Cross-owners and bond issue pricing: coordination or collusion?

Using a sample of listed Chinese firms from 2007 to 2020, we investigate the governance implications of cross-ownership in corporate bond markets. We find that cross-ownership significantly reduces bond issuance spreads, suggesting that synergistic governance effects outweigh potential collusion ris...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shangkun Liang, Sichao Wang, Kaijuan Gao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:China Journal of Accounting Research
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755309125000176
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Summary:Using a sample of listed Chinese firms from 2007 to 2020, we investigate the governance implications of cross-ownership in corporate bond markets. We find that cross-ownership significantly reduces bond issuance spreads, suggesting that synergistic governance effects outweigh potential collusion risks. This effect operates through two channels: reducing information asymmetry between shareholders and creditors and lowering firm risk. The effect is stronger when cross-owners hold shares in more peer firms and retain shares longer but weaker for state-owned enterprises, long-term bonds and firms with robust information intermediaries. Our findings contribute to the corporate governance literature by demonstrating how cross-ownership enhances creditor protection, providing insights into optimizing ownership structures for debt financing, particularly in emerging markets with inadequate institutional monitoring.
ISSN:1755-3091