IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v64y2020ics0929119920301036.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The unintended real effects of short selling in an emerging market

Author

Listed:
  • Ni, Xiaoran
  • Yin, Sirui

Abstract

Exploiting the staggered removal of short-sale bans in China, we document unintended real effects of allowing short selling in an emerging market featured by concentrated ownership and weak investor protection. Pilot firms have worse short-term and long-term market performances after the removal of short-sale bans. Additionally, pilot firms undertake less risk and have worse performance following the launch of the program. The effect is stronger when controlling shareholders' private benefit is large and when corporate governance is weak. Faced with increased short selling threats, pilot firms cut capital investments and R&D expenditures, reduce equity financing, and lower debt ratios. Contrary to prior studies showing that short selling encourages value-enhancing risky investments in developed markets, our findings suggest that in emerging markets such as China, short selling can result in value losses by inducing firms to forgo profitable risky projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Ni, Xiaoran & Yin, Sirui, 2020. "The unintended real effects of short selling in an emerging market," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:64:y:2020:i:c:s0929119920301036
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2020.101659
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119920301036
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2020.101659?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. Jonathan M. Karpoff & Xiaoxia Lou, 2010. "Short Sellers and Financial Misconduct," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1879-1913, October.
    2. Qi Chen & Xiao Chen & Katherine Schipper & Yongxin Xu & Jian Xue, 2012. "The Sensitivity of Corporate Cash Holdings to Corporate Governance," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(12), pages 3610-3644.
    3. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    4. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    5. Shleifer, Andrei & Wolfenzon, Daniel, 2002. "Investor protection and equity markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 3-27, October.
    6. Jianping Mei & Jose A. Scheinkman & Wei Xiong, 2009. "Speculative Trading and Stock Prices: Evidence from Chinese A-B Share Premia," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 10(2), pages 225-255, November.
    7. Mara Faccio & Maria-Teresa Marchica & Roberto Mura, 2011. "Large Shareholder Diversification and Corporate Risk-Taking," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(11), pages 3601-3641.
    8. Qi Chen & Itay Goldstein & Wei Jiang, 2007. "Price Informativeness and Investment Sensitivity to Stock Price," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(3), pages 619-650.
    9. Kose John & Lubomir Litov & Bernard Yeung, 2008. "Corporate Governance and Risk‐Taking," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1679-1728, August.
    10. Itay Goldstein & Alexander Guembel, 2008. "Manipulation and the Allocational Role of Prices," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(1), pages 133-164.
    11. 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.
    12. Chang, Eric C. & Luo, Yan & Ren, Jinjuan, 2014. "Short-selling, margin-trading, and price efficiency: Evidence from the Chinese market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 411-424.
    13. Vivian W. Fang & Allen H. Huang & Jonathan M. Karpoff, 2016. "Short Selling and Earnings Management: A Controlled Experiment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(3), pages 1251-1294, June.
    14. repec:oup:rfinst:v:25:y::i:12:p:3610-3644 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Arturo Bris & William N. Goetzmann & Ning Zhu, 2007. "Efficiency and the Bear: Short Sales and Markets Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(3), pages 1029-1079, June.
    16. Gormley, Todd A. & Matsa, David A., 2016. "Playing it safe? Managerial preferences, risk, and agency conflicts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 431-455.
    17. Amihud, Yakov, 2002. "Illiquidity and stock returns: cross-section and time-series effects," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 31-56, January.
    18. Mara Faccio & Larry HP Lang & Leslie Young, 2010. "Pyramiding vs leverage in corporate groups: International evidence," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(1), pages 88-104, January.
    19. Roychowdhury, Sugata, 2006. "Earnings management through real activities manipulation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 335-370, December.
    20. Jiang, Guohua & Lee, Charles M.C. & Yue, Heng, 2010. "Tunneling through intercorporate loans: The China experience," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 1-20, October.
    21. 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.
    22. Kim, E. Han & Lu, Yao, 2011. "CEO ownership, external governance, and risk-taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 272-292.
    23. 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.
    24. Markus K. Brunnermeier & Martin Oehmke, 2014. "Predatory Short Selling," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(6), pages 2153-2195.
    25. Acharya, Viral V. & Amihud, Yakov & Litov, Lubomir, 2011. "Creditor rights and corporate risk-taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 150-166, October.
    26. Diamond, Douglas W. & Verrecchia, Robert E., 1987. "Constraints on short-selling and asset price adjustment to private information," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 277-311, June.
    27. Meng, Qingbin & Li, Xinyu & Chan, Kam C. & Gao, Shenghao, 2020. "Does short selling affect a firm's financial constraints?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    28. Massimo Massa & Bohui Zhang & Hong Zhang, 2015. "The Invisible Hand of Short Selling: Does Short Selling Discipline Earnings Management?," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(6), pages 1701-1736.
    29. 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.
    30. Yakov Amihud & Baruch Lev, 1981. "Risk Reduction as a Managerial Motive for Conglomerate Mergers," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(2), pages 605-617, Autumn.
    31. Lin, Chen & Ma, Yue & Malatesta, Paul & Xuan, Yuhai, 2011. "Ownership structure and the cost of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 1-23, April.
    32. 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.
    33. Chen, Shenglan & Lin, Bingxuan & Lu, Rui & Ma, Hui, 2018. "The disciplinary effects of short sales on controlling shareholders," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 56-76.
    34. Ronald W. Masulis & Cong Wang & Fei Xie, 2009. "Agency Problems at Dual‐Class Companies," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(4), pages 1697-1727, August.
    35. Ekkehart Boehmer & Juan (Julie) Wu, 2013. "Short Selling and the Price Discovery Process," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(2), pages 287-322.
    36. Wei Jiang & Hualin Wan & Shan Zhao, 2016. "Reputation Concerns of Independent Directors: Evidence from Individual Director Voting," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 655-696.
    37. Khanna, Naveen & Mathews, Richmond D., 2012. "Doing battle with short sellers: The conflicted role of blockholders in bear raids," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(2), pages 229-246.
    38. Ole-Kristian Hope & Han Wu & Wuyang Zhao, 2017. "Blockholder exit threats in the presence of private benefits of control," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 873-902, June.
    39. Gustavo Grullon & Sébastien Michenaud & James P. Weston, 2015. "The Real Effects of Short-Selling Constraints," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(6), pages 1737-1767.
    40. Hong, Harrison & Kubik, Jeffrey D. & Fishman, Tal, 2012. "Do arbitrageurs amplify economic shocks?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(3), pages 454-470.
    41. Liu, Qigui & Luo, Tianpei & Tian, Gary Gang, 2015. "Family control and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 220-245.
    42. Tyler R. Henry & Jennifer L. Koski, 2010. "Short Selling Around Seasoned Equity Offerings," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(12), pages 4389-4418, December.
    43. Christopher Polk & Paola Sapienza, 2009. "The Stock Market and Corporate Investment: A Test of Catering Theory," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 187-217, January.
    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. Stephie Tsai, Hsin-Ju & Wu, Yuliang & Xu, Bin, 2021. "Does capital market drive corporate investment efficiency? Evidence from equity lending supply," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    2. Xufeng Liu & Die Wan, 2022. "Does short‐selling affect mutual fund shareholdings? Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(S1), pages 1887-1923, April.
    3. Jie He & Kam C. Chan, 2023. "Does short sales deregulation affect qualitative information disclosure?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(S1), pages 1351-1380, April.
    4. Xie, Guanghua & Chen, Lin & Chen, Xichan, 2021. "The role of short selling threat in corporate environmental disclosure strategies: Evidence from China," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Indah Fajarini Sri Wahyuningrum & Amin Chegenizadeh & Natasya Ghinna Humaira & Mochamad Arief Budihardjo & Hamid Nikraz, 2023. "Corporate Governance Research in Asian Countries: A Bibliometric and Content Analysis (2001–2021)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-20, April.
    6. Sha, Yezhou & Shah, Syed Ghulam Meran & Sarfraz, Muddassar, 2023. "Short selling and SME irregular CEO succession: Witnessing the moderating role of earnings management," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 163-173.
    7. Ni, Xiaoran & Xu, Hongmei, 2023. "Are short selling threats beneficial to creditors? Insights from corporate default risk," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    8. Xiaoxu Ling & Siyuan Yan & Louis T. W. Cheng, 2022. "Investor relations under short‐selling pressure: Evidence from strategic signaling by company site visits," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(7-8), pages 1145-1174, July.
    9. Huang, Jingchang & Cao, June & Hasan, Tahseen & Zhao, Jing, 2021. "Low-carbon city initiatives and firm risk: A quasi-natural experiment in China," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    10. Ni, Xiaoran & Peng, Qiyuan & Yin, Sirui & Zhang, Ting, 2020. "Attention! Distracted institutional investors and stock price crash," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Chang, Jeffery (Jinfan) & Meng, Qingbin & Ni, Xiaoran, 2022. "A tale of riskiness: The real effects of share pledging on the Chinese stock market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    12. Meng, Qingbin & Huang, Haozheng & Li, Xinyu & Wang, Song, 2023. "Short-selling and corporate default risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 398-417.
    13. Wenzhen Mai & Nik Intan Norhan Binti Abdul Hamid, 2021. "The Moderating Effect of Family Business Ownership on the Relationship between Short-Selling Mechanism and Firm Value for Listed Companies in China," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, May.
    14. Liu, Xufeng & Wan, Die, 2022. "Asymmetric positive feedback trading and stock pricing in China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    15. Jiang, Jiaoliang, 2022. "Short selling and corporate diversification in emerging markets: Insights from controlling shareholder tunneling," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    16. Meng, Qingbin & Li, Haitong & Chan, Kam C., 2023. "Fleeing entrepreneurs: Foreign residency right and corporate risk-taking," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    17. Wenzhen Mai & Nik Intan Norhan binti Abdul Hamid, 2021. "Short-Selling and Financial Performance of SMEs in China: The Mediating Role of CSR Performance," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-16, April.
    18. Hui Ding & Xiaoran Ni & Hongmei Xu, 2021. "Short selling and labor investment efficiency: evidence from the Chinese stock market," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 2451-2476, April.
    19. Gu, Leilei & Ni, Xiaoran & Tian, Guangning, 2022. "Controlling shareholder expropriation and labor investment efficiency," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 261-274.

    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. Chen, Shenglan & Lin, Bingxuan & Lu, Rui & Ma, Hui, 2018. "The disciplinary effects of short sales on controlling shareholders," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 56-76.
    2. Luo, Jinbo & Ni, Xiaoran & Tian, Gary Gang, 2020. "Short selling and corporate tax avoidance: Insights from a financial constraint view," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    3. Hui Ding & Xiaoran Ni & Hongmei Xu, 2021. "Short selling and labor investment efficiency: evidence from the Chinese stock market," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 2451-2476, April.
    4. Ni, Xiaoran & Xu, Hongmei, 2023. "Are short selling threats beneficial to creditors? Insights from corporate default risk," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Chen, Shenglan & Chou, Robin K. & Liu, Xiaoling & Wu, Yuhui, 2020. "Deregulation of short-selling constraints and cost of bank loans: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    6. Bui, Dien Giau & Hasan, Iftekhar & Lin, Chih-Yung & Nguyen, Hong Thoa, 2023. "Short-selling threats and bank risk-taking: Evidence from the financial crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    7. Jiang, Jiaoliang, 2022. "Short selling and corporate diversification in emerging markets: Insights from controlling shareholder tunneling," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    8. 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.
    9. Meng, Qingbin & Li, Xinyu & Chan, Kam C. & Gao, Shenghao, 2020. "Does short selling affect a firm's financial constraints?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    10. Wang, Yuchen & Wang, Xiaoming, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty and information intermediary: The case of short seller," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    11. Jiang, Fuxiu & Cai, Xinni & Nofsinger, John R. & Zheng, Xiaojia, 2020. "Can reputation concern restrain bad news hoarding in family firms?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    12. Lin, Tse-Chun & Liu, Jinyu & Ni, Xiaoran, 2022. "Foreign bank entry deregulation and stock market stability: Evidence from staggered regulatory changes," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 185-207.
    13. Sabri Boubaker & Riadh Manita & Wael Rouatbi, 2021. "Large shareholders, control contestability and firm productive efficiency," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 296(1), pages 591-614, January.
    14. Meng, Qingbin & Huang, Haozheng & Li, Xinyu & Wang, Song, 2023. "Short-selling and corporate default risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 398-417.
    15. Chen, Shenglan & Lin, Bingxuan & Lu, Rui & Zhang, Ting, 2015. "Controlling shareholders’ incentives and executive pay-for-performance sensitivity: Evidence from the split share structure reform in China," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 147-160.
    16. Jiang, Haiyan & Jia, Jing, 2021. "Short selling and future cash flow predictability of capital investment: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1).
    17. 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.
    18. Boubakri, Narjess & Cosset, Jean-Claude & Mishra, Dev & Somé, Hyacinthe Y., 2023. "The value of risk-taking in mergers: Role of ownership and country legal institutions," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 427-444.
    19. Bessler, Wolfgang & Vendrasco, Marco, 2022. "Short-selling restrictions and financial stability in Europe: Evidence from the Covid-19 crisis," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    20. Gu, Leilei & Ni, Xiaoran & Tian, Guangning, 2022. "Controlling shareholder expropriation and labor investment efficiency," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 261-274.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Short selling; Short-sale ban; Risk-taking; Performance; Controlling shareholder; Investor protection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

    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:eee:corfin:v:64:y:2020:i:c:s0929119920301036. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcorpfin .

    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.