Pub Date : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109553
Yanbin Sun , Min Zhang
This study investigates how diversifying the functional experiences of top management teams (TMTs) influences the corporate green innovation bubble. From the perspective of ambidextrous innovation, we conduct theoretical analysis and empirical tests. The results demonstrate a robust U-shaped relationship between executive functional experience diversity and the green innovation bubble, characterized by initial suppression followed by promotion. This relationship is fully mediated by exploratory innovation and partially mediated by exploitative innovation. Moreover, media attention, as an external governance mechanism, significantly intensifies the U-shaped relationship. The findings deepen the understanding of how corporate green innovation quality is formed and provide critical theoretical foundations and practical insights for optimizing TMT structure and enhancing innovation efficiency in the context of sustainable development.
{"title":"Can executive diversification tackle the green innovation bubble? The dual innovation challenge","authors":"Yanbin Sun , Min Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109553","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109553","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates how diversifying the functional experiences of top management teams (TMTs) influences the corporate green innovation bubble. From the perspective of ambidextrous innovation, we conduct theoretical analysis and empirical tests. The results demonstrate a robust U-shaped relationship between executive functional experience diversity and the green innovation bubble, characterized by initial suppression followed by promotion. This relationship is fully mediated by exploratory innovation and partially mediated by exploitative innovation. Moreover, media attention, as an external governance mechanism, significantly intensifies the U-shaped relationship. The findings deepen the understanding of how corporate green innovation quality is formed and provide critical theoretical foundations and practical insights for optimizing TMT structure and enhancing innovation efficiency in the context of sustainable development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 109553"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146032772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109532
Mingyue Fu, Pengfei Zhu
{"title":"Uneven Tax Enforcement and Cross-regional Capital Flows: The Role of Economic Resilience and Industrial Agglomeration","authors":"Mingyue Fu, Pengfei Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109532","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2026.109532","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146032768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109565
Shiyu Dun
Against the backdrop of global industrial chain restructuring and domestic regional coordinated development, this paper takes provincial "Regulations on Optimizing the Business Environment" as a policy shock, constructs a quasi-natural experiment framework based on inter-provincial regulatory differences, and uses 2005–2022 panel data of 28 Chinese provinces to investigate the impact of business environment optimization on industrial chain transfer, revealing heterogeneity across industry type, regional gradient, and industrial hierarchy. The research finds a dual-track effect: promoting manufacturing transfer-out and tertiary industry transfer-in, with high-end service industries agglomerating in eastern regions. Regionally, the eastern region shows retention and upgrading effects, while central-western regions show undertaking and cultivation effects, with stable east-west transfers. Industrially, low-end industries face a strong push-out effect, and high-end industries are strongly retained. Transaction cost savings are identified as the core mechanism, providing references for regional policy formulation.
{"title":"Business environment and industrial chain: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China","authors":"Shiyu Dun","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109565","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109565","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Against the backdrop of global industrial chain restructuring and domestic regional coordinated development, this paper takes provincial \"Regulations on Optimizing the Business Environment\" as a policy shock, constructs a quasi-natural experiment framework based on inter-provincial regulatory differences, and uses 2005–2022 panel data of 28 Chinese provinces to investigate the impact of business environment optimization on industrial chain transfer, revealing heterogeneity across industry type, regional gradient, and industrial hierarchy. The research finds a dual-track effect: promoting manufacturing transfer-out and tertiary industry transfer-in, with high-end service industries agglomerating in eastern regions. Regionally, the eastern region shows retention and upgrading effects, while central-western regions show undertaking and cultivation effects, with stable east-west transfers. Industrially, low-end industries face a strong push-out effect, and high-end industries are strongly retained. Transaction cost savings are identified as the core mechanism, providing references for regional policy formulation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 109565"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146075705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109562
Liu Xuan, Huo Xuexi
{"title":"Digital finance, financial regulation and green innovation in agricultural enterprises","authors":"Liu Xuan, Huo Xuexi","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109562","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2026.109562","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"101 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146032769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-21DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109552
Bao Qi , Jianxiang Liu , Fan Hu
Managerial myopia, the excessive focus on short-term performance over long-term value, remains a key challenge in corporate governance. While scholars suggest myopia may vary across CEO tenure stages, direct empirical evidence remains scarce. Using data from Chinese A-share listed firms (2010–2023) and a lexicon-based textual analysis of MD&A reports, this study quantifies managerial myopia and examines its dynamics over CEO tenure. Results show that myopia is significantly higher in both early and late tenure stages, with the late-tenure effect pronounced only before planned departures but not in cases of unexpected turnover. These patterns are accompanied by significant reductions in physical capital investment and R&D expenditure, underscoring the adverse impact of myopia on long-term investment. This study provides novel text-based evidence on the tenure–myopia relationship, enriches the literature on managerial behavior, and offers practical implications for executive incentives and tenure design.
{"title":"The dynamics of managerial myopia across CEO tenure stages","authors":"Bao Qi , Jianxiang Liu , Fan Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109552","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109552","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Managerial myopia, the excessive focus on short-term performance over long-term value, remains a key challenge in corporate governance. While scholars suggest myopia may vary across CEO tenure stages, direct empirical evidence remains scarce. Using data from Chinese A-share listed firms (2010–2023) and a lexicon-based textual analysis of MD&A reports, this study quantifies managerial myopia and examines its dynamics over CEO tenure. Results show that myopia is significantly higher in both early and late tenure stages, with the late-tenure effect pronounced only before planned departures but not in cases of unexpected turnover. These patterns are accompanied by significant reductions in physical capital investment and R&D expenditure, underscoring the adverse impact of myopia on long-term investment. This study provides novel text-based evidence on the tenure–myopia relationship, enriches the literature on managerial behavior, and offers practical implications for executive incentives and tenure design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 109552"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146033956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-21DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109544
Hong Fang , Feng Xu , Xiaohui Wang , Yue Pan
Under China’s dual-carbon goals, energy transition has profoundly shaped corporate strategic decision-making, encouraging firms to strengthen their risk-taking capacity in pursuit of green transformation. Using panel data of Chinese-listed companies between 2005 and 2022, this study examines how energy transition impacts corporate risk-taking by integrating city-level energy consumption data with firm-level data. The findings indicate that energy transition significantly enhances corporate risk-taking, with stronger effects observed among non-state-owned enterprises and firms with lower energy consumption. Furthermore, financing constraints and digital transformation amplify the impact.
{"title":"Energy transition and corporate risk-taking","authors":"Hong Fang , Feng Xu , Xiaohui Wang , Yue Pan","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109544","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109544","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Under China’s dual-carbon goals, energy transition has profoundly shaped corporate strategic decision-making, encouraging firms to strengthen their risk-taking capacity in pursuit of green transformation. Using panel data of Chinese-listed companies between 2005 and 2022, this study examines how energy transition impacts corporate risk-taking by integrating city-level energy consumption data with firm-level data. The findings indicate that energy transition significantly enhances corporate risk-taking, with stronger effects observed among non-state-owned enterprises and firms with lower energy consumption. Furthermore, financing constraints and digital transformation amplify the impact.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 109544"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146032767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-21DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109543
Boren Gao , Haibin Tang , Yibin Luo
Utilizing enterprise-level panel data from 2007 to 2023, this paper analyzes the direct impact of the establishment of big data comprehensive experimental zones (BEZ) on enterprise innovation, further examining the mediating role of financial resource allocation in this relationship. The research findings indicate that the establishment of BEZ significantly enhances corporate innovation levels, with financial resource allocation playing a mediating role between the establishment of these zones and enterprise innovation. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis reveals that high-tech enterprises, companies located in southern regions, and those with executives possessing financial backgrounds benefit more from the establishment of BEZ in terms of innovation capabilities. The results provide a theoretical basis for policy makers.
{"title":"Establishment of big data comprehensive experimental zones, financial resource allocation, and enterprise innovation","authors":"Boren Gao , Haibin Tang , Yibin Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109543","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109543","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Utilizing enterprise-level panel data from 2007 to 2023, this paper analyzes the direct impact of the establishment of big data comprehensive experimental zones (BEZ) on enterprise innovation, further examining the mediating role of financial resource allocation in this relationship. The research findings indicate that the establishment of BEZ significantly enhances corporate innovation levels, with financial resource allocation playing a mediating role between the establishment of these zones and enterprise innovation. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis reveals that high-tech enterprises, companies located in southern regions, and those with executives possessing financial backgrounds benefit more from the establishment of BEZ in terms of innovation capabilities. The results provide a theoretical basis for policy makers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 109543"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146032771","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-21DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109525
Orçun Kaya, Mehdi Mostowfi, Sugandhita Sugandhita
Foreign investment screening has become a central instrument for safeguarding strategic technologies in recent years. This paper examines how such measures shape cross-border M&A patterns, using Germany’s 2020 policy reform as a case study. Applying a difference-in-differences framework to firm-level M&A data from 2016 to 2024, we find that the reform significantly increased the likelihood of investment in German firms by other EU investors in newly regulated sectors, with majority-control acquisitions emerging as a mechanism in this pattern. Our findings indicate that investment screening fosters a shift toward European ownership in sensitive sectors, as partner economies increase their investment, thereby reshaping the dynamics of cross-border capital flows.
{"title":"Foreign investment screening and cross-border M&A in sensitive sectors: Evidence from Germany","authors":"Orçun Kaya, Mehdi Mostowfi, Sugandhita Sugandhita","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109525","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109525","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Foreign investment screening has become a central instrument for safeguarding strategic technologies in recent years. This paper examines how such measures shape cross-border M&A patterns, using Germany’s 2020 policy reform as a case study. Applying a difference-in-differences framework to firm-level M&A data from 2016 to 2024, we find that the reform significantly increased the likelihood of investment in German firms by other EU investors in newly regulated sectors, with majority-control acquisitions emerging as a mechanism in this pattern. Our findings indicate that investment screening fosters a shift toward European ownership in sensitive sectors, as partner economies increase their investment, thereby reshaping the dynamics of cross-border capital flows.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 109525"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146014273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109537
Yue Zhu , Yuyang Wu
This study employs data from Chinese A-share listed firms from 2012 to 2023 to investigate the direct impact and underlying mechanisms by which climate risk (CR) on cross-boundary digital innovation (DI) of traditional firms. The findings indicate that CR significantly enhances DI, which is supported by robustness tests and endogeneity estimates using El Niño index and air ventilation as instrumental variables. Identify three key mechanisms for driving DI: increasing patient capital, analyst attention, and industrial robot application level. In addition, DI in firms with lower financing constraints, non-state-owned, high-polluting industries, and eastern regions are particularly driven by CR. This indicates that DI may be a conscious selection for firms to adapt to climate change, implying that there are business opportunities behind climate change to promote digital-real integration. Finally, the impact of CR on DI is influenced by the threshold effect of green digital finance (GDF). Research provides new insights for policy makers to guide firms to adjust innovation strategies to adapt to climate change from the perspective of coordinated development of green finance and digital finance.
{"title":"Climate risk and corporate cross-boundary digital innovation: An analysis based on the threshold effect of green digital finance","authors":"Yue Zhu , Yuyang Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109537","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109537","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study employs data from Chinese A-share listed firms from 2012 to 2023 to investigate the direct impact and underlying mechanisms by which climate risk (<em>CR</em>) on cross-boundary digital innovation (<em>DI</em>) of traditional firms. The findings indicate that <em>CR</em> significantly enhances <em>DI</em>, which is supported by robustness tests and endogeneity estimates using El Niño index and air ventilation as instrumental variables. Identify three key mechanisms for driving <em>DI</em>: increasing patient capital, analyst attention, and industrial robot application level. In addition, <em>DI</em> in firms with lower financing constraints, non-state-owned, high-polluting industries, and eastern regions are particularly driven by <em>CR</em>. This indicates that <em>DI</em> may be a conscious selection for firms to adapt to climate change, implying that there are business opportunities behind climate change to promote digital-real integration. Finally, the impact of <em>CR</em> on <em>DI</em> is influenced by the threshold effect of green digital finance (<em>GDF</em>). Research provides new insights for policy makers to guide firms to adjust innovation strategies to adapt to climate change from the perspective of coordinated development of green finance and digital finance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 109537"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146014288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109540
Liping Xu, Lirong Zhang
The rapid development of the digital economy has profoundly reshaped firms’ operational decisions and financial behaviors, yet how corporate digital transformation affects tax planning remains insufficiently explored. Using a sample of Chinese A-share nonfinancial listed firms from 2009 to 2023, this study analyses digital transformation’s effect on corporate tax planning efficiency, focusing on the mediating role of the internal information environment. The results show that digital transformation significantly enhances tax planning efficiency, and this conclusion remains robust across robustness and endogeneity tests. Mechanism analyses indicate that digital transformation improves the internal information environment by increasing earnings forecast accuracy and accelerating financial information disclosure, strengthening firms’ tax planning capabilities. Heterogeneity analyses further reveal that this effect is greater in firms with stronger internal governance, greater external monitoring and more advanced regional digital economic development and industrial agglomeration. Furthermore, digital transformation promotes firms’ total factor productivity by improving tax planning efficiency. This study provides new empirical evidence on the financial governance effects of digital transformation with essential policy and managerial implications.
{"title":"How digital capabilities affect tax planning: The internal information environment","authors":"Liping Xu, Lirong Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109540","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109540","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid development of the digital economy has profoundly reshaped firms’ operational decisions and financial behaviors, yet how corporate digital transformation affects tax planning remains insufficiently explored. Using a sample of Chinese A-share nonfinancial listed firms from 2009 to 2023, this study analyses digital transformation’s effect on corporate tax planning efficiency, focusing on the mediating role of the internal information environment. The results show that digital transformation significantly enhances tax planning efficiency, and this conclusion remains robust across robustness and endogeneity tests. Mechanism analyses indicate that digital transformation improves the internal information environment by increasing earnings forecast accuracy and accelerating financial information disclosure, strengthening firms’ tax planning capabilities. Heterogeneity analyses further reveal that this effect is greater in firms with stronger internal governance, greater external monitoring and more advanced regional digital economic development and industrial agglomeration. Furthermore, digital transformation promotes firms’ total factor productivity by improving tax planning efficiency. This study provides new empirical evidence on the financial governance effects of digital transformation with essential policy and managerial implications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 109540"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146014265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}