IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v65y2021ics0927538x20306971.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic policy uncertainty and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Shen, Huayu
  • Liu, Runxin
  • Xiong, Hao
  • Hou, Fei
  • Tang, Xiaoyi

Abstract

This paper investigates whether and how economic policy uncertainty (EPU) affects stock price synchronicity (SPS) based on the sample of listed firms from year 2007 to 2017 in China. We find that EPU significantly negatively affect SPS. Moreover, managerial ownership, bearish stock market and financial crises attenuate the negative influence of EPU on SPS. Institutional investors, high-quality auditors and analysts tracking reinforce the negative influence of EPU on SPS. Robustness tests also support the above results.

Suggested Citation

  • Shen, Huayu & Liu, Runxin & Xiong, Hao & Hou, Fei & Tang, Xiaoyi, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:65:y:2021:i:c:s0927538x20306971
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2020.101485
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X20306971
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2020.101485?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. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Phan, Dinh Hoang Bach & Sharma, Susan Sunila, 2019. "Does Islamic stock sensitivity to oil prices have economic significance?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 497-512.
    2. Jin, Li & Myers, Stewart C., 2006. "R2 around the world: New theory and new tests," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 257-292, February.
    3. Al-Thaqeb, Saud Asaad & Algharabali, Barrak Ghanim, 2019. "Economic policy uncertainty: A literature review," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    4. Wang, Yizhong & Chen, Carl R. & Huang, Ying Sophie, 2014. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate investment: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 227-243.
    5. Hamid Sakaki & Dave Jackson & Surendranath Jory, 2017. "Institutional ownership stability and real earnings management," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 227-244, July.
    6. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    7. Bonaime, Alice & Gulen, Huseyin & Ion, Mihai, 2018. "Does policy uncertainty affect mergers and acquisitions?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(3), pages 531-558.
    8. Jian Chen & Fuwei Jiang & Guoshi Tong, 2017. "Economic policy uncertainty in China and stock market expected returns," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(5), pages 1265-1286, December.
    9. Bhattacharya, Utpal & Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Tian, Xuan & Xu, Yan, 2017. "What Affects Innovation More: Policy or Policy Uncertainty?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(5), pages 1869-1901, October.
    10. Baik, Bok & Kang, Jun-Koo & Kim, Jin-Mo, 2010. "Local institutional investors, information asymmetries, and equity returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 81-106, July.
    11. Kang, Wensheng & Lee, Kiseok & Ratti, Ronald A., 2014. "Economic policy uncertainty and firm-level investment," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 39(PA), pages 42-53.
    12. Kanagaretnam, Kiridaran & Lim, Chee Yeow & Lobo, Gerald J., 2010. "Auditor reputation and earnings management: International evidence from the banking industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 2318-2327, October.
    13. Chan, Kalok & Hameed, Allaudeen & Kang, Wenjin, 2013. "Stock price synchronicity and liquidity," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 414-438.
    14. Lin, Fengyi & Wu, Chung-Min & Fang, Tzu-Yi & Wun, Jheng-Ci, 2014. "The relations among accounting conservatism, institutional investors and earnings manipulation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 164-174.
    15. Chan, Kalok & Hameed, Allaudeen, 2006. "Stock price synchronicity and analyst coverage in emerging markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 115-147, April.
    16. Mary E. Barth & Ron Kasznik & Maureen F. McNichols, 2001. "Analyst Coverage and Intangible Assets," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 1-34, June.
    17. Myung-In Kim & Catherine Heyjung Sonu & Jong-Hag Choi, 2015. "Separation of corporate ownership and control and accounting conservatism: evidence from Korea," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 103-136, June.
    18. Ole-Kristian Hope & Wayne Thomas & Dushyantkumar Vyas, 2011. "Financial credibility, ownership, and financing constraints in private firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(7), pages 935-957, September.
    19. 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.
    20. Zhang, Guangli & Han, Jianlei & Pan, Zheyao & Huang, Haozhi, 2015. "Economic policy uncertainty and capital structure choice: Evidence from China," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 439-457.
    21. Demir, Ender & Ersan, Oguz, 2017. "Economic policy uncertainty and cash holdings: Evidence from BRIC countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 189-200.
    22. Hao Xiong & Zuofeng Wu & Fei Hou & Jun Zhang, 2020. "Which Firm-specific Characteristics Affect the Market Reaction of Chinese Listed Companies to the COVID-19 Pandemic?," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(10), pages 2231-2242, August.
    23. 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.
    24. Michele O'Neill & Judith Swisher, 2003. "Institutional Investors and Information Asymmetry: An Event Study of Self‐Tender Offers," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 38(2), pages 197-211, May.
    25. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & He, Shan & Hu, Gang, 2009. "The role of institutional investors in seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 384-411, December.
    26. Huayu Shen & Mengyao Fu & Hongyu Pan & Zhongfu Yu & Yongquan Chen, 2020. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Firm Performance," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(10), pages 2213-2230, August.
    27. Rogers, Daniel A., 2002. "Does executive portfolio structure affect risk management? CEO risk-taking incentives and corporate derivatives usage," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(2-3), pages 271-295, March.
    28. Hadani, Michael & Goranova, Maria & Khan, Raihan, 2011. "Institutional investors, shareholder activism, and earnings management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(12), pages 1352-1360.
    29. Liu, Huan & Hou, Canran, 2019. "Does trade credit alleviate stock price synchronicity? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 141-155.
    30. Xiong, Hao & Hou, Fei & Li, Hanwen & Wang, Huabing, 2020. "Does rice farming shape audit quality: Evidence from signing auditors level analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 403-420.
    31. Huseyin Gulen & Mihai Ion, 2016. "Editor's Choice Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Investment," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 523-564.
    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. Hailiang Zou & Ruijing Wang & Guoyou Qi, 2023. "The Response of CSR to Economic Policy Uncertainty: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-19, August.
    2. Wang, Hui & Shen, Huayu & Tang, Xiaoyi & Wu, Zuofeng & Ma, Shuming, 2021. "Trade policy uncertainty and firm risk taking," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 351-364.
    3. Goodell, John W. & Li, Mingsheng & Liu, Desheng & Peng, Hongfeng, 2022. "Depoliticization and market efficiency: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    4. Yang, Yan & Wang, Yuqian & Chen, Shou, 2022. "Do Investors Pay a Premium for Corporate Government Subsidy? Role of China's Strategic Emerging Industries Policy and Political Connections," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    5. Shen, Huayu & Liang, Yue & Li, Hanwen & Liu, Jie & Lu, Guangxi, 2021. "Does geopolitical risk promote mergers and acquisitions of listed companies in energy and electric power industries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Hou, Fei & Tang, Wenjie & Wang, Huabing & Xiong, Hao, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty, marketization level and firm-level inefficient investment: Evidence from Chinese listed firms in energy and power industries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    7. Zhang, Dongyang & Kong, Qunxi, 2022. "Do energy policies bring about corporate overinvestment? Empirical evidence from Chinese listed companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    8. Wang, Xiong & Li, Jingyao & Ren, Xiaohang, 2022. "Asymmetric causality of economic policy uncertainty and oil volatility index on time-varying nexus of the clean energy, carbon and green bond," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Su, Kun & Zhang, Miaomiao & Liu, Chengyun, 2022. "Financial derivatives, analyst forecasts, and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from an emerging market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    10. Li, Xiao-Lin & Qiu, Guojing & Ding, Hui, 2022. "The impact of exchange rate policy uncertainty shock on Chinese energy firms' risk-taking," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    11. Wu, Xinyu & Xie, Haibin & Zhang, Huanming, 2022. "Time-varying risk aversion and renminbi exchange rate volatility: Evidence from CARR-MIDAS model," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).

    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. Shen, Huayu & Hou, Fei, 2021. "Trade policy uncertainty and corporate innovation evidence from Chinese listed firms in new energy vehicle industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    2. Cui, Xin & Wang, Chunfeng & Liao, Jing & Fang, Zhenming & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty exposure and corporate innovation investment: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Shen, Huayu & Hou, Fei & Peng, Miaowei & Xiong, Hao & Zuo, Haohao, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. Zhang, Cheng & Yang, Chunhong & Liu, Cheng, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate risk-taking: Loss aversion or opportunity expectations," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    5. Fang-Nan Liao & Xiao-Li Ji & Zhi-Ping Wang, 2019. "Firms’ Sustainability: Does Economic Policy Uncertainty Affect Internal Control?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-26, February.
    6. He, Feng & Ma, Yaming & Zhang, Xiaojie, 2020. "How does economic policy uncertainty affect corporate Innovation?–Evidence from China listed companies," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 225-239.
    7. Hamza Almustafa & Imad Jabbouri & Ploypailin Kijkasiwat, 2023. "Economic Policy Uncertainty, Financial Leverage, and Corporate Investment: Evidence from U.S. Firms," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-19, January.
    8. Lou, Zhukun & Chen, Siyu & Yin, Wenwei & Zhang, Chuan & Yu, Xiaoyu, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and firm innovation: Evidence from a risk-taking perspective," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 78-96.
    9. Hou, Fei & Tang, Wenjie & Wang, Huabing & Xiong, Hao, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty, marketization level and firm-level inefficient investment: Evidence from Chinese listed firms in energy and power industries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    10. Lee, Chi-Chuan & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Xiao, Shunyi, 2021. "Policy-related risk and corporate financing behavior: Evidence from China’s listed companies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 539-547.
    11. Schwarz, Lucas Allan Diniz & Dalmácio, Flávia Zóboli, 2021. "The relationship between economic policy uncertainty and corporate leverage: Evidence from Brazil," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    12. Smales, Lee A., 2020. "Examining the relationship between policy uncertainty and market uncertainty across the G7," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    13. Tran, Quoc Trung, 2019. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate risk-taking: International evidence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 52.
    14. Guan, Jialin & Xu, Huijuan & Huo, Da & Hua, Yechun & Wang, Yunfeng, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    15. Gaganis, Chrysovalantis & Leledakis, George & Pasiouras, Fotios & Pyrgiotakis, Emmanouil, 2021. "National culture of secrecy and stock price synchronicity: Cross-country evidence," MPRA Paper 105432, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Deng, Wei & Gao, Lei & Xing, Fei & Yang, Ming, 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty, bank deposits, and liability structure," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    17. Bajaj, Yukti & Kashiramka, Smita & Singh, Shveta, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and leverage dynamics: Evidence from an emerging economy," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    18. Jianyu Zeng & Teng Zhong & Fan He, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate inventory holdings: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(2), pages 1727-1757, June.
    19. Tran, Quoc Trung, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and cost of debt financing: International evidence," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    20. Ozili, Peterson K, 2021. "Financial reporting under economic policy uncertainty," MPRA Paper 105089, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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:pacfin:v:65:y:2021:i:c:s0927538x20306971. 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/pacfin .

    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.