IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/rqfnac/v64y2025i1d10.1007_s11156-024-01300-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Employee ownership and corporate investment efficiency in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Sami Adwan

    (University of Sussex, University of Sussex)

  • M. Mostak Ahamed

    (University of Sussex, University of Sussex)

Abstract

We investigate the effect of non-executive employee ownership (EO) on the efficiency of investment decisions for a sample of non-financial European firms over the period 2006–2017. We find a positive (negative) association between EO and investment for firms that are more likely to underinvest (overinvest). In addition, we find the impact of EO on underinvestment and overinvestment to be more pronounced for firms with lower analyst following and lower blockholding ownership. Overall, our findings suggest that employee ownership increases firm-level investment efficiency through two channels: reduced information asymmetry and improved monitoring of management. The results hold after using an alternative specification of investment efficiency, Heckman's two-stage procedure, instrumental variable regressions, and alternative proxies for information asymmetry and monitoring of management both at the firm and the country level.

Suggested Citation

  • Sami Adwan & M. Mostak Ahamed, 2025. "Employee ownership and corporate investment efficiency in Europe," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 64(1), pages 191-236, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:64:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11156-024-01300-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-024-01300-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11156-024-01300-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11156-024-01300-5?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. Rajkovic, Tijana, 2020. "Lead independent directors and investment efficiency," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Francesco Bova & Yiwei Dou & Ole†Kristian Hope, 2015. "Employee Ownership and Firm Disclosure," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(2), pages 639-673, June.
    3. Jung, Hail & Choi, Sanghak, 2021. "The effects of employee stock ownership on stock liquidity: Evidence from the Korean market," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. Chen, Ruiyuan & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Wang, He, 2017. "Do state and foreign ownership affect investment efficiency? Evidence from privatizations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 408-421.
    5. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    6. Jonathan B. Berk & Richard Stanton & Josef Zechner, 2010. "Human Capital, Bankruptcy, and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 891-926, June.
    7. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    8. Alexander Dyck & Adair Morse & Luigi Zingales, 2010. "Who Blows the Whistle on Corporate Fraud?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(6), pages 2213-2253, December.
    9. James Jiambalvo & Shivaram Rajgopal & Mohan Venkatachalam, 2002. "Institutional Ownership and the Extent to which Stock Prices Reflect Future Earnings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(1), pages 117-145, March.
    10. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    11. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    12. Ginglinger, Edith & Megginson, William & Waxin, Timothée, 2011. "Employee ownership, board representation, and corporate financial policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 868-887, September.
    13. Adwan, Sami, 2024. "Does employee ownership improve labour investment efficiency? Evidence from European firms," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    14. Geert Braam & Erik Poutsma & Roel Schouteten & Beatrice van der Heijden, 2024. "Employee financial participation and corporate social and environmental performance: Evidence from European panel data," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(2), pages 381-409, June.
    15. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    16. Ahamed, M. Mostak & Mallick, Sushanta K., 2019. "Is financial inclusion good for bank stability? International evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 403-427.
    17. Yuehua Zuo & Xin Huang & Xiaojun Liu & Yunhao Dai, 2024. "Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Stock‐price Informativeness," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 32(3), pages 162-190, May.
    18. Song, Sangcheol & Zeng, Yuping & Zhou, Bing, 2021. "Information asymmetry, cross-listing, and post-M&A performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 447-457.
    19. Chang, Xin & Fu, Kangkang & Low, Angie & Zhang, Wenrui, 2015. "Non-executive employee stock options and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 168-188.
    20. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    21. Ru Gao & Xin Yu, 2020. "How to measure capital investment efficiency: a literature synthesis," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(1), pages 299-334, March.
    22. Mohammed Alzahrani & Ramesh P. Rao, 2014. "Managerial Behavior and the Link between Stock Mispricing and Corporate Investments: Evidence from Market-to-Book Ratio Decomposition," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 49(1), pages 89-116, February.
    23. Ansgar Richter & Susanne Schrader, 2017. "Levels of Employee Share Ownership and the Performance of Listed Companies in Europe," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(2), pages 396-420, June.
    24. Holmstrom, Bengt & Milgrom, Paul, 1991. "Multitask Principal-Agent Analyses: Incentive Contracts, Asset Ownership, and Job Design," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(0), pages 24-52, Special I.
    25. E. Han Kim & Paige Ouimet, 2014. "Broad-Based Employee Stock Ownership: Motives and Outcomes," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(3), pages 1273-1319, June.
    26. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2001. "The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2-3), pages 187-243, May.
    27. Kim, Kyoung Yong & Patel, Pankaj C., 2017. "Employee ownership and firm performance: A variance decomposition analysis of European firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 248-254.
    28. Nahata, Rajarishi & Hazarika, Sonali & Tandon, Kishore, 2014. "Success in Global Venture Capital Investing: Do Institutional and Cultural Differences Matter?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 1039-1070, August.
    29. Fangjian Fu, 2010. "Overinvestment and the Operating Performance of SEO Firms," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 249-272, March.
    30. Faleye, Olubunmi & Mehrotra, Vikas & Morck, Randall, 2006. "When Labor Has a Voice in Corporate Governance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(3), pages 489-510, September.
    31. Bao, Shuji Rosey & Lewellyn, Krista B., 2017. "Ownership structure and earnings management in emerging markets—An institutionalized agency perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 828-838.
    32. Childs, Paul D. & Mauer, David C. & Ott, Steven H., 2005. "Interactions of corporate financing and investment decisions: The effects of agency conflicts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 667-690, June.
    33. Wen, Wen & Cui, Huijie & Ke, Yun, 2020. "Directors with foreign experience and corporate tax avoidance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    34. Boubakri, Narjess & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Megginson, William L., 2018. "The market value of government ownership," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 44-65.
    35. García Lara, Juan Manuel & García Osma, Beatriz & Penalva, Fernando, 2016. "Accounting conservatism and firm investment efficiency," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 221-238.
    36. Abel, Andrew B, 1983. "Optimal Investment under Uncertainty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(1), pages 228-233, March.
    37. 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.
    38. Yael V. Hochberg & Laura Lindsey, 2010. "Incentives, Targeting, and Firm Performance: An Analysis of Non-executive Stock Options," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(11), pages 4148-4186, November.
    39. García Lara, Juan Manuel & García Osma, Beatriz & Mora, Araceli & Scapin, Mariano, 2017. "The monitoring role of female directors over accounting quality," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 651-668.
    40. Fazzari, Steven M & Hubbard, R Glenn & Petersen, Bruce C, 1988. "Investment, Financing Decisions, and Tax Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(2), pages 200-205, May.
    41. Jiang, Li & Kim, Jeong-Bon & Pang, Lei, 2011. "Control-ownership wedge and investment sensitivity to stock price," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 2856-2867, November.
    42. Aldatmaz, Serdar & Ouimet, Paige & Van Wesep, Edward D, 2018. "The option to quit: The effect of employee stock options on turnover," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(1), pages 136-151.
    43. Alhaj-Ismail, Alaa & Adwan, Sami & Stittle, John, 2019. "Share-option based compensation expense, shareholder returns and financial crisis," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 20-35.
    44. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 291-309, November.
    45. Yasean A. Tahat & Ahmed H. Ahmed & David Power, 2022. "Earnings quality and investment efficiency: the role of the institutional settings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1277-1306, April.
    46. Dongmin Kong & Jia Liu & Yanan Wang & Ling Zhu, 2024. "Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Corporate Environmental Engagement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(1), pages 177-199, January.
    47. Charles J Hadlock & Miriam Schwartz-Ziv, 2019. "Blockholder Heterogeneity, Multiple Blocks, and the Dance between Blockholders," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(11), pages 4196-4227.
    48. Aivazian, Varouj A. & Ge, Ying & Qiu, Jiaping, 2005. "The impact of leverage on firm investment: Canadian evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 277-291, March.
    49. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    50. Park, Heejin & Noh, Jung-Hee & Pedersen, Melissa & Lee, Sora, 2022. "What are the determinants and managerial motivations for employee ownership in retirement pension plans?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    51. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1986. "Large Shareholders and Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 461-488, June.
    52. Gugler, Klaus & Mueller, Dennis C. & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2008. "Insider ownership, ownership concentration and investment performance: An international comparison," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 688-705, December.
    53. Call, Andrew C. & Kedia, Simi & Rajgopal, Shivaram, 2016. "Rank and file employees and the discovery of misreporting: The role of stock options," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 277-300.
    54. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7306 is not listed on IDEAS
    55. Kyoung Yong Kim & Pankaj C. Patel, 2020. "Broad‐Based Employee Ownership and Labour Productivity During the 2008 Recession: Evidence from Public Firms in Europe," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(2), pages 396-423, June.
    56. Peter Fiechter & Zoltán Novotny-Farkas, 2017. "The impact of the institutional environment on the value relevance of fair values," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 392-429, March.
    57. Ole‐Kristian Hope & Wayne B. Thomas, 2008. "Managerial Empire Building and Firm Disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 591-626, June.
    58. Chen, Jun & King, Tao-Hsien Dolly & Wen, Min-Ming, 2020. "Non-executive ownership and private loan pricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    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. Sami Adwan & Alaa Alhaj-Ismail & Ranko Jelic, 2022. "Non-executive employee ownership and financial reporting quality: evidence from Europe," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 793-823, August.
    2. Chen, Jun & King, Tao-Hsien Dolly & Wen, Min-Ming, 2020. "Non-executive ownership and private loan pricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Wu, Fang & Cao, June & Zhang, Xiaosan, 2023. "Do non-executive employees matter in curbing corporate financial fraud?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Adwan, Sami, 2024. "Does employee ownership improve labour investment efficiency? Evidence from European firms," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    5. Chowdhury, Md Raihan Uddin & Alam, Md Asif Ul & Devos, Erik & Chy, Md Kamrul Hasan, 2024. "Women in C-suite: Does Top Management Team gender diversity matter? Evidence from firm investment efficiency," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    6. Liu, Yin & Neely, Pamela & Karim, Khondkar, 2022. "The impact of CFO gender on corporate overinvestment," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    7. Chen, Tao & Xie, Lingmin & Zhang, Yuanyuan, 2017. "How does analysts' forecast quality relate to corporate investment efficiency?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 217-240.
    8. Di Xiao & Xinyu Yu, 2025. "How do credit ratings affect corporate investment efficiency?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 330-351, January.
    9. Cutillas Gomariz, Mª Fuensanta & Sánchez Ballesta, Juan Pedro, 2014. "Financial reporting quality, debt maturity and investment efficiency," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 494-506.
    10. Poursoleyman, Ehsan & Mansourfar, Gholamreza & Rezaee, Zabihollah & Homayoun, Saeid, 2024. "Corporate social responsibility and investment efficiency: The roles of national stakeholder orientation and legal origins," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 889-911.
    11. Juan Pedro Sánchez Ballesta & M. Fuensanta Cutillas Gomariz, 2012. "Financial reporting quality, debt maturity and investment efficiency," Working Papers. Serie EC 2012-07, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    12. Chen, Ruiyuan & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Wang, He, 2017. "Do state and foreign ownership affect investment efficiency? Evidence from privatizations," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 408-421.
    13. Yasean A. Tahat & Ahmed H. Ahmed & David Power, 2022. "Earnings quality and investment efficiency: the role of the institutional settings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1277-1306, April.
    14. Bilyay-Erdogan, Seda & Danisman, Gamze Ozturk & Demir, Ender, 2024. "ESG performance and investment efficiency: The impact of information asymmetry," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    15. Wang, Maochuan & Yan, Youliang, 2023. "Employee treatment and corporate investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    16. Xueman Xiang & Carl R. Chen & Yue Liu & Azhar Mughal & Qizhi Tao, 2024. "Are directors with foreign experience better monitors? Evidence from investment efficiency," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 799-840, February.
    17. Gao, Xin & Xu, Weidong & Li, Donghui & Xing, Lu, 2021. "Media coverage and investment efficiency," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 270-293.
    18. Lei Zhou & Feng Wei & Yu Kong, 2022. "Do Employee Stock Ownership Plans Affect Corporate Social Responsibility? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-19, January.
    19. He Xiao, 2023. "Institutional investors' corporate site visits and corporate investment efficiency," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 23(2), pages 359-392, June.
    20. Lijuan Xiao & Min Bai & Yafeng Qin & Lingyun Xiong & Lijuan Yang, 2021. "Financial Slack and Inefficient Investment Decisions in China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(4), pages 920-941, June.

    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:rqfnac:v:64:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11156-024-01300-5. 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://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.