Search

We identify an unexplored attribute of the CEO associated with corporate investment efficiency – military experience. We hypothesize that military experienced CEOs tend to reduce agency conflicts, ...

This study investigates the effect of female chief executive officers (FCEOs) on investment efficiency. Our study suggests that CEO gender plays a significant role in efficient investment decisions by improving governance and disciplining the management. We document that FCEOs are associated with higher investment efficiency. We also find that FCEOs, when making investment decisions, pay more attention to curbing overinvestment than to underinvestment. Furthermore, we find that FCEOs play no role in improving the investment efficiency of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Our findings suggest that SOEs’ investment decisions are independent of factors that shape investment decisions at non-state-owned enterprises and are more reliant on sociopolitical factors.

Purpose This study aims to investigate how the presence of female CEOs (FCEOs) affects investment efficiency in emerging economy, where female participation in business activities is limited. Design/methodology/approach This paper investigates the impact of CEO gender on investment efficiency by using investment efficiency measures proposed by Biddle et al. (2009), Chen et al. (2011) and Chen et al. (2013). Findings The findings suggest that FCEOs are associated with high level of investment efficiency. FCEOs improve corporate governance, streamline management and reduce inefficient investment decisions. In addition, FCEOs focus more on curbing underinvestment than overinvestment when making investment decisions. Furthermore, high financial reporting quality (FRQ) strengthens the effect of FCEOs on investment efficiency. The results suggest that FCEOs do not ameliorate the investment efficiency of state-owned enterprises. Originality/value This study enhances our understanding of the effects of FCEOs on corporate investment decisions in a male-dominated society. Efficient use of resources is vital from corporate and societal perspectives. Emerging economies are characterized by the unstable political and economic environment and low participation of females in decision-making. Hence, these economies require efficient utilization of resources. This study also sheds light on the role of FCEOs in curtailing underinvestment in emerging economies. It proves that FRQ is important in emerging economies because it strengthens the governance role of FCEOs.

This study attempts to assess the influence of investor-advisor personality congruence on the trading behavior of futures investor. This research tested the hypotheses based on the unique d...

PurposeThis paper aims to examine whether and how gender diversity and CEO gender can influence firm value in the emerging market of Pakistan. The study further tests whether these relations vary across state-owned enterprises (SOE) and non-state-owned enterprises (NSOE).Design/methodology/approachThis study considers Pakistani listed firms over the period 2010-2017. The firms have been divided into SOE and NSOE for additional analysis. Tobin’s Q is used to measure firm’s value.FindingsThe authors document that female directors (FDirectors) on corporate boards is positively associated with firm value. The findings also illustrate that female CEOs (FCEOs) enhances a firm value. Additional analyses show that the influence of FDirectors and FCEOs on firm value is stronger in NSOE than in SOE.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that gender diversity and CEO gender play a significant role in corporate decisions. The findings imply that FDirectors discipline the management, reduce agency conflicts and thereby improve corporate governance, resulting in higher firm value.Originality/valueThis study has two important contributions. First, while prior studies mostly based their arguments on using gender diversity of corporate boards, this study shows that a firm performance can be significantly improved if a female serves as a CEO. Second, this study also tests the stated relations for SOE and NSOE and show that gender diversity plays a significant role in NSOE than in SOE.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate whether a powerful chief executive officer (CEO) impacts corporate risk taking in the distinctive institutional and market setting of China? Second, in case such relationship exists, the paper further aims to investigate whether the presence of large shareholders affects it, and finally, whether this effect of large shareholders varies in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-state-owned enterprises (NSOEs). Design/methodology/approach The authors have used a sample of 1,502 Chinese firms listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. Sample period is 2008-2013. Besides conventional fixed-effect regression, dynamic panel data estimation (generalized method of moments) is applied to address the potential endogeneity. Findings The results show that CEO power is negatively related with corporate risk taking in two risk proxies, i.e. total risk and idiosyncratic risk. Second, the presence of large shareholders significantly affects this relationship, but does not change the primary negative relationship between CEO power and corporate risk taking. Finally, the results show that the relationship between CEO power and corporate risk taking is different in SOEs and NSOEs. The findings of this paper contend the organizational and behavioral theory viewpoint that individual decisions are more extreme. Practical implications This study provides useful implication for policymakers and suggests that while evaluating CEO’s performance, institutional and market settings should be considered. Originality/value This study provides new insights on the impact of CEO power on corporate risk taking under the two distinctive features in a developing country, i.e. presence of large shareholders and state-owned enterprises.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the frequency of information acquisition on the frequency of stock trading. The authors also examined if the Big Five personality traits of investor influence the association between information acquisition and stock trading behavior. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted NEO Five-Factor Inventory (Costa and McCrae, 1989) inventory to measure the Big Five personality traits of investors and examined the data collected from 541 individual investors of the Chinese stock market. To overcome the potential endogeneity bias, the authors followed two-stage least square method for estimating endogenous covariate by employing instrumental variable analysis. The authors performed probit regression to evaluate the moderating influence of investor personality traits on the association between information acquisition and stock trading behavior. The authors also performed several other tests to check the robustness of the key findings. Findings This research confirmed the previous findings that the more frequently investors acquire information, the more often they trade in stocks. Moreover, the authors added to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence that the Big Five personality traits moderate the relationship of information acquisition with stock trading behavior. Information acquisition tends to increase stock trading frequency in investors with conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness traits. On the other hand, it also has the tendency to decrease the intensity of stock trading in investors with openness and neuroticism traits. Research limitations/implications The theoretical model in this study seeks to explain that the psychological factor, namely, investor personality, influences the way an investor interprets signals from information which in turn influences the investor decision to trade in securities. This research suggests that psychological characteristics of investors can be of relevance for policy makers in their attempts to improve their business in the financial services industry. Originality/value This study combines both information search literature and behavioral finance literature to investigate whether or not the information acquisition that relates to investors’ asset allocation decisions is influenced by investor personality. The study offers new theoretical insights into investors’ behavior due to the characteristics of the Chinese stock market which are uniquely different from other stock markets in the world. No previous study has been conducted so far in the Chinese stock market to explore variations in the impact of investors’ information acquisition on their stock trading by the Big Five personality and this paper strives to fill this research gap.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the key sources of information, namely, financial advice, word-of-mouth communication and specialized press, on trading behavior of Chinese stock investors. The study also analyzed if the association between the key sources of information and trading behavior is influenced by investor personality. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted the Big Five personality framework and examined the survey results of individual stock investors (n=541) in China. Personality traits of investors were measured by the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (Costa and McCrae, 1989). The authors performed probit regression analysis to evaluate the moderating influence of investor personality traits on the association between sources of information and stock trading behavior. Findings The results of the study confirm the previous findings that the key sources of information used by investors as a foundation of their financial choices have a significant influence on their trading behavior. The study also provides empirical evidence that investor personality traits moderate the relationship between the key sources of information and trading behavior. Financial advisors tend to increase the frequency of trading in investors with openness, extraversion, neuroticism and agreeableness personality traits, and tend to decrease the intensity of trading in investors with conscientiousness trait. On the other hand, financial information acquired from word-of-mouth communication is more likely to enhance trading frequency in extraverted and agreeable investors, and is more likely to reduce trading frequency in investors with openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism traits. Finally, the use of specialized press leads to more adjustment in portfolios of the investors with openness and conscientiousness traits than those with other personality traits. An alternative mediated model was not supported. Originality/value This research contributes to information search literature and behavioral finance literature and provides empirical evidence that the psychological characteristics of investors are significant predictors of the variations in information-trading link. The study offers new theoretical insights of investors’ behavior due to the characteristics of Chinese stock market which are unique from other stock markets in the world. To the authors’ best knowledge, no previous study has been conducted so far in Chinese stock market to explore variations with regards to the impact of the key sources of information on trading behavior by the Big Five investor personality and this paper seeks to fill this gap.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the strength of association between investor personality traits and stock trading behavior is sensitive to the key sources of information used by investors as the basis for their financial choices. The study utilized the Big Five personality framework from Costa & McCrae (1992) and examined the data collected from 541 individual investors in Chinese stock market. We provide empirical evidence that the key sources of information moderate the relationship of the Big five personality traits and stock trading behavior. Investors with openness and neuroticism traits trade stocks more frequently when they acquire information from financial advice whereas extraverted and conscientious investors trade stocks less intensively when they use financial advice. Investors with extraversion and agreeableness traits trade stocks more intensively when they acquire information via word-of-mouth communication. Open minded, conscientious and neurotic investors adjust their portfolio less frequently as a result of social interaction. No previous study has been conducted so far exploring variations in the impact of the Big Five investor personality traits on stock trading behavior by the key sources of information and this paper strives to fill this gap in Chinese stock market.

Purpose The purpose of this paper was first to find out whether the negative relationship between board size and future firm risk persists in China while contemplating all sorts of endogeneity. Second, the authors have investigated the role of large shareholders in influencing the managerial decisions concerning future firm risk via board size. Finally, the authors examined whether the moderating role of large shareholders is any different in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-state-owned enterprises (NSOEs) in China. Design/methodology/approach The sample included all the A-listed firms listed on the Shanghai and the Shenzhen stock exchanges over a sample period from 2008 to 2013. The authors used fixed effects regression and the generalized method of moments (GMM) to test the three hypotheses. Findings The authors found that board size is negatively associated with future firm risk when measured as volatility in future stock prices and future cash flows. Second, large shareholders directly influence managerial decisions about future firm risk, irrespective of board size. Third, the moderating role of ownership concentration is insignificant in both SOEs and NSOEs. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which has analyzed the role of large shareholders in the relationship between board size and future firm risk. This study provides valuable insights, particularly in the context of a developing country, into the role played by large shareholders in influencing managerial decisions concerning future firm risk.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impact of sources of information on trading behavior by analyzing the influence of investor personality in Chinese futures market. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted the Big Five personality framework and examined the survey results of individual investors (n = 333) in Chinese futures market. Personality traits of futures investors were measured by the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (Costa and McCrae, 1989) which is a shortened version of revised NEO personality inventory of the Big Five model (Costa and McCrae, 1992). Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the fitness of model. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the moderating influence of investor personality traits on the association between source of information and trading behavior. Findings The results confirm the previous findings that the sources of information used by investors as a foundation of their financial choices have a significant impact on trading frequency. The authors also provide an empirical evidence that investor personality traits moderate the relationship between sources of information and trading behavior. Financial advice from professionals is likely to increase trading frequency in investors with neuroticism and openness personality traits, and to reduce trading frequency in conscientious and extravert investors. Similarly, financial information acquired via word-of-mouth communication results in more trading in extravert and agreeable investors. Finally, information acquisition from specialized press causes more adjustment of conscientious investors’ portfolios. Theoretical explanations, implications and recommendations for future research are discussed. Originality/value This study combines information search and behavioral finance literature to demonstrate that the impact of various sources of market information on asset allocation decisions is influenced by investor personality. No previous study has been conducted yet to explain variations in the impact of sources of information on trading behavior by the Big Five personality traits and this paper seeks to fill this gap in Chinese futures market.

Pediatric sepsis is frequently a fatal condition and a major cause of death globally. The mortality rate of sepsis remains high despite that the advanced therapeutic methods have been carried out. Our research aims to investigate the potentials of miR-34a in the treatment of pediatric sepsis. Results indicated that miR-34a was up-regulated in Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced pulmonary macrophages and U937 cell lines. In addition, miR-34a silence reduced the production of iNOS through inactivating STAT3 pathway in U937 cell lines and cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced lung tissues. Besides, high expression of iNOS and STAT3 in cells transfected with miR-34a mimic further validated it. Furthermore, in vivo experiment demonstrated that miR-34a silence protected CLP-induced suckling rats from lung injury. All in all, our study demonstrated that miR-34a promoted iNOS secretion from pulmonary macrophages in LPS-induced sepsis suckling rats through activating STAT3 pathway. These results provided a possibility to convert miR-34a into clinical application.

This study investigates the association between information acquisition and trading behavior by analyzing the influence of investor personality. We adopted the Big Five personality framework and examined the survey results of individual investors ( n = 333) in Chinese futures market. Results of this study indicated that information acquisition is directly proportional to trading frequency. We also add to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence that extraversion and conscientiousness positively moderate the relationship between information acquisition and trading frequency; and openness negatively moderates the relationship between information acquisition and trading frequency. This research combines both the information search literature and the behavioral finance literature to investigate that information acquisition that relates to asset allocation decisions is influenced by investor personality traits.

Listed companies of Shanghai Stock Exchange have begun to disclose their contribution to stakeholders voluntarily since 2008. In this paper, based on the Stakeholder Theory, we collect all the firms that disclosed the value of social contribution in their annual reports, then examine what factors affect management's disclose behavior, and whether the contribution to non shareholder stakeholders has incremental value relevance. The results show that companies that disclosed social contribution value are normally larger, more profitable ones, and possess better corporate governance than those that didn't disclose. What's more, investors see the contribution to non-shareholder stakeholders (NSS) in an active way, which is positively related to share price. When the companies' profitability is above the market average, investors will pay more attention to the contribution to NSS.