IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v73y2025ics154461232401688x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of non-state-owned shareholders’ governance on the earnings quality of state-owned enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Ying, Rui
  • Shu, Ying
  • Wang, Xiuli
  • Wu, Qiong

Abstract

This study examines how non-state shareholders enhance earnings quality in China's state-owned enterprises. Using data from Shanghai and Shenzhen listed firms (2009–2020), we find that non-state shareholders significantly improve financial reporting by strengthening governance and internal controls. The effect is more pronounced in less marketized regions and firms not audited by the “Big Four,” addressing challenges posed by excessive earnings management.

Suggested Citation

  • Ying, Rui & Shu, Ying & Wang, Xiuli & Wu, Qiong, 2025. "Impact of non-state-owned shareholders’ governance on the earnings quality of state-owned enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:73:y:2025:i:c:s154461232401688x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.106659
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S154461232401688X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2024.106659?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. Rashidul Islam & Ziaul Haque & Rehnuma Hoque Moutushi, 2022. "Earnings quality and financial flexibility: A moderating role of corporate governance," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 2097620-209, December.
    2. Guan, Jian & Gao, Zhimin & Tan, Justin & Sun, Weizheng & Shi, Fan, 2021. "Does the mixed ownership reform work? Influence of board chair on performance of state-owned enterprises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 51-59.
    3. Farzaneh Nassir Zadeh & Davood Askarany & Solmaz Arefi Asl, 2022. "Accounting Conservatism and Earnings Quality," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Popli, Manish & Raithatha, Mehul & Goyal, Lakshmi, 2022. "Avoiding the risk of de-legitimation: Impact of internationalization on earnings management of emerging market firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    5. Wang, Wei & Wang, Hua & Wu, Ji (George), 2021. "Mixed ownership reform and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence of Chinese listed firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    6. Heba Abou-El-Sood & Dalia El-Sayed, 2022. "Abnormal disclosure tone, earnings management and earnings quality," Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(2), pages 402-433, January.
    7. Daeheon Choi & Paul Moon Sub Choi & Joung Hwa Choi & Chune Young Chung, 2020. "Does Sustainable Corporate Governance Enhance Accounting Practice? Evidence from the Korean Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-21, March.
    8. Ren, Xiaoyi & Shao, Huan, 2022. "Non-state shareholder governance and shadow banking business: Evidence from Chinese state-owned manufacturing enterprises," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    9. Hsin, Chin-Wen & Chang, Feng-Yi & Shiah-Hou, Shin-Rong, 2024. "Performance of financial hedging and earnings management under diverse corporate information quality," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 782-810.
    10. Panagiotis E. Dimitropoulos, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and earnings management in the EU: a panel data analysis approach," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 18(1), pages 68-84, December.
    11. Hee‐Jin Park & Mi‐Hye Ha, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and earnings transparency: Evidence from Korea," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1498-1508, May.
    12. Johannes Thesing & Patrick Velte, 2021. "Do fair value measurements affect accounting-based earnings quality? A literature review with a focus on corporate governance as moderator," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(7), pages 965-1004, September.
    13. Rezaee, Zabihollah & Dou, Huan & Zhang, Huili, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and earnings quality: Evidence from China," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    14. Rui Wang & Sheng Ma & Xinxin Xu & Pan Song, 2021. "Heterogeneous Shareholders’ Participation, COVID-19 Impact, and Innovation Decisions of State-Owned Firms: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-22, April.
    15. Yu, Zhen & Shen, Yiran & Jiang, Shengjun, 2022. "The effects of corporate governance uncertainty on state-owned enterprises' green innovation in China: Perspective from the participation of non-state-owned shareholders," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    16. Li, Zhe & Wang, Bo & Wu, Tianlong & Zhou, Dan, 2021. "The influence of qualified foreign institutional investors on internal control quality: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. Huang, Pingping & Jiao, Yuehua & Li, Sihai, 2022. "Impact of internal control quality on the information content of social responsibility reports: A study based on text similarity—Evidence from China," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    18. Runsen Yuan & Chunling Li & Nian Li & Muhammad Asif Khan & Xiaoran Sun & Nosherwan Khaliq, 2021. "Can Mixed-Ownership Reform Drive the Green Transformation of SOEs?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-25, May.
    19. repec:eme:jaar00:jaar-07-2020-0139 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Li, Bin & Pan, Ailing & Xu, Lei & Liu, Xin & Qin, Shuqian, 2020. "Imprinting and peer effects in acquiring state ownership: Evidence from private firms in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    21. Yang, Jingwen & Hemmings, Danial & Jaafar, Aziz & Jackson, Richard H.G., 2022. "The real earnings management gap between private and public firms: Evidence from Europe," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    22. Boachie, Christopher & Mensah, Emmanuel, 2022. "The effect of earnings management on firm performance: The moderating role of corporate governance quality," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    23. Mohammed Adel Elzahaby, 2021. "How firms' performance mediates the relationship between corporate governance quality and earnings quality?," Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(2), pages 278-311, February.
    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. 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).
    2. Wang, Chenxi & Wang, Deli & Deng, Xincai & Wu, Shangrui, 2025. "Does the participation of non-state shareholders matter for state-owned enterprises’ resilience?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Zhang, Yufei & Liu, Deqiang, 2024. "China's mixed-ownership reform and SOE profitability," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 496-520.
    4. Ping Peng & Xingwang Zhu, 2024. "Mixed-ownership reform and factor misallocation: Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(4), pages 1-23, April.
    5. Kun Luo & Yuanrui Huang & Yi Lv, 2024. "Non‐state shareholder governance and corporate sustainability: Evidence from environmental, social and governance ratings," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 211-226, February.
    6. Xiong, Xiancheng & Ming Chen, & Chen, Chen, 2024. "Corporate governance matters: How do reduced state-owned shares lower firms’ market power in a developing country?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 211-224.
    7. Tian, Zengrui & Zhu, Bingsheng & Lu, Yuzhong, 2023. "The governance of non-state shareholders and corporate ESG: Empirical evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    8. Xiaoyang Zhao & Su Yu, 2024. "Does business strategy of the state‐owned enterprise affect the participation of non‐state‐owned capital?: Empirical evidence from China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 45(2), pages 795-808, March.
    9. Bita Mashayekhi & Kaveh Asiaei & Zabihollah Rezaee & Amin Jahangard & Milad Samavat & Saeid Homayoun, 2024. "The relative importance of ESG pillars: A two‐step machine learning and analytical framework," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 5404-5420, October.
    10. Faizah Alsulami, 2024. "The Operational Risk Disclosure Threshold Effect in the Earnings Management–Sustainability Firm Performance Nexus in Saudi Arabia: A Dynamic Panel Threshold Regression Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-21, May.
    11. Gong Zhang & Shi Chen & Hongduo Yan, 2024. "Balancing Innovation and Efficiency: The Impact of Mixed Ownership Reform on Total Factor Productivity in Monopolized and Competitive Industries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(4), pages 18952-18986, December.
    12. Maria Kovacova & Lenka Hrosova & Pavol Durana & Jakub Horak, 2022. "Earnings management model for Visegrad Group as an immanent part of creative accounting," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 13(4), pages 1143-1176, December.
    13. Yan, Lina & Ling, Xuan & Wang, Zhitao & Xu, Yinuo, 2023. "Can mixed-ownership reform boost the digital transformation of state-owned enterprises?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 647-663.
    14. Zhang, Shuang & Wang, Wenzhi & Zhou, Liying, 2024. "Nonstate capital participation and innovation in state-owned enterprises: Scale, structure and quality," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    15. Wang, Wei & Cheng, Sijia & Nahar, Shamsun & Alhaleh, Shadi Emad Areef & Wang, Hua, 2022. "Does mixed-ownership reform restrain stock price synchronicity? Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 390-404.
    16. Wang, Chenxi & Duan, Ran & Pan, Xingguang, 2024. "Directors assigned by non-state shareholders and innovation in state-owned enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    17. Shital Jhunjhunwala & Sidra Fatima, 2025. "Two Decades of Research on the Relation of CSR With Earnings Management: Mapping Heterogeneity and Future AGENDA," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(3), pages 3438-3453, May.
    18. Ming Chen & Jiao Wu, 2023. "State ownership may not be bad: Based on bibliometric research (2002–2021)," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(2), pages 1285-1304, March.
    19. Li, Wencong & Yang, Xingquan & Yin, Xingqiang, 2022. "Non-state shareholders entering of state-owned enterprises and equity mispricing: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    20. Ahmad Yuosef Alodat & Hamzeh Al Amosh & Osamah Alorayni & Saleh F. A. Khatib, 2024. "Does corporate sustainability disclosure mitigate earnings management: empirical evidence from Jordan," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(1), pages 165-174, March.

    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:finlet:v:73:y:2025:i:c:s154461232401688x. 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/frl .

    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.