IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/erg/wpaper/1298.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Division of Ownership and Control in Listed Jordanian Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Ghada Tayem

    (University of Jordan)

Abstract

Firms listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) represent an important part of the economic activity in Jordan with 63.5% of market capitalization to GDP in 2016. However, there is little known about the ownership of Jordanian listed firms. This study is the first to document in details the ownership and control structures of more than 200 firms listed on the ASE. In this study I document the immediate ownership of shareholders who control over 5% of the votes in the sample firms. If principal shareholders are legal entities, I identify their owners, the owners of their owners and so on. Then, percentage control is computed using the weakest link rule to identify the ultimate controller at different cut-offs. If the corporation is identified as closely held I assign it one of the following identities: Family, Foreign, State, Widely Held Financial Institution, Widely Held Corporation and other. The study shows that around one third of listed firms are single firms with virtually no deviation between ownership and control. Single firms are mostly owned by families. The other two thirds of listed firms are group affiliated. In some cases control of group affiliated firms is enhanced by their ultimate controllers by the use of pyramids and cross holdings which leads to a diversion of voting rights and cash flow rights especially at the 5% and 10% levels. The control of group affiliated firms is mostly in the hands of families with some groups controlled by foreigners (mainly from the Saudi Arabia) and the state. Finally, corporate wealth is concentrated among a small number of investors, mostly families.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghada Tayem, 2019. "The Division of Ownership and Control in Listed Jordanian Firms," Working Papers 1298, Economic Research Forum, revised 2019.
  • Handle: RePEc:erg:wpaper:1298
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://erf.org.eg/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/1298.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://bit.ly/2Z5EuO8
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kai Li & Tan Wang & Yan-Leung Cheung & Ping Jiang, 2011. "Privatization and Risk Sharing: Evidence from the Split Share Structure Reform in China," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(7), pages 2499-2525.
    2. 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.
    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. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Denis, Diane K. & McConnell, John J., 2003. "International Corporate Governance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 1-36, March.
    7. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    8. Sung Wook Joh & Ming Ming Chiu, 2004. "Loans to distressed firms: Political connections, Related lending, Business Group Affiliation and Bank Governance," Econometric Society 2004 Far Eastern Meetings 790, Econometric Society.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    12. repec:elg:eebook:14347 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Tarun Khanna & Joe Kogan & Krishna Palepu, 2006. "Globalization and Similarities in Corporate Governance: A Cross-Country Analysis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(1), pages 69-90, February.
    14. Rajan, Raghuram G. & Zingales, Luigi, 2003. "The great reversals: the politics of financial development in the twentieth century," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 5-50, July.
    15. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    16. Claessens, Stijn & Djankov, Simeon & Lang, Larry H. P., 2000. "The separation of ownership and control in East Asian Corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 81-112.
    17. Bernard S. Black & Vikramaditya S. Khanna, 2007. "Can Corporate Governance Reforms Increase Firm Market Values? Event Study Evidence from India," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(4), pages 749-796, December.
    18. Chernykh, Lucy, 2008. "Ultimate ownership and control in Russia," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 169-192, 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. Claessens, Stijn & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2013. "Corporate governance in emerging markets: A survey," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-33.
    2. Bernard Yeung & Randall Morck & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2004. "Corporate Governance, Economic Entrenchment and Growth," Working Papers 04-21, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    3. 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.
    4. Gur Aminadav & Elias Papaioannou, 2020. "Corporate Control around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(3), pages 1191-1246, June.
    5. Morck, Randall & Deniz Yavuz, M. & Yeung, Bernard, 2011. "Banking system control, capital allocation, and economy performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 264-283, May.
    6. Eklund, Johan & Desai, Sameeksha, 2008. "Ownership, Economic Entrenchment and Allocation of Capital," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 123, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    7. Bowo Setiyono & Amine Tarazi, 2014. "Does the presence of institutional investors in family banks affect profitability and risk? Evidence from an emerging market," Working Papers hal-01077118, HAL.
    8. Art Durnev & E. Han Kim, 2003. "Corporate Stability and Economic Growth," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 554, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    9. Feng, Xunan & Hu, Na & Johansson, Anders C., 2016. "Ownership, analyst coverage, and stock synchronicity in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 79-96.
    10. Jenifer Piesse & Roger Strange & Fahad Toonsi, 2012. "Is there a distinctive MENA model of corporate governance?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 16(4), pages 645-681, November.
    11. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    12. Randall Morck, 2011. "Finance and Governance in Developing Economies," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 3(1), pages 375-406, December.
    13. 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.
    14. Art Durnev & E. Han Kim, 2005. "To Steal or Not to Steal: Firm Attributes, Legal Environment, and Valuation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1461-1493, June.
    15. Schmid, Thomas & Ampenberger, Markus & Kaserer, Christoph & Achleitner, Ann-Kristin, 2010. "Controlling shareholders and payout policy: do founding families have a special 'taste for dividends'?," CEFS Working Paper Series 2010-01, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    16. Ping Sun & Sheng Ma & Xinxin Xu, 2022. "Multi-Factor Collaborative Governance of Controlling Shareholder Expropriation Behavior in Emerging Economies: A Perspective of Double Principal-Agent Conflicts," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    17. Andre Leonardo Pruner da Silva & Jeferson Lana & Rosilene Marcon, 2018. "Agreeing and Impacting: The Effect of the Shareholders' Agreement on Firms' Market Value," Brazilian Business Review, Fucape Business School, vol. 15(1), pages 88-104, January.
    18. 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.
    19. Mauricio Jara‐Bertin & Félix J. López‐Iturriaga & Óscar López‐de‐Foronda, 2008. "The Contest to the Control in European Family Firms: How Other Shareholders Affect Firm Value," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 146-159, May.
    20. Ben Ali Chiraz & Cédric Lesage, 2010. "Ownership concentration and audit fees: do auditors matter most when investors are protected least?," Post-Print hal-00476923, HAL.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:erg:wpaper:1298. 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: Sherine Ghoneim (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/erfaceg.html .

    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.