IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i9p2645-d229415.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does the Level of Environmental Uncertainty Matter in the Effect of Returnee CEO on Innovation? Evidence from Panel Threshold Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Weili Huang

    (School of Economics and Management, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Shaanxi 710021, China)

  • Guangqi Ma

    (School of Economics and Management, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Shaanxi 710021, China)

  • Xuemeng Chen

    (School of Economics and Management, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Shaanxi 710021, China)

Abstract

This study applies a panel threshold regression model to reconcile the inconsistent findings about returnee chief executive officer (CEO) effects on enterprise innovation using the environmental uncertainty as the threshold variable and panel data from 187 publicly traded electronic firms in China for the period 2012–2016. The empirical results suggest that a significant double threshold effect does exist, showing an inverted-U correlation between returnee CEO and innovation. Specifically, a returnee CEO significantly promotes innovation at moderate levels of environmental uncertainty but significantly hinders innovation when the environmental uncertainty surpasses the larger threshold value, which contradicts much of the previous literature. This research enriches the scholarship on returnee CEOs and lays a theoretical foundation that firms can use in corporate governance. If firms pay more attention to environmental uncertainty while formulating new CEO introduction policies, substantial innovation ability can be improved at moderate levels of environmental uncertainty.

Suggested Citation

  • Weili Huang & Guangqi Ma & Xuemeng Chen, 2019. "Does the Level of Environmental Uncertainty Matter in the Effect of Returnee CEO on Innovation? Evidence from Panel Threshold Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:9:p:2645-:d:229415
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/9/2645/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/9/2645/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Feng-Wen Chen & Meng-Xian Lin & Ting Wang, 2018. "Sustainable Resource Acquisition Path: A Dynamic Model of Embedded Entrepreneurial Network Governance under Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-25, November.
    2. Chen, Jian-Xun & Sharma, Piyush & Zhan, Wu & Liu, Li, 2019. "Demystifying the impact of CEO transformational leadership on firm performance: Interactive roles of exploratory innovation and environmental uncertainty," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 85-96.
    3. Shah, Deepak, 2007. "Dwindling Viability of PACS during Period of Institutional Reforms: An Evidence from Maharashtra," MPRA Paper 3903, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Qiang Wu, 2015. "Professors in the Boardroom and Their Impact on Corporate Governance and Firm Performance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 547-581, September.
    5. Chen, Jinzhao & Quang, Thérèse, 2014. "The impact of international financial integration on economic growth: New evidence on threshold effects," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 475-489.
    6. Fu, Xialoan & Hou, Jun & Sanfilippo, Marco, 2017. "Highly skilled returnees and the internationalization of EMNEs: Firm level evidence from China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 579-591.
    7. Jun Zhang & Li Cheng, 2019. "Threshold Effect of Tourism Development on Economic Growth Following a Disaster Shock: Evidence from the Wenchuan Earthquake, P.R. China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-22, January.
    8. Wen, Jun & Yang, Di & Feng, Gen-Fu & Dong, Minyi & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2018. "Venture capital and innovation in China: The non-linear evidence," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 148-162.
    9. Haider, Zulfiquer Ali & Liu, Mingzhi & Wang, Yefeng & Zhang, Ying, 2018. "Government ownership, financial constraint, corruption, and corporate performance: International evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 76-93.
    10. Alaa Alaabed & Mansur Masih, 2016. "Finance-growth nexus: Insights from an application of threshold regression model to Malaysia's dual financial system," Borsa Istanbul Review, Research and Business Development Department, Borsa Istanbul, vol. 16(2), pages 63-71, June.
    11. Ghosh, Dipankar & Olsen, Lori, 2009. "Environmental uncertainty and managers' use of discretionary accruals," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 188-205, February.
    12. Batjargal, Bat, 2007. "Internet entrepreneurship: Social capital, human capital, and performance of Internet ventures in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 605-618, June.
    13. Qin, Fei & Wright, Mike & Gao, Jian, 2017. "Are ‘sea turtles’ slower? Returnee entrepreneurs, venture resources and speed of entrepreneurial entry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 694-706.
    14. Blundell, Richard & Joyce, Robert & Norris Keiller, Agnes & Ziliak, James P., 2018. "Income inequality and the labour market in Britain and the US," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 48-62.
    15. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    16. McHenry, Joyce E.H. & Welch, Denice E., 2018. "Entrepreneurs and internationalization: A study of Western immigrants in an emerging market," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 93-101.
    17. Orlando C. Richard & B. P. S Murthi & Kiran Ismail, 2007. "The impact of racial diversity on intermediate and long‐term performance: The moderating role of environmental context," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(12), pages 1213-1233, December.
    18. Nisha Mary Thomas & Smita Kashiramka & Surendra S. Yadav, 2017. "Dynamic linkages among developed, emerging and frontier capital markets of Asia-Pacific region," Journal of Advances in Management Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(3), pages 332-351, August.
    19. Jinzhao Chen & Thérèse Quang, 2012. "International Financial Integration and Economic Growth: New Evidence on Threshold Effects," PSE Working Papers halshs-00710139, HAL.
    20. Xiaohui Liu & Jiangyong Lu & Seong-jin Choi, 2014. "Bridging Knowledge Gaps: Returnees and Reverse Knowledge Spillovers from Chinese Local Firms to Foreign Firms," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 253-276, April.
    21. Sarah Kaplan, 2008. "Framing Contests: Strategy Making Under Uncertainty," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(5), pages 729-752, October.
    22. Yuan, Rongli & Wen, Wen, 2018. "Managerial foreign experience and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 752-770.
    23. Kieschnick, Robert & Moussawi, Rabih, 2018. "Firm age, corporate governance, and capital structure choices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 597-614.
    24. Lee, Ji-Hwan & Roberts, Michael J.D., 2015. "International returnees as outside directors: A catalyst for strategic adaptation under institutional pressure," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 594-604.
    25. Kenney, Martin & Breznitz, Dan & Murphree, Michael, 2013. "Coming back home after the sun rises: Returnee entrepreneurs and growth of high tech industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 391-407.
    26. Wiston Adrian Risso, 2009. "The informational efficiency: the emerging markets versus the developed markets," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 485-487.
    27. Bill McEvily & Jonathan Jaffee & Marco Tortoriello, 2012. "Not All Bridging Ties Are Equal: Network Imprinting and Firm Growth in the Nashville Legal Industry, 1933–1978," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(2), pages 547-563, April.
    28. Henry, Claude, 1974. "Investment Decisions Under Uncertainty: The "Irreversibility Effect."," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(6), pages 1006-1012, December.
    29. Siping Luo & Mary E. Lovely & David Popp, 2017. "Intellectual returnees as drivers of indigenous innovation: Evidence from the Chinese photovoltaic industry," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(11), pages 2424-2454, November.
    30. Harris, Richard D. F. & Tzavalis, Elias, 1999. "Inference for unit roots in dynamic panels where the time dimension is fixed," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 201-226, August.
    31. Shameen Prashantham & Mariya Eranova & Carole Couper, 2018. "Globalization, entrepreneurship and paradox thinking," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 1-9, March.
    32. Pao, Hsiao-Tien & Tsai, Chung-Ming, 2011. "Multivariate Granger causality between CO2 emissions, energy consumption, FDI (foreign direct investment) and GDP (gross domestic product): Evidence from a panel of BRIC (Brazil, Russian Federation, I," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 685-693.
    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. Weili Huang, 2021. "Threshold effect of gender composition in the top management team on firm innovation: New evidence from China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 551-563, April.
    2. Fei Hou & Fangnan Liao & Jie Liu & Hao Xiong, 2019. "Signing Auditors’ Foreign Experience and Debt Financing Costs: Evidence for Sustainability of Chinese Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-19, November.

    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. Weili Huang, 2021. "Threshold effect of gender composition in the top management team on firm innovation: New evidence from China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 551-563, April.
    2. Zhang, Chao & Guan, Jiancheng, 2021. "Returnee policies in China: Does a strategy of alleviating the financing difficulty of returnee firms promote innovation?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    3. Qin Han & Jennifer E Jennings & Runjuan Liu & P Devereaux Jennings, 2019. "Going home and helping out? Returnees as propagators of CSR in an emerging economy," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(6), pages 857-872, August.
    4. Lin, Daomi & Zheng, Wei & Lu, Jiangyong & Liu, Xiaohui & Wright, Mike, 2019. "Forgotten or not? Home country embeddedness and returnee entrepreneurship," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 1-13.
    5. Maddah, Majid & Ghaffari Nejad, Amir Hossein & Sargolzaei, Mostafa, 2022. "Natural resources, political competition, and economic growth: An empirical evidence from dynamic panel threshold kink analysis in Iranian provinces," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Slesman, Ly & Baharumshah, Ahmad Zubaidi & Ra'ees, Wahabuddin, 2015. "Institutional infrastructure and economic growth in member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 214-226.
    7. Duygu Yolcu Karadam & Nadir Ocal, 2014. "Financial Integration and Growth: A Nonlinear Panel Data Analysis," ERC Working Papers 1415, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised Nov 2014.
    8. Lin, Ya-Hui & Chen, Chung-Jen & Lin, Bou-Wen, 2018. "The dual-edged role of returnee board members in new venture performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 347-358.
    9. Fredj Jawadi & Souhir Chlibi & Abdoulkarim Idi Cheffou, 2019. "Computing stock price comovements with a three-regime panel smooth transition error correction model," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 274(1), pages 331-345, March.
    10. Xie, Zaiyang & Wang, Liang, 2022. "Returnee managers as an asset for emerging market multinational enterprises: Chinese cross-border acquisitions (2008–2017)," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 57(2).
    11. Chow, Sheung Chi & Vieito, João Paulo & Wong, Wing Keung, 2019. "Do both demand-following and supply-leading theories hold true in developing countries?," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 513(C), pages 536-554.
    12. Tzeng, Cheng-Hua, 2018. "How foreign knowledge spillovers by returnee managers occur at domestic firms: An institutional theory perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 625-641.
    13. Nagayasu, Jun, 2012. "The threshold consumption correlation-based approach to international capital mobility: Evidence from advanced and developing countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 256-263.
    14. Yuefang Si & Yi Zhang & Tangwei Teng, 2021. "R&D internationalization and innovation performance of Chinese enterprises: The mediating role of returnees and foreign professionals," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 2194-2212, December.
    15. Li, Haiyan, 2020. "Role of overseas ethnic and non-ethnic ties and firm activity in the home country in the internationalization of returnee entrepreneurial firms," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(1).
    16. Haroon ur Rashid Khan & Waqas Bin Khidmat & Muhammad Danish Habib & Sadia Awan, 2022. "Academic directors in board and corporate expropriation: Evidence from China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(2), pages 372-397, March.
    17. Rui Guo & Lutao Ning & Kaihua Chen, 2022. "How do human capital and R&D structure facilitate FDI knowledge spillovers to local firm innovation? a panel threshold approach," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 1921-1947, December.
    18. Klingler-Vidra, Robyn & Tran, Ba Linh & Chalmers, Adam William, 2021. "Transnational experience and high-performing entrepreneurs in emerging economies: Evidence from Vietnam," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    19. Eduardo Polloni-Silva & Diogo Ferraz & Flávia de Castro Camioto & Daisy Aparecida do Nascimento Rebelatto & Herick Fernando Moralles, 2021. "Environmental Kuznets Curve and the Pollution-Halo/Haven Hypotheses: An Investigation in Brazilian Municipalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-19, April.
    20. Yingjie Hao & Congcong Fan & Yunguang Long & Jieyi Pan, 2019. "The role of returnee executives in improving green innovation performance of Chinese manufacturing enterprises: Implications for sustainable development strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 804-818, July.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:9:p:2645-:d:229415. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.