IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v66y2026i1p497-531.html

Migrant Top Management Team and Corporate Innovation: Evidence From China

Author

Listed:
  • Ying Liu
  • Ahsan Habib
  • Hedy Jiaying Huang

Abstract

This study explores the association between top management teams (TMT) comprised of migrant managers (migrant TMT) and corporate innovation. Using hand‐collected data for a sample of Chinese A‐share listed firms spanning the period 2008–2020, we find a positive and significant association between a migrant TMT and corporate innovation. Our results remain robust to a set of endogeneity tests, including entropy‐balanced regression and instrumental variable regression. We then show that real earnings management and risk‐taking are the channels through which the positive relationship between migrant TMTs and corporate innovation manifests itself: migrant TMTs engage less in real earnings management and are more likely to take risks. Finally, we find that the positive relationship between migrant TMTs and corporate innovation is more pronounced in state‐owned firms and remains significant in both high‐ and low‐cultural diversity regions, suggesting that the observed effect is not primarily driven by cultural adaptability but reflects a robust migration‐driven mechanism. Our findings contribute to the literature by providing novel evidence on how a migrant TMT affects corporate decision‐making.

Suggested Citation

  • Ying Liu & Ahsan Habib & Hedy Jiaying Huang, 2026. "Migrant Top Management Team and Corporate Innovation: Evidence From China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 66(1), pages 497-531, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:66:y:2026:i:1:p:497-531
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.70093
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.70093
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.70093?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guariglia, Alessandra & Liu, Xiaoxuan & Song, Lina, 2011. "Internal finance and growth: Microeconometric evidence on Chinese firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 79-94, September.
    2. Gustavo Manso, 2011. "Motivating Innovation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1823-1860, October.
    3. Holmstrom, Bengt, 1989. "Agency costs and innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 305-327, December.
    4. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    5. Fleur Wouterse, 2016. "Can human capital variables be technology changing? An empirical test for rural households in Burkina Faso," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 157-172, April.
    6. Kong, Dongmin & Zhao, Ying & Liu, Shasha, 2021. "Trust and innovation: Evidence from CEOs' early-life experience," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. Michael E. Porter, 1992. "Capital Choices: Changing The Way America Invests In Industry," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 5(2), pages 4-16, June.
    8. Die Hu & Lu Qiu & Maoyan She & Yu Wang, 2021. "Sustaining the sustainable development: How do firms turn government green subsidies into financial performance through green innovation?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2271-2292, July.
    9. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2001. "The NBER Patent Citation Data File: Lessons, Insights and Methodological Tools," NBER Working Papers 8498, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Sabrina T. Howell, 2017. "Financing Innovation: Evidence from R&D Grants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(4), pages 1136-1164, April.
    11. Bosetti, Valentina & Cattaneo, Cristina & Verdolini, Elena, 2015. "Migration of skilled workers and innovation: A European Perspective," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 311-322.
    12. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    13. Yael V. Hochberg & Laura Lindsey, 2010. "Incentives, Targeting, and Firm Performance: An Analysis of Non-executive Stock Options," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(11), pages 4148-4186, November.
    14. Bian, Wenlong & Ji, Yang & Zhang, Hao, 2019. "Does dialect similarity add value to banks? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 226-241.
    15. Cui, Huijie & Dai, Lixuan & Zhang, Yanan, 2021. "Organization Capital and Corporate Innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    16. Sudipto Bhattacharya & Jay R. Ritter, 1983. "Innovation and Communication: Signalling with Partial Disclosure," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 50(2), pages 331-346.
    17. Nguyen, Lily & Vu, Le & Yin, Xiangkang, 2020. "The undesirable effect of audit quality: Evidence from firm innovation," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    18. Yin, Hongying & Jin, Xin & Quan, Xiaofeng & Yu, Junli, 2022. "Does social network improve corporate financing efficiency? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. Chen, Shu & Ying, Sammy Xiaoyan & Wu, Huiying & You, Jiaxing, 2021. "Carrying on the family's legacy: Male heirs and firm innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    20. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Assimilation, Changes in Cohort Quality, and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 2, pages 3-29, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    21. Guo, Lian & Peng, Diefeng & Rao, Yulei & Zhuang, Zili, 2023. "Visiting monks: Are nonlocal CEOs paid more?☆," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    22. David Hirshleifer & Angie Low & Siew Hong Teoh, 2012. "Are Overconfident CEOs Better Innovators?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1457-1498, August.
    23. Hanwen Chen & Jeff Zeyun Chen & Gerald J. Lobo & Yanyan Wang, 2010. "Association Between Borrower and Lender State Ownership and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 48(5), pages 973-1014, December.
    24. Hermann Achidi Ndofor & David G. Sirmon & Xiaoming He, 2015. "Utilizing the firm's resources: How TMT heterogeneity and resulting faultlines affect TMT tasks," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(11), pages 1656-1674, November.
    25. Shane, Scott, 1993. "Cultural influences on national rates of innovation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 59-73, January.
    26. Zhong, Rong (Irene), 2018. "Transparency and firm innovation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 67-93.
    27. Beladi, Hamid & Hou, Qingsong & Hu, May, 2022. "The party school education and corporate innovation: Evidence from SOEs in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    28. Guangyong Lei & Wanwan Wang & Junli Yu & Kam C. Chan, 2022. "Cultural Diversity and Corporate Tax Avoidance: Evidence from Chinese Private Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 357-379, March.
    29. Luisa Gagliardi, 2015. "Does skilled migration foster innovative performance? Evidence from British local areas," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(4), pages 773-794, November.
    30. Yuan, Rongli & Wen, Wen, 2018. "Managerial foreign experience and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 752-770.
    31. Nicholas Bloom & Mirko Draca & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Trade Induced Technical Change? The Impact of Chinese Imports on Innovation, IT and Productivity," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(1), pages 87-117.
    32. Adalgiso Amendola & Cristian Barra & Roberto Zotti, 2020. "Does graduate human capital production increase local economic development? An instrumental variable approach," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 959-994, November.
    33. Katerina Bezrukova & Karen A. Jehn & Elaine L. Zanutto & Sherry M. B. Thatcher, 2009. "Do Workgroup Faultlines Help or Hurt? A Moderated Model of Faultlines, Team Identification, and Group Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 35-50, February.
    34. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & Kong, Lei & Krishnan, Karthik & Yu, Qianqian, 2019. "Top Management Human Capital, Inventor Mobility, and Corporate Innovation," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(6), pages 2383-2422, December.
    35. Ren, Shenggang & Cheng, Yingmei & Hu, Yucai & Yin, Chao, 2021. "Feeling right at home: Hometown CEOs and firm innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    36. Francesco Lissoni & Ernest Miguelez, 2024. "Migration and Innovation: Learning from Patent and Inventor Data," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 38(1), pages 27-54, Winter.
    37. Scott E. Yonker, 2017. "Geography and the Market for CEOs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(3), pages 609-630, March.
    38. Adriana C. Pinate & Alessandra Faggian & Claudio Di Berardino & Carolina Castaldi, 2023. "The heterogenous relationship between migration and innovation: Evidence from Italy," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 336-360, March.
    39. Lei An & Yu Qin & Jing Wu & Wei You, 2024. "The Local Labor Market Effect of Relaxing Internal Migration Restrictions: Evidence from China," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 161-200.
    40. Xu, Qiuhua & Deng, Li & Li, Sen & Huang, Wen, 2021. "Do hometown connections affect corporate governance? Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 290-302.
    41. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    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. Bin Yan Ding & Feng Wei, 2022. "Executive resume information disclosure and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 3593-3610, December.
    2. Feiyan Yang & Jiahui Ren & Junjie Yang & Yuchuan Zhang & Changyuan Xia, 2025. "Does property insurance promote corporate innovation? Evidence from China," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 50(1), pages 34-77, January.
    3. Amin, Md Ruhul & Wang, Xinyu & Aktas, Elvan, 2023. "Does oil price uncertainty affect corporate innovation?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    4. Kong, Dongmin & Zhang, Bohui & Zhang, Jian, 2022. "Higher education and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Lee, Junyong & Oh, Frederick Dongchuhl & Shin, Donglim, 2024. "Religion and corporate innovation," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Daniel Bradley & Incheol Kim & Xuan Tian, 2017. "Do Unions Affect Innovation?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(7), pages 2251-2271, July.
    7. Zhong, Rong (Irene), 2018. "Transparency and firm innovation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 67-93.
    8. Zhang, Chengrui & Li, Zhaohong & Xu, Jiaqian & Luo, Yiyang, 2024. "Accounting information quality, firm ownership and technology innovation: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    9. Duan, Huiqin & Li, Yang & Li, Liuchuang, 2025. "The dark side of investor protection: The case of innovation," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    10. Zhang, Mao & Wang, Yiming & Zhao, Qifeng, 2020. "Does participating in the standards-setting process promote innovation? Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    11. Kelly Huang & Brent Lao & Gregory McPhee, 2020. "Internal information quality and patent‐related innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3-4), pages 489-518, March.
    12. Wang, Jimin & Ho, Choy Yeing (Chloe) & Shan, Yuan George, 2024. "Does cybersecurity risk stifle corporate innovation activities?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    13. Ziyang Li & Qianwei Ying & Wu Yan & Chenjun Fan, 2022. "Does just‐in‐time adoption have an impact on corporate innovation: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(S1), pages 1599-1635, April.
    14. Hasan, Iftekhar & (Stan) Hoi, Chun-Keung & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2020. "Is social capital associated with corporate innovation? Evidence from publicly listed firms in the U.S," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    15. Nguyen, Lily & Vu, Le & Yin, Xiangkang, 2020. "The undesirable effect of audit quality: Evidence from firm innovation," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    16. Boubakri, Narjess & Chkir, Imed & Saadi, Samir & Zhu, Hui, 2021. "Does national culture affect corporate innovation? International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    17. Chang, Xin & Fu, Kangkang & Low, Angie & Zhang, Wenrui, 2015. "Non-executive employee stock options and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 168-188.
    18. Li, Guoxing & Yeh, Yin-Hua, 2023. "Western cultural influence on corporate innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    19. Lingwei Li & Linlu Liu & Hai Wu, 2022. "Workforce education and corporate innovation," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(4), pages 599-629, November.
    20. He, Jie (Jack) & Tian, Xuan, 2013. "The dark side of analyst coverage: The case of innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 856-878.

    More about this item

    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:bla:acctfi:v:66:y:2026:i:1:p:497-531. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.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.