Does privatization of state-owned enterprises matter for stock price synchronicity?

This paper explores the impact of the control transfer of SOEs on the synchronicity of stock prices of A-share listed SOEs from 2003 to 2021 using a multi-period DID model with exogenous shocks from a quasi-natural experiment of split share structure reform starting in 2005. It is found that the stock price synchronicity of SOEs that have completed privatization is significantly lower than that of enterprises whose ultimate controllers remain the state capital after undergoing privatization.