Causes and Consequences of Block Share Purchases. Evidence from Spanish Non-Financial Firms

The structure of Spanish capital markets doesnot facilitate an efficient market forcorporate control through takeover process,which assumes that inefficient management isreplaced by competing teams. The ownershipstructure of listed companies is highlyconcentrated, with extremely low floating stockfor some companies. At the same time animportant number of companies have introducedanti-takeover provisions in their statutes.There is another way of disciplining managementthrough the exit solution: by transferring theownership of significant blocks of shares, amarket for partial corporate control, asalternative to the takeover market. Theobjective of this paper is to test empiricallythe causes and consequences of block purchasesin Spain for non-financial listed companies.The main results are: i) There is no evidencethat previous poor performance of the companiescauses block increases; ii) Block increasesoccur more frequently in companies with lowerownership concentration. After the blockincrease, on average, the ownership of thelargest shareholder increases. iii) After blockincreases there are significant board changes,for both executive board members and also fornon-executives. (iv) The transfer of blocksoccurs more frequently for smaller companies.We conclude that agency theory predictionsabout the disciplining role of partial takeoveractivity are not fully supported. They arecontingent on institutional characteristics ofthe corporate governance system.     

Strategic planning in 21 U.K. companies

This article is based upon an analysis of strategic planning performance in 21 UK companies and discussions with 91 executives in those companies. The author's findings stress some of the problems related to strategic planning particularly with regard to the importance of informal and political processes in planning.     

Corporate planning in medium-sized companies in the U.K.

The past decade has seen the publication of a considerable amount of research into the corporate planning practices of industrial giants. More recent work has investigated corporate planning practice in small businesses. However, little attention appears to have been paid to actual practice in medium-sized companies. This article reports the results of a study designed to investigate corporate planning practice in medium-sized companies in the U.K. The results show that while corporate planning is widespread among medium-sized companies, it is not the well-balanced and integrated system envisaged in the literature. Also, the majority of chief executives are not truly satisfied with corporate planning as practised in their organizations, but are, at the same time, largely unable to suggest changes to make corporate planning more effective. This points clearly to a need for action by researchers and consultants in the area.     

Technological forecasting in six major U.K. companies

This study, although based upon a small sample, generally supports the recent evidence in the U.K. and the United States concerning the state of current practice in technological forecasting. The weight of this evidence points to the conclusion that the formal techniques of TF are not widely practiced, although the need for TF is generally accepted, and that those companies which are using these techniques do so with some reservation. Some companies in the U.K., however, do have considerable experience in technological forecasting, diffusion of the knowledge of which would be of benefit to the bulk of British industry.     

Corporate environmental analysis in large U.S. corporations

Executives in companies without organized environmental analysis might wonder whether they should implement such activities. Those in companies having organized environmental analysis activities might wonder what they can do to make them more useful. In both cases, the executives would probably be interested in knowing more about the practice of organized environmental analysis in other firms, its usefulness, problems of implementation, and the payoffs. These are the questions addressed in this article.     

Organizational Philosophies of Japanese companies in the U.S.A.

The paper presents data about the Organizational Philosophies of fifty-nine Japanese owned companies in the United States. Harmony emerged as the single most popular element in these Organizational Philosophies. Data about specific concepts of Organizational Philosophy (kaizen, correct attitudes) were also obtained. Mechanisms to encourage the adoption and use of Organizational Philosophy were investigated. The evidence suggests that Organizational Philosophy continues to be an important aspect of Japanese companies in the U.S.A., and that American managers of these companies are accepting these Philosophies.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1991 International Academy of Management and Marketing Annual Conference held in Detroit, MI.     

Bringing Japanese Continuous Improvement Approaches to U.S. Manufacturing: The Roles of Process Orientation and Communications*

Continuous improvement (CI) has played a key role in Japan's quality management. U.S. companies have begun to adopt CI in recent years. This paper studies the implementation of CI in seven U.S. manufacturing companies. We view values as the core concept of culture that impacts CI effectiveness. Using both qualitative and quantitative data with a sample of seven companies, we observe empirically a relationship between process-oriented values and CI effectiveness. We also find that communications involving workers is strongly associated with CI effectiveness. Finally, we find an association between process orientation and communication frequency, and argue that communications act as an intervening variable between process orientation and effectiveness.     

民营上市公司控制类型、多元化经营与企业绩效

本文将2006年度民营上市公司分为直接上市和间接上市两种类型,考察了所有权与控制权分离程度、多元化经营与企业绩效之间的关系。发现间接上市民营公司所有权与控制权分离程度、多元化经营程度均显著高于直接上市民营公司。多元回归结果表明,直接上市民营公司最终控制人金字塔持股和多元化经营对企业绩效没有显著影响;而间接上市民营公司最终控制人所有权与控制权分离程度和多元化程度越高,企业绩效越低,说明代理问题在此类公司比较突出。所有权与控制权分离程度和多元化指标的交互关系也为此提供了进一步的证据。本文的贡献在于对民营上市公司进行了更为细致的分类,并从动机和行为两方面考察了其所导致的经济后果。研究增进了对我国民营上市公司的认识,对理解民营上市公司控制类型以及多元化经营也提供了新的视角。     

The Baumol Gap Revisited. An econometric analysis of the productivity differential between U.K. manufacturing and service firms, 1982–1989

The gap in productivity growth between manufacturing and service sectors is analyzed at company level using a panel of 328 British companies. This paper evaluates differences in the rate of growth of technological progresss (“Baumol gap”) in manufacturing and service companies, taking full account of the impact of changes in market competition, union recognition and financial position of firms. The empirical results suggest: (i) the gap in total factor productivity is significant and negative for distribution, lodging and catering sectors, positive but less significant for transport and communication sectors; (ii) the technological gap is higher than the gap in labour productivity; (iii) the gap can be attributed to technological factors, and it is invariant to the use of firm–level variables that capture effects on workers and managers effort; (iv) the estimate of total factor productivity growth in manufacturing and services is slightly influenced by these variables.     

赔付率约束下的中国保险公司效率与全要素生产率研究

运用SBM(slack-based measure)方向性距离函数分别计算了赔付率约束下的2006-2016年中国境内的财产保险公司、人身保险公司的经营无效率值,并对无效率值的来源进行分解。在此基础上运用Luenberger生产率指数计算出全要素生产率及其分解项,对中资、外资保险公司的经营效率、全要素生产率及其分解项进行了对比分析。结果表明:财险业的中资大型公司经营效率最高,人身险业的中资公司经营效率明显高于外资公司;投资收益无效率是造成中小型人身险公司和中小型财产险公司无效率的最主要原因;财险业大型公司的全要素生产率低于中小型公司,而人身险业外资公司的全要素生产率明显高于中资公司。     

Organized planning in major U.K. companies

Corporate Long Range Planning began to be fashionable in Britain in the 1960's. Now it should be possible for the managers which pioneered this development to analyse their experience for the benefit of others. This article reports the results and conclusions from a detailed study of corporate planning in 27 major British companies, each with 2–8 years experience. The aim was to discover why organized planning was introduced; what factors affected its development and what results were achieved.     

关联方关系及其交易的信息披露问题

上市公司关联方关系及其交易一直是证券市场关注的热点问题,对这一事项的信息披露是财务报表附注中的一项重要内容.因为关联方关系及其交易不同于-般的公司间关系及交易,有其自身独具的特点,因而成为投资者决策的一条主要依据.从中报和年报的总体来看,大部分上市公司能够比较客观、清楚地披露该项事宜,但仍然有一些上市公司不能按照准则要求去做,在信息披露中暴露出一些问题.因此,不论关联方关系及其交易的信息披露还是关联交易本身都有待于进一步规范.     

Implementation of manufacturing strategy: A select study of Indian process companies

This paper presents findings of an extensive survey of Indian process companies. Based on the survey, three companies have been selected for detailed case studies. Their experiences in the manufacturing strategy process are analysed. Although the companies represented diversity in terms of product type, sales volume, longevity and geographic location, they shared several commonalities including use of advanced manufacturing technologies. The process of strategy formulation varied among the companies in terms of participants, complexity and degree of formalization. Competitive priorities, order winners and critical success factors are identified for these companies. Based on strategic manufacturing issues, manufacturing competence index for the companies has been worked out.     

消费者异质偏好结构下动态创新竞合系统定价与创新策略研究

基于消费者对产品创新属性和价格属性的异质偏好结构，针对潜在创新企业和非创新企业间的动态竞合关系，构建了潜在创新企业和非创新企业间的集中式决策模型和Nash分散式决策模型，进而分析消费者异质偏好结构对潜在创新企业和非创新企业决策的影响机理。研究表明：(1)相较于分散式决策系统，集中式决策系统是把双刃剑。集中式决策系统虽然提升了非创新企业和潜在创新企业的产品定价、系统整体利润，抑制了非创新企业发展，压缩了落后产能；但是，集中式决策亦抑制了潜在创新企业的产品创新活动，降低了创新产品产能，不利于社会的创新研发。(2)随着消费者对产品创新属性偏好的增加，潜在创新企业产品定价和供货量上升，非创新企业产品定价和供货量下降；系统利润先下降后上升，非创新企业利润一致单调下降，潜在创新企业利润一致单调上升。(3)随着产品创新难度的增加，潜在创新企业以及非创新企业的产品定价、系统盈利水平均下降。此外还发现，产品相对创新度对系统主体决策存在复杂影响。     

An exploratory study of manufacturing strategy practices of machinery manufacturing companies in India

This paper presents findings of a survey on manufacturing strategy practices adopted by the Indian machinery manufacturing companies (IMMC). Based on the survey, three companies have been selected for detailed case studies. Their experiences in the manufacturing strategy process are analyzed. Although the companies represented diversity in terms of product type, sales volume, and geographic location, they share several commonalties including use of advanced manufacturing technologies and use of several improvement techniques. The process of strategy formulation varied among the companies in terms of participants, complexity and degree of formalization. Competitive priorities, order winners and critical success factors are also identified for these companies. Based on strategic manufacturing issues, manufacturing competence index and business performance index for the companies has been worked out.     

资本结构与代理成本——来自中国国有控股上市公司和民营上市公司的经验证据

资本结构如何影响代理成本是资本结构研究的一个重要领域.本文以2000-2005年国有控股上市公司和民营上市公司为研究对象,通过对这一问题的实证分析发现,控股股东持股比例与民营上市公司代理成本负相关,而与国有控股上市公司代理成本正相关;第二至十大股东持股比例与代理成本呈负相关,对民营上市公司代理成本的影响效果要好于国有控股上市公司;管理者持股比例与代理成本正相关;社会公众股比例与上市公司代理成本不存在相关性;债务总体水平与代理成本正相关,但在国有控股上市公司中的程度要大于民营上市公司;银行借款比例对代理成本的影响要好于商业信用比例.这两种债务比例对民营上市公司代理成本的效果影响要好于国有控股上市公司;流动负债比例和长期借款比例与上市公司的代理成本正相关.总之.民营上市公司的代理成本要低于国有控股上市公司,资本结构是造成这种差异的重要因素.这一结论的政策意义在于:完善资本结构有助于我国上市公司改善治理结构、降低代理成本;我国政府要进一步推进民营化改革,以不断提高我国上市公司质量.     

现金分红的连续性、投资效率与公司价值——基于面板结构VAR模型的实证分析

本文以1998-2009年间我国1383家上市公司为样本,分别按最终控制人的性质和派现行为是否连续对样本进行了划分,运用面板的结构VAR模型研究了现金股利、投资效率和公司价值之间的关系。基于模型的脉冲响应函数和方差分解,本文对连续派现的公司和非连续派现的公司进行了比较。研究发现：自然人控制的上市公司中,非连续派现公司的投资挤占了现金股利的积极效应,并给公司价值带来了负的冲击效应,连续派现公司的现金分红与投资存在相互促进的效应,公司价值对投资冲击的响应函数值为正;地方政府控制的上市公司整体上投资对现金分红冲击的响应函数值为负,其对公司价值的冲击效应也为负;中央政府控制的上市公司中,连续派现公司的现金分红具有抑制过度投资的效应,但其对投资波动的影响作用较小,若对非连续派现的公司实施以分红为条件的融资政策,则可能会制约其发展。     

家族控制与对价支付——一项基于中国家族上市公司的实证研究

随着家族上市公司的数量不断增多,对家族企业的研究也越发显得迫切和重要,然而目前在我国,对于家族控制是否有利于上市公司的发展,理论界始终没有形成统一、全面的评价.本文借助股权分置改革的契机,以"对价"这个囊括公司表现、市场评价、投资 者预期等各方面因素的综合指标为切入点,利用该指标的综合性与预期性优势,重新审视家族控制对我国上市公司的影响.以2006年底进行股改的上市公司为样本,研究发现家族控制有利于我国上市公司的发展,市场给予良好的评价,其在全流通过程中支付的成本较低;对家族分样本进一步分析得出,直接上市的家族企业比买壳上市的家族企业总体表现更好;聘请职业经理人管理的比家族成员直接参加管理的上市公司市场评价更高.     

Factors Associated with the Employment of Non-Executive Directors by Unquoted Companies

A novel 'NED employment in unquoted companies model' was formulated to 'explain' the employment of NEDs by unquoted companies. Eleven 'explanatory' variables presumed to be associated with the employment of NEDs in unquoted companies were identified. Less than 20% of the 427 surveyed unquoted companies located throughout the United Kingdom reported they employed a NED. Only 11.5% of micro companies that employed 9 or fewer employees reported they employed NEDs. In marked contrast, 53% of companies, which employed 50 or more employees, employed NEDs. This bivariate evidence tentatively suggested that resource availability (i.e., the ability to pay a NED) might be a key trigger influencing the employment of NEDs. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the combination of variables associated with the employment of NEDs by unquoted companies. The analysis focused upon four samples of unquoted companies: companies which employed 1 or more employees (i.e., the total sample), micro companies which employed between 1 and 9 employees, small companies which employed between 10 and 49 employees and medium and large companies which employed 50 or more employees. In the total sample model, five 'explanatory' variables were found to be significantly associated with the employment of NEDs. As hypothesised, the total sample model found that older and larger employment sized companies were significantly more likely to have employed NEDs. Further, the employment of NEDs was markedly less likely to be reported by owner-managed companies. The strategic focus of a company was associated with the employment of NEDs. Companies focusing upon technology concerns and/or a focus upon external financing were markedly more likely to have employed NEDs. Interestingly, four 'explanatory' variables were found to significantly influence the employment of NEDs in the small companies' model. In marked contrast, only one 'explanatory' variable was found to significantly influence the employment of NEDs in the micro companies' model. Most notably, owner-managed micro companies were significantly less likely to have employed a NED. Presented evidence suggests that many micro companies may be 'ignorant' of the benefits associated with the employment of a NED. Policy implications and directions for future research surrounding the employment and contribution of NEDs in unquoted companies are discussed.