IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v65y2023ics0275531923000739.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Common ownership and executive pay-for-performance sensitivity: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Xu, Tianli
  • Xu, Longbing
  • Zhu, Siyuan

Abstract

This study focuses on the impact of common ownership on executive pay-for-performance sensitivity using a sample of A-share listed firms in China from 2008 to 2020. We find common ownership significantly improves executive pay-for-performance sensitivity and plays a monitoring and governance role. Meanwhile, the impact of common ownership on executive pay-for-performance sensitivity is more significant in non-state-owned firms (non-SOEs) and when a firm faces a highly competitive product market. The mechanism tests indicate that common ownership affects executive pay-for-performance sensitivity through the information and governance mechanisms. Further analyses show that the portion of compensation explained by common ownership significantly enhances future firm performance. Overall, our findings validate the positive role of common ownership in corporate governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Xu, Tianli & Xu, Longbing & Zhu, Siyuan, 2023. "Common ownership and executive pay-for-performance sensitivity: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:65:y:2023:i:c:s0275531923000739
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.101947
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531923000739
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.101947?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. José Azar & Martin C. Schmalz & Isabel Tecu, 2018. "Anticompetitive Effects of Common Ownership," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(4), pages 1513-1565, August.
    2. Zhou, Fangzhao & Fan, Yunqi & An, Yunbi & Zhong, Ligang, 2017. "Independent directors, non-controlling directors, and executive pay-for-performance sensitivity: Evidence from Chinese non-state owned enterprises," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 55-71.
    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. He, Jie (Jack) & Huang, Jiekun & Zhao, Shan, 2019. "Internalizing governance externalities: The role of institutional cross-ownership," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(2), pages 400-418.
    5. Melanie Cao & Rong Wang, 2013. "Optimal CEO Compensation with Search: Theory and Empirical Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(5), pages 2001-2058, October.
    6. Santhosh Ramalingegowda & Steven Utke & Yong Yu, 2021. "Common Institutional Ownership and Earnings Management," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 208-241, March.
    7. Gaspar, Jose-Miguel & Massa, Massimo & Matos, Pedro, 2005. "Shareholder investment horizons and the market for corporate control," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 135-165, April.
    8. Pruitt, Stephen W & Wei, K C John, 1989. " Institutional Ownership and Changes in the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(2), pages 509-513, June.
    9. Hansen, Robert G. & Lott, John R., 1996. "Externalities and Corporate Objectives in a World with Diversified Shareholder/Consumers," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(1), pages 43-68, March.
    10. Alex Edmans & Doron Levit & Devin Reilly, 2019. "Governance Under Common Ownership," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(7), pages 2673-2719.
    11. JOSEPH A. McCAHERY & ZACHARIAS SAUTNER & LAURA T. STARKS, 2016. "Behind the Scenes: The Corporate Governance Preferences of Institutional Investors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(6), pages 2905-2932, December.
    12. Jackson, Scott B. & Lopez, Thomas J. & Reitenga, Austin L., 2008. "Accounting fundamentals and CEO bonus compensation," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 374-393.
    13. Gompers, Paul & Kovner, Anna & Lerner, Josh & Scharfstein, David, 2008. "Venture capital investment cycles: The impact of public markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 1-23, January.
    14. Steven Balsam, 1998. "Discretionary Accounting Choices and CEO Compensation," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 229-252, September.
    15. Brooks, Chris & Chen, Zhong & Zeng, Yeqin, 2018. "Institutional cross-ownership and corporate strategy: The case of mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 187-216.
    16. Liu, Baixiao & McConnell, John J., 2013. "The role of the media in corporate governance: Do the media influence managers' capital allocation decisions?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 1-17.
    17. Harris, Lawrence E & Gurel, Eitan, 1986. "Price and Volume Effects Associated with Changes in the S&P 500 List: New Evidence for the Existence of Price Pressures," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 41(4), pages 815-829, September.
    18. Chen, Shenglan & Lin, Bingxuan & Lu, Rui & Zhang, Ting, 2015. "Controlling shareholders’ incentives and executive pay-for-performance sensitivity: Evidence from the split share structure reform in China," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 147-160.
    19. Miguel Antón & Florian Ederer & Mireia Giné & Martin Schmalz, 2023. "Common Ownership, Competition, and Top Management Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(5), pages 1294-1355.
    20. Dechow, Patricia M. & Sloan, Richard G., 1991. "Executive incentives and the horizon problem : An empirical investigation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 51-89, March.
    21. Cornett, Marcia Millon & Marcus, Alan J. & Tehranian, Hassan, 2008. "Corporate governance and pay-for-performance: The impact of earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 357-373, February.
    22. Chahine, Salim & Goergen, Marc, 2014. "Top management ties with board members: How they affect pay–performance sensitivity and IPO performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 99-115.
    23. Shleifer, Andrei, 1986. "Do Demand Curves for Stocks Slope Down?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 41(3), pages 579-590, July.
    24. Bengt Holmstrom, 1979. "Moral Hazard and Observability," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 74-91, Spring.
    25. Dang, Tung Lam & Dang, Viet Anh & Moshirian, Fariborz & Nguyen, Lily & Zhang, Bohui, 2019. "News media coverage and corporate leverage adjustments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    26. Bengt Holmstrom, 1999. "Managerial Incentive Problems: A Dynamic Perspective," NBER Working Papers 6875, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Denis, David J. & Hanouna, Paul & Sarin, Atulya, 2006. "Is there a dark side to incentive compensation?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 467-488, June.
    28. 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.
    29. HOLMSTROM, Bengt, 1979. "Moral hazard and observability," LIDAM Reprints CORE 379, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    30. Göx, Robert F. & Hemmer, Thomas, 2020. "On the relation between managerial power and CEO pay," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2).
    31. James S. Ang & Rebel A. Cole & James Wuh Lin, 2000. "Agency Costs and Ownership Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 81-106, February.
    32. Renée B. Adams & Daniel Ferreira, 2007. "A Theory of Friendly Boards," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(1), pages 217-250, February.
    33. Ouyang, Caiyue & Xiong, Jiacai & Fan, Lyu, 2019. "Do insiders share pledging affect executive pay-for-performance sensitivity?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 226-239.
    34. Kang, Jun-Koo & Luo, Juan & Na, Hyun Seung, 2018. "Are institutional investors with multiple blockholdings effective monitors?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(3), pages 576-602.
    35. Jie (Jack) He & Jiekun Huang, 2017. "Product Market Competition in a World of Cross-Ownership: Evidence from Institutional Blockholdings," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(8), pages 2674-2718.
    36. Fama, Eugene F, 1991. "Time, Salary, and Incentive Payoffs in Labor Contracts," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(1), pages 25-44, January.
    37. Cheng, Xin & (Helen) Wang, He & Wang, Xianjue, 2022. "Common institutional ownership and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    38. Vickers, John, 1985. "Delegation and the Theory of the Firm," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 95(380a), pages 138-147, Supplemen.
    39. Fershtman, Chaim & Judd, Kenneth L, 1987. "Equilibrium Incentives in Oligopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(5), pages 927-940, December.
    40. Jensen, Michael C & Murphy, Kevin J, 1990. "Performance Pay and Top-Management Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(2), pages 225-264, April.
    41. Carter, Mary Ellen & Choi, Jen & Sedatole, Karen L., 2021. "The effect of supplier industry competition on pay-for-performance incentive intensity," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2).
    42. Linxiao Liu & Harrison Liu & Jennifer Yin, 2014. "Stock Option Schedules and Managerial Opportunism," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5-6), pages 652-684, June.
    43. Jang, In Ji & Kang, Namho & Yezegel, Ari, 2022. "Common ownership, price informativeness, and corporate investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    44. Gao, Mingze & Leung, Henry & Qiu, Buhui, 2021. "Organization capital and executive performance incentives," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    45. Stephen A. Ross, 2004. "Compensation, Incentives, and the Duality of Risk Aversion and Riskiness," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(1), pages 207-225, February.
    46. Chen, Xia & Harford, Jarrad & Li, Kai, 2007. "Monitoring: Which institutions matter?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 279-305, November.
    47. Cheng, Minying & Lin, Bingxuan & Wei, Minghai, 2015. "Executive compensation in family firms: The effect of multiple family members," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 238-257.
    48. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Yaniv Grinstein & Urs Peyer, 2010. "Lucky CEOs and Lucky Directors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(6), pages 2363-2401, December.
    49. An, Zhe & Chen, Chen & Naiker, Vic & Wang, Jun, 2020. "Does media coverage deter firms from withholding bad news? Evidence from stock price crash risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    50. Kim, Kyonghee, 2010. "Blockholder monitoring and the efficiency of pay-performance benchmarking," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 748-766, December.
    51. Bengt Holmström, 1999. "Managerial Incentive Problems: A Dynamic Perspective," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 66(1), pages 169-182.
    52. Callen, Jeffrey L. & Fang, Xiaohua, 2013. "Institutional investor stability and crash risk: Monitoring versus short-termism?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3047-3063.
    53. Healy, Paul M., 1985. "The effect of bonus schemes on accounting decisions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1-3), pages 85-107, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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, Shenglan & Ma, Hui & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2023. "Does common ownership constrain managerial rent extraction? Evidence from insider trading profitability," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Ziwei Wang & Chunfeng Wang & Zhenming Fang, 2023. "Common institutional ownership and corporate misconduct," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 102-136, January.
    3. Liu, Huan & Hou, Canran, 2023. "The external effect of institutional cross-ownership on excessive managerial perks," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 483-501.
    4. Wang, Qiong & Qiu, Muqing, 2023. "Strength in numbers: Minority shareholders' participation and executives' pay-performance sensitivity," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Healey, John & Mintz, Ofer, 2021. "What if your owners also own other firms in your industry? The relationship between institutional common ownership, marketing, and firm performance," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 838-856.
    6. Bajo, Emanuele & Croci, Ettore & Marinelli, Nicoletta, 2020. "Institutional investor networks and firm value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 65-80.
    7. Hou, Canran & Liu, Huan, 2023. "Institutional cross-ownership and stock price crash risk," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Ni, Xiaoran & Yin, David, 2023. "Is institutional common ownership commonly priced? Insights from the cost of equity capital," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    9. Cheng, Xin & (Helen) Wang, He & Wang, Xianjue, 2022. "Common institutional ownership and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    10. Xiaohui Wu & Yumin Li & Chong Feng, 2023. "Green innovation peer effects in common institutional ownership networks," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 641-660, March.
    11. Benson, Bradley W. & Chen, Yu & James, Hui L. & Park, Jung Chul, 2020. "So far away from me: Firm location and the managerial ownership effect on firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Kristopher Gerardi & Michelle Lowry & Carola Schenone, 2023. "A Critical Review of the Common Ownership Literature," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2023-17, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    13. Chun-An Li & Tse-Mao Lin & Yu-Wen Huang, 2018. "Managerial Overconfidence, Compensation Induced Risk Taking, And Earnings Management," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 12(2), pages 1-26.
    14. Hennig, Jan C. & Oehmichen, Jana & Steinberg, Philip J. & Heigermoser, Judith, 2022. "Determinants of common ownership: Exploring an information-based and a competition-based perspective in a global context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 690-702.
    15. Kiyoung Chang & Ying Li & Ha‐Chin Yi, 2021. "Informed equity ownership and bank loan contracting," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(7-8), pages 1368-1403, July.
    16. Santhosh Ramalingegowda & Steven Utke & Yong Yu, 2021. "Common Institutional Ownership and Earnings Management," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 208-241, March.
    17. Gilje, Erik P. & Gormley, Todd A. & Levit, Doron, 2020. "Who's paying attention? Measuring common ownership and its impact on managerial incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(1), pages 152-178.
    18. Ping Jiang & Yunbiao Ma & Beibei Shi, 2022. "Common ownership and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 876-912, December.
    19. Antón, Miguel & Azar, José & Gine, Mireia & Lin, Luca X., 2022. "Beyond the target: M&A decisions and rival ownership," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(1), pages 44-66.
    20. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Guay, Wayne R. & Weber, Joseph P., 2010. "The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 179-234, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Common ownership; Pay-for-performance sensitivity; Institutional investors; Monitoring; Governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    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:riibaf:v:65:y:2023:i:c:s0275531923000739. 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.