International Review of Economics & Finance最新文献

This paper examines the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on labor demand. Using data from a Chinese online job posting site, this study empirically investigates how EPU affects firms' hiring behavior. The results suggest that EPU has overall negative effects. Firms tend to reduce job postings in times of increasing policy uncertainty. More particularly, the demand for skills such as teamwork, personnel management, project management, and customer service declines, while individual qualities become more important to enterprises. The study also reveals that there is a positive relationship between EPU and the educational background required in firms' job ads. Further analysis indicates that non-state-owned enterprises, those with poor internal control quality, smaller scale, greater industry competitiveness, and those in non-high-tech industries are more significantly affected by EPU in hiring. This research provides empirical support and policy recommendations for the government to maintain employment stability and stimulate enterprise labor demand.

The development of small and medium-sized banks has a profound impact on enterprise export trade. This study Based on a sample of 645 listed enterprises in China, to study the relationship between small and medium-sized banks and the export level of enterprises. Against the backdrop of the continuous development and growth of small and medium-sized banks, new ideas have been provided for seeking ways for Chinese enterprises to expand financing channels and improve export levels. The research results indicate that the development of small and medium-sized banks has significantly improved the export tendency and scale of enterprises. The heterogeneity test results show that the export expansion effect of the development of small and medium-sized banks is more significant for private enterprises, eastern enterprises, non-agricultural enterprises, and enterprises with high dependence on external financing. Based on these empirical research results and the actual situation in China, this article proposes policy recommendations such as building a long-term mechanism for the development of small and medium-sized banks, expanding their financial service coverage, and enhancing their financial service capabilities.

Using central inspections of China aimed at SOEs as a quasi-natural experiment, we investigate the causal effect of anti-corruption campaigns on the innovation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Based on the sample of China's SOEs, we find that the central inspections lead to an uplift in the quantity of SOE innovation at the expense of innovation quality. Further analysis indicates that owing to the unique motivation of political promotion, SOE managers improve the operation indicators valued by the government when subjected to political intervention in the shape of anti-corruption, such as the innovation quantity, referred to as the political monitoring mechanism. Eventually, there will be a decline in the quality of innovation that will supplement the long-term value of SOEs since the central inspection does not contribute to corporate governance.

This study focuses on the relationship between reputation resources and debt maturity structure and finds that enhancing reputation resources can optimize debt maturity structure, in which corporate credit ratings play a mediating role; moreover, there are differences in the impact of reputation resources on debt maturity structure for firms of different natures, in which the impact is more significant for non-state-owned firms. The findings of this study remain valid after the robustness and endogeneity tests.

This paper selects the data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2011 to 2022 as samples, explores the relationship between digital finance, financing constraints, and supply chain toughness, and finds that digital finance strengthens the supply chain toughness of enterprises; financing constraints will weaken the supply chain toughness of enterprises; enterprise technological innovation plays an intermediary role in the relationship between digital finance and supply chain toughness of enterprises; there is a significant difference in the impact of digital finance on supply chain toughness of state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises; and there is a significant difference in the impact of financing constraints on supply chain toughness of state-owned enterprises and non-state-owned enterprises.

In this paper, we investigate an optimization problem for a wage earner seeking to maximize expected utilities until retirement by choosing optimal consumption, investment, and life insurance purchase strategies. The constant elasticity of variance (CEV) model is adopted to describe the price process of the risky asset. Additionally, we assume that the wage earner has time-inconsistent preferences. This makes the wage earner discount her payoff by a non-constant discount rate. Applying the dynamic programming principle, we have derived the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation corresponding to the optimization problem. Furthermore, we present semi-analytical expressions for optimal strategies and value functions in three cases: the benchmark model with time-consistent preferences, the naive and sophisticated wage earners with time-inconsistent preferences. Finally, illustrations of the optimal solutions and some economic insights are provided in the numerical examples.

Stakeholder theory calls for effective stakeholder management in the interest of sustainable businesses. Whilst there is a need to redefine ‘stakeholders’, investors (i.e. shareholders) can play an essential role in bringing a paradigm shift in shaping current business practices. In recent times, the ‘Environment, Society and Governance’ (ESG) approach has emerged as an alternative form of investment for key investors seeking change. However, certain deficiencies have been identified when it comes to ESG strategies, which have led to disagreements among sustainable investors. To plug this gap and overcome this challenge, we propose an alternative framework based on sustainable business practices that holistically adds value that is inclusive of all stakeholders. To this end, we conducted semi-structured interviews with social entrepreneurs, academics, and experts from the financial services industry in an emerging country context, namely India. Based on our text analysis of interview data, we propose a ‘Holistic Value Addition’ (HVA) framework of sustainable investment that builds on value-addition by businesses towards its stakeholders. We envisage that adoption of this framework will help sustain the sustainable agenda.

We examine the relationship between Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Corporate Financial Performance for the S&P500 firms over a period of fifteen years. We test the effect of Jensen's alpha, stock returns, return-on-asset, size, sales, and profit on Corporate Environmental Responsibility by building a CAPM model of risk-adjusted excess returns under efficient-market hypothesis and introduce the “Green Premium,” the cost in stock return stockholders have to incur for their company's “greenness”. Although, “green” practices are positively related to sales and profit, the results suggest that market value of the company is not increased and that a significant negative relationship exists between “greenness” and stock's performance.

This study investigates the interconnections among green bonds, non-green bonds, the US Dollar Index, precious metals (gold and silver), the Dow Jones Commodity Index (DJCI), and stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region (including Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand), Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Additionally, the research delves into the costs and effectiveness of hedging in a diversified stock portfolio. The findings unveil a substantial presence of significant spillovers across these markets. Green bonds, the US Dollar Index, DJCI, gold, silver, and the stock markets of Canada, Mexico, and the US are identified as net contributors to spillovers, while Asia-Pacific stock markets are recognized as net receivers of shocks. The spillover magnitude exhibited a moderate level pre-pandemic, experienced an upward trend during the COVID-19 and Russian-Ukraine conflict periods, and declined during the vaccine distribution phases. The impact of COVID-19 on spillover magnitude appears to be more pronounced than that during the Russia-Ukraine tension. Furthermore, the overall connectedness is observed to be dynamic over time, displaying sensitivity to crisis periods.

This paper investigates the role of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in enhancing the export resilience of countries along its route. It calculates the export resilience for 145 products in 130 countries from 1990 to 2018, using the Economic Vulnerability Index released by the Committee for Development Policy of the United Nations. Employing a Difference-in-Differences analysis, the BRI’ impact on the export resilience of each product by country is examined. The findings reveal a significant positive effect of the BRI on the export resilience of countries along its route, indicating an improvement in their export performance and risk resistance. It has been proven that regional economic integration promotes the security and stability of industrial chains. This conclusion helps countries effectively respond to the rising risks of external shocks in the rapidly changing global economic landscape and expands current academic exploration on resilience. The results also show that the BRI's impact has a three-year lag, consistent with its gradual implementation characteristics and demonstrating its effectiveness. The heterogeneity analysis reveals a greater impact on low-income countries, highlighting the need for those countries to enhance regional economic cooperation. This paper also points out the necessity for China's less developed border regions to increase openness and strengthen international connections.