IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v88y2024ics0927538x24003329.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Common institutional ownership and opportunistic insider selling: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Dai, Jingwen
  • Xu, Rong
  • Zhu, Tianqi
  • Lu, Chao

Abstract

We examine the relationship between common institutional ownership and opportunistic insider selling. Using an unbalanced panel of 32,858 firm-year observations of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2007 to 2021, we find that common institutional ownership inhibits opportunistic insider selling, supporting the synergistic governance view. Our evidence indicates that information economies of scale and industry power acquired from shareholding networks enable common owners to exert positive governance effects. Designating directors and officers, voting at shareholders' meetings, and promoting information disclosure are the three essential channels through which common owners perform effective monitoring. Furthermore, the synergistic governance effect is more pronounced in firms with headquarters located in regions with a stronger altruistic culture, better independent director governance, and wider media coverage. Heterogeneity analyses show that non-pressure-sensitive, stable, and transactional common institutional investors effectively inhibit opportunistic insider selling, whereas pressure-sensitive common owners exhibit attenuated effects. Additional tests indicate that common owners significantly reduce the profitability of opportunistic insider trading. Our findings highlight the social attributes and ethical aspects of how common institutional shareholders restricts insider opportunism in emerging markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Dai, Jingwen & Xu, Rong & Zhu, Tianqi & Lu, Chao, 2024. "Common institutional ownership and opportunistic insider selling: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:88:y:2024:i:c:s0927538x24003329
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2024.102580
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X24003329
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2024.102580?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. José Azar & Martin C. Schmalz & Isabel Tecu, 2018. "Anticompetitive Effects of Common Ownership," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(4), pages 1513-1565, August.
    2. Hariskos, W. & Königstein, M. & Papadopoulos, K.G., 2022. "Anti-competitive effects of partial cross-ownership: Experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 399-409.
    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. Enrichetta Ravina & Paola Sapienza, 2010. "What Do Independent Directors Know? Evidence from Their Trading," NBER Chapters, in: Corporate Governance, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. He, Jie (Jack) & Huang, Jiekun & Zhao, Shan, 2019. "Internalizing governance externalities: The role of institutional cross-ownership," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(2), pages 400-418.
    6. Santhosh Ramalingegowda & Steven Utke & Yong Yu, 2021. "Common Institutional Ownership and Earnings Management," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 208-241, March.
    7. Sun, Fangcheng & Dutta, Shantanu & Huang, Hui & Zhu, Pengcheng, 2021. "News media and insider trading profitability: An emerging country perspective," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    8. Min Huang & Xiaobo Li & Jun Xia & Mengyao Li, 2024. "Does Confucianism Prompt Firms to Participate in Poverty Alleviation Campaigns?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(4), pages 743-762, February.
    9. Hansen, Robert G. & Lott, John R., 1996. "Externalities and Corporate Objectives in a World with Diversified Shareholder/Consumers," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(1), pages 43-68, March.
    10. Qing He & Oliver M. Rui, 2016. "Ownership Structure and Insider Trading: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(4), pages 553-574, April.
    11. Allan Hodgson & Michael Seamer & Katherine Uylangco, 2020. "Does stronger corporate governance constrain insider trading? Asymmetric evidence from Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(3), pages 2665-2687, September.
    12. Alex Edmans & Doron Levit & Devin Reilly, 2019. "Governance Under Common Ownership," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(7), pages 2673-2719.
    13. Jun Yang & Jinghua Wang & Zhigao Yi & Ning Mao, 2022. "Managing the media coverage: evidence from managers’ stock selling," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 77-96, January.
    14. Brooks, Chris & Chen, Zhong & Zeng, Yeqin, 2018. "Institutional cross-ownership and corporate strategy: The case of mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 187-216.
    15. Ali, Usman & Hirshleifer, David, 2017. "Opportunism as a firm and managerial trait: Predicting insider trading profits and misconduct," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(3), pages 490-515.
    16. Steven J. Huddart & Bin Ke, 2007. "Information Asymmetry and Cross†sectional Variation in Insider Trading," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(1), pages 195-232, March.
    17. Chen, Guang-Zheng & Keung, Edmund C., 2019. "The impact of business strategy on insider trading profitability," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 270-282.
    18. Xudong Tang & Haixia Chang & Wanli Li, 2023. "Cross-ownership and tunnelling: evidence from China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(2), pages 223-236, January.
    19. Liu, Changyang & He, Jincai, 2024. "Does common institutional ownership improve the similarity of behavior between firms? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    20. Lauren Cohen & Christopher Malloy & Lukasz Pomorski, 2012. "Decoding Inside Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(3), pages 1009-1043, June.
    21. Jiang, George J. & Liu, Chang, 2021. "Getting on board: The monitoring effect of institutional directors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    22. Miguel Antón & Florian Ederer & Mireia Giné & Martin Schmalz, 2023. "Common Ownership, Competition, and Top Management Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(5), pages 1294-1355.
    23. Aaron Gilbert & Alireza Tourani-Rad, 2020. "Do penalties matter? The impact of the introduction of financial penalties in the United Kingdom for insider trading," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(24), pages 2622-2635, May.
    24. 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).
    25. Cline, Brandon N. & Williamson, Claudia R. & Xiong, Haoyang, 2021. "Culture and the regulation of insider trading across countries," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    26. 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.
    27. Ziwei Wang & Chunfeng Wang & Zhenming Fang, 2023. "Common institutional ownership and corporate misconduct," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 102-136, January.
    28. Park, Jihwon & Sani, Jalal & Shroff, Nemit & White, Hal, 2019. "Disclosure incentives when competing firms have common ownership," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 387-415.
    29. Robert Bricker & Garen Markarian, 2015. "Institutional Investors and Insider Trading Profitability," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 495-518, September.
    30. Gao, Feng & Lisic, Ling Lei & Zhang, Ivy Xiying, 2014. "Commitment to social good and insider trading," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 149-175.
    31. Fang, Yiwei & Francis, Bill & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2018. "Differences make a difference: Diversity in social learning and value creation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 474-491.
    32. Bruce W. Klaw & Don Mayer, 2021. "Ethics, Markets, and the Legalization of Insider Trading," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 55-70, January.
    33. Zhao, Wanlong & Zhang, Wei & Xiong, Xiong & Zou, Gaofeng, 2021. "How insiders utilize their information advantages in their trading: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    34. Qiu, Ying & He, Hua & Xiao, Gang, 2018. "The information content of insider trading: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 126-131.
    35. Ellul, Andrew & Panayides, Marios, 2018. "Do Financial Analysts Restrain Insiders’ Informational Advantage?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(1), pages 203-241, February.
    36. Fu, Xudong & Kong, Lei & Tang, Tian & Yan, Xinyan, 2020. "Insider trading and shareholder investment horizons," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    37. Li, Xindan & Geng, Ziyang & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar & Yu, Honghai, 2017. "Do wealthy investors have an informational advantage? Evidence based on account classifications of individual investors," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-18.
    38. Chowdhury, Abu & Mollah, Sabur & Al Farooque, Omar, 2018. "Insider-trading, discretionary accruals and information asymmetry," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 341-363.
    39. Li, Tao & Ji, Yu, 2021. "Institutional ownership and insider trading profitability: Evidence from an emerging market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    40. Irene Karamanou & Grace Pownall & Rachna Prakash, 2021. "Asymmetric information consolidation and price discovery: Inferring bad news from insider sales," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 230-268, January.
    41. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    42. Gao, Kaijuan & Shen, Hanxiao & Gao, Xi & Chan, Kam C., 2019. "The power of sharing: Evidence from institutional investor cross-ownership and corporate innovation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 284-296.
    43. 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).
    44. Goergen, Marc & Renneboog, Luc & Zhao, Yang, 2019. "Insider trading and networked directors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 152-175.
    45. Elisabeth Kempf & Alberto Manconi & Oliver Spalt, 2017. "Distracted Shareholders and Corporate Actions," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(5), pages 1660-1695.
    46. Charistos, Konstantinos & Papadopoulos, Konstantinos G., 2022. "Cartel reporting under passive common ownership," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    47. Kang, Jun-Koo & Luo, Juan & Na, Hyun Seung, 2018. "Are institutional investors with multiple blockholdings effective monitors?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(3), pages 576-602.
    48. Jie (Jack) He & Jiekun Huang, 2017. "Product Market Competition in a World of Cross-Ownership: Evidence from Institutional Blockholdings," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(8), pages 2674-2718.
    49. Darren T. Roulstone, 2003. "The Relation Between Insider‐Trading Restrictions and Executive Compensation," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 525-551, June.
    50. Cheng, Xin & (Helen) Wang, He & Wang, Xianjue, 2022. "Common institutional ownership and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    51. Ping Jiang & Yunbiao Ma & Beibei Shi, 2022. "Common ownership and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 876-912, December.
    52. Lewellen, Katharina & Lowry, Michelle, 2021. "Does common ownership really increase firm coordination?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(1), pages 322-344.
    53. Koch, Andrew & Panayides, Marios & Thomas, Shawn, 2021. "Common ownership and competition in product markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(1), pages 109-137.
    54. Lu, Chao & Zhu, Tianqi & Xia, Xiaoxue & Zhao, Ziying & Zhao, Yiwen, 2024. "Common institutional ownership and corporate green investment: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1123-1149.
    55. Dai, Lili & Fu, Renhui & Kang, Jun-Koo & Lee, Inmoo, 2016. "Corporate governance and the profitability of insider trading," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 235-253.
    56. Kallunki, Jenni & Kallunki, Juha-Pekka & Nilsson, Henrik & Puhakka, Mikko, 2018. "Do an insider's wealth and income matter in the decision to engage in insider trading?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(1), pages 135-165.
    57. Skaife, Hollis A. & Veenman, David & Wangerin, Daniel, 2013. "Internal control over financial reporting and managerial rent extraction: Evidence from the profitability of insider trading," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 91-110.
    58. 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.
    59. Xin Dai & Yue Qiu, 2021. "Common Ownership and Corporate Social Responsibility [Connected stocks]," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(3), pages 551-577.
    60. Sander De Groote & Liesbeth Bruynseels & Ann Gaeremynck, 2023. "Are All Directors Treated Equally? Evidence from Director Turnover Following Opportunistic Insider Selling," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(1), pages 185-207, June.
    61. Peter Iliev & Karl V. Lins & Darius P. Miller & Lukas Roth, 2015. "Editor's Choice Shareholder Voting and Corporate Governance Around the World," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(8), pages 2167-2202.
    62. Jang, In Ji & Kang, Namho & Yezegel, Ari, 2022. "Common ownership, price informativeness, and corporate investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    63. Piotroski, Joseph D. & Roulstone, Darren T., 2005. "Do insider trades reflect both contrarian beliefs and superior knowledge about future cash flow realizations?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 55-81, February.
    64. Gider, Jasmin & Westheide, Christian, 2016. "Relative idiosyncratic volatility and the timing of corporate insider trading," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 312-334.
    65. 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.
    66. Athira, A. & Lukose, P.J. Jijo, 2023. "Do common institutional owners' activisms deter tax avoidance? Evidence from an emerging economy," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    67. 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).
    68. Qiang Cheng & Kin Lo, 2006. "Insider Trading and Voluntary Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 815-848, December.
    69. Hu, Xiaoxue & Li, Dongxu & Wang, Jingni, 2024. "Green-selecting: Foreign institutional ownership and corporate green practices," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    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. 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).
    2. Mou, Shaobo & Yi, Sijia & Zhang, Qiufeng & Liu, Danping, 2025. "Common institutional ownership and executive pay-performance sensitivity: Mediating role of information transparency and fund occupation," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    3. Zhang, Han & Li, Minghui & Yang, Yujie, 2024. "Does common institutional ownership constrain related party transactions? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 1015-1042.
    4. Kyriacou, Kyriacos & Liu, Siming & Mase, Bryan, 2024. "Corruption and insider trading," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. 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.
    6. Li, Tao & Ji, Yu, 2021. "Institutional ownership and insider trading profitability: Evidence from an emerging market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    7. Xu, Tianli & Xu, Longbing & Zhu, Siyuan, 2023. "Common ownership and executive pay-for-performance sensitivity: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. 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).
    9. Tian, Haowen & Wang, Junkai & Wu, Sirui, 2024. "Supply chain vertical common ownership and cost of loans," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    10. Liu, Hui & Chang, Yufan & Zuo, Man, 2023. "Key audit matters and insider trading profitability: Evidence from China," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3).
    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. Tian, Yonggang & Ang, James S. & Fu, Panpan & Ma, Chaoqun & Wang, Xiuhua, 2024. "Does social trust mitigate insiders' opportunistic behaviors? Evidence from insider trading," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    13. Liu, Huan & Hou, Canran, 2023. "The external effect of institutional cross-ownership on excessive managerial perks," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 483-501.
    14. Lu, Chunyang & Yang, Xingquan, 2024. "Capital market opening and insider trading profitability: Empirical evidence in the context of ‘Mainland China–Hong Kong Stock Connect’," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    15. Zhu, Siyuan & Lu, Rong & Xu, Tianli & Wu, Wenbin & Chen, Yang, 2024. "Can common institutional owners inhibit bad mergers and acquisitions? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 246-266.
    16. Ziwei Wang & Chunfeng Wang & Zhenming Fang, 2023. "Common institutional ownership and corporate misconduct," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 102-136, January.
    17. Li, Yumin & Zhu, Lei & Ke, Yanrong & Wu, Xiaohui, 2024. "Does common institutional ownership restrain corporate financialization?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    18. Ziwei Wang & Chunfeng Wang & Zhenming Fang, 2024. "Learning from Failures of Co-owned Firms: Common Ownership and Information Disclosure Fraud," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 195(1), pages 95-119, November.
    19. Liu, Xiaojun & Wang, Li & Dai, Yunhao, 2023. "Capital market liberalization and opportunistic insider sales: Evidence from China," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    20. Li, Tao & Wang, Yan & Li, Haomin, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and insider trading profitability: Evidence from an emerging market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Common institutional ownership; Opportunistic insider selling; Synergistic governance; Shareholding networks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    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:pacfin:v:88:y:2024:i:c:s0927538x24003329. 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.