Tunneling in China: The Surprisingly Pervasive Use of Corporate Loans to Extract Funds from Chinese Listed Companies
41 Pages Posted: 5 Dec 2005
Date Written: November 29, 2005
Abstract
This study documents the widespread use of corporate loans by controlling shareholders to extract funds from Chinese listed companies. Typically reported as Other Receivables (OREC), these loans represent a substantial portion of the reported assets of Chinese firms. We show that companies with large OREC balances experience worse future operating performance and are much more likely to become candidates for delisting. High-OREC firms have generally lower market valuations, but still earn negative risk-adjusted returns in the future. Consistent with prior studies, this form of tunneling is most severe when the block shareholder's controlling right (C) is significantly larger than her ownership right (O). Auditors appear to play a monitoring role, but absent effective regulatory enforcement action, unclean audit opinions alone seem insufficient to deter tunneling behavior.
Keywords: Tunneling, Law and Finance, China
JEL Classification: G15, G32, K22, M49
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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