IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v72y2021icp45-58.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ownership structure and R&D: The role of regional governance environment

Author

Listed:
  • Wan, Wei
  • Zhou, Fanqi
  • Liu, Lingjie
  • Fang, Libing
  • Chen, Xudong

Abstract

The Regional Governance Environment (RGE) is the key issue along with the rapidly industrial upgrading in China. We seek to investigate the moderating effect of the RGE on the relationship of firms’ ownership structure and R&D based on the Chinese listed firms during 2007–2018. The results show that the ownership concentration has a negative effect on R&D intensity, which is restricted by the improvement of RGE. Meanwhile, the ownership restriction has a positive effect, which is significantly strengthened by the improvement of RGE. The conclusion is valid through a series of robust tests. Our study contributes to the relationship between firms’ ownership structure and R&D investment from the perspective of external governance, such as RGE. Some implication is also presented for industrial upgrading policy based on firms’ R&D investment.

Suggested Citation

  • Wan, Wei & Zhou, Fanqi & Liu, Lingjie & Fang, Libing & Chen, Xudong, 2021. "Ownership structure and R&D: The role of regional governance environment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 45-58.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:72:y:2021:i:c:p:45-58
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2020.11.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056020302604
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2020.11.002?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. Minetti, Raoul & Murro, Pierluigi & Paiella, Monica, 2015. "Ownership structure, governance, and innovation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 165-193.
    2. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    3. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    4. Bao, Xiaolu & Johan, Sofia & Kutsuna, Kenji, 2016. "Do political connections matter in accessing capital markets? Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 24-41.
    5. Vincent L. Barker , III & George C. Mueller, 2002. "CEO Characteristics and Firm R&D Spending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(6), pages 782-801, June.
    6. Cao, Xiaping & Cumming, Douglas & Zhou, Sili, 2020. "State ownership and corporate innovative efficiency," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    7. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    8. Philippe Aghion & John Van Reenen & Luigi Zingales, 2013. "Innovation and Institutional Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 277-304, February.
    9. Wang, Kun & Xiao, Xing, 2011. "Controlling shareholders' tunneling and executive compensation: Evidence from China," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 89-100, January.
    10. McConnell, John J. & Servaes, Henri, 1990. "Additional evidence on equity ownership and corporate value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 595-612, October.
    11. Chun, Hyunbae & Ha, Joonkyung & Kim, Jung-Wook, 2014. "Firm heterogeneity, R&D, and economic growth," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 149-156.
    12. Gene M. Grossman & Edwin L.-C. Lai, 2004. "International Protection of Intellectual Property," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1635-1653, December.
    13. Pham, Ly Thi Minh & Vo, Lai Van & Le, Huong Thi Thu & Le, Danh Vinh, 2018. "Asset liquidity and firm innovation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 225-234.
    14. 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.
    15. Yang, Lei & Maskus, Keith E., 2009. "Intellectual property rights, technology transfer and exports in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 231-236, November.
    16. Yuval Deutsch, 2007. "The Influence of Outside Directors' Stock‐Option Compensation on Firms' R&D," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 816-827, September.
    17. Kim, E. Han & Lu, Yao, 2011. "CEO ownership, external governance, and risk-taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 272-292.
    18. Zhang, Wei, 2015. "R&D investment and distress risk," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 94-114.
    19. 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.
    20. Stulz, ReneM., 1988. "Managerial control of voting rights : Financing policies and the market for corporate control," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 25-54, January.
    21. Dongmei Li, 2011. "Financial Constraints, R&D Investment, and Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(9), pages 2974-3007.
    22. Gu, Lifeng, 2016. "Product market competition, R&D investment, and stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(2), pages 441-455.
    23. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    24. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation," Scholarly Articles 29407535, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    25. Michael K. Fung, 2006. "R&D, knowledge spillovers and stock volatility," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 46(1), pages 107-124, March.
    26. Claessens, Stijn & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2013. "Corporate governance in emerging markets: A survey," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-33.
    27. Yew Kee Ho & Zhenyu Xu & Chee Meng Yap, 2004. "R&D investment and systematic risk," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 44(3), pages 393-418, November.
    28. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation : An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 293-315, January.
    29. Chang, Hsiu-yun & Liang, Woan-lih & Wang, Yanzhi, 2019. "Do institutional investors still encourage patent-based innovation after the tech bubble period?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 149-164.
    30. Francis, Bill B. & Kim, Incheol & Wang, Bin & Zhang, Zhengyi, 2018. "Labor law and innovation revisited," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1-15.
    31. Zhang, Anming & Zhang, Yimin & Zhao, Ronald, 2003. "A study of the R&D efficiency and productivity of Chinese firms," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 444-464, September.
    32. He, Zhaozhao & Wintoki, M. Babajide, 2016. "The cost of innovation: R&D and high cash holdings in U.S. firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 280-303.
    33. James, Barclay E. & McGuire, Jean B., 2016. "Transactional-institutional fit: Corporate governance of R&D investment in different institutional contexts," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 3478-3486.
    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. Chen, Yinghui, 2021. "Does political turnover stifle or stimulate corporate innovation?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 1126-1145.

    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. Zeineb Barka & Taher Hamza, 2020. "The effect of large controlling shareholders on equity prices in France: monitoring or entrenchment?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(3), pages 769-798, September.
    2. Hu, Gang & Liu, Yiye & Wang, Jacqueline Wenjie & Zhou, Gaoguang & Zhu, Xindong, 2022. "Insider ownership and stock price crash risk around the globe," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    3. Ding, Wenzhi & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2021. "Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 802-830.
    4. Mona Mortazian & Seyedeh Asieh H. Tabaghdehi & Bryan Mase, 2019. "Large Shareholding and Firm Value in the Alternative Investment Market (AIM)," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 26(2), pages 229-252, June.
    5. Hamadi, Malika & Heinen, Andréas, 2015. "Firm performance when ownership is very concentrated: Evidence from a semiparametric panel," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 172-194.
    6. Jiang, Fuxiu & Kim, Kenneth A. & Nofsinger, John R. & Zhu, Bing, 2017. "A pecking order of shareholder structure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-14.
    7. Lin, Yongjia Rebecca & Fu, Xiaoqing Maggie, 2017. "Does institutional ownership influence firm performance? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 17-57.
    8. Connelly, J. Thomas & Limpaphayom, Piman & Nagarajan, Nandu J., 2012. "Form versus substance: The effect of ownership structure and corporate governance on firm value in Thailand," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1722-1743.
    9. Chan, Ann Ling-Ching & Ding, Rong & Hou, Wenxuan, 2014. "Does mutual fund ownership affect financial reporting quality for Chinese privately-owned enterprises?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 131-140.
    10. 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).
    11. Bao, Shuji Rosey & Lewellyn, Krista B., 2017. "Ownership structure and earnings management in emerging markets—An institutionalized agency perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 828-838.
    12. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    13. Nam Hoai Tran & Chi Dat Le & David McMillan, 2020. "Ownership concentration, corporate risk-taking and performance: Evidence from Vietnamese listed firms," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 1732640-173, January.
    14. Lee, Shih-Cheng & Lin, Chien-Ting, 2010. "An accounting-based valuation approach to valuing corporate governance in Taiwan," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 47-60.
    15. Attiya Y. Javid & Robina Iqbal, 2010. "Corporate Governance in Pakistan : Corporate Valuation, Ownership and Financing," Governance Working Papers 22830, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    16. Hakkon Kim & Kwangwoo Park & Doojin Ryu, 2017. "Corporate Environmental Responsibility: A Legal Origins Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 381-402, February.
    17. Richardson, Grant & Wang, Bei & Zhang, Xinmin, 2016. "Ownership structure and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence from publicly listed private firms in China," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 141-158.
    18. Lee, Shih-Cheng & Lin, Chien-Ting & Chang, Pei-Ting, 2011. "An Ohlson valuation framework for valuing corporate governance: The case of Taiwan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 420-434, September.
    19. Wei, K.C. John & Zhang, Yi, 2008. "Ownership structure, cash flow, and capital investment: Evidence from East Asian economies before the financial crisis," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 118-132, April.
    20. Zhen Cao & Yulin Chen & Jianyu Zeng & Qunzi Zhang, 2022. "Political connection, family involvement, and IPO underpricing: Evidence from the listed non‐state‐owned enterprises of China," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 105-130, May.

    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:72:y:2021:i:c:p:45-58. 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.