The Influence Of College Background Independent Directors Of Listed Corporations In China On Corporate Innovation

Under the current economic situation,if our listed companies want to remain invincible in the fierce market competition and to achieve long-term development,it is imperative to strengthen corporate innovation.The special background of independent directors in colleges and universities,due to their strong professional knowledge background and relationship with human resources,can provide professional consulting services and innovative resources for the innovation of listed companies.Therefore,the author believes that the appointment of a board of independent companies with a college background by a listed company significantly improves the company’s innovation.And in different companies that affect innovation,such as the legal environment,the nature of ownership,and the concentration of ownership,independent directors with a college background may have different levels of influence on corporate innovation.However,at present,there are few literatures that have conducted in-depth research on the relationship between the two.The Chinese scholars do not seem to pay enough attention to this issue.In particular,after the publication of the No.18 Document of the Central Organization Department in 2013,a large number of independent directors,both incumbent and retired,who have a government background have resigned,and a large number of university professors and scholars fill the vacancies.According to relevant news reports,independent directors with higher education background in listed companies have reached more than one third,the scale and proportion is very large.This highlights the necessity and urgency of the study of this issue.Therefore,this paper selects a relatively new perspective on the relationship between independent directors with higher education background and corporate innovation.Firstly,through the collection and study of related materials,this article has a fuller understanding and mastery of the existing research,and made a more detailed argumentation from the theoretical perspective.Then it selected relevant data of high-tech companies in China’s A-share listed companies from 2006 to 2016,and built a basic model and a difference-in-difference model to conduct empirical research.Finally,the following conclusions are drawn: There is a significant positive correlation between independent directors with a college background and corporate innovation,and an increase in the proportion of independent directors with a college background can also significantly improve corporate innovation.The results of the regression based on different factors affecting corporate innovation show that: Among companies with poor legal environment,independent directors with a college background have greater effect on corporate innovation than companies with good legal environment;in state-owned enterprises,Independent directors in the background of colleges play a greater role in corporate innovation than private enterprises.Among companies with high equity concentration,independent directors with a college background have greater effect on corporate innovation than firms with low equity concentration.In view of the above research conclusions,this paper puts forward policy recommendations from the aspects of the establishment of the company’s independent director system and the factors that influence the company’s innovation:first,a listed company should employ at least one independent director with a college background and can increase its proportion as much as possible;second,improve the company’s external legal environment system,and in particular strengthen the construction of laws and regulations to protect the company’s patent output and encourage the company’s innovation;third,the relevant departments should strengthen the supervision and control of state-owned enterprises,introduce effective laws and regulations to improve the internal governance structure,reduce the illegal behavior of state-owned enterprises,and increase the professional knowledge of state-owned enterprise leaders through professional training;fourth,the company should appropriately reduce the degree of ownership concentration and strengthen the supervision of the behavior of large shareholders against small and medium shareholders.