独立董事网络影响公司资本结构吗?——基于同伴效应的理论分析与实证检验

Does the Network of Independent Directors Affect Corporate Capital Structure?——A Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Test Based on Peer Effect

基于中国A股上市公司独立董事兼任数据,构建了以上市公司为节点,独立董事兼任为边的社会网络,理论分析并实证检验了公司资本结构决策的同伴效应。研究发现公司资本结构决策时会受到独立董事同伴公司的正向影响,存在资本结构决策的独立董事同伴效应。进一步研究发现市场占有率小的公司、同伴关系持续时间短的公司、网络位置中心度高的公司资本结构独立董事同伴效应更明显,表明资本结构决策的独立董事同伴效应异质性取决于网络特征。本文也发现公司资本结构靠近独立董事同伴会提升公司价值,偏离同伴会损害公司价值,表明独立董事同伴的学习机制对公司决策发挥积极作用,证实了独董网络的价值。

Based on the data of concurrent independent directors of China A-share listed companies, this paper constructs a social network with listed companies as nodes and independent directors as edges, and theoretically analyzes and empirically tests the peer effect of corporate capital structure decision. It is found that corporate capital structure decision will be positively influenced by companies where its independent directors hold concurrent posts, and there is peer effect from independent directors in capital structure decision. Further research shows that such peer effect in companies with comparatively small market share, companies with comparatively short duration of peer relationship and companies with comparatively central network position is more obvious, indicating that the heterogeneity of peer effect from independent directors in capital structure decision depends on network characteristics. This paper also finds that if a company's capital structure is close to its peers where its independent directors hold concurrent posts, its value will be enhanced, while deviating from its peers will damage its value, showing that the peer learning mechanism from independent directors plays an active role in corporation decision, which confirms the value of the network of independent directors.