IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v70y2020icp546-565.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The comparative and interactive effects of political, academic and financial directors

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Yu

Abstract

This study considers directors with political, academic, or financial (PAF) backgrounds and examines their comparative strengths/weaknesses and their interactive effects. Academic directors are associated with better firm performance, stronger monitoring effects, enhanced innovation results, and easier access to finance. Political and financial directors are likely selected for their resource-providing capacity. The relationship between PAF directors and firm activities varies systematically across industries and over time. More importantly, PAF directors are not independent from one another. A significant presence of political directors weakens the monitoring and performance effects of academic directors.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Yu, 2020. "The comparative and interactive effects of political, academic and financial directors," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 546-565.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:70:y:2020:i:c:p:546-565
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2020.08.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056020301726
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2020.08.003?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. Mihail Miletkov & Annette Poulsen & M. Babajide Wintoki, 2017. "Foreign independent directors and the quality of legal institutions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(2), pages 267-292, February.
    2. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    3. Agrawal, Anup & Knoeber, Charles R, 2001. "Do Some Outside Directors Play a Political Role?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(1), pages 179-198, April.
    4. Hasan, Iftekhar & Wachtel, Paul & Zhou, Mingming, 2009. "Institutional development, financial deepening and economic growth: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 157-170, January.
    5. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2005. "Market Value and Patent Citations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 16-38, Spring.
    6. Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger & Low, Angie & Stulz, René M., 2010. "Why do firms appoint CEOs as outside directors?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 12-32, July.
    7. Burak Güner, A. & Malmendier, Ulrike & Tate, Geoffrey, 2008. "Financial expertise of directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 323-354, May.
    8. Xuan Tian & Tracy Yue Wang, 2014. "Tolerance for Failure and Corporate Innovation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 211-255, January.
    9. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Qiang Wu, 2015. "Professors in the Boardroom and Their Impact on Corporate Governance and Firm Performance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 547-581, September.
    10. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    11. Li, Kai & Yue, Heng & Zhao, Longkai, 2009. "Ownership, institutions, and capital structure: Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 471-490, September.
    12. Olubunmi Faleye & Rani Hoitash & Udi Hoitash, 2018. "Industry expertise on corporate boards," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 441-479, February.
    13. Jay Dahya & Yusuf Karbhari & Jason Zezong Xiao & Mei Yang, 2003. "The Usefulness of the Supervisory Board Report in China," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(4), pages 308-321, October.
    14. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Tian, Xuan & Xu, Yan, 2014. "Financial development and innovation: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 116-135.
    15. Mark Macus, 2008. "Board Capability; An Interactions Perspective on Boards of Directors and Firm Performance," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 98-116, January.
    16. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 291-309, November.
    17. Li, Hongbin & Meng, Lingsheng & Wang, Qian & Zhou, Li-An, 2008. "Political connections, financing and firm performance: Evidence from Chinese private firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 283-299, October.
    18. Wong, T. J., 2016. "Corporate Governance Research on Listed Firms in China: Institutions, Governance and Accountability," Foundations and Trends(R) in Accounting, now publishers, vol. 9(4), pages 259-326, March.
    19. Jiang, Guohua & Lee, Charles M.C. & Yue, Heng, 2010. "Tunneling through intercorporate loans: The China experience," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 1-20, October.
    20. Lee, Yung Sheng & Rosenstein, Stuart & Wyatt, Jeffrey G., 1999. "The value of financial outside directors on corporate boards," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 421-431, November.
    21. Nicholas van der Walt & Coral Ingley, 2003. "Board Dynamics and the Influence of Professional Background, Gender and Ethnic Diversity of Directors," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), pages 218-234, July.
    22. Agrawal, Anup & Chadha, Sahiba, 2005. "Corporate Governance and Accounting Scandals," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 48(2), pages 371-406, October.
    23. Coles, Jeffrey L. & Daniel, Naveen D. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2008. "Boards: Does one size fit all," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 329-356, February.
    24. Liu, Yu & Miletkov, Mihail K. & Wei, Zuobao & Yang, Tina, 2015. "Board independence and firm performance in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 223-244.
    25. Clarke, Donald C., 2003. "Corporate governance in China: An overview," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 494-507.
    26. 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.
    27. White, Joshua T. & Woidtke, Tracie & Black, Harold A. & Schweitzer, Robert L., 2014. "Appointments of academic directors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 135-151.
    28. Masulis, Ronald W. & Wang, Cong & Xie, Fei, 2012. "Globalizing the boardroom—The effects of foreign directors on corporate governance and firm performance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 527-554.
    29. 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.
    30. Liu, Laura Xiaolei & Shu, Haibing & Wei, K.C. John, 2017. "The impacts of political uncertainty on asset prices: Evidence from the Bo scandal in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(2), pages 286-310.
    31. Li, Yunhe & Liu, Yu & Xie, Feixue, 2019. "Technology directors and firm innovation," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 76-88.
    32. Linck, James S. & Netter, Jeffry M. & Yang, Tina, 2008. "The determinants of board structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 308-328, February.
    33. Fich, Eliezer M. & Shivdasani, Anil, 2007. "Financial fraud, director reputation, and shareholder wealth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 306-336, November.
    34. Renée B. Adams & Daniel Ferreira, 2007. "A Theory of Friendly Boards," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(1), pages 217-250, February.
    35. Qi, Daqing & Wu, Woody & Zhang, Hua, 2000. "Shareholding structure and corporate performance of partially privatized firms: Evidence from listed Chinese companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 8(5), pages 587-610, October.
    36. Chen, Xiao & Lee, Chi-Wen Jevons & Li, Jing, 2008. "Government assisted earnings management in China," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 262-274.
    37. Ghosh, Saibal, 2016. "Banker on board and innovative activity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4205-4214.
    38. Wang, Cong & Xie, Fei & Zhu, Min, 2015. "Industry Expertise of Independent Directors and Board Monitoring," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(5), pages 929-962, October.
    39. Mak, Y.T. & Kusnadi, Yuanto, 2005. "Size really matters: Further evidence on the negative relationship between board size and firm value," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 301-318, June.
    40. Kang, Jun-Koo & Liu, Wei-Lin & Low, Angie & Zhang, Le, 2018. "Friendly boards and innovation," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-25.
    41. He, Jie (Jack) & Tian, Xuan, 2013. "The dark side of analyst coverage: The case of innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 856-878.
    42. 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.
    43. Jan Bena & Ting Xu, 2017. "Competition and Ownership Structure of Closely Held Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(5), pages 1583-1626.
    44. Yu Liu & Feixue Xie & Zhenning Xu, 2019. "Board Business Connections and Firm Profitability: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(9), pages 1954-1968, July.
    45. Tracy Artiach & Darren Lee & David Nelson & Julie Walker, 2010. "The determinants of corporate sustainability performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(1), pages 31-51, March.
    46. Wintoki, M. Babajide & Linck, James S. & Netter, Jeffry M., 2012. "Endogeneity and the dynamics of internal corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 581-606.
    47. Megginson, William L. & Ullah, Barkat & Wei, Zuobao, 2014. "State ownership, soft-budget constraints, and cash holdings: Evidence from China’s privatized firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 276-291.
    48. Nguyen, Tuan & Locke, Stuart & Reddy, Krishna, 2014. "A dynamic estimation of governance structures and financial performance for Singaporean companies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-11.
    49. John L. Abernathy & Brooke Beyer & Eric T. Rapley, 2014. "Earnings Management Constraints and Classification Shifting," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5-6), pages 600-626, June.
    50. Chauhan, Yogesh & Pathak, Rajesh & Kumar, Satish, 2018. "Do bank-appointed directors affect corporate cash holding?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 39-56.
    51. Mariassunta Giannetti & Guanmin Liao & Xiaoyun Yu, 2015. "The Brain Gain of Corporate Boards: Evidence from China," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(4), pages 1629-1682, August.
    52. Schmidt, Breno, 2015. "Costs and benefits of friendly boards during mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(2), pages 424-447.
    53. Wang, Yong & Jin, Pengjian & Yang, Chongsheng, 2016. "Relations between the professional backgrounds of independent directors in state-owned enterprises and corporate performance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 404-411.
    54. Shi, Haina & Xu, Haoping & Zhang, Xin, 2018. "Do politically connected independent directors create or destroy value?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 82-96.
    55. Chen, Carl R. & Li, Yingqi & Luo, Danglun & Zhang, Ting, 2017. "Helping hands or grabbing hands? An analysis of political connections and firm value," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 71-89.
    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. Wang, Xiaoming & Xu, Tingting, 2022. "Pay of political directors in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Liu, Yu & Xu, Jian, 2022. "Residual state ownership, foreign ownership and firms' financing patterns," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PA).

    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. Chen, Jun & Garel, Alexandre & Tourani-Rad, Alireza, 2019. "The value of academics: Evidence from academic independent director resignations in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 393-414.
    2. Upadhyay, Arun & Öztekin, Özde, 2021. "What matters more in board independence? Form or substance: Evidence from influential CEO-directors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Bennouri, Moez & Chtioui, Tawhid & Nagati, Haithem & Nekhili, Mehdi, 2018. "Female board directorship and firm performance: What really matters?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 267-291.
    4. Li, Yunhe & Liu, Yu & Xie, Feixue, 2019. "Technology directors and firm innovation," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 76-88.
    5. Daniel Sungyeon Kim & Hong Kee Sul, 2021. "Diversity Matters: A Study on the Relationship between Board Career Diversity and Firm Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-24, August.
    6. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, September.
    7. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Qiang Wu, 2015. "Professors in the Boardroom and Their Impact on Corporate Governance and Firm Performance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 547-581, September.
    8. Fedaseyeu, Viktar & Linck, James S. & Wagner, Hannes F., 2018. "Do qualifications matter? New evidence on board functions and director compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 816-839.
    9. Ching-Hung Chang & Qingqing Wu, 2021. "Board Networks and Corporate Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 3618-3654, June.
    10. Brahma, Sanjukta & Zhang, Jing & Boateng, Agyenim & Nwafor, Chioma, 2023. "Political connection and M&A performance: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 372-389.
    11. Renee B. Adams & Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 2010. "The Role of Boards of Directors in Corporate Governance: A Conceptual Framework and Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 58-107, March.
    12. Liu, Yu & Miletkov, Mihail K. & Wei, Zuobao & Yang, Tina, 2015. "Board independence and firm performance in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 223-244.
    13. Wang, Xiaoming & Xu, Tingting, 2022. "Pay of political directors in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    14. Sila, Vathunyoo & Gonzalez, Angelica & Hagendorff, Jens, 2016. "Women on board: Does boardroom gender diversity affect firm risk?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 26-53.
    15. Marie Lalanne, 2023. "Network‐based appointments and board diversity," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(358), pages 409-452, April.
    16. Barraza, Santiago & Rossi, Martín A & Ruzzier, Christian A, 2022. "Sleeping with the enemy: The perils of having the government on(the)board," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 641-651.
    17. Fan, Yaoyao & Jiang, Yuxiang & Zhang, Xuezhi & Zhou, Yue, 2019. "Women on boards and bank earnings management: From zero to hero," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    18. Berger, Allen N. & Kick, Thomas & Schaeck, Klaus, 2014. "Executive board composition and bank risk taking," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 48-65.
    19. Balsmeier, Benjamin & Fleming, Lee & Manso, Gustavo, 2017. "Independent boards and innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(3), pages 536-557.
    20. Wang, Xia & Feng, Mingming & Xu, Xiaodong, 2019. "Political connections of independent directors and firm internationalization: An empirical study of Chinese listed firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political directors; Academic directors; Financial directors; Firm performance; Monitoring; Advising; Resource providing; Interactions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • 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
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

    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:reveco:v:70:y:2020:i:c:p:546-565. 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/620165 .

    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.