IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/asiapa/v32y2015i2p363-387.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When does investment in political ties improve firm performance? The contingent effect of innovation activities

Author

Listed:
  • Jing Zhang
  • Justin Tan
  • Poh Wong

Abstract

Prior research on firm behavior in emerging economies like China has highlighted the extensive building and use of political ties by business managers. However, there are mixed findings regarding the value of political ties on firm performance. In this study, we propose a task-contingency approach to explain when the investment in political ties will improve performance and when they will not. In particular, we study how the value of investing managerial time to cultivate political ties with local government officials may vary when firms engage in different types of technological innovation activities. We hypothesize that when a firm pursues exploratory innovation involving high institutional uncertainty, such time investment will improve firm performance. In contrast, when a firm undertakes exploitative innovation that involves low institutional uncertainty but requires high internal operational improvement such as marketing and sales, such time investment in political ties would distract managers’ attention from internal improvement, and hence may harm firm performance. Results based on a World Bank survey of 1,500 Chinese manufacturing firms confirm these hypotheses. Our findings offer fresh insights on how firm managers in emerging economies should manage their institutional environment when pursuing innovation activities. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Jing Zhang & Justin Tan & Poh Wong, 2015. "When does investment in political ties improve firm performance? The contingent effect of innovation activities," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 363-387, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:asiapa:v:32:y:2015:i:2:p:363-387
    DOI: 10.1007/s10490-014-9402-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10490-014-9402-z
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10490-014-9402-z?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. David J. TEECE, 2008. "Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 5, pages 67-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    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. Tan, Justin & Yang, Jun & Veliyath, Rajaram, 2009. "Particularistic and system trust among small and medium enterprises: A comparative study in China's transition economy," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 544-557, November.
    4. Justin J. P. Jansen & Frans A. J. Van Den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda, 2006. "Exploratory Innovation, Exploitative Innovation, and Performance: Effects of Organizational Antecedents and Environmental Moderators," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(11), pages 1661-1674, November.
    5. Haiyang Li & Yan Zhang, 2007. "The role of managers' political networking and functional experience in new venture performance: Evidence from China's transition economy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(8), pages 791-804, August.
    6. Bo Yu & Shengbin Hao & David Ahlstrom & Steven Si & Dapeng Liang, 2014. "Entrepreneurial firms’ network competence, technological capability, and new product development performance," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 687-704, September.
    7. Ahlstrom, David & Bruton, Garry D. & Yeh, Kuang S., 2008. "Private firms in China: Building legitimacy in an emerging economy," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 385-399, October.
    8. Boubakri, Narjess & Cosset, Jean-Claude & Saffar, Walid, 2008. "Political connections of newly privatized firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 654-673, December.
    9. Jianfeng Wu & Sali Li & Zijie Li, 2013. "The contingent value of CEO political connections: A study on IPO performance in China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 1087-1114, December.
    10. Yuan Li & Haowen Chen & Yi Liu & Mike Peng, 2014. "Managerial ties, organizational learning, and opportunity capture: A social capital perspective," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 271-291, March.
    11. Luo, Yadong, 2007. "From foreign investors to strategic insiders: Shifting parameters, prescriptions and paradigms for MNCs in China," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 14-34, March.
    12. Henk W. Volberda & Arie Y. Lewin, 2003. "Co‐evolutionary Dynamics Within and Between Firms: From Evolution to Co‐evolution," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(8), pages 2111-2136, December.
    13. Raj Echambadi & James D. Hess, 2007. "Mean-Centering Does Not Alleviate Collinearity Problems in Moderated Multiple Regression Models," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 438-445, 05-06.
    14. Mike W Peng & Denis Y L Wang & Yi Jiang, 2008. "An institution-based view of international business strategy: a focus on emerging economies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(5), pages 920-936, July.
    15. Jie Wu & Nitin Pangarkar, 2010. "The bidirectional relationship between competitive intensity and collaboration: Evidence from China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 503-522, September.
    16. 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.
    17. Justin Tan, 1996. "Regulatory Environment and Strategic Orientations in a Transitional Economy: A Study of Chinese Private Enterprise," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 21(1), pages 31-46, October.
    18. Andrew H. Van de Ven, 2004. "The Context-Specific Nature of Competence and Corporate Development," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 21(1_2), pages 123-147, March.
    19. McCloskey, Deirdre N., 2013. "Tunzelmann, Schumpeter, and the Hockey Stick," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(10), pages 1706-1715.
    20. Salamon, Lester M. & Siegfried, John J., 1977. "Economic Power and Political Influence: The Impact of Industry Structure on Public Policy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 71(3), pages 1026-1043, September.
    21. Mara Faccio, 2006. "Politically Connected Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 369-386, March.
    22. Michael N. Young & Mike W. Peng & David Ahlstrom & Garry D. Bruton & Yi Jiang, 2008. "Corporate Governance in Emerging Economies: A Review of the Principal–Principal Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 196-220, January.
    23. Yuan Lu & Eric Tsang & Mike Peng, 2008. "Knowledge management and innovation strategy in the Asia Pacific: Toward an institution-based view," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 361-374, September.
    24. Michael Young & Terence Tsai & Xinran Wang & Shubo Liu & David Ahlstrom, 2014. "Strategy in emerging economies and the theory of the firm," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 331-354, June.
    25. Albert Satorra & Peter Bentler, 2001. "A scaled difference chi-square test statistic for moment structure analysis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 66(4), pages 507-514, December.
    26. Frank T. Rothaermel & David L. Deeds, 2004. "Exploration and exploitation alliances in biotechnology: a system of new product development," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 201-221, March.
    27. 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.
    28. Claessens, Stijn & Feijen, Erik & Laeven, Luc, 2008. "Political connections and preferential access to finance: The role of campaign contributions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 554-580, June.
    29. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    30. Justin Tan & David Tan, 2005. "Environment–strategy co‐evolution and co‐alignment: a staged model of Chinese SOEs under transition," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 141-157, February.
    31. Mara Faccio, 2010. "Differences between Politically Connected and Nonconnected Firms: A Cross‐Country Analysis," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 905-928, September.
    32. Diego Quer & Enrique Claver & Laura Rienda, 2007. "Business and management in China: A review of empirical research in leading international journals," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 359-384, September.
    33. Ahlstrom, David & Bruton, Garry D. & Lui, Steven S. Y., 2000. "Navigating China's changing economy: Strategies for private firms," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 5-15.
    34. Justin Tan & Mike W. Peng, 2003. "Organizational slack and firm performance during economic transitions: two studies from an emerging economy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(13), pages 1249-1263, December.
    35. Zi-Lin He & Poh-Kam Wong, 2004. "Exploration vs. Exploitation: An Empirical Test of the Ambidexterity Hypothesis," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 481-494, August.
    36. Weiwen Li & Ai He & Hailin Lan & Daphne Yiu, 2012. "Political connections and corporate diversification in emerging economies: Evidence from China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 799-818, September.
    37. Daniel A. Levinthal & James G. March, 1993. "The myopia of learning," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(S2), pages 95-112, December.
    38. Auh, Seigyoung & Menguc, Bulent, 2005. "Balancing exploration and exploitation: The moderating role of competitive intensity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(12), pages 1652-1661, December.
    39. Michael Carney & Eric Gedajlovic & Xiaohua Yang, 2009. "Varieties of Asian capitalism: Toward an institutional theory of Asian enterprise," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 361-380, September.
    40. MARA FACCIO & RONALD W. MASULIS & JOHN J. McCONNELL, 2006. "Political Connections and Corporate Bailouts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2597-2635, December.
    41. Christine Oliver, 1997. "Sustainable competitive advantage: combining institutional and resource‐based views," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(9), pages 697-713, October.
    42. Julie Juan Li & Kevin Zheng Zhou & Alan T Shao, 2009. "Competitive position, managerial ties, and profitability of foreign firms in China: an interactive perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(2), pages 339-352, February.
    43. Lin, Justin Yifu & Cai, Fang & Li, Zhou, 1998. "Competition, Policy Burdens, and State-Owned Enterprise Reform," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 422-427, May.
    44. Garry Bruton & Gregory Dess & Jay Janney, 2007. "Knowledge management in technology-focused firms in emerging economies: Caveats on capabilities, networks, and real options," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 115-130, June.
    45. Kevin Zheng Zhou & Laura Poppo, 2010. "Exchange hazards, relational reliability, and contracts in China: The contingent role of legal enforceability," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(5), pages 861-881, June.
    46. Petra Christmann & Glen Taylor, 2001. "Globalization and the Environment: Determinants of Firm Self-Regulation in China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(3), pages 439-458, September.
    47. Jun Lin & Steven Si, 2010. "Can guanxi be a problem? Contexts, ties, and some unfavorable consequences of social capital in China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 561-581, September.
    48. Abernathy, William J. & Clark, Kim B., 1985. "Innovation: Mapping the winds of creative destruction," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 3-22, February.
    49. Liu, Yunshi & Ahlstrom, David & Yeh, Kuang S., 2006. "The separation of ownership and management in Taiwan's public companies: An empirical study," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 415-435, August.
    50. Raymond Fisman, 2001. "Estimating the Value of Political Connections," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1095-1102, September.
    51. Yanmei Zhu & Xinhua Wittmann & Mike Peng, 2012. "Institution-based barriers to innovation in SMEs in China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 1131-1142, December.
    52. Arie Y. Lewin & Chris P. Long & Timothy N. Carroll, 1999. "The Coevolution of New Organizational Forms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(5), pages 535-550, October.
    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. Zhao, Hongxin & Lu, Jiangyong, 2016. "Contingent value of political capital in bank loan acquisition: Evidence from founder-controlled private enterprises in China," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 153-174.
    2. Ma, Xufei & Ding, Zhujun & Yuan, Lin, 2016. "Subnational institutions, political capital, and the internationalization of entrepreneurial firms in emerging economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 843-854.
    3. Sharma, Piyush & Cheng, Louis T.W. & Leung, T.Y., 2020. "Impact of political connections on Chinese export firms' performance – Lessons for other emerging markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 24-34.
    4. Su, Zhong-qin & Fung, Hung-Gay & Huang, Deng-shi & Shen, Chung-Hua, 2014. "Cash dividends, expropriation, and political connections: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 260-272.
    5. Jackowicz, Krzysztof & Kozłowski, Łukasz & Mielcarz, Paweł, 2014. "Political connections and operational performance of non-financial firms: New evidence from Poland," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 109-135.
    6. Emmanuelle Nys & Amine Tarazi & Irwan Trinugroho, 2013. "Political Connections, Bank Deposits, and Formal Deposit Insurance: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Working Papers hal-00916513, HAL.
    7. Thanh Ngo & Jurica Susnjara, 2020. "Government contracts and US bond yield spreads: A study on costs and benefits of materialized political connections," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7-8), pages 1059-1085, July.
    8. Chun Yang & Bart Bossink & Peter Peverelli, 2018. "The Value of Business–Government Ties for Manufacturing Firms’ Product Innovation during Institutional Transition in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-27, December.
    9. Park, SeHyun, 2023. "Profitability of politically corrupt firms: Evidence from Romania," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    10. Weiqi Dai & Mingqing Liao, 2019. "Entrepreneurial attention to deregulations and reinvestments by private firms: Evidence from China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 1221-1250, December.
    11. Guangyuan Guo & Jing Li & Dan Wang & Lina Zhang, 2022. "Political connection, contract intensity, and OFDI: Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 534-557, July.
    12. 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.
    13. He, Lerong & Wan, Hong & Zhou, Xin, 2014. "How are political connections valued in China? Evidence from market reaction to CEO succession," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 141-152.
    14. Liu, Qigui & Tang, Jinghua & Tian, Gary Gang, 2013. "Does political capital create value in the IPO market? Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 395-413.
    15. Li, Guoping & Zhou, Hong, 2015. "Political connections and access to IPO markets in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 76-93.
    16. Cull, Robert & Li, Wei & Sun, Bo & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2015. "Government connections and financial constraints: Evidence from a large representative sample of Chinese firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 271-294.
    17. Ayesha Shoukat, 2020. "Political Connection and Enterprise Development (A Case Study of Nishat Business Group)," Journal of Contemporary Research in Social Sciences, Michael Laurence, vol. 2(1), pages 8-25.
    18. Disli, Mustafa & Schoors, Koen & Meir, Jos, 2013. "Political connections and depositor discipline," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 804-819.
    19. Cheng, Lei, 2018. "Estimating the value of political connections in China: Evidence from sudden deaths of politically connected independent directors," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 495-514.
    20. Jackowicz, Krzysztof & Kozłowski, Łukasz & Podgórski, Błażej & Winkler-Drews, Tadeusz, 2020. "Do political connections shield from negative shocks? Evidence from rating changes in advanced emerging economies," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).

    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:kap:asiapa:v:32:y:2015:i:2:p:363-387. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.