The Effects Of Ownership Structure And Listed Status On Bank Risk In China

This paper investigates the relationship of ownership structure, listed status and risk by using regression analysis based on the relevant data of China’s commercial banks. Three main results emerge. First, compared to the state-owned banks, foreign-owned commercial banks exhibit better asset quality, lower credit risk and higher capital adequacy ratio; city commercial banks have lower credit risk and joint-stock commercial banks have lower credit risk and capital adequacy ratio. Second, listed status improves the asset quality and capital adequacy ratio. Finally, we also find that the listed status significantly moderates the relationship between ownership structure and risk. In conclusion, this study provides a theoretical reference for the reform of China’s commercial banks

Attitudes Of Chinese Listed Enterprises Toward Cash Flow Manipulation: A Resource Dependence Perspective

The prevalence of cash flow manipulation has drawn much scholarly attention in China and worldwide, especially since the exposure of the accounting scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and Qwest. Cash flow status also provides a sound basis for corporate valuation. Using a sample of 12,251 firm-year observations from 1999 to 2009, this study thus investigates the attitudes and behavioral patterns of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-SOEs in China toward cash flow manipulation. From a point of departure of resource-dependence theory, we find that non-SOEs tend to manipulate cash flow upward, whereas SOEs are more prone to manipulate cash flow downward. We also demonstrate that non-SOEs are more inclined to manipulate their cash flow statements compared with SOEs. The reason behind this differing behavior could be that non-SOEs are reliant on cash and funds from entities, such as governments and banks, and thus, they falsely enhance cash flow and firm performance in order to signal their solvency and thereby reduce financing costs. By contrast, since SOEs always receive sufficient cash inflows from both government sources and state-owned banks, the managers of these firms are unconcerned about cash flow shortages, which lessens their motivation to manipulate the figures. Indeed, this study finds that these managers may even reduce reported cash flow intentionally in order to obtain government assistance. Therefore, investors and regulators should make their judgments on the cash flow of entities based on their status as SOEs or non-SOEs

Firm Performance And Emerging Economies

The study explores the relationship between firm performance, macro-economic variables, and firm size. The analysis was conducted over a period of 12 years, for seven non-financial sectors of Pakistan economy, considering an emerging economy. The analysis was conducted stepwise. First estimation of models considering all co-efficient constant across time and individuals (Sector) was conducted. Secondly, to know the significant difference among the sectors with respect to firm size, return on assets, and earnings per share, we applied LSDV model and kept sectors constant. Lastly, we analyzed the time influence. The results of the study indicate that the size and performance of firms both depend upon financial ratios and macroeconomic variables included in the study. There is significant difference in terms of size and performance between all sectors. There is significant difference in terms of size and performance when measured between 2008 to 2010 and before

Free Cash Flow, Growth Opportunities, And Dividends: Does Cross-Listing Of Shares Matter?

Corporate dividend policy should strike a balance between paying cash to shareholders when there are excess resources and retaining sufficient resources in the company to fund worthwhile projects. Using excess resources to pay dividends can help to avoid overinvestment by the company in inappropriate projects and/or other potential misuse of funds by managers for their own benefit. However, companies also need to avoid paying too much in dividends to ensure that adequate resources are available within the company to fund projects that could increase shareholder wealth (i.e., to avoid underinvestment). Cross-listing of company shares can improve governance and oversight, which may make the dividend policies of cross-listed companies more likely to avoid both over and underinvestment. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies from 2003 to 2011, we find that cross-listed companies pay higher dividends than non-cross-listed companies when there are excess resources (measured by free cash flow), thereby reducing the potential for overinvestment/misuse of the resources by cross-listed companies. We also find that the dividends of cross-listed companies are lower than those of non-cross-listed companies when there are greater growth opportunities (measure by the market-to-book ratio), reflecting the reduced potential for underinvestment by cross-listed companies. We find more limited evidence that cross-listings may influence the relationship between dividend volatility and free cash flow and growth opportunities. Overall, our results suggest that companies cross-listing their shares have dividend policies that are more responsive than those of non-cross-listed companies to potential shareholder concerns about over and underinvestment

Corporate Philanthropic Giving: Active Responsibility Or Passive Ingratiation? Evidence From Chinese Family-Controlled Listed Companies

This paper examines the impact of political connection on family-controlled listed firms’ philanthropic giving activities toward the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in China, and stock price reactions to such activities. Using the 542 Chinese listed companies controlled by private owners as the sample, it was found that firms with political connection are more likely to donate. Besides, focusing on the 244 donating firms, it was found that there is a positive impact of the donation amount on stock price response. What’s more, the positive stock price reactions toward the donation announcement made by firms with political connection are not as strong as that of firms without such connection.  Regression results indicate that although family-controlled firms with political connection are more likely to donate, their activities can not generate as much positive stock price effect as their no-political connection counterparts. These results reveal that both political interferences and market mechanisms have critical impact on corporate philanthropic behavior in China

Does Growing Economy And Better Governance Impede Banking Efficiency? A DEA Analysis

The paper estimates the efficiencies of Pakistani banking sector from 1998-2009. The analysis is further extended and regressed estimated banking efficiencies by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), with macro-economic indicators and corporate governance variables of the banking sector. The purpose of this analysis is to determine the impact of overall economic conditions of a country and corporate governance practices on banking efficiencies. The results suggest that the corporate governance practices, like, board size, board independence have positive impact on overall banking sector efficiencies of Pakistan. Also, the GPD growth and interest rates have positive and negative impact on banking efficiencies respectively. The study has not found any significant difference in banking efficiencies of state-owned, private and foreign banks of Pakistan.

OR-050 The Development of a Protein Powder Product with an integrated solution for Active Population

Objective Sports nutrition is expanding from professional athletes to a broader spectrum of consumers focused on fitness and improving overall wellness. The recommendation of combining exercise and healthy diet has been highlighted by Health China 2030 and National Nutrition Planning, leading to increased embrace of active lifestyle among Chinese people. Along with the increasing involvement in sports comes with concerns on decreasing resting metabolic rate due to weight loss, impaired joint health and post-exercise immunological response. To confront the above-mentioned challenges, we aimed to develop a product with an integrated solution to support fitness goals while diminishing exercise-related concerns. Methods Literature review was conducted for core ingredient screen, followed by in vitro studies to substantiate and compare efficacy of ingredients from various resources. Muscle protein synthesis was measured in myotubes during the differentiation and fusion of C2C12 myocytes. Myotube fusion density was quantified by ImageJ, an image processing program, subsequent to myotube staining. Results Muscle mass gain enhances resting metabolic rate. It has been shown that whey protein supplementation at 20 g/d significantly increased lean muscle synthesis rate in post-exercise subjects. The efficacy of whey protein powder sourced from different resources were compared by conducting in vitro studies. A large body of evidence has shown that collagen peptide supplementation can mitigate joint pain and maintain joint health in athletic population. Yeast β-glucan was spotlighted as an immunity enhancer with antimicrobial protection and benefit in minimizing post-exercise immunosuppression.    Conclusions A protein powder containing over 20 g/serving whey protein, combining with collagen peptide and yeast β-glucan may convey beneficial effects in muscle synthesis, as well as protective effects against joint pain and post-exercise immunosuppression among active population. The combination of the above-mentioned ingredients could provide a well-round solution to confront the challenges that met by most active population