IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v25y2011i3p357-372.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The internationalization of Chinese companies: Firm characteristics, industry effects and corporate governance

Author

Listed:
  • Kling, Gerhard
  • Weitzel, Utz

Abstract

A prominent issue in the internationalization of Chinese firms is that many are state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and that corporate governance in China is highly idiosyncratic. This paper identifies firm characteristics, industry effects and corporate governance mechanisms that foster internationalization. We find that Chinese cross-border mergers create shareholder value, but not more than domestic expansions. Corporate governance mechanisms matter, jointly and individually. While state-ownership predicts fewer cross-border mergers, a favourable board structure and corporate transparency explains higher M&A returns. As in more mature markets, firm- and industry-specific determinants also affect M&As in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Kling, Gerhard & Weitzel, Utz, 2011. "The internationalization of Chinese companies: Firm characteristics, industry effects and corporate governance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 357-372, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:25:y:2011:i:3:p:357-372
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531911000237
    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. Utz Weitzel & Sjors Berns, 2006. "Cross-border takeovers, corruption, and related aspects of governance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(6), pages 786-806, November.
    2. Gunther Tichy, 2001. "What Do We Know about Success and Failure of Mergers?—Rejoinder," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 1(4), pages 431-440, December.
    3. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 43-58, January.
    4. Luo, Yadong & Xue, Qiuzhi & Han, Binjie, 2010. "How emerging market governments promote outward FDI: Experience from China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 68-79, January.
    5. Sara B. Moeller & Frederik P. Schlingemann & René M. Stulz, 2005. "Wealth Destruction on a Massive Scale? A Study of Acquiring‐Firm Returns in the Recent Merger Wave," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(2), pages 757-782, April.
    6. Bai, Chong-En & Liu, Qiao & Lu, Joe & Song, Frank M. & Zhang, Junxi, 2004. "Corporate governance and market valuation in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 599-616, December.
    7. Lei Gao & Gerhard Kling, 2008. "Equity Transfers and Market Reactions," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 7(3), pages 293-308, December.
    8. Ming Dong & David Hirshleifer & Scott Richardson & Siew Hong Teoh, 2006. "Does Investor Misvaluation Drive the Takeover Market?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(2), pages 725-762, April.
    9. Amar Gande & Christoph Schenzler & Lemma W Senbet, 2009. "Valuation effects of global diversification," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(9), pages 1515-1532, December.
    10. Yermack, David, 1996. "Higher market valuation of companies with a small board of directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 185-211, February.
    11. Zhong Zhang, 2007. "Legal Deterrence: the foundation of corporate governance – evidence from China," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 741-767, September.
    12. Liu, Xiaohui & Buck, Trevor & Shu, Chang, 2005. "Chinese economic development, the next stage: outward FDI?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 97-115, February.
    13. Gao, Wenlian & Ng, Lilian & Wang, Qinghai, 2008. "Does geographic dispersion affect firm valuation?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 674-687, December.
    14. Child, John & Rodrigues, Suzana B., 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Case for Theoretical Extension?1," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(3), pages 381-410, November.
    15. Gao, Lei & Kling, Gerhard, 2008. "Corporate governance and tunneling: Empirical evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 591-605, November.
    16. Qiang, Qu, 2003. "Corporate governance and state-owned shares in China listed companies," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 771-783, October.
    17. Rossi, Stefano & Volpin, Paolo F., 2004. "Cross-country determinants of mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 277-304, November.
    18. Bülent Aybar & Aysun Ficici, 2009. "Cross-border acquisitions and firm value: An analysis of emerging-market multinationals," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(8), pages 1317-1338, October.
    19. Jay C. Hartzell, 2004. "What's In It for Me? CEOs Whose Firms Are Acquired," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 17(1), pages 37-61.
    20. Guy S. Liu & Pei Sun, 2005. "The Class of Shareholdings and its Impacts on Corporate Performance: a case of state shareholding composition in Chinese public corporations," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(1), pages 46-59, January.
    21. Martynova, Marina & Renneboog, Luc, 2008. "A century of corporate takeovers: What have we learned and where do we stand?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 2148-2177, October.
    22. John A Doukas & Ozgur B Kan, 2006. "Does global diversification destroy firm value?," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(3), pages 352-371, May.
    23. Moeller, Sara B. & Schlingemann, Frederik P. & Stulz, Rene M., 2004. "Firm size and the gains from acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 201-228, August.
    24. John Child & Suzana B. Rodrigues, 2005. "The Internationalization of Chinese Firms: A Case for Theoretical Extension?," Management and Organization Review, International Association of Chinese Management Research, vol. 1(3), pages 381-410, November.
    25. Cui, Lin & Jiang, Fuming, 2009. "FDI entry mode choice of Chinese firms: A strategic behavior perspective," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 434-444, October.
    26. Gunther Tichy, 2001. "What Do We Know about Success and Failure of Mergers?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 1(4), pages 347-394, December.
    27. A. Craig MacKinlay, 1997. "Event Studies in Economics and Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 13-39, March.
    28. Kathleen Fuller & Jeffry Netter & Mike Stegemoller, 2002. "What Do Returns to Acquiring Firms Tell Us? Evidence from Firms That Make Many Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1763-1793, August.
    29. Sanjeev Agarwal & Sridhar N Ramaswami, 1992. "Choice of Foreign Market Entry Mode: Impact of Ownership, Location and Internationalization Factors," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 23(1), pages 1-27, March.
    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. Yang, Miles M. & Li, Tianchen & Wang, Yue, 2020. "What explains the degree of internationalization of early-stage entrepreneurial firms? A multilevel study on the joint effects of entrepreneurial self-efficacy, opportunity-motivated entrepreneurship,," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(6).
    2. Patrizia Gazzola & Stefano Amelio & Daniele Grechi & Chiara Alleruzzo, 2022. "Culture and sustainable development: The role of merger and acquisition in Italian B Corps," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1546-1559, September.
    3. Anderson, John & Sutherland, Dylan, 2015. "Entry mode and emerging market MNEs: An analysis of Chinese greenfield and acquisition FDI in the United States," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 88-103.
    4. Panicker, Vidya Sukumara & Upadhyayula, Rajesh Srinivas & Sivakumar, Sandeep, 2022. "Internationalization of hybrid state-owned enterprises from emerging markets: Institutional investors as enablers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 409-422.
    5. Zhou, Minghai & Yao, Xianguo, 2014. "China's International Capital Flow and its Impact for Asian Countries on the Background of Industrial Transition and Upgrading," RIEI Working Papers 2014-04, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Research Institute for Economic Integration.
    6. Ning, Lutao & Kuo, Jing-Ming & Strange, Roger & Wang, Boya, 2014. "International investors’ reactions to cross-border acquisitions by emerging market multinationals," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 811-823.
    7. Alessia Amighini & Claudio Cozza & Elisa Giuliani & Roberta Rabellotti & Vittoria Scalera, 2015. "Multinational enterprises from emerging economies: what theories suggest, what evidence shows. A literature review," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(3), pages 343-370, September.
    8. Munmi Saikia, 2020. "Location Determinants of Indian Multinationals: A Multilevel Analysis," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 21(5), pages 1200-1217, October.
    9. Du, Jian & Xu, Yue & Voss, Hinrich & Wang, Song, 2021. "The impact of home business network attributes on Chinese outward foreign direct investment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4).
    10. Zhang, Xiao & Ma, Xufei & Wang, Yue & Li, Xin & Huo, Dong, 2016. "What drives the internationalization of Chinese SMEs? The joint effects of international entrepreneurship characteristics, network ties, and firm ownership," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 522-534.
    11. Thomas O'Connor, 2012. "Investability, Corporate Governance and Firm Value," Economics Department Working Paper Series n223-12.pdf, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    12. Rao-Nicholson, Rekha & Salaber, Julie & Cao, Tuan Hiep, 2016. "Long-term performance of mergers and acquisitions in ASEAN countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 373-387.
    13. Kearney, Colm, 2012. "Emerging markets research: Trends, issues and future directions," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 159-183.
    14. Chen, Yuhuilin & Gunessee, Saileshsingh & Hua, Xiuping, 2022. "Emerging market multinationals’ pursuit of strategic assets through cross-border acquisitions," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    15. Gregory, Alan & O'Donohoe, Sheila, 2014. "Do cross border and domestic acquisitions differ? Evidence from the acquisition of UK targets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 61-69.

    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. Gao, Lei & Kling, Gerhard, 2012. "The impact of corporate governance and external audit on compliance to mandatory disclosure requirements in China," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 17-31.
    2. Ning, Lutao & Kuo, Jing-Ming & Strange, Roger & Wang, Boya, 2014. "International investors’ reactions to cross-border acquisitions by emerging market multinationals," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 811-823.
    3. Martynova, Marina & Renneboog, Luc, 2008. "A century of corporate takeovers: What have we learned and where do we stand?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 2148-2177, October.
    4. Dirk Holtbrügge & Sue Claire Berning, 2018. "Market Entry Strategies and Performance of Chinese Firms in Germany: The Moderating Effect of Home Government Support," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 147-170, February.
    5. Mateev, Miroslav & Andonov, Kristiyan, 2016. "Do cross-border and domestic bidding firms perform differently? New evidence from continental Europe and the UK," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 327-349.
    6. Du, Min & Boateng, Agyenim, 2015. "State ownership, institutional effects and value creation in cross-border mergers & acquisitions by Chinese firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 430-442.
    7. Sean Cleary & Ashrafee Hossain, 2020. "POSTCRISIS M&As AND THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(2), pages 407-454, May.
    8. An, Suwei, 2023. "Essays on incentive contracts, M&As, and firm risk," Other publications TiSEM dd97d2f5-1c9d-47c5-ba62-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Martynova, M. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2005. "Takeover Waves : Triggers, Performance and Motives," Discussion Paper 2005-107, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    10. Martynova, M., 2006. "The market for corporate control and corporate governance regulation in Europe," Other publications TiSEM 8651e281-4914-41f2-ac14-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Andrey Golubov & Dimitris Petmezas & Nickolaos G. Travlos, 2013. "Empirical mergers and acquisitions research: a review of methods, evidence and managerial implications," Chapters, in: Adrian R. Bell & Chris Brooks & Marcel Prokopczuk (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Empirical Finance, chapter 12, pages 287-313, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Carline, Nicholas F. & Linn, Scott C. & Yadav, Pradeep K., 2009. "Operating performance changes associated with corporate mergers and the role of corporate governance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1829-1841, October.
    13. von Eije, Henk & Wiegerinck, Hélène, 2010. "Shareholders' reactions to announcements of acquisitions of private firms: Do target and bidder markets make a difference?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 360-377, August.
    14. Wei, Yingqi & Zheng, Nan & Liu, Xiaohui & Lu, Jiangyong, 2014. "Expanding to outward foreign direct investment or not? A multi-dimensional analysis of entry mode transformation of Chinese private exporting firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 356-370.
    15. Cui, Lin & Meyer, Klaus E. & Hu, Helen Wei, 2014. "What drives firms’ intent to seek strategic assets by foreign direct investment? A study of emerging economy firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 488-501.
    16. Li, Jiatao & Li, Peixin & Wang, Baolian, 2016. "Do cross-border acquisitions create value? Evidence from overseas acquisitions by Chinese firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 471-483.
    17. Li, Xue & Anwar, Sajid & Peng, Fei, 2022. "Cross-border acquisitions and the performance of Chinese publicly listed companies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 575-588.
    18. Szilagyi, P.G., 2007. "Corporate governance and the agency costs of debt and outside equity," Other publications TiSEM 9520d40a-224f-43a8-9bf9-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    19. Zhou, Minghai & Yao, Xianguo, 2014. "China's International Capital Flow and its Impact for Asian Countries on the Background of Industrial Transition and Upgrading," RIEI Working Papers 2014-04, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Research Institute for Economic Integration.
    20. Perafán-Peña, Héctor Fabio & Gill-de-Albornoz, Belén & Giner, Begoña, 2022. "Earnings management of target firms and deal premiums: The role of industry relatedness," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(2).

    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:riibaf:v:25:y:2011:i:3:p:357-372. 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/ribaf .

    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.