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Does common ownership really increase firm coordination?

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  • Lewellen, Katharina
  • Lowry, Michelle

Abstract

A growing number of studies suggest that common ownership caused cooperation among firms to increase and competition to decrease. We take a closer look at four approaches used to identify these effects. We find that the effects that some studies have attributed to common ownership are caused by other factors, such as differential responses of firms (or industries) to the 2008 financial crisis. We propose a modification to one of the previously used empirical approaches that is less sensitive to these issues. Using this to re-evaluate the link between common ownership and firm outcomes, we find little robust evidence that common ownership affects firm behavior.

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  • Lewellen, Katharina & Lowry, Michelle, 2021. "Does common ownership really increase firm coordination?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(1), pages 322-344.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:141:y:2021:i:1:p:322-344
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2021.03.008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Khoo, Joye & Zheng, Chen & Pathan, Shams, 2024. "The beneficial effect of common ownership: Evidence from bank liquidity creation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    2. Guglielmo Barone & Fabiano Schivardi & Enrico Sette, 2020. "Interlocking Directorates and Competition in Banking," EIEF Working Papers Series 2011, Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF), revised May 2020.
    3. Banal-Estanol, Albert & Seldeslachts, Jo & Vives, Xavier, 2022. "Ownership Diversification and Product Market Pricing Incentives," CEPR Discussion Papers 17686, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Simeth, Markus & Wehrheim, David, 2024. "On “Innovation and institutional ownership”," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Dasgupta, Amil & Fos, Vyacheslav & Sautner, Zacharias, 2021. "Institutional investors and corporate governance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112114, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Wang, Shuangjin & Zhang, Xiaoqian & Cebula, Richard J. & Foley, Maggie, 2024. "Cross-shareholding, Managerial capabilities, and Strategic risk-taking in enterprises: A game or a win-win?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    7. Jang, In Ji & Kang, Namho & Yezegel, Ari, 2022. "Common ownership, price informativeness, and corporate investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    8. Hamza Nizar & Taher Hamza & Faten Lakhal, 2024. "How does institutional cross‐ownership affect firm productivity? The importance of the corporate social responsibility channel," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 1988-2010, April.
    9. Chen, Shenglan & Ma, Hui & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2023. "Does common ownership constrain managerial rent extraction? Evidence from insider trading profitability," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    10. Chung, Chune Young & Song, Jun Myung, 2024. "Institutional investors by nationality and long-term investor value appropriation," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    11. Kristopher Gerardi & Michelle Lowry & Carola Schenone, 2023. "A Critical Review of the Common Ownership Literature," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2023-17, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    12. Yi Jiang & Tingting Que & Miaomiao Yu, 2022. "Price asymmetries in the US airline industry," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 793-814, November.
    13. Hennig, Jan C. & Oehmichen, Jana & Steinberg, Philip J. & Heigermoser, Judith, 2022. "Determinants of common ownership: Exploring an information-based and a competition-based perspective in a global context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 690-702.
    14. 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.
    15. Bayona, Anna & López, Ángel L. & Manganelli, Anton-Giulio, 2022. "Common ownership, corporate control and price competition," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 1066-1075.
    16. Gibbon, Alexandra J. & Schain, Jan Philip, 2023. "Rising markups, common ownership, and technological capacities," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    17. Chen, Yangyang & Li, Qingyuan & Ng, Jeffrey & Wang, Chong, 2021. "Corporate financing of investment opportunities in a world of institutional cross-ownership," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Li, Xuelin & Liu, Tong & Taylor, Lucian A., 2023. "Common ownership and innovation efficiency," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(3), pages 475-497.
    19. Andrea Pawliczek & A. Nicole Skinner & Sarah L. C. Zechman, 2022. "Facilitating Tacit Collusion Through Voluntary Disclosure: Evidence from Common Ownership," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 1651-1693, December.
    20. Patrick Dennis & Kristopher Gerardi & Carola Schenone, 2022. "Common Ownership Does Not Have Anticompetitive Effects in the Airline Industry," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(5), pages 2765-2798, October.
    21. Emmens, Joseph & Hutschenreiter, Dennis & Manfredonia, Stefano & Noth, Felix & Santini, Tommaso, 2024. "From shares to machines: How common ownership drives automation," IWH Discussion Papers 23/2024, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    22. Jiong Wu & Lei Zhu & Yuheng Hu, 2024. "How does common ownership affect corporate innovation after succession in Chinese family firms? A perspective on value cocreation," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(12), pages 3515-3544, December.
    23. Lin, Luca Xianran, 2022. "Great Trees are Good for Shade: Creditor Monitoring Under Common Ownership," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    24. Tahir Ahmad Wani & Arunima Haldar & Irfan Rashid Ganie, 2023. "In What Contexts Institutional Investors Can Be Catalyst? The Moderating Role of Corporate Governance," International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 70-79, June.
    25. Jonathan Lewellen & Katharina Lewellen, 2022. "Institutional Investors and Corporate Governance: The Incentive to Be Engaged," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(1), pages 213-264, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Common ownership; Institutional ownership; Corporate governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure

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