-2564, December.
    29. Fier, Stephen G. & McCullough, Kathleen A. & Carson, James M., 2013. "Internal capital markets and the partial adjustment of leverage," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 1029-1039.
    30. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2001. "The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2-3), pages 187-243, May.
    31. Ben Howatt & Richard Zuber & John Gandar & Reinhold Lamb, 2009. "Dividends, earnings volatility and information," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(7), pages 551-562.
    32. Cheng, Shijun, 2008. "Board size and the variability of corporate performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 157-176, January.
    33. Bonaime, Alice & Gulen, Huseyin & Ion, Mihai, 2018. "Does policy uncertainty affect mergers and acquisitions?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(3), pages 531-558.
    34. Renée B. Adams & Heitor Almeida & Daniel Ferreira, 2005. "Powerful CEOs and Their Impact on Corporate Performance," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1403-1432.
    35. Qian, Yingyi, 1994. "A Theory of Shortage in Socialist Economies Based on the "Soft Budget Constraint."," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(1), pages 145-156, March.
    36. Roman Inderst & Holger M. Müller, 2003. "Internal versus External Financing: An Optimal Contracting Approach," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1033-1062, June.
    37. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    38. Sha, Yezhou & Kang, Chenlei & Wang, Zilong, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty and mergers and acquisitions: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 590-600.
    39. Shane A. Johnson, 2003. "Debt Maturity and the Effects of Growth Opportunities and Liquidity Risk on Leverage," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 16(1), pages 209-236.
    40. Waisman, Maya & Ye, Pengfei & Zhu, Yun, 2015. "The effect of political uncertainty on the cost of corporate debt," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 106-117.
    41. Nagar, Venky & Schoenfeld, Jordan & Wellman, Laura, 2019. "The effect of economic policy uncertainty on investor information asymmetry and management disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 36-57.
    42. Robert H. Gertner & David S. Scharfstein & Jeremy C. Stein, 1994. "Internal versus External Capital Markets," NBER Working Papers 4776, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    43. Leslie A. Robinson & Phillip C. Stocken, 2013. "Location of Decision Rights Within Multinational Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 1261-1297, December.
    44. Kolasinski, Adam C., 2009. "Subsidiary debt, capital structure and internal capital markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 327-343, November.
    45. Robert H. Gertner & David S. Scharfstein & Jeremy C. Stein, 1994. "Internal versus External Capital Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 1211-1230.
    46. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2007. "Business Groups in Emerging Markets: Paragons or Parasites?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 331-372, June.
    47. Chen, Xikai & Le, Cao Hoang Anh & Shan, Yaowen & Taylor, Stephen, 2020. "Australian policy uncertainty and corporate investment," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    48. Baum, Christopher F. & Caglayan, Mustafa & Ozkan, Neslihan, 2009. "The second moments matter: The impact of macroeconomic uncertainty on the allocation of loanable funds," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 87-89, February.
    49. O'Connor, Neale G. & Deng, Johnny & Luo, Yadong, 2006. "Political constraints, organization design and performance measurement in China's state-owned enterprises," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 157-177, February.
    50. Canice Prendergast, 2002. "The Tenuous Trade-off between Risk and Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(5), pages 1071-1102, October.
    51. Valencia, Fabián, 2017. "Aggregate uncertainty and the supply of credit," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 150-165.
    52. Opie, Wei & Tian, Gary Gang & Zhang, Hong Feng, 2019. "Corporate pyramids, geographical distance, and investment efficiency of Chinese state-owned enterprises," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 95-120.
    53. Donghua Zhou & Min Bai & Xiaoqin Liang & Yafeng Qin, 2021. "The Early‐life Political Event Experience of the Chair of the Board and the Firm's Innovation Decision," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 31(3), pages 186-212, September.
    54. Michael C. Jensen & William H. Heckling, 1995. "Specific And General Knowledge, And Organizational Structure," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 8(2), pages 4-18, June.
    55. Baolei Qi & Liuchuang Li & Qing Zhou & Jinghui Sun, 2017. "Does internal control over financial reporting really alleviate agency conflicts?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(4), pages 1101-1125, December.
    56. Qin, Wei & Liang, Quanxi & Jiao, Yan & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen, 2022. "Social trust and dividend payouts: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    57. Kieron J. Meagher & Andrew Wait, 2014. "Delegation of Decisions About Change in Organizations: The Roles of Competition, Trade, Uncertainty, and Scale," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 30(4), pages 709-733.
    58. Wulf, Julie, 2009. "Influence and inefficiency in the internal capital market," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 305-321, October.
    59. Asim Ijaz Khwaja & Atif Mian, 2005. "Do Lenders Favor Politically Connected Firms? Rent Provision in an Emerging Financial Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(4), pages 1371-1411.
    60. Huseyin Gulen & Mihai Ion, 2016. "Editor's Choice Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Investment," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 523-564.
    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. Chuliá, Helena & Estévez, Marc & Uribe, Jorge M., 2023. "Systemic political risk," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).

    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. Jun, Xiao & Huang, Wenwei & Guo, Yiting & Cao, Yuqiang & Lu, Meiting, 2023. "Why does economic policy uncertainty increase firm-level pollutant emission?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    2. Li, Mangmang & Cao, Yuqiang & Lu, Meiting & Wang, Hongjian, 2021. "Political uncertainty and allocation of decision rights among business groups: Evidence from the replacement of municipal officials," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Xijia Huang & Yiting Guo & Yuming Lin & Liping Liu & Kai Yan, 2022. "Green Loans and Green Innovations: Evidence from China’s Equator Principles Banks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Jianyu Zeng & Teng Zhong & Fan He, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate inventory holdings: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(2), pages 1727-1757, June.
    5. Shams, Syed & Gunaskerage, Abeyratna & Velayutham, Eswaran, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and acquisition performance: Australian evidence," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 286-308.
    6. Dawood Ashraf & Mohsin Khawaja & M. Ishaq Bhatti, 2022. "Raising capital amid economic policy uncertainty: an empirical investigation," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-32, December.
    7. Stein, Jeremy C., 2003. "Agency, information and corporate investment," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 2, pages 111-165, Elsevier.
    8. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Mansi, Sattar & Wang, He (Helen), 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty, institutional environments, and corporate cash holdings," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Goldbach, Stefan & Møen, Jarle & Schindler, Dirk & Schjelderup, Guttorm & Wamser, Georg, 2021. "The tax-efficient use of debt in multinational corporations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    10. Ly, Kim Cuong & Liu, Hong & Opong, Kwaku, 2017. "Who acquires whom among stand-alone commercial banks and bank holding company affiliates?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 144-158.
    11. Curi, Claudia & Murgia, Maurizio, 2018. "Divestitures and the financial conglomerate excess value," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 187-207.
    12. Deli Wang & Ke Peng & Kaiye Tang & Yewei Wu, 2022. "Does Fintech Development Enhance Corporate ESG Performance? Evidence from an Emerging Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-21, December.
    13. Cui, Xin & Wang, Chunfeng & Liao, Jing & Fang, Zhenming & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty exposure and corporate innovation investment: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    14. Li, Xiang & Su, Dan, 2020. "How does economic policy uncertainty affect corporate debt maturity?," IWH Discussion Papers 6/2020, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    15. Kotaro Tsuru, 2000. "Finance and Growth: Some Theoretical Considerations and a Review of the Empirical Literature," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 228, OECD Publishing.
    16. Tran, Quoc Trung, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and cost of debt financing: International evidence," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    17. Hoang, Khanh & Nguyen, Cuong & Zhang, Hailiang, 2021. "How does economic policy uncertainty affect corporate diversification?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 254-269.
    18. Locorotondo, Rosy & Dewaelheyns, Nico & Van Hulle, Cynthia, 2014. "Cash holdings and business group membership," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 316-323.
    19. Li, Xiang, 2022. "How does economic policy uncertainty affect corporate debt maturity?," IWH Discussion Papers 5/2022, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    20. Maoli Ji & Yuguang Ji & Shulan Dong, 2022. "Environmental Accounting Information Disclosure Driving Factors: The Case of Listed Firms in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-23, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business groups; Centralized versus decentralized borrowing; Debt allocation; Economic policy uncertainty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics

    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:ecmode:v:116:y:2022:i:c:s0264999322002607. 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/inca/30411 .

    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.