R&D investments in emerging market firms:the role of institutional investors and board interlocks

Despite the increase in institutional investor shareholdings in emerging market firms, their impact on R&D investments has received scant attention in the literature. By integrating agency and resource dependence perspectives, we examine the role of different types of institutional investors and their interactions with board interlocks in shaping their preference for R&D investment in their portfolio firms. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 2,478 Indian firm‐year observations from 2005 to 2019, using various estimation techniques. Our results indicate that different categories of institutional investors have distinct preferences for R&D investment. Specifically, we find that ownership by both foreign institutional investors and mutual fund investors negatively impacts R&D investments in firms. While board interlocks positively moderate the impact of institutional investors such as banks and financial institutions and foreign institutional investors on R&D investments in firms, this moderation is negative in the case of mutual fund investors and R&D investments in firms. We contribute to the understanding of the determinants of R&D investments in emerging market firms, with a specific focus on institutional investor ownership and add to the nascent literature on the interaction between two forms of governance, i.e., ownership and board characteristics, in shaping this firm strategy

Ownership and corporate social responsibility in Indian firms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to look at the association between different ownership categories and corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending of selected Indian firms. Design/methodology/approach Random-effects Tobit panel regression is performed on a panel of 4,388 firm years of 1,722 unique firms over a three-year period (2014-2016). Findings Different categories of institutional investors have different preferences for CSR spending of a firm. Promoters of business-group affiliated and unaffiliated firms also behave differently towards CSR activities of their firms. Research limitations/implications Heterogeneous behavior of institutional investors is revealed through the study. Foreign institutions and domestic banks are supportive of CSR investments of a firm. Promoters of family firms and group affiliates also diligently plan CSR activities. Practical implications Managers cannot ignore the heterogeneities of institutional investors in their investment decisions. Individual investors can align their philanthropic preferences with those of different types of institutional investors or firms. Social implications Family-owned firms play a significant role in CSR activities of emerging economies, while individual promoters are not as attracted by the reputational prospects of CSR. Originality/value This paper considers the role of heterogeneities of institutional investors in influencing CSR spending of emerging-economy firms. This heterogeneity has not been previously studied in this context.</p

Do interlocks by different types of directors affect the nature of internationalization strategy of emerging market multinationals?

Research that links boards in general and interlocks in particular with internationalization activities of emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) has recently garnered significant attention. However, a focused examination of the impact of the interlocks of different types of directors on the nature of EMNE internationalization strategy is missing. To address this gap, we use an integrated agency–resource dependence perspective to distinguish board interlocks provided by inside directors from those provided by independent directors to demonstrate their impact on exploratory and exploitative internationalization. We test our hypotheses on 1996 observations of Indian firms between 2011 and 2017. Our results show that while inside director interlocks promote exploitative strategies over exploratory internationalization strategies, independent director interlocks deter exploitative internationalization. Furthermore, these preferences are contingent upon the R&D intensity of the firm

Limiting role of resource dependence: an examination of director interlocks, board meetings and family ownership

Purpose - This paper attempts to examine the activity and involvement of board of directors in internationalization activities of firms in emerging markets, by evaluating the resource provisioning roles of interlocks provided by board of directors, and the frequency of board meetings. We demonstrate that the effectiveness of board involvement is contingent upon the levels of family ownership in firms since family ownership could impact the firm’s ability to utilize the presence of different types of board members.Design/methodology/approach - We test our hypotheses on a sample of listed Indian companies, extracted from the Prowess database published by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a database of the financial performance of Indian companies. On a panel of 3133 firm years of 605 unique Indian firms with foreign investments, over a time period of 2006-2017, we apply different estimation techniques. Findings - The results demonstrate that both board meeting frequency as well as director interlocks are instrumental in supporting internationalization activities in emerging market firms. However, family ownership moderates the role of insider and independent interlocks on internationalization investments in different ways; we find that interlocks provided by independent directors support internationalization activities in family firms, whereas interlocks provided by insider directors do not. Further, the study also finds that board meetings are less effective in internationalization of family firms.Practical implications - We conclude that family firms aiming at international diversification require to develop more connected and networked independent directors to enable internationalization in firms. While independent director interlocks enhance the international investments, it is also useful to know that board meetings are ineffective in utilizing the resources in family firms. This points to the possibility that family firms should device mechanisms to integrate family meetings with board meetings so that they can utilize the within-family processes to aid in their internationalization decisions.Originality/value – We contribute to resource dependence theory by understanding its limiting role in family firms. Theoretically, we help delineate the limiting resource provision role of the insider directors vis-à-vis independent directors. We argue that the resource provision role of insider director interlocks does not effectively help in internationalization in comparison to independent director interlocks in family dominated firms. Consequently, our study shows the limiting role of resource provision and utilization by family owned firms in comparison to non-family owned firms.</div

Generous to a fault: differential impact of CSR investments on financial gains in Indian market multinationals

To date, the extant Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature has overlooked the performance consequences of different forms of CSR investments made by Emerging Market Multinational Corporations (EMNCs). Addressing this knowledge gap, and drawing on legitimacy theory, we examine the impact of external CSR investments (e.g., social and community philanthropic support activities) and internal CSR investments (e.g., working conditions, employee rights and equal employment opportunities) on financial performance of EMNCs, while also accounting for the moderating effects of internationalization location choices. We test our hypotheses on a panel consisting of 1513 unique Indian EMNCs, in the 2014–2019 time-period. On applying various estimation techniques, the findings reveal that both external and internal CSR investments are positively associated with financial performance of EMNCs, while the destination location of foreign investments and home-host geographic and institutional distance moderate these relationships. This study offers new empirical evidence on the financial implications of different types of CSR investments available to EMNCs and advances legitimacy theory by expanding its dimensional and contextual scope.</p

R&D investments in emerging market firms: the role of institutional investors and board interlocks

Despite the increase in institutional investor shareholdings in emerging market firms, their impact on R&D investments has received scant attention in the literature. By integrating agency and resource dependence perspectives, we examine the role of different types of institutional investors and their interactions with board interlocks in shaping their preference for R&D investment in their portfolio firms. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 2478 Indian firm-year observations from 2005 to 2019, using various estimation techniques. Our results indicate that different categories of institutional investors have distinct preferences for R&D investment. Specifically, we find that ownership by both foreign institutional investors and mutual fund investors negatively impacts R&D investments in firms. While board interlocks positively moderate the impact of institutional investors such as banks and financial institutions and foreign institutional investors on R&D investments in firms, this moderation is negative in the case of mutual fund investors and R&D investments in firms. We contribute to the understanding of the determinants of R&D investments in emerging market firms, with a specific focus on institutional investor ownership and add to the nascent literature on the interaction between two forms of governance, i.e., ownership and board characteristics, in shaping this firm strategy.</p

R&D investments in emerging market firms: the role of institutional investors and board interlocks

Despite the increase in institutional investor shareholdings in emerging market firms, their impact on R&D investments has received scant attention in the literature. By integrating agency and resource dependence perspectives, we examine the role of different types of institutional investors and their interactions with board interlocks in shaping their preference for R&D investment in their portfolio firms. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 2478 Indian firm-year observations from 2005 to 2019, using various estimation techniques. Our results indicate that different categories of institutional investors have distinct preferences for R&D investment. Specifically, we find that ownership by both foreign institutional investors and mutual fund investors negatively impacts R&D investments in firms. While board interlocks positively moderate the impact of institutional investors such as banks and financial institutions and foreign institutional investors on R&D investments in firms, this moderation is negative in the case of mutual fund investors and R&D investments in firms. We contribute to the understanding of the determinants of R&D investments in emerging market firms, with a specific focus on institutional investor ownership and add to the nascent literature on the interaction between two forms of governance, i.e., ownership and board characteristics, in shaping this firm strategy.</p

Internationalization of hybrid state-owned enterprises from emerging markets: Institutional investors as enablers

Owing to privatization and divestment, State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in many emerging markets are evolving in their form and function. SOEs, increasingly, are hybrid organizations, where the state is one of the owners along with other ownership groups such as institutional investors. Combining the resource-based view and institutional perspectives, we argue that the different ownership groups within the SOE can be instrumental in promoting/deterring the internationalization efforts of SOE. Empirical results from a sample of 1310 firm year observations of 116 unique firms in the 2011-2019 time-period demonstrate that state and foreign institutional ownership impact SOE internationalization negatively whereas domestic institutional ownership has a positive impact on SOE internationalization. Additionally, we examine interactions between different hybrid ownership groups and find that both foreign and domestic institutional investors can offer resource advantages to enable state owners to invest in internationalization activities. This study contributes towards a deeper understanding of ownership hybridity, internationalization challenges and resource mobilization in SOEs from emerging markets. </p

Institutional investors and international investments in emerging economy firms: A behavioral risk perspective

While the extant literature has examined the influence of controlling and non-controlling principals on the internationalization decisions of emerging market firms, heterogeneity among non-controlling principals is largely ignored. The risk characteristics of different groups of owners, shaped by their institutional environments, could contribute to the differences in their preferences for firm internationalization. In this paper, we draw insights from institutional theory and behavioral risk perspective to examine the risk propensities and risk perceptions of various non-controlling principals, such as pressure-resistant (FIIs and mutual funds) and pressuresensitive (banks, insurance companies and lending institutions) institutional investors. Empirical results from a sample of 2364 unique Indian firms during the 2005-2014 time-period show that, after controlling for firm-level resources and capabilities identified in prior literature, the ownership share of different types of institutional investors is associated with firms’ international investments differently. While pressure-sensitive institutional investors, such as banks and insurance companies, are not supportive of foreign investments by firms, pressure-resistant institutional investors, such as FIIs and mutual funds, are supportive of this strategic decision. Furthermore, our results show that the family ownership in a firm (measured in terms of family shareholding) further lowers the preference of pressure sensitive institutional investors for internationalization, whereas family ownership positively moderates the pressure resistant investors towards internationalization

Lender representatives on board of directors and internationalization in firms: An institutionalized agency perspective

From an agency perspective, the Anglo-Saxon features of corporate governance are predominantly explored by various studies in extant literature. However, it has recently been established that diverse and unique institutional configurations exist in different economies across the world and hence, the attitude of different actors within a firm as shaped by institutional logics can vary. Our study applies the institutionalized agency perspective to understand how the behaviour of different actors within firms in the Indian institutional contexts are shaped, consequently determining their roles in the strategic decisions of firms. We examine the representation of lenders in the board of directors, which is a characteristic of corporate governance system in India. Our sample for this study consists of 985 unique Indian firms and 5513 firm year observations across the 2006-2017 time-period. We find a negative association between the proportion of lenders on board of directors and internationalization of firms. In addition, we also find that family ownership positively moderates this relation, whereas foreign institutional investors and domestic banks and financial institutions moderate this relationship negatively. In this manner, we explore the impact of institutional environment on a very specific actor (lenders) and their representatives towards internationalization