A comparison of government owned companies in China and Singapore.

This paper presents a comparative study of the corporate governance mechanisms of Chinese and Singapore government owned companies. Our study is structured around three themes: (1) comparison of the institutional features adopted by China Stated Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and Singapore Government Linked Companies (GLCs), (2) the relationship between various corporate governance mechanisms and market valuation, and (3) the financing policies adopted by these firms in accordance with the degree of government ownership. According to our research findings, government owned companies between the two countries are found to have statistically different institutional features. Significant corporate governance mechanisms that influence market valuation include the proportion of independent directors, presence of parent firm, percentage of shares held by top shareholder and the concentration of 2nd to 10th shareholders. We also find that government ownership of both SOEs and GLCs are found to have no significant relationship with the financing policies implemented. Our research aims to provide a better understanding of how investors perceive the importance of corporate governance mechanisms in government-owned corporations.BUSINES