IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v82y2026ics0275531925004829.html

How does the geographic concentration of institutional investors affect corporate risk? Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Lin, Luoxi
  • Wang, Peiyuan
  • Huang, Yilin

Abstract

By utilizing the geographic data of institutional investors from 2012 to 2023, this study investigates how the geographic concentration of institutional investors (GCII) affects firms’ stock price idiosyncratic volatility (IVOL). The findings indicate that the GCII significantly mitigates corporate information asymmetry and enhances internal governance quality, consequently reducing firms’ IVOL. Additional analysis reveals that the negative impact of the GCII on IVOL is pronounced for firms located in provinces with underdeveloped transport infrastructure and firms with lower analyst coverage.

Suggested Citation

  • Lin, Luoxi & Wang, Peiyuan & Huang, Yilin, 2026. "How does the geographic concentration of institutional investors affect corporate risk? Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:82:y:2026:i:c:s0275531925004829
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.103226
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531925004829
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.103226?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. Xi Wu & Xinle Tong & Yudong Wang, 2022. "Managerial ability and idiosyncratic volatility," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 2566-2581, April.
    2. Abhirup Chakrabarti & Will Mitchell, 2016. "The role of geographic distance in completing related acquisitions: Evidence from U.S. chemical manufacturers," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 673-694, April.
    3. Kim, Donghyun & Wang, Qinghai & Wang, Xiaoqiong, 2022. "Geographic clustering of institutional investors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 547-570.
    4. JOSEPH A. McCAHERY & ZACHARIAS SAUTNER & LAURA T. STARKS, 2016. "Behind the Scenes: The Corporate Governance Preferences of Institutional Investors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(6), pages 2905-2932, December.
    5. Li Shi & Lun Wu & Guanghua Chi & Yu Liu, 2016. "Geographical impacts on social networks from perspectives of space and place: an empirical study using mobile phone data," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 359-376, October.
    6. Eugene Soltes, 2014. "Private Interaction Between Firm Management and Sell‐Side Analysts," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 52(1), pages 245-272, March.
    7. Crane, Alan D. & Koch, Andrew & Michenaud, Sébastien, 2019. "Institutional investor cliques and governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 175-197.
    8. Fink, Jason & Fink, Kristin E. & Grullon, Gustavo & Weston, James P., 2010. "What Drove the Increase in Idiosyncratic Volatility during the Internet Boom?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(5), pages 1253-1278, October.
    9. Berrada, Tony & Hugonnier, Julien, 2013. "Incomplete information, idiosyncratic volatility and stock returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 448-462.
    10. Beat Reber & Agnes Gold & Stefan Gold, 2022. "ESG Disclosure and Idiosyncratic Risk in Initial Public Offerings," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(3), pages 867-886, September.
    11. Sumit Agarwal, 2010. "Distance and Private Information in Lending," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(7), pages 2757-2788, July.
    12. Hao, Jing & Xiong, Xiong, 2021. "Retail investor attention and firms' idiosyncratic risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    13. Edward E Leamer & Michael Storper, 2001. "The Economic Geography of the Internet Age," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(4), pages 641-665, December.
    14. Qiang Cheng & Fei Du & Brian Yutao Wang & Xin Wang, 2019. "Do Corporate Site Visits Impact Stock Prices?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(1), pages 359-388, March.
    15. Elizabeth Blankespoor & Ed Dehaan & John Wertz & Christina Zhu, 2019. "Why Do Individual Investors Disregard Accounting Information? The Roles of Information Awareness and Acquisition Costs," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 57(1), pages 53-84, March.
    16. Opie, Wei & Tian, Gary Gang & Zhang, Hong Feng, 2019. "Corporate pyramids, geographical distance, and investment efficiency of Chinese state-owned enterprises," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 95-120.
    17. Xin Cheng & Orhun Guldiken & Wei Shi, 2023. "Geographic Concentration of Institutional Blockholders and Workplace Safety Violations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(3), pages 593-613, September.
    18. Hong, Xin & Zhuang, Zhuang & Kang, Di & Wang, Zhibin, 2019. "Do corporate site visits impact hedge fund performance?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 113-128.
    19. Ding, Rong & Hou, Wenxuan, 2015. "Retail investor attention and stock liquidity," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 12-26.
    20. Zahn Bozanic & Maya Thevenot, 2015. "Qualitative Disclosure and Changes in Sell†Side Financial Analysts' Information Environment," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(4), pages 1595-1616, December.
    21. Chen, Deqiu & Ma, Yujing & Martin, Xiumin & Michaely, Roni, 2022. "On the fast track: Information acquisition costs and information production," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(2), pages 794-823.
    22. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    23. Feng He & Hanyu Du & Youwei Li & Jing Hao, 2025. "Make it Right: Regulatory Intervention in Managers’ Misconduct and Corporate Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 202(1), pages 73-95, November.
    24. Thomas R. Kubick & G. Brandon Lockhart, 2016. "Proximity to the SEC and Stock Price Crash Risk," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 45(2), pages 341-367, May.
    25. Haijie Huang & Steven Xianglong Chen & Edward Lee & Dongdong Li, 2024. "Information search costs and trade credit: evidence from high-speed rail connections," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(8), pages 865-888, May.
    26. Yang, Jinyu & Dong, Dayong & Liang, Chao, 2025. "Sequential questioning and structured responses: Enhancing the information effectiveness of corporate site visits," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    27. Gaspar, Jose-Miguel & Massa, Massimo, 2007. "Local ownership as private information: Evidence on the monitoring-liquidity trade-off," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 751-792, March.
    28. Doblas-Madrid, Antonio & Minetti, Raoul, 2013. "Sharing information in the credit market: Contract-level evidence from U.S. firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 198-223.
    29. Vasia Panousi & Dimitris Papanikolaou, 2012. "Investment, Idiosyncratic Risk, and Ownership," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(3), pages 1113-1148, June.
    30. Kuang, Chun & Liu, Zijie & Zhu, Wenyu, 2021. "Need for speed: High-speed rail and firm performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    31. Huang, Xiaoran & Kang, Jun-Koo, 2017. "Geographic concentration of institutions, corporate governance, and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 191-218.
    32. Harrison Hong & Jeffrey D. Kubik & Jeremy C. Stein, 2005. "Thy Neighbor's Portfolio: Word‐of‐Mouth Effects in the Holdings and Trades of Money Managers," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2801-2824, December.
    33. Ayers, Benjamin C. & Ramalingegowda, Santhosh & Eric Yeung, P., 2011. "Hometown advantage: The effects of monitoring institution location on financial reporting discretion," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 41-61, June.
    34. Dong, Dayong & Jiang, Danling & Peng, Yuelin & Shen, Longmin & Zhu, Hongquan, 2025. "Intercity mentioning: Stock posts, city network, and firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    35. O'Brien, Patricia C. & Tan, Hongping, 2015. "Geographic proximity and analyst coverage decisions: Evidence from IPOs," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 41-59.
    36. Shiu-Yik Au & Ming Dong & Xinyao Zhou, 2024. "Does Social Interaction Spread Fear Among Institutional Investors? Evidence from Coronavirus Disease 2019," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(4), pages 2406-2426, April.
    37. David Laniado & Yana Volkovich & Salvatore Scellato & Cecilia Mascolo & Andreas Kaltenbrunner, 2018. "The Impact of Geographic Distance on Online Social Interactions," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 20(6), pages 1203-1218, December.
    38. 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.
    39. Kevan Jensen & Jin-Mo Kim & Han Yi, 2015. "The geography of US auditors: information quality and monitoring costs by local versus non-local auditors," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 513-549, April.
    40. Christopher J. Malloy, 2005. "The Geography of Equity Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(2), pages 719-755, April.
    41. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2016. "Dissecting Anomalies with a Five-Factor Model," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 69-103.
    42. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    43. Chen, Jason V., 2023. "The wisdom of crowds and the market's response to earnings news: Evidence using the geographic dispersion of investors," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2).
    44. Li, Wanli & Lai, Yin & Zhong, Yufen, 2024. "The closer the better: Supplier geographic proximity and corporate information disclosure violation," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(PA).
    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. Haiyan Zhong & Bilu Cheng, 2024. "Institutional investors' geographic concentration and environmental, social, and governance performance: An inverted U‐shaped relationship," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(6), pages 6197-6216, November.
    2. Tianjiao Zhao & Xiang Xiao & Qinghui Dai, 2021. "Transportation Infrastructure Construction and High-Quality Development of Enterprises: Evidence from the Quasi-Natural Experiment of High-Speed Railway Opening in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-23, December.
    3. Li, Wanli & Lai, Yin & Zhong, Yufen, 2024. "The closer the better: Supplier geographic proximity and corporate information disclosure violation," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(PA).
    4. Cao, Jerry & Wang, Hanyang & Zhou, Sili, 2022. "Soft activism and corporate dividend policy: Evidence from institutional investors site visits," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. Ouyang, Caiyue & Xiong, Jiacai & Liu, Li & Yao, Jun, 2024. "Geographic proximity and trade credit: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Su, Kun & Yang, Ruohan & Cui, Qian & Wang, Tianfu, 2024. "The geographic distance of independent directors and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. Hao, Han & Liu, Chun & Pang, Shunzhi, 2025. "Geographical proximity, cultural familiarity and financial information production," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    8. Zhu, Hanbin & Ge, Yiyun, 2025. "Fund social network and MD&A disclosure quality," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    9. Huang, Xiaoran & Kang, Jun-Koo, 2017. "Geographic concentration of institutions, corporate governance, and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 191-218.
    10. Gao, Zhan & Quan, Xiaofeng & Xu, Xingmei, 2022. "Under watchful eyes: Analyst site visits and firm earnings management," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    11. Chen, Kejing & Guo, Wenqi & Jiang, Lin & Xiong, Xiong & Yang, Mo, 2022. "Does time-space compression affect analyst forecast performance?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    12. Derouiche, Imen & Jaafar, Kaouther & Zemzem, Ahmed, 2016. "Firm geographic location and voluntary disclosure," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 37, pages 29-47.
    13. Li, Zihui & Ma, Lijun & Zhang, Min, 2025. "Does a sudden breakdown in public information search impair analyst forecast accuracy? Evidence from China," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    14. Lei Zheng & Xuemeng Guo & Libin Zhao, 2021. "How Does Transportation Infrastructure Improve Corporate Social Responsibility? Evidence from High-Speed Railway Openings in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, June.
    15. Qin, Lu & Autore, Don M. & Jiang, Danling & Zhu, Hongquan, 2025. "Faster than flying: High-speed rail, investors, and firms," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    16. Ge, Yiyun & Zhu, Hanbin, 2025. "Fund social network and abnormal positive tone in MD&A disclosures," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    17. repec:osf:socarx:84tfm_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Kaijuan Gao & Chenglong Wang & Qi Su & Hanxiao Shen, 2020. "Do analysts follow firms with able managers?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(8), pages 1602-1612, December.
    19. Zhou, Hang & Ding, Rong & Li, Yifan & Sun, Yuxin, 2025. "Disclosure of investor relationship activities and stock crash risk: Evidence from private in-house meetings," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(4).
    20. Yu-En Lin & Jia-Qi Yu & Hsiang-Hsuan Chih & Kung-Cheng Ho, 2022. "Near is more: learning efficiency in research and development innovation among interlocking firms," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-30, December.
    21. Wu, Kai & Zhang, Yue & Li, Donghui, 2026. "Onsite oversight: Institutional site visits and stock return volatility," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access

    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:riibaf:v:82:y:2026:i:c:s0275531925004829. 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/ribaf .

    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.