This paper investigates the relationship between firm performance and corporate governance in China. Firm performance is measured by Tobin's "Q", while corporate governance is determined based on ownership structure and concentration. Prior research, in both China and elsewhere, indicates that ownership structure and concentration have a significant impact on firm performance. The paper builds on previous studies by investigating the complex structure of different share classes that are typical of Chinese listed firms. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2003.

Board characteristics have not been a significant area of study in the IPO literature. We focus on the emerging corporate governance reform in China to investigate the relationship between a range of board characteristics and IPO initial returns and long-term performance. We find evidence that board size is positively related to short-term returns, while in the long-term, a positive relationship exists between performance and the voluntary post-listing separation of the roles of CEO and Chair of the Board. Our long-term results suggest that at least some Chinese listed firms are actively and voluntarily moving toward better governance structures. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors; Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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This article investigates the impact of ownership and ownership concentration on the performance of China's listed firms. By recognizing the differences between ownership and ownership concentration and between total ownership concentration and tradable ownership concentration, we find that ownership concentration is more powerful than any category of ownership in determining firm performance; tradable ownership concentration has a more significant and positive influence on firm performance than total ownership concentration; the highest level of firm performance is approached when a firm is characterized by both total ownership concentration and tradable ownership concentration. Thus, we propose a conclusion that ownership concentration enhances firm performance regardless of who the concentrated owners are.

Research into the capital structure of firms has been the subject of extensive empirical investigation but further progress may be constrained by the conventional paradigm underlying most of this work. This paper seeks to extend the debate by examining the endogenous influence of corporate strategy on financing decisions made by firms. While the theoretical specification of the possible relationship has to be developed further, various models were constructed and company data from Australia, an economy with some notoriety for fairly loose corporate debt management, was used to examine various hypothesized relationships. Our analysis suggests that corporate strategy influences capital structure, particularly for the most diversified firms, and that the emerging relationship is complex. Profit, cash flow, the rate of growth and the level of earnings risk are important additional internal influences on capital structure. The results are reasonably robust and indicate that this focus of enquiry has considerable potential for further resolution of the capital structure puzzle, as well as contributing to the debate on the impact of institutional shareholders on the corporate strategy of the firms in which they invest.