IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/mgtdec/v46y2025i1p166-182.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Excess control of family board seats and corporate financing constraints

Author

Listed:
  • Yuqi Yang
  • Tianle Meng

Abstract

We examine the relationship between excess control of family board seats (ECFBS) and financing constraints (FCs) using 2008–2021 data for listed family firms in China. We find that ECFBS intensifies Type II agency problems, thereby worsens corporate FCs. We also investigate the impact of family firm founder characteristics, family owner characteristics, and external shareholder equity structure on the ECFBS and FCs. Our findings provide evidence of the encroachment effect of family control.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuqi Yang & Tianle Meng, 2025. "Excess control of family board seats and corporate financing constraints," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 46(1), pages 166-182, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:46:y:2025:i:1:p:166-182
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.4367
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.4367
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/mde.4367?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amit, Raphael & Ding, Yuan & Villalonga, Belén & Zhang, Hua, 2015. "The role of institutional development in the prevalence and performance of entrepreneur and family-controlled firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 284-305.
    2. 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.
    3. Elyasiani, Elyas & Jia, Jingyi, 2010. "Distribution of institutional ownership and corporate firm performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 606-620, March.
    4. Balsmeier, Benjamin & Fleming, Lee & Manso, Gustavo, 2017. "Independent boards and innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(3), pages 536-557.
    5. Cheng, Chen & Li, Siming & Han, Jiajun, 2022. "Origin matters: How does institution imprint affect family business TFP?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    6. Cull, Robert & Li, Wei & Sun, Bo & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2015. "Government connections and financial constraints: Evidence from a large representative sample of Chinese firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 271-294.
    7. Lin, Chen & Ma, Yue & Xuan, Yuhai, 2011. "Ownership structure and financial constraints: Evidence from a structural estimation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 416-431.
    8. Huimin Li & Harley E. Ryan, 2022. "Founding family ownership and firm performance: Evidence from the evolution of family ownership and firm policies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(7-8), pages 1391-1424, July.
    9. Menkhoff, Lukas & Neuberger, Doris & Rungruxsirivorn, Ornsiri, 2012. "Collateral and its substitutes in emerging markets’ lending," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 817-834.
    10. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Stulz, Rene M., 2006. "Dividend policy and the earned/contributed capital mix: a test of the life-cycle theory," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 227-254, August.
    11. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    12. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & Jiao, Yawen, 2012. "Dual class IPOs: A theoretical analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 305-319.
    13. Heitor V. Almeida & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2006. "A Theory of Pyramidal Ownership and Family Business Groups," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2637-2680, December.
    14. Itzkowitz, Jennifer, 2015. "Buyers as stakeholders: How relationships affect suppliers' financial constraints," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 54-66.
    15. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:3:p:1301-1327 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Ghosh, Aloke(Al) & Tang, Charles Y., 2015. "Assessing financial reporting quality of family firms: The auditors׳ perspective," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 95-116.
    17. Baldenius, Tim & Melumad, Nahum & Meng, Xiaojing, 2014. "Board composition and CEO power," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 53-68.
    18. Roychowdhury, Sugata & Shroff, Nemit & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2019. "The effects of financial reporting and disclosure on corporate investment: A review," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2).
    19. Toni M. Whited & Guojun Wu, 2006. "Financial Constraints Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 531-559.
    20. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    21. Luo, Qi & Li, Hui & Zhang, Biao, 2015. "Financing constraints and the cost of equity: Evidence on the moral hazard of the controlling shareholder," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 99-106.
    22. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli, 2006. "Small and medium-size enterprises: Access to finance as a growth constraint," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2931-2943, November.
    23. Karl V. Lins & Paolo Volpin & Hannes F. Wagner, 2013. "Does Family Control Matter? International Evidence from the 2008--2009 Financial Crisis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(10), pages 2583-2619.
    24. Zhong, Rong (Irene), 2018. "Transparency and firm innovation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 67-93.
    25. 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.
    26. Belén Villalonga & Raphael Amit, 2009. "How Are U.S. Family Firms Controlled?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(8), pages 3047-3091, August.
    27. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    28. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    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. Byun, Hae-Young & Choi, Sunhwa & Hwang, Lee-Seok & Kim, Robert G., 2013. "Business group affiliation, ownership structure, and the cost of debt," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 311-331.
    2. Shi, Yang & Li, Jiachen & Liu, Ruiming, 2023. "Financing constraints and share pledges: Evidence from the share pledge reform in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Attig, Najah & Chen, Ruiyuan & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck & Pittman, Jeffrey, 2020. "Are insiders equal? Evidence from earnings management in closely held East Asian firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    4. Dongyang Zhang, 2017. "Is working capital management value-enhancing through alleviating financial constraints? Evidence from Chinese non-listed firms," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 373-406, October.
    5. Jiang, Fuxiu & Shen, Yanyan & Xia, Xiaoxue, 2024. "The spillover effect of advertising on the capital market: Evidence from financial constraints111 Fuxiu Jiang acknowledges the financial support from the China National Natural Science Foundation (Nos," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Amess, Kevin & Banerji, Sanjay & Lampousis, Athanasios, 2015. "Corporate cash holdings: Causes and consequences," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 421-433.
    7. Sai Ding & Minjoo Kim & Xiao Zhang, 2021. "New Insight on Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivity," Working Papers 2021_16, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    8. Xue, Wenjun & Yilmazkuday, Hakan & Taylor, Jason E., 2020. "The impact of China’s fiscal and monetary policy responses to the great recession: An analysis of firm-level Chinese data," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    9. 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.
    10. Janis Berzins & Øyvind Bøhren & Bogdan Stacescu, 2018. "Shareholder Conflicts and Dividends [A theory of dividends based on tax clienteles]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(5), pages 1807-1840.
    11. Pan, Xiaofei & Tian, Gary Gang, 2016. "Family control and loan collateral: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 53-68.
    12. Kebin Deng & Zhong Ding & Yushu Zhu & Qing Zhou & Kathy Walsh, 2017. "Investment–cash flow sensitivity measures investment thirst, but not financial constraint," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(1), pages 165-197, March.
    13. Wang, Wei & Wang, Hua & Wu, Ji (George), 2021. "Mixed ownership reform and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence of Chinese listed firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    14. Lin, James Juichia & Shi, Wei-Zhong & Tsai, Li-Fang & Yu, Min-Teh, 2022. "Corporate cash and the Firm's life-cycle: Evidence from dual-class firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 27-48.
    15. Huang, Wei & Li, Jinxian & Zhang, Qiang, 2019. "Information asymmetry, legal environment, and family firm governance: Evidence from IPO underpricing in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    16. Zhang, Dongyang & Liu, Deqiang, 2017. "Determinants of the capital structure of Chinese non-listed enterprises: Is TFP efficient?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 179-202.
    17. Meng, Qingbin & Li, Xinyu & Chan, Kam C. & Gao, Shenghao, 2020. "Does short selling affect a firm's financial constraints?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    18. Eng, Li Li & Fang, Hanqing & Tian, Xi & Yu, T. Robert & Zhang, Hongxian, 2019. "Financial crisis and real earnings management in family firms: A comparison between China and the United States," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 184-201.
    19. Caixe, Daniel Ferreira & Kalatzis, Aquiles Elie Guimarães & Castro, Luiz Ricardo Kabbach de, 2019. "Controlling shareholders and investment-risk sensitivity in an emerging economy," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 133-153.
    20. Peng, Shuijun & Shu, Zhongqiao & Zhang, Wencheng, 2022. "Does service trade liberalization relieve manufacturing enterprises’ financial constraints? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).

    More about this item

    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:wly:mgtdec:v:46:y:2025:i:1:p:166-182. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/7976 .

    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.