Board Members’ Overseas Experience and Foreign Investors’ Holdings: Evidence from China’s A-Share Market

We examine the effect of directors’ overseas experience on foreign investors’ holdings using a large panel of Chinese listed firms from 2009 to 2022. We find that firms with a higher proportion of overseas-experienced directors exhibit significantly greater foreign institutional ownership. This positive association is robust to alternative variable definitions, model specifications, and sample restrictions, and it remains after addressing endogeneity concerns. Further analysis shows that the effect is stronger when overseas-experienced directors are more likely to function as effective monitors and advisors. Overall, our findings suggest that overseas experience helps transmit governance practices, knowledge, and skills valued by global investors and provides a credible signal that attracts foreign capital.