Note(s): Robust standard errors are clustered at the firm level. t-statistics are reported in parentheses. All regressions include control variables, year-fixed effects and industry-fixed effects. Column (1) uses the number of external blockholders as an alternative measure of exit threats; Column (2) redefines blockholders using the 10% ownership threshold; Column (3) redefines management tone manipulation using AbTone1; Column (4) measures management tone using the NTUSD sentiment dictionary. ***, ** and * indicate significance at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels, respectively. The word frequency data based on the National Taiwan University Chinese Sentiment Dictionary are obtained from the CNRDS “Annual Report Text Tone” database. Variable definitions are provided in Table 1