Agency Issues and the Effects of Corporate
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AGENCY ISSUES AND THE EFFECTS OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE MECHANISMS ON AGENCY COSTS IN CHINESE LISTED COMPANIES by Yuezhao Chen A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Cardiff University Accounting and Finance Group Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University February 2010 UMI Number: U584477 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U584477 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Ca r d if f UNIVERSITY DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed (candidate) 26/02/2010 Date STATEMENT 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD (insert MCh, Md, MPhil, PhD etc, as appropriate) Signed (candidate) 26/02/2010 D ate....................................... STATEMENT 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. Signed (candidate) 26/02/2010 D ate....................................... STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed (candidate) 26/02/2010 Date II Acknowledgement I am truly grateful for my principal supervisor, Professor Jason Xiao, for his patience, thoughtfulness, and constant assistance to my PhD project. I had pulled through some difficult times. Among the disheartening moments I lost my dear grandma and I was unable to attend my parents when they experienced difficulties, both physically and emotionally. Being away from the family had been really tough for me and sometimes I lost faith in what I did. Jason guided me through the darkness and gave me all the support I can possibly obtain throughout all these years. I must again thank Jason, as well as my second supervisor Yusuf Karbhari, for their important and methodical suggestions that made my studies over the years an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. In particular, I wish to thank Jason for his influential and inspiring comments on many draffs of my work. His advice has generated many critical improvements and helped put this thesis together. I also want to thank Professor Trevor Boyns for his understanding and support to my research. Cardiff Business School has been a great place to be and the experience would definitely remain an extraordinary page on my life album. Last but not least, I would like to express my love for my mother, my father, my brother, and my fiance, who have always been there for me, together and individually. I would not have come this far without them. m Abstract Two types of agency problems tend to predominate in the modem corporations, i.e., principal-agent (owner-manager) conflicts and principal-principal (large shareholder appropriation) conflicts. This PhD project aims to identify the principal-principal agency problems, to investigate contextual factors that affect the usefulness of governance mechanisms, to explore satisfying ways to measure agency costs, and to test the effectiveness of selected corporate governance mechanisms in mitigating agency costs in Chinese listed companies. The main discussions lie in the causes and formations of Type II agency issues, and how effective governance mechanisms work to mitigate these issues. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses are used. An in-depth case study is undertaken and a sample of 6344 observations of Chinese listed companies during 2000-2005 is used in econometric models to examine the role of various governance mechanisms in alleviating agency costs. There are some significant findings. State ownership does not have constant detrimental impact on firm performance or directly contribute to agency costs. Legal person ownership is found to be most effective in reducing agency costs but has similar impact as state ownership for performance. Foreign ownership has mix results and managerial ownership is negligible. Board and external auditing both have significant impact on firm performance and agency costs in different ways, as well as various control variables. In terms of direct measurement of agency costs, other receivables seem to generate most significant results, while free cash flow does not. Return on equity/asset also has significant results as predicted. This is a comprehensive study to contribute to existing literature on Type II agency problems and empirical research in China. Findings on these aspects will help the listed companies devise effective measures for improving corporate governance practice in China and other transitional economies. An improved corporate governance system will strengthen Chinese companies’ competitiveness on global market. IV Table of Content TABLE OF CONTENT ....................................................................................................................... - 1 LIST OFTABLES AND FIGURES ................................................................................................- 4 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................- 5 1.1 Research Ba ck g ro u n d ........................................................................................................... - 5 1.2 Research O bjectives ................................................................................................................- 7 1.3 Theoretical Founda tion ..................................................................................................... -1 0 1.4 R esearch M ethodology .......................................................................................................-11 1.5 Str u ctu re .................................................................................................................................. -1 3 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................... - 15 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................-1 5 2.2 Stew ardship T h eo ry ...............................................................................................................-1 6 2.3 Stakeholder Theory ............................................................................................................. -1 8 2.4 Property Rights Th eo ry ...................................................................................................... - 20 2.5 G am e T h e o r y .............................................................................................................................- 20 2.6 A gency T h e o r y ........................................................................................................................- 2 1 2.6.1 Type I Agency Theory.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... - 22 2.6.2 Type II Agency Theory..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................- 23 2.6.3 Agency Problems ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... -2 5 2.6.4 Evidence o f Agency Issues...................................................................................................................................................................................................................-2 7 2.6.5 Agency Costs .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................- 31 2.6.6 Main Merits and Criticism ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ -34 2.7 C o n clu sio n ................................................................................................................................ - 36 CHAPTER 3 GOVERNANCE MECHANISMS.....................................................................- 38 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................-3 8 3.2 O w nership Str u c t u r e ..........................................................................................................