Three Essays on the Role of Political Connections in Corporate Finance

Three Essays on the Role of Political Connections in Corporate Finance
Author: Aoran Zhang
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2019
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ISBN:
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This dissertation investigates the influence of political connections on corporate financing activities in China. The thesis consists of three chapters. In the first essay, we explore whether and how political connections affect the likelihood of completing a cross-border M&A deal for Chinese publicly listed, but privately-owned enterprises (POEs) and the resulting firm performance. In line with the proposed political connection trade-off theory, we demonstrate that POEs with politically connected top managers are more likely to complete a cross-border M&A deal than POEs with no such connections, but that this comes at the cost of negative announcement returns and subsequent lower accounting performance. These findings support the idea that politically connected top managers engage in empire building behavior at the cost of shareholders' wealth. In the second essay, we examine how political connections influence the likelihood of corporate bond issuance for POEs in China. Using a sample of Chinese POEs from 2007 to 2016, the research shows that politically-connected POEs are more likely to issue corporate bonds as a debt-financing instrument than their non-connected counterparts, and that they achieve lower coupon rates (i.e., lower refinancing costs). On the other hand, this research indicates that corporate bond-issuing POEs in China have weaker corporate governance and a surprisingly higher default probability. Overall, the results show that the corporate bond market in China is strongly distorted by political factors. In the third essay, we study how implicit government guarantees affect the yield spreads of Chinese corporate bonds. We presume that quasi-municipal corporate bonds (so called "Chengtou" bonds), issued by local government financing vehicles (LGFVs), carry an implicit government guarantee. Using a sample of publicly traded corporate bonds between 2010 and 2017, we find that bond investors are significantly less sensitive to bond-specific risks for corporate bonds with an implicit government guarantee: the yield spreads of Chengtou bonds are significantly lower than those of corporate bonds issued by POEs in China. We also find that corporate bonds from Northeast China are riskier than those issued by firms elsewhere in the country. Furthermore, we discover that policy changes introduced by the central government, which were intended to regulate local debt financing activities, significantly reduced the gap in yield spreads between Chengtou bonds and bonds issued by POEs. Overall, the empirical results suggest that implicit government guarantees play a crucial role in corporate debt market and that China's recent policy changes reduce the effectiveness of implicit government guarantees, making corporate bond market more market-oriented.

Corporate Political Connections in Russia and Their Implications for Firm-level Operational, Financial, and Investment Activities

Corporate Political Connections in Russia and Their Implications for Firm-level Operational, Financial, and Investment Activities
Author: Dmitry Golubkov
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre:
ISBN:
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This dissertation consists of three chapters representing three self-contained essays on the effects of corporate political connections on firm operational, financial, and investment activities. The research is based on a sample of Russian non-state-owned companies operating within the period of 2000-2013. Chapter 1 investigates the effect of corporate political connections on firm performance and profitability. I find that political connections to the executive branch of the central (federal) government positively affect connected firm's return on sales, return on assets, return on equity and market-to-book ratio. These improvements are conditioned by better operating performance of the connected firm. At the same time financial and taxation costs are not seriously affected by political connections. Contrary to the effect of federal ties, connections to regional authorities bring more costs than benefits to the connected firms with both operating performance and overall performance indicators showing decline in presence of regional political ties. The latter effect can be explained by greater costs which regionally connected firms have to bear in order to contribute to the economic development of regions and provinces to which they are connected. Overall, Chapter 1 provides direct evidence on the effects of corporate political connections on firm profitability, performance, and their basic determinants, also showing that different types of connections differently affect performance. Chapter 2 examines the effect of corporate political and bank connections on firm-level cost of debt. I find that corporate connections to banks decrease cost of debt of a firm. However this effect works only if a firm has connections to a state-owned bank, not a private bank, and connections to a state-owned bank are to be maintained through a significant shareholder of the firm, not CEO, or board member. I also find that corporate connections to the executive branch of the central (federal) government decrease cost of debt. The latter effect works only if political connections are strong and cohesive enough, i.e. they were formed under circumstances that required high level of mutual trust and reliability between parties. Overall, the second chapter provides evidence that political and bank connections do really affect cost of debt and reveals important conditions under which connections can have an impact on this variable. Chapter 3 investigates the effect of corporate political connections on firm-level acquisitions activity. I find that political connections to central (federal) government positively affect firm's propensity to purchase stakes in other firms. This effect works well in the domestic market, but not in the foreign markets. It does also work well with regard to acquisitions of stakes in the open market, but, ironically, not in the process of privatization. At the same time I find that political connections to regional governments are negatively associated with the probability of purchasing a stake by the acquirer. The latter effect may have an explanation that in a “small world” of regional political and business elites it is risky for participants to violate the regional equilibrium of wealth and power, thus firms demonstrate acquisitions activity levels lower than that of the reference group of unconnected firms. Overall, the third chapter provides evidence on the effects of corporate political connections on bidder's acquisitions activity, showing, however, that different types of connections may differently impact bidder's propensity to acquire stakes in other firms.

Two Essays on Politics and Finance

Two Essays on Politics and Finance
Author: Incheol Kim
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2013
Genre:
ISBN:
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I examined how politics affects corporate policies and value in two dissertation essays. In my first essay, we investigate whether diversity in points of view within corporate boards, as captured by the diversity in political ideology of board members, can affect a firm's performance. We employ personal political contributions' data to measure political ideology distance among groups of inside, outside directors and the CEO. Our empirical evidence strongly supports the notion that outside directors' monitoring effectiveness is more likely to be enhanced when their viewpoints are distinct from those of management. We find that ideologically diverse boards are associated with better firm performance, lower agency costs and less insiders' discretionary power over the firm's Political Action Committee (PAC) spending. Taken together, our results lead us to conclude that multiplicity of standpoints in corporate boardrooms is imperative for board effectiveness. In my second essay, we document that firms surrounded by high degrees of policy risk generated by local politicians' legislative activities present significantly high stock returns, indicating investors' perception of policy risk. We find that the diverse political strategies firms implement 1) successfully mitigate such policy risk, 2) help firms to acquire more lucrative procurement contracts, and 3) even get firms in trouble with legal issues. Additional results reveal that poor stock performance related to litigation is significantly recovered by political connections. Overall, our results reflect that investors view corporate political activities as effective hedging strategies against policy risk. Collectively, politics plays a critical role in determining corporate policies and/or value.

The Theory of Money and Financial Institutions

The Theory of Money and Financial Institutions
Author: Martin Shubik
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 472
Release: 1999
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780262693110
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This first volume in a three-volume exposition of Shubik's vision of "mathematical institutional economics" explores a one-period approach to economic exchange with money, debt, and bankruptcy. This is the first volume in a three-volume exposition of Martin Shubik's vision of "mathematical institutional economics"--a term he coined in 1959 to describe the theoretical underpinnings needed for the construction of an economic dynamics. The goal is to develop a process-oriented theory of money and financial institutions that reconciles micro- and macroeconomics, using as a prime tool the theory of games in strategic and extensive form. The approach involves a search for minimal financial institutions that appear as a logical, technological, and institutional necessity, as part of the "rules of the game." Money and financial institutions are assumed to be the basic elements of the network that transmits the sociopolitical imperatives to the economy. Volume 1 deals with a one-period approach to economic exchange with money, debt, and bankruptcy. Volume 2 explores the new economic features that arise when we consider multi-period finite and infinite horizon economies. Volume 3 will consider the specific role of financial institutions and government, and formulate the economic financial control problem linking micro- and macroeconomics.

Political Connections and Economic Outcomes

Political Connections and Economic Outcomes
Author: Pau Castells
Publisher:
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN: 9788449032660
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Aquesta tesi esta composada per tres assaigs. Cadascún dels assaigs presenta investigació empírica original i independent analitzant els impactes de les connexions politiques sobre l'economia. Els articles fan una contribució significativa a aquesta literatura empírica, al mateix temps que subratllen les limitacions i desafiaments amb els que actualment s'enfronten els investigadors d'aquest camp. La recerca que aquí es presenta aplica desenvolupaments als metodes de recerca empirica que milloren la fiabilitat dels resultats. En el segon capitol s'estima l'impacte d'un aconteixement sorpresa a nivell polític sobre els retorns financers del mercat espanyol. Això inclou els impactes específics en determinats sectors i empreses que estan connectades políticament. En els últims dies de la campanya electoral per les eleccions generals espanyoles de l'any 2004, atacs terroristes van causar la mort de 191 persones que viatjaven en tren a la capital del país, Madrid. Quatre dies mes tard, el partit a l'oposició va guanyar les eleccions generals, en contra de totes les prediccions i enquestes que s'havien fet anteriorment a l'acció terrorista. Aquest canvi d'expectatives presenta una oportunitat única per aplicar tècniques d'event study per contrastar hipòtesis de política econòmica. L'anàlisi mostra que les hipòtesis de captura de polítics per empreses, junt amb problemes d'agència en empreses privatitzades i amb dispersió accionarial, no són rebutjades per les dades. En el tercer capítol, intento superar algunes de les limitacions de la recerca empírica en aquest camp, i exploro l'impacte de les connexions polítiques a les empreses en el rendiment empresarial. Ho faig fent servint les dos principals tècniques empíriques que es fan servir més comunment a la literatura economica: anàlisi centrat en establir les reaccions dels mercats financers a esdeveniments d'índole política; i anàlisi economètric de l'impacte de les connexions polítiques en el rendiment contable de les empreses. Els resultats de l'anàlisi indiquen que en els primers anys dels segle XXI, les connexions polítiques podrien haver tingut un impact negatiu sobre el rendiment de les empreses espanyoles. Tot i que els resultats basats en les reaccions dels mercats financers no són concloents, l'anàlisi economètric sobre mesures contables mostra una relació negativa i estadísticament significativa entre connexions polítiques i beneficis empresarials. Els resultats son consistents quan s'utilitzen diferents variables per mesurar el nivell de connexions polítiques, i també sota diverses especificacions economètriques que incloen regressions amb mètodes de variables instrumentals. Finalment, el capítol 4 considera l'influencia del sector privat en les decisions preses des de l'administració pública. Això contrasta amb l'anàlisi presentat en els dos capítols anteriors i a la majoria de recerca empírica en aquest camp, on el que es considera es generalment l'impacte de les connexions polítiques sobre els resultats econòmics empresarials. L'anàlisi està basat en dades del Regne Unit sobre la concessió de subsidis a empreses per dur a terme recerca i desenvolupament. L'agència responsable de la concessió de subsidis al Regne Unit, la Technology Strategy Board, s'encarrega en primer lloc d'identificar àrees de prioritat tecnològica. Un cop aquestes arees són aprovades i dotades de recursos pel Govern, l'agència s'encarrega de convocar concursos i seleccionar les propostes guanyadores. Els resultats de l'anàlisi suggereixen que el programa de subsidis, tot i ser efectiu en corretgir alguns errors de mercat, està esbiaixat en la distribució dels subsidis cap a aquelles empreses que estan directament connectades amb l'agència.

Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions

Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions
Author: Sydney Finkelstein
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2022-09-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1800717237
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Advances in Mergers and Acquisitions stands out from the competition due to its focus on three key characteristics: studies from scholars in different countries, with different research questions, relying on different theoretical perspective.

Essays in Financial Economics

Essays in Financial Economics
Author: Felipe Severino Díaz
Publisher:
Total Pages: 133
Release: 2013
Genre:
ISBN:
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In Chapter 1, we seek to understand the relation between liquidity and market imperfections from two dimensions: 1) Across liquidity measures, we compare the influence of imperfections on two commonly used measures, Kyle's lambda and price reversal; 2) Across imperfections, we study the interaction between two sources of market imperfection, information asymmetry and participation cost. We show that the two liquidity measures may be affected in opposite directions by the same imperfection, or may not capture liquidity changes at all; imperfection interactions can cause the market to appear "less illiquid" than single-imperfection benchmarks. Our model also suggests that imperfections and liquidity shocks may influence expected returns in opposite directions, which complicates the liquidity-asset price cross-sectional relation. In Chapter 2, joint with Andrew Lo, we perform an empirical comparison of systemic risk measures. In a recent survey paper, Bisias et al. (2012) provide a summary of 31 proposed measures for systemic risk in the financial system. In this paper we examine a subset of these measures to determine their time series properties before, during, and after the Financial Crisis of 2007-2009. By comparing their empirical properties over time, we hope to identify which measures were most informative for navigating through the 1998 and the 2007-2009 crises. By constructing rolling-window estimates of these measures using only prior data, we control for the most blatant forms of look-ahead bias to assess the value of these measures as "early-warning signals". Finally, we explore the possibility of combining these measures to produce even more informative indicators of systemic risk. In Chapter 3, joint with Andrew Lo and Silvia Sgherri, we construct two global systemic In Chapter 3, joint with Andrew Lo and Silvia Sgherri, we construct two global systemic risk indicators as well as a panel of regional indicators, using monthly hedge fund data. Results show that our geographic-focus global indicator provided contemporaneous characterization of financial distress; the hedge fund style-category global indicator generated early-warnings for the 2007 quant crisis and the 2011 European debt crisis, and typically led the geographic-focus indicator by 1~2 months. In addition, we use Granger causality network to visualize the interconnectedness of regional risks and track the transmission of crisis over time.