1. Imprinting and peer effects in acquiring state ownership: evidence from private firms in China
- Author
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Bin Li, Ailing Pan, Shuqian Qin, Xin Liu, Lei Xu, Li, Bin, Pan, Ailing, Xu, Lei, Liu, Xin, and Qin, Shuqian
- Subjects
040101 forestry ,Economics and Econometrics ,050208 finance ,05 social sciences ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,Private sector ,State ownership ,Politics ,private takeover ,Market economy ,Stock exchange ,peer effect ,0502 economics and business ,0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries ,social capital ,Peer effects ,Business ,imprinting ,China ,Imprinting (organizational theory) ,Finance ,Social capital ,state ownership - Abstract
China has recently launched a historical mixed ownership reform. We examine both imprintingand peer effects in private takeovers of state ownership through a proprietary dataset of listedfirms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges. Our findings suggest that first experienceaffects private firm's takeover decisions, in that negative experience of either poor post-takeoverperformance or high takeover premium impedes subsequent takeovers. In addition, private firm'spolitical ties alleviate the negative imprinting effect. However, private firms' business tiesstrengthen the negative imprinting effect. Private firms without antecedent experience tend tofollow their peers in taking over state ownership. Antecedent failures can therefore be passed bythe peers to potential acquirers. Our findings have policy implications in the context of China'sconcurrent state-owned enterprise (SOE) reforms. Refereed/Peer-reviewed
- Published
- 2020