In this paper, we present evidence that firms with concentrated ownership manage earnings when their large shareholders have an incentive to do so.The large shareholders of Chinese public firms often pledge their shares for loans. Before the split share reform in 2006, loan terms were based on the book value of the firm. Since then, the share price has become critical for share pledged loans. We postulate that the reform triggered large shareholders' incentive to influence financial reports. Using a sample of non-state-owned enterprises, we test the effect of share pledges on earnings smoothing and how this effect changes after the reform. Our results suggest that share pledging firms smooth their earnings more than other firms, but these results are only found after the split share reform. Accordingly, our results provide more direct evidence on the effect of ownership concentration on financial reporting.
Stiglitz and Weiss(1981)研究表明,贷款成本的高低与企业自身风险存在重要联系。不同行业发展阶段,企业风险存在较大差异,债务资本成本也会存在较大差异。结合不同的制度环境分析行业发展对债务资本成本的异质效应,研究发现:相比于非成长性(非成熟性)行业,成长性(成熟性)行业的利息率更高(低),债务资本成本更大(小);衰退期行业的利息率偏高。在市场化程度越高的地区,行业特征越明显;在市场化程度低的地区,政府干预可能成为行业特征发挥效用的替代机制。越是国有企业,贷款利率越低;在市场化程度越低的地区,产权性质特征越明显。进一步分析发现:越是中央控股的上市公司,贷款利息越低,中央控股上市公司比地方控股上市公司能够获得更多的贷款优惠;行业效应在地方控股上市公司中的市场化程度较高组中更显著;股权分置改革前后和货币政策紧缩与否背景下,行业发展对债务资本成本存在异质效应。研究有助于从行业视角理解Stiglitz and Weiss(1981)提出的信贷风险假说、债务资本成本中的行业效应以及我国制度环境下行业发展在企业债务融资决策中的重要性。
