IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v134y2016i4d10.1007_s10551-014-2389-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effectiveness of Public Enforcement: Evidence from the Resolution of Tunneling in China

Author

Listed:
  • Lars Helge Haß

    (Lancaster University)

  • Sofia Johan

    (York University)

  • Maximilian André Müller

    (WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management)

Abstract

This paper examines the effectiveness of public enforcement by studying the effects of regulatory intervention to curb tunneling through intercorporate loans in China. Specifically, we explore whether public enforcement efforts in 2006 (blacklisting and sanctions) resulted in less tunneling, and ultimately in increased performance for tunneling firms. We show that tunneling is among the dominant factors increasing the likelihood of becoming blacklisted. We also find that firms’ tunneling mechanisms decreased significantly after the regulatory shock, and that their performance increased significantly compared to non-tunneling firms after the regulatory shock. Finally, we find a positive market reaction to the public announcement of tunneling both for firms that have been blacklisted and other tunneling firms that are not blacklisted. Collectively, these results suggest that public enforcement in the presence of a credible threat succeeds in deterring the effect on tunneling behavior in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Helge Haß & Sofia Johan & Maximilian André Müller, 2016. "The Effectiveness of Public Enforcement: Evidence from the Resolution of Tunneling in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(4), pages 649-668, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:134:y:2016:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-014-2389-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2389-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-014-2389-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-014-2389-z?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. Edward Glaeser & Simon Johnson & Andrei Shleifer, 2001. "Coase Versus the Coasians," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(3), pages 853-899.
    2. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2006. "What Works in Securities Laws?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 1-32, February.
    3. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Guillermo Zamarripa, 2003. "Related Lending," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 118(1), pages 231-268.
    4. Biddle, Gary C. & Hilary, Gilles & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2009. "How does financial reporting quality relate to investment efficiency?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2-3), pages 112-131, December.
    5. Michael L. Lemmon & Karl V. Lins, 2003. "Ownership Structure, Corporate Governance, and Firm Value: Evidence from the East Asian Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(4), pages 1445-1468, August.
    6. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Marianne Bertrand & Paras Mehta & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2002. "Ferreting out Tunneling: An Application to Indian Business Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 121-148.
    8. Chen, Gongmeng & Firth, Michael & Gao, Daniel N. & Rui, Oliver M., 2005. "Is China's securities regulatory agency a toothless tiger? Evidence from enforcement actions," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 451-488.
    9. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 2002. "Investor Protection and Corporate Valuation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(3), pages 1147-1170, June.
    10. 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.
    11. Grossman, Sanford J. & Hart, Oliver D., 1988. "One share-one vote and the market for corporate control," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 175-202, January.
    12. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    13. Huang, Juan Juan & Shen, Yifeng & Sun, Qian, 2011. "Nonnegotiable shares, controlling shareholders, and dividend payments in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 122-133, February.
    14. Shleifer, Andrei & Wolfenzon, Daniel, 2002. "Investor protection and equity markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 3-27, October.
    15. Doidge, Craig & Karolyi, G. Andrew & Stulz, Rene M., 2004. "Why are foreign firms listed in the U.S. worth more?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 205-238, February.
    16. Jackson, Howell E. & Roe, Mark J., 2009. "Public and private enforcement of securities laws: Resource-based evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 207-238, August.
    17. Berkman, Henk & Cole, Rebel A. & Fu, Lawrence J., 2009. "Expropriation through loan guarantees to related parties: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 141-156, January.
    18. Bai, Chong-En & Liu, Qiao & Lu, Joe & Song, Frank M. & Zhang, Junxi, 2004. "Corporate governance and market valuation in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 599-616, December.
    19. Zingales, Luigi, 1994. "The Value of the Voting Right: A Study of the Milan Stock Exchange Experience," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 7(1), pages 125-148.
    20. Block, Michael Kent & Nold, Frederick Carl, 1981. "The Deterrent Effect of Antitrust Enforcement," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(3), pages 429-445, June.
    21. Berkman, Henk & Cole, Rebel A. & Fu, Lawrence J., 2010. "Political Connections and Minority-Shareholder Protection: Evidence from Securities-Market Regulation in China," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(6), pages 1391-1417, December.
    22. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    23. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1998. "Capital-Market Imperfections and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 193-225, March.
    24. Dharmapala, Dhammika & Hines Jr., James R., 2009. "Which countries become tax havens?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(9-10), pages 1058-1068, October.
    25. Feroz, Eh & Park, K & Pastena, Vs, 1991. "The Financial And Market Effects Of The Secs Accounting And Auditing Enforcement Releases," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29, pages 107-142.
    26. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2008. "The law and economics of self-dealing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 430-465, June.
    27. Cheung, Yan-Leung & Rau, P. Raghavendra & Stouraitis, Aris, 2006. "Tunneling, propping, and expropriation: evidence from connected party transactions in Hong Kong," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 343-386, November.
    28. Wenxuan Hou & Geoff Moore, 2010. "Player and Referee Roles Held Jointly: The Effect of State Ownership on China’s Regulatory Enforcement Against Fraud," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(2), pages 317-335, September.
    29. Katharina Pistor, 2005. "Governing Stock Markets in Transition Economies: Lessons from China," American Law and Economics Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 184-210.
    30. Peng, Winnie Qian & Wei, K.C. John & Yang, Zhishu, 2011. "Tunneling or propping: Evidence from connected transactions in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 306-325, April.
    31. Stijn Claessens & Simeon Djankov & Joseph P. H. Fan & Larry H. P. Lang, 2002. "Disentangling the Incentive and Entrenchment Effects of Large Shareholdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2741-2771, December.
    32. Lin, Justin Yifu & Cai, Fang & Li, Zhou, 1998. "Competition, Policy Burdens, and State-Owned Enterprise Reform," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 422-427, May.
    33. Chunxin Jia & Shujun Ding & Yuanshun Li & Zhenyu Wu, 2009. "Fraud, Enforcement Action, and the Role of Corporate Governance: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(4), pages 561-576, December.
    34. Liu, Qiao & Lu, Zhou (Joe), 2007. "Corporate governance and earnings management in the Chinese listed companies: A tunneling perspective," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 881-906, December.
    35. 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.
    36. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    37. Chen, Jiandong & Cumming, Douglas & Hou, Wenxuan & Lee, Edward, 2013. "Executive integrity, audit opinion, and fraud in Chinese listed firms," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 72-91.
    38. Atanasov, Vladimir, 2005. "How much value can blockholders tunnel? Evidence from the Bulgarian mass privatization auctions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 191-234, April.
    39. Chen, Gongmeng & Firth, Michael & Gao, Daniel N. & Rui, Oliver M., 2006. "Ownership structure, corporate governance, and fraud: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 424-448, June.
    40. Claessens, Stijn & Djankov, Simeon & Lang, Larry H. P., 2000. "The separation of ownership and control in East Asian Corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 81-112.
    41. Kee‐Hong Bae & Jun‐Koo Kang & Jin‐Mo Kim, 2002. "Tunneling or Value Added? Evidence from Mergers by Korean Business Groups," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2695-2740, December.
    42. Chen, Zhiwu, 2003. "Capital markets and legal development: The China case," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 451-472.
    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. El-Helaly, Moataz & Al-Dah, Bilal, 2022. "Related party transactions and dividend payouts," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    2. Shan, Yuan George, 2019. "Do corporate governance and disclosure tone drive voluntary disclosure of related-party transactions in China?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 30-48.
    3. Douglas Cumming & Wenxuan Hou & Edward Lee, 2016. "Business Ethics and Finance in Greater China: Synthesis and Future Directions in Sustainability, CSR, and Fraud," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(4), pages 601-626, November.
    4. Wang, Rouzhi & Wu, Chaopeng, 2020. "Politician as venture capitalist: Politically-connected VCs and IPO activity in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Viswanathan Nagarajan & Pitabas Mohanty & Apalak Khatua, 2023. "Financing effects of corporate diversification: A review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(7), pages 2555-2585, October.
    6. Andrew M. Bauer & Junxiong Fang & Jeffrey Pittman & Yinqi Zhang & Yuping Zhao, 2020. "How Aggressive Tax Planning Facilitates the Diversion of Corporate Resources: Evidence from Path Analysis†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(3), pages 1882-1913, September.
    7. Junzhe Ji & Pavlos Dimitratos & Qingan Huang & Taoyong Su, 2019. "Everyday-Life Business Deviance Among Chinese SME Owners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(4), pages 1179-1194, April.
    8. Weidong Zhang & Jenny Jing Wang & Guomin Luo & Yanqi Sun, 2021. "Tunnelling in asset‐injecting private placements: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5501-5522, December.
    9. Angelo M. Solarino & Brian K. Boyd, 2020. "Are all forms of ownership prone to tunneling? A meta‐analysis," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 488-501, November.
    10. Douglas Cumming & Wenxuan Hou & Edward Lee, 2016. "Sustainable and Ethical Entrepreneurship, Corporate Finance and Governance, and Institutional Reform in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(4), pages 505-508, April.
    11. Zhang, Linyi & Zhang, Honghui, 2021. "Can high speed railway curb tunneling? Evidence from the independent directors' monitoring effect in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    12. Helen Wei Hu & Pei Sun, 2019. "What determines the severity of tunneling in China?," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 161-184, March.
    13. Hou, Xiaohui & Wang, Tengyu & Ma, Caoyuan, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate fraud," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 97-110.
    14. Lars Helge Hass & Monika Tarsalewska & Feng Zhan, 2016. "Equity Incentives and Corporate Fraud in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(4), pages 723-742, November.
    15. Liu, Zihua & Zhou, Sili, 2022. "Political favoritism towards resource allocation: Evidence of grants by natural science foundation in China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PA).
    16. Li, Hui & Wu, Xiaohui & Ye, Ying & Zeng, Qi, 2018. "Venture capitalists' value-enhancing activities under weak protection of law," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 26-40.

    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. 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.
    2. Joseph P. H. Fan & Li Jin & Guojian Zheng, 2016. "Revisiting the Bright and Dark Sides of Capital Flows in Business Groups," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(4), pages 509-528, April.
    3. 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.
    4. Cheung, Yan-Leung & Qi, Yuehua & Raghavendra Rau, P. & Stouraitis, Aris, 2009. "Buy high, sell low: How listed firms price asset transfers in related party transactions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 914-924, May.
    5. Berkman, Henk & Cole, Rebel A. & Fu, Lawrence J., 2010. "Political Connections and Minority-Shareholder Protection: Evidence from Securities-Market Regulation in China," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(6), pages 1391-1417, December.
    6. Claessens, Stijn & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2013. "Corporate governance in emerging markets: A survey," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-33.
    7. Amon Chizema & Wei Jiang & Jing-Ming Kuo & Xiaoqi Song, 2020. "Mutual funds, tunneling and firm performance: evidence from China," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 355-387, July.
    8. Jiang, Guohua & Rao, Pingui & Yue, Heng, 2015. "Tunneling through Non-Operational Fund Occupancy: An investigation based on officially identified activities," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 295-311.
    9. Cheung, Yan-Leung & Jing, Lihua & Lu, Tong & Rau, P. Raghavendra & Stouraitis, Aris, 2009. "Tunneling and propping up: An analysis of related party transactions by Chinese listed companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 372-393, June.
    10. Kinshuk Saurabh, 2023. "Expropriation mechanisms, corporate governance, and cross-border acquisitions by Indian firms," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(4), pages 395-409, December.
    11. Xingqiang Du, 2015. "Does Confucianism Reduce Minority Shareholder Expropriation? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(4), pages 661-716, December.
    12. Liu, Chunyan & Uchida, Konari & Yang, Yufeng, 2014. "Controlling shareholder, split-share structure reform and cash dividend payments in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 339-357.
    13. Li, Wanli & Zhou, Jingting & Yan, Ziqiao & Zhang, He, 2020. "Controlling shareholder share pledging and firm cash dividends," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    14. Cai, Guilong & Xie, Sujuan & Xu, Yue & Zeng, Yamin & Zhang, Junsheng, 2019. "Ultimate parent's board reform and controlling shareholder entrenchment: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 389-403.
    15. Gu, Leilei & Ni, Xiaoran & Tian, Guangning, 2022. "Controlling shareholder expropriation and labor investment efficiency," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 261-274.
    16. Wei Huang, 2016. "Tunneling through related-party loan guarantees: evidence from a quasi-experiment in China," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 857-884, October.
    17. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2008. "The law and economics of self-dealing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 430-465, June.
    18. Saghi-Zedek, Nadia & Tarazi, Amine, 2015. "Excess control rights, financial crisis and bank profitability and risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 361-379.
    19. Sabri Boubaker & Pascal Nguyen & Wael Rouatbi, 2016. "Multiple Large Shareholders and Corporate Risk†taking: Evidence from French Family Firms," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 22(4), pages 697-745, September.
    20. Jin-hui Luo & Di-fang Wan & Di Cai, 2012. "The private benefits of control in Chinese listed firms: Do cash flow rights always reduce controlling shareholders’ tunneling?," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 499-518, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate governance; Tunneling; Enforcement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law

    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:kap:jbuset:v:134:y:2016:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-014-2389-z. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.