Topic: Leverage, Investment and Performance of Chinese Listed Companies
Presenter：Xiaozu wang，professor of finance, Fudan University 
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Time: October 17, 2008（Friday）3：00—4：30 PM
Venue: Room 501, Jiageng Bld 2
Chair： Zhe Shen, assistant professor in finance, IFAS
Abstract：
The objective of this paper is two fold. The first is to look at the impact of capital structure on corporate investment decision among Chinese companies. The second is, given the constraints of capital structure on investment, to look at the relationship between investment and firm performance. We find that, consistent with evidence found in developed markets, Chinese companies with higher financial leverage tend to invest less. But the negative impact of leverage on investment is much less severe for state-controlled companies, which presumably have better access to bank loans or other financing sources. Being less constrained by their borrowing capacity and able to invest more, state-controlled companies perform better in terms of both stock returns and accounting returns. Our findings suggest that given the overall rapid growth of the economy and abundance of investment opportunities, the ability to finance many of these positive NPV projects is a crucial success factor for Chinese companies, and state-controlled companies have that advantage.
Presenter Introduction：
Xiaozu Wang is a professor of finance at School of Management of Fudan Unviersity, where he has been teaching since 2003. He is also an honorary professor of School of Business of Hong Kong University, and an honorary professor of Norwegian School of Management (BI). Before joining Fudan University, he was an assistant professor at City University of Hong Kong. He was a visiting professor Seoul National University of South Korea. He served as a consultant for The World Bank on issues related to corporate governance in China during 2002 and 2003, and a consultant for United Nations on Chinese economy in 2004. He received his BA in international economics from Peking University and Ph.D. in economics from New York University. His research interests include corporate governance, capital markets and transition economy.