Independent director network and corporate innovation: evidence from a natural experiment in China

ABSTRACT

This paper empirically investigates the relationship between independent directors’ connectedness and corporate innovation in China. We utilize a novel natural experiment initiated by an anti-corruption campaign to find that independent directors’ centrality in the board network has a significant positive effect upon corporate patenting. Further evidence suggests that the influence on corporate innovation is induced by information transmission in the board network.

KEYWORDS:

• Board Network
• independent Director
• corporate Innovation
• field Experiments

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• D85
• G39
• O31

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.