IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v82y2025ics1544612325008566.html

Human capital mobility and corporate management cost

Author

Listed:
  • Shi, Jiawei

Abstract

Using data from Chinese firms spanning 2016 and 2022, this study investigates the impact of human capital mobility on corporate management costs. Results indicate that increased mobility lowers management costs by enhancing top management team dynamism and diversity. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that this effect is significant in privately owned and labor-intensive firms but minimal in state-owned and nonlabor-intensive ones. The findings contribute to regional economics and corporate strategy literature, offering valuable insights for firms and policymakers.

Suggested Citation

  • Shi, Jiawei, 2025. "Human capital mobility and corporate management cost," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:82:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325008566
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.107597
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612325008566
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2025.107597?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ishani Aggarwal & Anita Williams Woolley, 2019. "Team Creativity, Cognition, and Cognitive Style Diversity," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(4), pages 1586-1599, April.
    2. Somendra Narayan & Jatinder S. Sidhu & Henk W. Volberda, 2021. "From Attention to Action: The Influence of Cognitive and Ideological Diversity in Top Management Teams on Business Model Innovation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(8), pages 2082-2110, December.
    3. Christoph Grimpe & Wolfgang Sofka & Ulrich Kaiser, 2023. "Competing for digital human capital: The retention effect of digital expertise in MNC subsidiaries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(4), pages 657-685, June.
    4. Victor Lavy & Assaf Kott & Genia Rachkovski, 2022. "Does Remedial Education in Late Childhood Pay Off After All? Long-Run Consequences for University Schooling, Labor Market Outcomes, and Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(1), pages 239-282.
    5. Ge, Ji & Tang, Hairong & Dong, Yuzhe & Yang, Zongshang & Chen, Chen, 2025. "Digital financial effect on risk-taking of small- and medium-sized commercial banks: Mediation through management costs," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Yan, Jingjing & Guo, Yaoqi & Wen, Fenghua, 2025. "Carbon risk and the cost of equity capital: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 1996. "Paul Krugman's Geographical Economics and Its Implications for Regional Development Theory: A Critical Assessment," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(3), pages 259-292, July.
    8. He, Yiqi & Li, Zhihui & Wang, Xinyue & Chen, Xi, 2025. "Government investment, human capital flow, and urban innovation: Evidence from smart city construction in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    9. Zou, Ying & Li, Jianxin & Wu, Tonglin & Chen, Sicen, 2024. "Does exploratory trademark strategy affect the cost of debt financing? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PC).
    10. Zhang, Yulai & Hainan, Liu & Feng, Fangfang & Wu, Xuezhou, 2025. "Digital economy, education, human capital and urban–rural income disparity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    11. Ferreira, João J. & Fernandes, Cristina I. & Guo, Ying & Rammal, Hussain G., 2022. "Knowledge worker mobility and knowledge management in MNEs: A bibliometric analysis and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 464-475.
    12. Xingqiang Du, 2013. "Does Religion Matter to Owner-Manager Agency Costs? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 319-347, December.
    13. Li, Yong & Zhao, Xinmeng & Wang, Bo, 2024. "Public education expenditure and corporate human capital: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    14. Cheng, Xuemei & Zheng, Yinglong & Bi, Siyuan & Chen, Fangxin, 2025. "Impact of litigation risk on the cost of corporate debt financing: The moderating role of earnings management strategies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    15. Artuc, Erhan & Docquier, Frédéric & Özden, Çaglar & Parsons, Christopher, 2015. "A Global Assessment of Human Capital Mobility: The Role of Non-OECD Destinations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 6-26.
    16. Charles W. L. Hill & W. Chan Kim, 1988. "Searching for a dynamic theory of the multinational enterprise: A transaction cost model," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(S1), pages 93-104, June.
    17. Baek, Seungho & Kang, Moonsoo, 2025. "Does ESG enhance asset quality and funding cost management in banking diversification?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    18. Singh, Manohar & Davidson III, Wallace N., 2003. "Agency costs, ownership structure and corporate governance mechanisms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 793-816, May.
    19. Sun, Ying & Chen, Hongling & He, Wenli, 2024. "Common institutional ownership and corporate cost stickiness —Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PC).
    20. Wang, Xing & Duan, Chentao & Zhang, Shulei, 2025. "How public services affect human capital allocation ——the regulatory effect of digital economy☆," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    21. Osama Wagdi & Atef Fathi, 2024. "The impact of top management team members diversity on corporations’ performance and value: evidence from emerging markets," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-26, December.
    22. Hart, David M., 2006. "Managing the global talent pool: Sovereignty, treaty, and intergovernmental networks," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 421-434.
    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. He, Wen & Luo, Jin-hui, 2018. "Agency problems in firms with an even number of directors: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 139-150.
    2. Xingqiang Du & Jianying Weng & Quan Zeng & Hongmei Pei, 2017. "Culture, Marketization, and Owner-Manager Agency Costs: A Case of Merchant Guild Culture in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 353-386, June.
    3. Tao Chen & Shuwen Pi & Qing Sophie Wang, 2025. "Artificial Intelligence and Corporate Investment Efficiency: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies," Working Papers in Economics 25/05, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    4. Yang, Yong, 2012. "Agglomeration density and tourism development in China: An empirical research based on dynamic panel data model," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1347-1359.
    5. Miguel Atienza & Guillermo Armando Ronda-Pupo & Nicholas Phelps, 2019. "Bridges over troubled water? Journals, geographers and economists in the field of economy and space 1980–2017," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 51(8), pages 1800-1823, November.
    6. Young Mok Choi & Kunsu Park, 2019. "Foreign Ownership, Agency Costs, and Long-Term Firm Growth: Evidence from Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-17, March.
    7. Aspers, Patrik & Kohl, Sebastian & Power, Dominic, 2008. "Economic sociology discovering economic geography," economic sociology. perspectives and conversations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, vol. 9(3), pages 3-16.
    8. Lo Turco, Alessia & Maggioni, Daniela, 2018. "Effects of Islamic religiosity on bilateral trust in trade: The case of Turkish exports," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 947-965.
    9. Lin, Ling & Xiao, Min & Yao, Rongrong & Zhang, Xiaoying, 2024. "Product market liberalization and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    10. Xue, Shengxi & Cao, Taiyun & Yu, Qianqian & Liu, Yuanyuan, 2024. "Clan culture and corporate cash holdings: Are private companies supported by informal institutions?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    11. Wang, Pengcheng & Yang, Xuelin, 2024. "Social trust and household financial decision-making: An empirical study based on the usage of household financial technology," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Gupta, Simran & Chaudhary, Pankaj & Dawar, Varun, 2025. "The amplified impact of ESG on banks with lower funding costs: Insights from G20 economies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PC).
    13. Henry, Darren, 2010. "Agency costs, ownership structure and corporate governance compliance: A private contracting perspective," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 24-46, January.
    14. Joo, Youngbin & Georgakakis, Dimitrios & Sidhu, Jatinder S., 2025. "CEO career horizon and innovation: A u-shaped tale of short-term profits and long-term legacy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(5).
    15. Panagiotis Staikouras & Christos Staikouras & Maria-Eleni Agoraki, 2007. "The effect of board size and composition on European bank performance," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 1-27, February.
    16. Xu, Lei & Ou, Amy Y. & Park, Haemin Dennis & Jiang, Han, 2024. "Breaking barriers or maintaining status quo? Female representation in decision-making group of venture capital firms and the funding of woman-led businesses," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(1).
    17. Li, Yanqiong & Zhang, Linlang, 2025. "Intelligent manufacturing and the pay gap within firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    18. Michal burzynski & Christoph Deuster & Frédéric Docquier, 2018. "The Geography of Talent: Development Implications and Long-Run Prospects," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2018002, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    19. Frédéric DOCQUIER & Joël MACHADO, 2015. "Remittance and Migration Prospects for the Twenty-First Century," Working Papers P133, FERDI.
    20. Luan Marca & Luis Fernando Tavares Vieira Braga & Adelar Fochezatto & Augusto Mussi Alvim, 2026. "Spatial dynamics of gross domestic product per capita in Brazilian municipalities," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 75(1), pages 1-30, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:finlet:v:82:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325008566. 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.