IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/irvfin/v25y2025i4ne70046.html

Controlling Shareholders and Innovation: Evidence From Trademark Registrations

Author

Listed:
  • Domenico Tarzia
  • Daniel Sungyeon Kim
  • Srinivasan Selvam

Abstract

We examine how controlling shareholders influence corporate innovation, using trademark registration data from Chinese listed firms between 2003 and 2020. We find that the effect of control depends on the nature of the controlling entity: in state‐owned enterprises (SOEs), government control is associated with significantly lower levels of innovation output, whereas in non‐SOEs, greater authoritative power of the controlling shareholder is positively associated with innovation. Our findings suggest that institutional investors may help mitigate agency problems related to innovation in SOEs, although their role is limited in non‐SOEs. Additional analyses reveal that trademarks are positively linked to future firm performance and that controlling shareholder authority is positively associated with innovation efficiency. Our findings underscore the importance of ownership structure in shaping firms' innovation strategies and outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Domenico Tarzia & Daniel Sungyeon Kim & Srinivasan Selvam, 2025. "Controlling Shareholders and Innovation: Evidence From Trademark Registrations," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 25(4), December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:irvfin:v:25:y:2025:i:4:n:e70046
    DOI: 10.1111/irfi.70046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irfi.70046
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irfi.70046?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. Andrei Shleifer, 1998. "State versus Private Ownership," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 133-150, Fall.
    2. Stein, Jeremy C, 1988. "Takeover Threats and Managerial Myopia," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(1), pages 61-80, February.
    3. Faurel, Lucile & Li, Qin & Shanthikumar, Devin & Teoh, Siew H., 2024. "Bringing Innovation to Fruition: Insights From New Trademarks," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(2), pages 474-520, March.
    4. Jianyun Tang & Mary Crossan & W. Glenn Rowe, 2011. "Dominant CEO, Deviant Strategy, and Extreme Performance: The Moderating Role of a Powerful Board," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(7), pages 1479-1503, November.
    5. Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger, 2009. "Founder-CEOs, Investment Decisions, and Stock Market Performance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 439-466, April.
    6. Brian J. Bushee & Theodore H. Goodman, 2007. "Which Institutional Investors Trade Based on Private Information About Earnings and Returns?," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 45(2), pages 289-321, May.
    7. Sabrina T. Howell, 2017. "Financing Innovation: Evidence from R&D Grants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(4), pages 1136-1164, April.
    8. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    9. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:3:p:1081-1110 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Feng Gu & Weimin Wang, 2005. "Intangible Assets, Information Complexity, and Analysts' Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(9-10), pages 1673-1702.
    11. Lily H. Fang & Josh Lerner & Chaopeng Wu, 2017. "Intellectual Property Rights Protection, Ownership, and Innovation: Evidence from China," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(7), pages 2446-2477.
    12. Zoltan J. Acs & David B. Audretsch, 2008. "Innovation in Large and Small Firms: An Empirical Analysis," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 1, pages 3-15, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Wang, Zhibin & Li, Zelei, 2023. "Does minority shareholder activism enhance corporate innovation? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    14. Alex Edmans, 2009. "Blockholder Trading, Market Efficiency, and Managerial Myopia," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(6), pages 2481-2513, December.
    15. 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.
    16. Choi, Suk Bong & Lee, Soo Hee & Williams, Christopher, 2011. "Ownership and firm innovation in a transition economy: Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 441-452, April.
    17. Veprauskaitė, Elena & Adams, Mike, 2013. "Do powerful chief executives influence the financial performance of UK firms?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 229-241.
    18. Morck, Randall & Schleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 2008. "Management ownership and market valuation: an empirical analysis," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 48(2), April.
    19. Hirshleifer, David & Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Li, Dongmei, 2013. "Innovative efficiency and stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(3), pages 632-654.
    20. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:2:p:537-600 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1988. "Management ownership and market valuation," Scholarly Articles 29407535, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    22. Castaldi, Carolina, 2018. "To trademark or not to trademark: The case of the creative and cultural industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 606-616.
    23. Paul H. Malatesta & Kathryn L. DeWenter, 2001. "State-Owned and Privately Owned Firms: An Empirical Analysis of Profitability, Leverage, and Labor Intensity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 320-334, March.
    24. Sapra, Haresh & Subramanian, Ajay & Subramanian, Krishnamurthy V., 2014. "Corporate Governance and Innovation: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 957-1003, August.
    25. Megginson, William L & Nash, Robert C & van Randenborgh, Matthias, 1994. "The Financial and Operating Performance of Newly Privatized Firms: An International Empirical Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(2), pages 403-452, June.
    26. Li, Junrui & Liu, Lei, 2023. "Common institutional ownership and corporate innovation: Synergy of interests or grabs of interests," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    27. Flikkema, Meindert & Castaldi, Carolina & de Man, Ard-Pieter & Seip, Marcel, 2019. "Trademarks’ relatedness to product and service innovation: A branding strategy approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1340-1353.
    28. Beck, Thorsten & Chen, Tao & Lin, Chen & Song, Frank M., 2016. "Financial innovation: The bright and the dark sides," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 28-51.
    29. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769, December.
    30. 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.
    31. Feng Gu & Weimin Wang, 2005. "Intangible Assets, Information Complexity, and Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(9‐10), pages 1673-1702, November.
    32. Hagedoorn, John & Cloodt, Myriam, 2003. "Measuring innovative performance: is there an advantage in using multiple indicators?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1365-1379, September.
    33. Xiao, Yangao & Han, Nianchen & Li, Rui & Ran, Huaqing & Zhou, Shihao & Tong, Tony W., 2024. "Trademarks and firm market value: Evidence from new trademark-firm linked data in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).
    34. Scherer, F. M. & Harhoff, Dietmar, 2000. "Technology policy for a world of skew-distributed outcomes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 559-566, April.
    35. Shu, Tao & Tian, Xuan & Zhan, Xintong, 2022. "Patent quality, firm value, and investor underreaction: Evidence from patent examiner busyness," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(3), pages 1043-1069.
    36. Shai Bernstein, 2015. "Does Going Public Affect Innovation?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(4), pages 1365-1403, August.
    37. Clifford, Christopher P., 2008. "Value creation or destruction? Hedge funds as shareholder activists," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 323-336, September.
    38. Alon Brav & Wei Jiang & Frank Partnoy & Randall Thomas, 2008. "Hedge Fund Activism, Corporate Governance, and Firm Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1729-1775, August.
    39. Francis, Jennifer & Smith, Abbie, 1995. "Agency costs and innovation some empirical evidence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2-3), pages 383-409, April.
    40. John Asker & Joan Farre-Mensa & Alexander Ljungqvist, 2015. "Corporate Investment and Stock Market Listing: A Puzzle?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 342-390.
    41. Chrisostomos Florackis & Aydin Ozkan, 2009. "The Impact of Managerial Entrenchment on Agency Costs: An Empirical Investigation Using UK Panel Data," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 15(3), pages 497-528, June.
    42. Greenwood, Robin & Schor, Michael, 2009. "Investor activism and takeovers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 362-375, June.
    43. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & Tian, Xuan, 2018. "Do Antitakeover Provisions Spur Corporate Innovation? A Regression Discontinuity Analysis," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 1163-1194, June.
    44. Vincent Y.S. Chen & Shou-Min Tsao & Guang-Zheng Chen, 2013. "Founding family ownership and innovation," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 429-456, December.
    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. Harford, Jarrad & Kecskés, Ambrus & Mansi, Sattar, 2018. "Do long-term investors improve corporate decision making?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 424-452.
    2. Edmans, Alex & Holderness, Clifford, 2016. "Blockholders: A Survey of Theory and Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 11442, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    3. Clò, Stefano & Florio, Massimo & Rentocchini, Francesco, 2020. "Firm ownership, quality of government and innovation: Evidence from patenting in the telecommunication industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(5).
    4. Fuxiu Jiang & Kenneth A Kim, 2020. "Corporate Governance in China: A Survey [The role of boards of directors in corporate governance: a conceptual framework and survey]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 24(4), pages 733-772.
    5. Wang, Liangcheng & Chen, Yizheng & Li, Wendi, 2025. "Facilitator or figurehead? The impact of academician shareholder on corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    6. Kim, Kyonghee, 2010. "Blockholder monitoring and the efficiency of pay-performance benchmarking," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 748-766, December.
    7. Zhang, Xuezhi & Wu, Wenxin & Zhou, Zixun & Yuan, Lin, 2020. "Geographic proximity, information flows and corporate innovation: Evidence from the high-speed rail construction in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    8. Guernsey, Scott & Sepe, Simone M. & Serfling, Matthew, 2022. "Blood in the water: The value of antitakeover provisions during market shocks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(3), pages 1070-1096.
    9. Ani Manakyan Mathers & Bin Wang & Xiaohong (Sara) Wang, 2020. "Shareholder coordination and corporate innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(5-6), pages 730-759, May.
    10. Borja Larrain & Peter Roosenboom & Giorgo Sertsios & Francisco Urzúa, 2024. "Ownership Concentration and Firm Value: New Evidence from Owner Stakes in IPOs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(7), pages 4441-4464, July.
    11. Thomas Smythe & Chris McNeil & Philip English, 2015. "When does CalPERS’ activism add value?," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 39(4), pages 641-660, October.
    12. Miller, Steve & Qiu, Bin & Wang, Bin & Yang, Tina, 2022. "Monitoring institutional ownership and corporate innovation," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 144-165.
    13. Drobetz, W. & Momtaz, Paul P., 2020. "Antitakeover Provisions and Firm Value: New Evidence from the M&A Market," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    14. Chen, I-Ju & Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Wang, Yanzhi, 2022. "Staggered boards and product innovations: Evidence from Massachusetts State Bill HB 5640," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(4).
    15. Beuselinck, Christof & Cao, Lihong & Deloof, Marc & Xia, Xinping, 2017. "The value of government ownership during the global financial crisis," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 481-493.
    16. Wolfgang Herb & Maria Lotze & Wolfgang Schultze & Philipp Sandner, 2025. "Real effects of capitalized research and development expenditures: a leading indicator for future innovation performance?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 64(1), pages 417-473, January.
    17. Alex Edmans, 2014. "Blockholders and Corporate Governance," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 23-50, December.
    18. Feng, Fang & Sun, Qian & Tong, Wilson H. S., 2004. "Do government-linked companies underperform?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(10), pages 2461-2492, October.
    19. Tan, Yongxian & Tian, Xuan & Zhang, Xinde & Zhao, Hailong, 2020. "The real effect of partial privatization on corporate innovation: Evidence from China's split share structure reform," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    20. Nguyen, Phuong-Anh & Kecskés, Ambrus & Mansi, Sattar, 2020. "Does corporate social responsibility create shareholder value? The importance of long-term investors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).

    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:irvfin:v:25:y:2025:i:4:n:e70046. 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=1369-412X .

    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.