We examine the diversification patterns of almost all publicly listed non-financial companies in China during the 2001 to 2005 period. More than 70 percent of the firms in our sample are diversified. We document that patterns of diversification strongly depend on firms' political connections....

Greater instability in a country's list of top corporations is associated with faster economic growth. This faster growth is primarily due to faster growth in total factor productivity in industrialized countries, and faster capital accumulation in developing countries. These findings are...

Using a sample of 231 entrepreneurial firm successions in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, we find that firms' unsigned discretionary accruals decrease while timely loss recognition increases subsequent to successions, suggesting a shift in accounting toward a less insider-based system. We...

This study examines the role of internal capital markets and diversification during normal and turbulent times. We hypothesize that internal markets are more valuable for firms in countries with less-developed financial markets and that diversification generally reduces risk. To conduct our...

We examine the evidence on expropriation of minority shareholders by the controlling shareholder in publicly traded companies in nine East Asian countries. Higher cash-flow rights are associated with higher market valuation. In contrast, higher control rights have an insignificant or negative...

Property rules of China's partial share issue privatization have created rent-seeking incentives for politicians that may hurt the performance and corporate governance of newly listed state enterprises. The study reports that 28% of the CEOs in the sample of 617 firms are ex- or current...

We examine the pyramidal ownership structure of a large sample of newly listed Chinese companies controlled by local governments or private entrepreneurs. Both types of the owners use layers of intermediate companies to control their firms. However, their pyramiding behaviors are likely affected...

This study examines the relations between earnings informativeness, measured by the earnings-return relation, and the ownership structure of 977 companies in seven East Asian economies. Our results are consistent with two complementary explanations. First, concentrated ownership and the...

We examine the pyramidal ownership structure of a large sample of newly listed Chinese companies controlled by local governments or private entrepreneurs. Both types of the owners use layers of intermediate companies to control their firms. However, their pyramiding behaviors are likely affected...