IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ecopol/v37y2025i3p1157-1178.html

Anticorruption and Capital Market Pricing Efficiency: Evidence From China

Author

Listed:
  • Yanyin Li
  • Yuan George Shan
  • Rong Xu
  • Xingmei Xu
  • Yize Xu

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of anticorruption on capital market pricing efficiency through stock price synchronization. Using a data set from 3188 of China's A‐share listed firms with 20,673 firm‐year observations, our results show that anticorruption significantly reduces stock price synchronization. We conduct a series of robustness checks, including difference‐in‐differences analysis, informal monitoring mechanisms, alternative explanatory variables, and excluding observations during the Global Financial Crisis, and the conclusions remain consistent. The mechanism analysis reveals that anticorruption improves corporate disclosure quality at the micro level and the degree of marketization and government‐market relationship at the macro level, which reduces stock price synchronicity. This effect is more pronounced among state‐owned enterprises (SOEs), especially local SOEs. This study presents empirical evidence regarding the logic of development and governance dynamics in emerging economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Yanyin Li & Yuan George Shan & Rong Xu & Xingmei Xu & Yize Xu, 2025. "Anticorruption and Capital Market Pricing Efficiency: Evidence From China," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 1157-1178, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecopol:v:37:y:2025:i:3:p:1157-1178
    DOI: 10.1111/ecpo.70007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.70007
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ecpo.70007?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. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    2. Hutton, Amy P. & Marcus, Alan J. & Tehranian, Hassan, 2009. "Opaque financial reports, R2, and crash risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 67-86, October.
    3. Artyom Durnev & Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung & Paul Zarowin, 2003. "Does Greater Firm‐Specific Return Variation Mean More or Less Informed Stock Pricing?," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(5), pages 797-836, December.
    4. Fisman, Raymond & Gatti, Roberta, 2002. "Decentralization and Corruption: Evidence from U.S. Federal Transfer Programs," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 113(1-2), pages 25-35, October.
    5. Jian Zhang, 2018. "Public Governance and Corporate Fraud: Evidence from the Recent Anti-corruption Campaign in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 375-396, March.
    6. Jin, Li & Myers, Stewart C., 2006. "R2 around the world: New theory and new tests," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 257-292, February.
    7. Zhai, Huayun & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen & Liu, Qingzhuo & Zhao, Ying, 2021. "Key audit matters and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    8. Liu, Xiaoding, 2016. "Corruption culture and corporate misconduct," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 307-327.
    9. Boubaker, Sabri & Mansali, Hatem & Rjiba, Hatem, 2014. "Large controlling shareholders and stock price synchronicity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 80-96.
    10. Hua Feng & Ahsan Habib & Gao liang Tian, 2019. "Aggressive tax planning and stock price synchronicity: evidence from China," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(5), pages 829-857, May.
    11. Xue, Fei & Chen, Qinyuan & Chan, Kam C. & Yi, Zhihong, 2022. "Is corporate social responsibility value relevant? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment of anti-corruption campaign," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 520-532.
    12. Matthew Cole & Robert Elliott & Jing Zhang, 2009. "Corruption, Governance and FDI Location in China: A Province-Level Analysis," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(9), pages 1494-1512.
    13. Gul, Ferdinand A. & Kim, Jeong-Bon & Qiu, Annie A., 2010. "Ownership concentration, foreign shareholding, audit quality, and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 425-442, March.
    14. Xue Xia & Fei Teng & Liping Xu & Yu Xin, 2024. "CSRC’s random inspection and capital market information efficiency: an empirical evidence from stock price synchronicity," China Journal of Accounting Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 199-222, January.
    15. Hua Feng & Ahsan Habib & Gao liang Tian, 2019. "Aggressive tax planning and stock price synchronicity: evidence from China," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(5), pages 829-857, May.
    16. Zhen Qi & Tristan Kenderdine & Tingfeng Tang & Qiren Liu, 2022. "China's anti‐corruption campaign and outward foreign direct investment by state‐owned enterprises," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(9), pages 2950-2976, September.
    17. Wu, Jiamei & Chen, Zhibin & Guo, Chong, 2022. "How does anti-corruption affect green innovation? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 405-424.
    18. Wang, Qian & Wong, T.J. & Xia, Lijun, 2008. "State ownership, the institutional environment, and auditor choice: Evidence from China," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 112-134, September.
    19. Zhao, Renjie & Chen, Jie & Feng, Chen & Zhong, Shihu, 2020. "The impact of anti-corruption measures on land supply and the associated implications: The case of China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    20. Baoyin Qiu & Junli Yu & Kuo Zhang, 2020. "Trust and Stock Price Synchronicity: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 97-109, November.
    21. Stefan Zeume, 2017. "Bribes and Firm Value," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(5), pages 1457-1489.
    22. Kong, Dongmin & Wang, Li & Wang, Maobin, 2017. "Effects of anti-corruption on firm performance: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 190-195.
    23. Paolo Mauro, 1995. "Corruption and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(3), pages 681-712.
    24. Hasan, Iftekhar & Song, Liang & Wachtel, Paul, 2014. "Institutional development and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 92-108.
    25. An, Heng & Zhang, Ting, 2013. "Stock price synchronicity, crash risk, and institutional investors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 1-15.
    26. Chan, Kalok & Hameed, Allaudeen, 2006. "Stock price synchronicity and analyst coverage in emerging markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 115-147, April.
    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. Wanting Zhang & Ning Ding & Shidi Dong & Hong Yue, 2026. "Does Long‐Term Local Government Debt Destabilize Corporate Stock Prices? Empirical Evidence From China," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 575-597, July.

    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. Wang, Kai & Zhao, Jingjing & Zhou, Jun, 2024. "Online sales and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    2. Lu, Shan & Zhao, Jichang, 2024. "Investor network and stock return comovement: Information-seeking through intragroup and intergroup followings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    3. Xu, Duo & Huang, Junkai & Ren, Xingzi & Ye, Mingyu, 2024. "ESG report textual similarity and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Cai, Wenwu & Quan, Xiaofeng & Zhu, Zhenmei (Judy), 2023. "Rumors in the sky: Corporate rumors and stock price synchronicity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Fu, Junhui & Chen, Xingwei & Liu, Yufang & Chen, Rongda, 2022. "Managerial ability and stock price synchronicity," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    6. Xiang Zhang & Han Zhou, 2020. "Leverage structure and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-15, July.
    7. Gaganis, Chrysovalantis & Leledakis, George N. & Pasiouras, Fotios & Pyrgiotakis, Emmanouil G., 2025. "National culture of secrecy and stock price synchronicity: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    8. Ruan, Lei & Li, Jianing & Huang, Siqi, 2024. "News or noise? ESG disclosure and stock price synchronicity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PB).
    9. Li, Mingsheng & Liu, Desheng & Peng, Hongfeng & Zhang, Luxiu, 2020. "Does low synchronicity mean more or less informative prices? Evidence from an emerging market," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    10. Yanyi Wang & Xueyong Zhang, 2025. "OFDI and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 65(2), pages 1275-1308, June.
    11. Ayaz, Muhammad & Anwer, Zaheer & Hassan, M. Kabir & Xiaoyang, Xu, 2025. "Inhabiting influence of digital finance on stock price synchronicity," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Fateh Saci, 2025. "Does the research done by the institutional investors affect the stock price synchronicity?," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(6), pages 579-595, October.
    13. Fenghua Wen & Yujie Yuan & Wei‐Xing Zhou, 2021. "Cross‐shareholding networks and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 914-948, January.
    14. Gao, Yihong & Pan, Xingyu & Yuan, Na & Zheng, Xinwei, 2025. "How does political relationship building affect market efficiency? Evidence from China's anti-corruption campaign," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    15. Tian, Zongtao & Chen, Zhibin & Chang, Xinxue, 2024. "Directors appointed by non-state shareholders and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from Chinese SOEs," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    16. Wu, Yanran & Wu, Shan & Xu, Fujia & Jiang, Jie, 2024. "Wisdom of crowds or awkward squad? Social interaction and the information efficiency of the Chinese capital market," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    17. Fenghua Wen & Yujie Yuan & Wei-Xing Zhou, 2019. "Cross-shareholding networks and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China," Papers 1903.01655, arXiv.org.
    18. Rao, Lanlan & Zhou, Liyun, 2019. "The role of stock price synchronicity on the return-sentiment relation," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 119-131.
    19. Chen Meng & Haibing Shu, 2024. "Neighborhood Awareness and Stock Return Synchronicity: Evidence from Satellite Nighttime Light Data," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 32(6), pages 187-216, November.
    20. Doan, Anh-Tuan & Phan, Thu & Lin, Kun-Li, 2020. "Governance quality, bank price synchronicity and political uncertainty," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 231-262.

    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:ecopol:v:37:y:2025:i:3:p:1157-1178. 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: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0954-1985 .

    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.