Full metadata
Title
Activist Investors and Firm Performance Empirical Evidence From Chinese A Share Market
Description
Shareholder Activism is a mechanism by which investors who hold a significant but
non-majority percentage of a company’s stock, exercise their voting rights, participate in
corporate governance and influence operational decisions of target companies. The
purpose is improve corporate governance, increase firm performance and boost share
-holders’ returns. Existing studies of shareholder activism, based largely in mature
capital markets like the US, come to different conclusions regarding its impact on firm
performance.
In this paper, I collect data on shareholder activism events in the China A Share
market between 2006 and 2016. The sample includes 60 companies targeted by 42
activist investors over this period. I find that institutional investors, typically industrial
capital and private funds, playing an increasingly important role in corporate governance
of Chinese listed companies through activism. The disclosure of the holdings of activists
results in large gains in the target firm. I also find subsequent improvements in long
-term operational performance of target firms. Activist investors in China focus on
smaller targets and those characterized by higher agency costs and lower operating
performance. Activists appear to be largely concerned with improvements in business
strategy and M&A activity. Non-hostile behavior is more likely to be related to successful
activism in China. In addition to statistical evidence, I present case studies of the
“BaoWan dispute” and the activist investment of Butterfly Capital in two firms,
“Guonong” and “Xiuqiang”. The case studies highlight the mechanism employed by these
firms to influence performance.
I conclude with policy recommendations and direction for further research.
non-majority percentage of a company’s stock, exercise their voting rights, participate in
corporate governance and influence operational decisions of target companies. The
purpose is improve corporate governance, increase firm performance and boost share
-holders’ returns. Existing studies of shareholder activism, based largely in mature
capital markets like the US, come to different conclusions regarding its impact on firm
performance.
In this paper, I collect data on shareholder activism events in the China A Share
market between 2006 and 2016. The sample includes 60 companies targeted by 42
activist investors over this period. I find that institutional investors, typically industrial
capital and private funds, playing an increasingly important role in corporate governance
of Chinese listed companies through activism. The disclosure of the holdings of activists
results in large gains in the target firm. I also find subsequent improvements in long
-term operational performance of target firms. Activist investors in China focus on
smaller targets and those characterized by higher agency costs and lower operating
performance. Activists appear to be largely concerned with improvements in business
strategy and M&A activity. Non-hostile behavior is more likely to be related to successful
activism in China. In addition to statistical evidence, I present case studies of the
“BaoWan dispute” and the activist investment of Butterfly Capital in two firms,
“Guonong” and “Xiuqiang”. The case studies highlight the mechanism employed by these
firms to influence performance.
I conclude with policy recommendations and direction for further research.
Date Created
2017
Contributors
- Xie, Fenghua (Author)
- Wahal, Sunil (Thesis advisor)
- Yan, Hong (Thesis advisor)
- Lee, Peggy (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
Resource Type
Extent
215 pages
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.44091
Level of coding
minimal
Note
Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2017
System Created
- 2017-06-01 01:36:16
System Modified
- 2021-08-26 09:47:01
- 3 years 2 months ago
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