Summary:
In Recent years, China's bond market has achieved rapid development.However, since China's first default case of “11 Chaori Bond” in 2014, the rigid bond repayment rule has been violated and bond default has occurred frequently.This has caused investors and regulatory authorities to worry about default risk in China's bond market because bond defaults not only harm the interests of investors but may also lead to systemic financial risk.At the corporate level, bond defaults are closely related to the financial performance, solvency, and information asymmetry of the issuers.Therefore, it is of great importance to seek innovative governance mechanisms that can help reduce information asymmetry, improve corporate performance, and strengthen financial stability to protect bondholders' wealth. An important change that has occurred in China's corporate governance mechanisms in recent years is that minority shareholders have begun to actively participate in corporate decision-making through online voting.However, the consequences of minority shareholders' participation in corporate governance to safeguard their interests are unclear.Research generally suggests that minority shareholder activism positively affects the company and shareholder interests; however, few studies examine the impacts of such activism on external stakeholders. Using online voting data from all listed companies in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange from 2008 to 2018, this paper explores spillover effects of minority shareholder activism on bondholders' wealth (who are among the most important external stakeholders of a company) and empirically examines the internal mechanism and moderating effect.The results show the following: (1) Although minority shareholders subjectively participate in corporate governance to protect their interests, their behavior can also significantly increase bondholders' wealth, and this positive spillover effect still exists after controlling for potential endogeneity; (2) Exploring its internal mechanism, it is found that minority shareholder activism does not significantly affect the quality of corporate information disclosure and that the positive spillover effects of this activism on the wealth of bondholders is mainly achieved through improving the company's performance and enhancing its financial stability; (3) Positive spillover effects are stronger when the internal governance environment of the company is poor, investors have learning effects, or external information channels work effectively. The innovations and contributions of this paper are as follows.First, unlike previous studies focusing on the impact of minority shareholder activism on the company and shareholder interests, this paper examines the impact of such activism on bondholders' wealth, which may help regulatory authorities develop new ways to safeguard the interests of bondholders and promote the healthy development of the bond market.Second, based on corporate performance, financial stability, and information disclosure quality, this paper investigates the internal mechanism of the positive spillover effects of minority shareholders on bondholders' wealth, thus enriching research on the governance effect of minority shareholder activism.Third, by examining the potential factors affecting minority shareholder activism, this paper provides a means for minority shareholders to better participate in corporate governance through online voting. Based on the above conclusions, we put forward the following policy suggestions: First, Regulatory authorities should strengthen the education and guidance of minority shareholders and effectively use the positive spillover effects of minority shareholder activism.Second,regulatory authorities should establish a better institutional environment to ensure the active participation of minority shareholders in corporate governance, and companies should provide convenient conditions to help minority shareholders make suggestions.In the practice,regulatory authorities should continue to promote the construction and effective use of online voting platforms and improve the relevant voting and trading rules; companies should adjust the traditional positioning of minority shareholders, optimize the corporate governance structure, improve the enthusiasm of minority shareholders to participate in corporate governance, and strengthen the education of minority shareholders so that they can participate in the company's decision-making more effectively and in more aspects.
[1]窦超和罗劲博,2020,《中小股东利用社交媒体“发声”能否改善高管薪酬契约》,《财贸经济》第12期,第85~100页。 [2]胡茜茜、朱永祥和杜勇,2018,《网络环境下中小股东的治理效应研究——基于代理成本视角》,《财经研究》第5期,第109~120页。 [3]孔东民和刘莎莎,2017,《中小股东投票权、公司决策与公司治理——来自一项自然试验的证据》,《管理世界》第9期,第101-115+188页。 [4]孔东民、刘莎莎、黎文靖和邢精平,2013,《冷漠是理性的吗?中小股东参与、公司治理与投资者保护》,《经济学(季刊)》第1期,第1~28页。 [5]黎文靖和孔东民,2013,《信息透明度、公司治理与中小股东参与》,《会计研究》第1期,第42~49页。 [6]黎文靖、孔东民、刘莎莎和邢精平,2012,《中小股东仅能“搭便车”么?——来自深交所社会公众股东网络投票的经验证据》,《金融研究》第3期,第152~165页。 [7]李姝、翟士运和古朴,2018,《非控股股东参与决策的积极性与企业技术创新》,《中国工业经济》第7期,第155~173页。 [8]王丹、孙鲲鹏和高皓,2020,《社交媒体上“用嘴投票”对管理层自愿性业绩预告的影响》,《金融研究》第11期,第188~206页。 [9]王永钦、刘紫寒、李嫦和杜巨澜,2015,《识别中国非金融企业的影子银行活动——来自合并资产负债表的证据》,《管理世界》第12期,第24~40页。 [10]吴磊磊、陈伟忠和刘敏慧,2011,《公司章程和小股东保护——来自累积投票条款的实证检验》,《金融研究》第2期,第160~171页。 [11]曾爱民、傅元略和魏志华,2011,《金融危机冲击、财务柔性储备和企业融资行为——来自中国上市公司的经验证据》,《金融研究》第10期,第155~169页。 [12]张博、韩亚东和李广众,2021,《高管团队内部治理与企业资本结构调整——基于非CEO高管独立性的视角》,《金融研究》第2期,第153~170页。 [13]郑国坚、蔡贵龙和卢昕,2016,《“深康佳”中小股东维权:“庶民的胜利”抑或“百日维新”?——一个中小股东参与治理的分析框架》,《管理世界》第12期,第145-158+188页。 [14]周宏、林晚发、李国平和王海妹,2012,《信息不对称与企业债券信用风险估价——基于2008—2011年中国企业债券数据》,《会计研究》第12期,第36~42页。 [15]周开国、应千伟和钟畅,2016,《媒体监督能够起到外部治理的作用吗?——来自中国上市公司违规的证据》,《金融研究》第6期,第193~206页。 [16]周美华、林斌和林东杰,2016,《管理层权力、内部控制与腐败治理》,《会计研究》第3期,第56~63页。 [17]Appel, I., Gormley, T., and Keim, D.2019.“Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: The Effect of Passive Investors on Activism”, The Review of Financial Studies, 32: 2720~2774. [18]Bainbridge, S.2005.“Director Primacy and Shareholder Disempowerment”, Harvard Law Review, 119. [19]Claessens, S., Djankov, S., and Lang, L.H.P.2000.“The Separation of Ownership and Control in East Asian Corporations”, Journal of Financial Economics, 58(1): 81~112. [20]Dhillon, U., and Johnson, H.1994.“The Effect of Dividend Changes on Stock and Bond Prices”, Journal of Finance, 49: 281~89. [21]Jensen, M.C., and Meckling, W.H.1976.“Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure”, Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4): 305~360. [22]Jory, S., Ngo, T., and Susnjara, J.2017.“The Effect of Shareholder Activism on Bondholders and Stockholders”, The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 66: 328~344. [23]Kaviani, M., Kryzanowski, L., Maleki, H., and Savor, P.2020.“Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Credit Spreads”, Journal of Financial Economics, 138. [24]Lyandres, E., and Zhdanov, A.2003.“Underinvestment or Overinvestment? The Effect of Debt Maturity on Investment”, Working Paper. [25]Morgan, A., Poulsen, A., Wolf, J., and Yang, T.2011.“Mutual Funds as Monitors: Evidence from Mutual Fund Voting”, Journal of Corporate Finance, 17(4): 914~928. [26]Park, N., and Lee, K.M.2007.“Effects of Online News Forum on Corporate Reputation”, Public Relations Review, 33(3): 346~348. [27]Sunder, J., Sunder, S.V., and Wongsunwai, W.2014.“Debtholder Responses to Shareholder Activism: Evidence from Hedge Fund Interventions”, Review of Financial Studies, 27(11): 3318~3342.