IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v19y2011i5p511-534.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How does ownership concentration exacerbate information asymmetry among equity investors?

Author

Listed:
  • Byun, Hae-Young
  • Hwang, Lee-Seok
  • Lee, Woo-Jong

Abstract

This study investigates the association between ownership concentration and information asymmetry between informed and uninformed investors, and explores several mechanisms that mitigate such a relation. Using a large sample of Korean firms whose ownership structure is highly concentrated, we find that the degree of information asymmetry increases with ownership concentration. We also find that ownership concentration is positively associated with information asymmetry via an increase in the relative amount of informed trading. This effect more than overcomes the unexpected decrease in the frequency of private information events. Furthermore, while neither institutional investors nor internal corporate governance systems help alleviate the negative effects of ownership concentration, analyst following reduces the information asymmetry associated with ownership concentration. Our findings are robust to endogeneity concerns, additional control variables, and an alternative use of empirical proxies.

Suggested Citation

  • Byun, Hae-Young & Hwang, Lee-Seok & Lee, Woo-Jong, 2011. "How does ownership concentration exacerbate information asymmetry among equity investors?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 511-534, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:19:y:2011:i:5:p:511-534
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X11000382
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Zoran Ivković & Scott Weisbenner, 2005. "Local Does as Local Is: Information Content of the Geography of Individual Investors' Common Stock Investments," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 267-306, February.
    2. Chang, James Jinho & Shin, Hyun-Han, 2007. "Family ownership and performance in Korean conglomerates," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 329-352, September.
    3. Chung, Kee H. & Van Ness, Bonnie F. & Van Ness, Robert A., 1999. "Limit orders and the bid-ask spread," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 255-287, August.
    4. Sudarshan Jayaraman, 2008. "Earnings Volatility, Cash Flow Volatility, and Informed Trading," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 809-851, September.
    5. Anderson, Ronald C. & Duru, Augustine & Reeb, David M., 2009. "Founders, heirs, and corporate opacity in the United States," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 205-222, May.
    6. Brennan, Michael J & Cao, H Henry, 1997. "International Portfolio Investment Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(5), pages 1851-1880, December.
    7. Rubin, Amir, 2007. "Ownership level, ownership concentration and liquidity," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 219-248, August.
    8. Miguel A. Ferreira & Paul A. Laux, 2007. "Corporate Governance, Idiosyncratic Risk, and Information Flow," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(2), pages 951-989, April.
    9. Easley, David & O'Hara, Maureen & Paperman, Joseph, 1998. "Financial analysts and information-based trade," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 175-201, August.
    10. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    11. Elizabeth R. Odders-White & Mark J. Ready, 2006. "Credit Ratings and Stock Liquidity," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(1), pages 119-157.
    12. Shuping Chen & Xia Chen & Qiang Cheng, 2008. "Do Family Firms Provide More or Less Voluntary Disclosure?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 499-536, June.
    13. Guedhami, Omrane & Pittman, Jeffrey, 2008. "The importance of IRS monitoring to debt pricing in private firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 38-58, October.
    14. Demsetz, Harold & Lehn, Kenneth, 1985. "The Structure of Corporate Ownership: Causes and Consequences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(6), pages 1155-1177, December.
    15. Lesmond, David A & Ogden, Joseph P & Trzcinka, Charles A, 1999. "A New Estimate of Transaction Costs," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(5), pages 1113-1141.
    16. Easley, David & Kiefer, Nicholas M & O'Hara, Maureen, 1997. "One Day in the Life of a Very Common Stock," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(3), pages 805-835.
    17. Lee, Charles M C & Ready, Mark J, 1991. "Inferring Trade Direction from Intraday Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(2), pages 733-746, June.
    18. Bhattacharya, Utpal & Daouk, Hazem & Jorgenson, Brian & Kehr, Carl-Heinrich, 2000. "When an event is not an event: the curious case of an emerging market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 69-101, January.
    19. 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.
    20. Fuller, Kathleen P., 2003. "The impact of informed trading on dividend signaling: a theoretical and empirical examination," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 385-407, September.
    21. Amihud, Yakov, 2002. "Illiquidity and stock returns: cross-section and time-series effects," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 31-56, January.
    22. Attig, Najah & Fong, Wai-Ming & Gadhoum, Yoser & Lang, Larry H.P., 2006. "Effects of large shareholding on information asymmetry and stock liquidity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 2875-2892, October.
    23. Boehmer, Ekkehart & Grammig, Joachim & Theissen, Erik, 2007. "Estimating the probability of informed trading--does trade misclassification matter?," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 26-47, February.
    24. Kim, In Joon & Eppler-Kim, Jiyeon & Kim, Wi Saeng & Byun, Suk Joon, 2010. "Foreign investors and corporate governance in Korea," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 390-402, September.
    25. Jeong†Bon Kim & Cheong H. Yi, 2006. "Ownership Structure, Business Group Affiliation, Listing Status, and Earnings Management: Evidence from Korea," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(2), pages 427-464, June.
    26. Almeida, Heitor & Park, Sang Yong & Subrahmanyam, Marti G. & Wolfenzon, Daniel, 2011. "The structure and formation of business groups: Evidence from Korean chaebols," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 447-475, February.
    27. Kim, Byungmo & Lee, Inmoo, 2003. "Agency problems and performance of Korean companies during the Asian financial crisis: Chaebol vs. non-chaebol firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 327-348, July.
    28. Vega, Clara, 2006. "Stock price reaction to public and private information," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 103-133, October.
    29. John, Kose & Lang, Larry H P, 1991. "Insider Trading around Dividend Announcements: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1361-1389, September.
    30. Utpal Bhattacharya & Hazem Daouk, 2002. "The World Price of Insider Trading," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 75-108, February.
    31. Duarte, Jefferson & Young, Lance, 2009. "Why is PIN priced?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 119-138, February.
    32. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 2000. "Investor protection and corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 3-27.
    33. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2000. "A framework for estimating dynamic, unobserved effects panel data models with possible feedback to future explanatory variables," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 245-250, September.
    34. McInish, Thomas H & Wood, Robert A, 1992. "An Analysis of Intraday Patterns in Bid/Ask Spreads for NYSE Stocks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 753-764, June.
    35. Brown, Stephen & Hillegeist, Stephen A. & Lo, Kin, 2004. "Conference calls and information asymmetry," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 343-366, September.
    36. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    37. Heflin, Frank & Shaw, Kenneth W., 2000. "Blockholder Ownership and Market Liquidity," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 35(4), pages 621-633, December.
    38. Shuping Chen & Terry Shevlin & Yen H. Tong, 2007. "Does the Pricing of Financial Reporting Quality Change Around Dividend Changes?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 1-40, March.
    39. Fan, Joseph P. H. & Wong, T. J., 2002. "Corporate ownership structure and the informativeness of accounting earnings in East Asia," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 401-425, August.
    40. Lee, Yi-Tsung & Liu, Yu-Jane & Roll, Richard & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 2004. "Order Imbalances and Market Efficiency: Evidence from the Taiwan Stock Exchange," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(2), pages 327-341, June.
    41. Doidge, Craig & Andrew Karolyi, G. & Stulz, Ren M., 2009. "Has New York become less competitive than London in global markets? Evaluating foreign listing choices over time," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(3), pages 253-277, March.
    42. Kim, Woochan & Lim, Youngjae & Sung, Taeyoon, 2007. "Group control motive as a determinant of ownership structure in business conglomerates: Evidence from Korea's chaebols," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 213-252, June.
    43. Brennan, Michael J. & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 1995. "Investment analysis and price formation in securities markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 361-381, July.
    44. Hans R. Stoll, 2000. "Presidential Address: Friction," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1479-1514, August.
    45. 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.
    46. Lee, Charles M. C. & Radhakrishna, Balkrishna, 2000. "Inferring investor behavior: Evidence from TORQ data," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 83-111, May.
    47. Ali, Ashiq & Chen, Tai-Yuan & Radhakrishnan, Suresh, 2007. "Corporate disclosures by family firms," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 238-286, September.
    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. Erli Dan & Jianfei Shen, 2022. "Establishment of Corporate Energy Management Systems and Voluntary Carbon Information Disclosure in Chinese Listed Companies: The Moderating Role of Corporate Leaders’ Low-Carbon Awareness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-28, February.
    2. Chia, Yee-Ee & Lim, Kian-Ping & Goh, Kim-Leng, 2020. "More shareholders, higher liquidity? Evidence from an emerging stock market," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    3. Bansal, Shashank & Thenmozhi, M., 2020. "Does concentrated founder ownership affect board independence? Role of corporate life cycle and ownership identity," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    4. Chung, Chune Young & Kim, Hyeik & Wang, Kainan, 2022. "Do domestic or foreign institutional investors matter? The case of firm information asymmetry in Korea," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Shang, Xiaodan & Luo, Chuanjian & Wen, Qian, 2020. "Do Chinese executives reward for luck?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 318-325.
    6. Antonio Pedro Soares Pinto & Mario Gomes Augusto, 2014. "Are There Non-linear Effects of Banking Relationships and Ownership Concentration on Operational Performance? Empirical Evidence from Portuguese SMEs Using Cross-section Analysis and Panel Data," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 5(4), pages 67-84, October.
    7. Sattar Khan & Yasir Kamal & Azhar Khan & Arif Hussain & Muhammad Rafiq & Maryam Bibi & Syed Fahad Ali Shah & Zahir Shah & Muhammad Khan, 2020. "The Impact of Ownership Types on the Value of Discretionary Accruals: What is the Role of Audit Committee? Evidence from Pakistan," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(4), pages 141-150.
    8. Chang, Chiao-Yi, 2013. "The market response of insider transferring trades and firm characteristics in Taiwan," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 131-144.
    9. Oh, Hyunjin & Chung, Chune Young & Fard, Amirhossein, 2023. "Tacit vigilance in an emerging economy: An institution-based perspective of passive blockholder monitoring," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    10. Abdullah A. Aljughaiman & Kaouther E. Chebbi, 2022. "Do Investor Overconfidence and Loss Aversion Drive Saudi Firm Market Performance? The Moderating Effect of Corporate Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-15, August.
    11. Lu, Xian-wei & Fung, Hung-Gay & Su, Zhong-qin, 2018. "Information leakage, site visits, and crash risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 487-507.
    12. Samya Tahir & Mian Sajid Nazir & Muhammad Ali Jibran Qamar & M. Martin Boyer, 2022. "Ineffective implementation of corporate governance? A call for greater transparency to reduce agency cost," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(5), pages 1528-1547, July.
    13. Vidya Sukumara Panicker & Sumit Mitra & Rudra Sensarma, 2016. "Corporate Governance Determinants of FII in Indian IT Firms," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, June.
    14. Lin, Tsui-Jung & Chen, Yi-Pei & Tsai, Han-Fang, 2017. "The relationship among information asymmetry, dividend policy and ownership structure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 1-12.
    15. Kang, Sanggyu & Chung, Chune Young & Kim, Dong-Soon, 2019. "The effect of institutional blockholders' short-termism on firm innovation: Evidence from the Korean market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    16. Hegde, Shantaram & Seth, Rama & Vishwanatha, S.R., 2020. "Ownership concentration and stock returns: Evidence from family firms in India," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    17. Regina M. Lizares, 2022. "Ownership concentration and board structure: Alignment and entrenchment effects in an emerging market," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2557-2569, September.
    18. Hwang, Lee-Seok & Kim, Hakkon & Park, Kwangwoo & Park, Rae Soo, 2013. "Corporate governance and payout policy: Evidence from Korean business groups," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 179-198.
    19. Kwon, Yonghyun & Han, Seung Hun & Lee, Bong-Soo, 2016. "Financial constraints and negative spillovers in business groups: Evidence from Korea," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 84-100.

    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. Katsuhiko Muramiya & Tomomi Takada, 2015. "Cross-Shareholdings and Information Environment," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 15-20, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    2. Lof, Matthijs & van Bommel, Jos, 2023. "Asymmetric information and the distribution of trading volume," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Kale, Jayant R. & Loon, Yee Cheng, 2011. "Product market power and stock market liquidity," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 376-410, May.
    4. Chia, Yee-Ee & Lim, Kian-Ping & Goh, Kim-Leng, 2020. "More shareholders, higher liquidity? Evidence from an emerging stock market," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    5. Lof, Matthijs & Bommel, Jos van, 2018. "Asymmetric information and the distribution of trading volume," Research Discussion Papers 1, Bank of Finland.
    6. repec:zbw:bofrdp:001 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Hwang, Lee-Seok & Lee, Woo-Jong & Lim, Seung-Yeon & Park, Kyung-Ho, 2013. "Does information risk affect the implied cost of equity capital? An analysis of PIN and adjusted PIN," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 148-167.
    8. Hoang Luong Luong & Huong Giang (Lily) Nguyen & Xiangkang Yin, 2015. "When Is a Firm's Information Asymmetry Priced? The Role of Institutional Investors," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 15(1), pages 55-88, March.
    9. 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.
    10. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2018_001 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Juan Jose Cruces & Enrique L. Kawamura, 2005. "Insider Trading and Corporate Governance in Latin America: A Sequential Trade Model Approach," Working Papers 86, Universidad de San Andres, Departamento de Economia, revised Dec 2005.
    12. ElBannan, Mona A., 2017. "Stock market liquidity, family ownership, and capital structure choices in an emerging country," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 201-231.
    13. Loukil, Nadia & Yousfi, Ouidad, 2010. "Does corporate governance affect stock liquidity in the Tunisian Stock Market?," MPRA Paper 28697, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Feb 2011.
    14. Leung, Sidney & Srinidhi, Bin & Lobo, Gerald, 2012. "Family control and idiosyncratic volatility: Evidence from listed firms in Hong Kong," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 39-52.
    15. Aslan, Hadiye & Easley, David & Hvidkjaer, Soeren & O'Hara, Maureen, 2011. "The characteristics of informed trading: Implications for asset pricing," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 782-801.
    16. Lee, Cheng-Hsun & Bose, Sudipta, 2021. "Do family firms engage in less tax avoidance than non-family firms? The corporate opacity perspective," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    17. Yan, Yuxing & Zhang, Shaojun, 2014. "Quality of PIN estimates and the PIN-return relationship," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 137-149.
    18. Ding, Xiaoya (Sara) & Ni, Yang & Zhong, Ligang, 2016. "Free float and market liquidity around the world," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(PA), pages 236-257.
    19. Malay Dey & B. Radhakrishna, 2015. "Informed trading, institutional trading, and spread," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 39(2), pages 288-307, April.
    20. Attig, Najah & Fong, Wai-Ming & Gadhoum, Yoser & Lang, Larry H.P., 2006. "Effects of large shareholding on information asymmetry and stock liquidity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 2875-2892, October.
    21. Cheng, Louis T.W. & Wang, Jacqueline Wenjie, 2021. "Equity ownership and corporate transparency: International evidence," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 143-165.
    22. Sakawa, Hideaki & Ubukata, Masato & Watanabel, Naoki, 2014. "Market liquidity and bank-dominated corporate governance: Evidence from Japan," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-11.

    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:pacfin:v:19:y:2011:i:5:p:511-534. 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/pacfin .

    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.