Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-23DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2026.104946
Qiming Liu , Chenda Li , Liang Zhang , Liang Cao , Liubing Lai
The rapid rise of digital finance has become essential for firms seeking to ascend the global value chain (GVC). This paper investigates whether and how the development of city-level digital finance influences firms' span of production stages along the GVC. The results show that digital finance significantly expands firms' production stages, and the finding remains robust to multiple tests. Further mechanism analysis disclosures that digital finance realizes its positive impact by increasing firms' import upstreamness, alleviating external financial constraints, and enhancing innovation activities, which ultimately enable firms to occupy more stages in global production. Heterogeneity tests indicate that the effects vary systematically across firms of different sizes and ownership types.
{"title":"Digital finance and the firms’ production stages along the global value chain","authors":"Qiming Liu , Chenda Li , Liang Zhang , Liang Cao , Liubing Lai","doi":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104946","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104946","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid rise of digital finance has become essential for firms seeking to ascend the global value chain (GVC). This paper investigates whether and how the development of city-level digital finance influences firms' span of production stages along the GVC. The results show that digital finance significantly expands firms' production stages, and the finding remains robust to multiple tests. Further mechanism analysis disclosures that digital finance realizes its positive impact by increasing firms' import upstreamness, alleviating external financial constraints, and enhancing innovation activities, which ultimately enable firms to occupy more stages in global production. Heterogeneity tests indicate that the effects vary systematically across firms of different sizes and ownership types.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14444,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics & Finance","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 104946"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146074643","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-24DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2026.104923
Dominik Ulke
The relationship between financial openness and economic growth has long been debated, with empirical evidence remaining mixed. Much of the existing literature focuses on the late 20th century, leaving the effects of financial openness in the 21st century, a time that saw several financial crises and a widespread revival of capital controls, comparatively underexplored. This study revisits this fundamental question using a comprehensive panel dataset covering 159 countries from 1995 to 2021 and two widely used indicators of financial openness, KAOPEN (Chinn and Ito, 2006) and CAPITAL (Quinn, 1997; Quinn and Toyoda, 2008). Employing fixed effects, two-stage least squares, and system-GMM estimators, the analysis accounts for endogeneity concerns. Across all specifications, results consistently show a negative association between financial openness and real per capita GDP growth, suggesting that greater openness has reduced growth in recent decades. Contrary to theory, there is only weak evidence to suggest that this effect is stronger for countries that predominantly import capital and for those that suffer from ”original sin”. These results challenge the conventional wisdom that financial liberalization inherently fosters economic growth. From a policy perspective, they suggest that maintaining selective capital controls may contribute to greater macroeconomic stability and sustained growth, not only for developing countries.
金融开放与经济增长之间的关系长期以来一直存在争议，经验证据仍然好坏参半。现有的文献大多集中在20世纪后期，而对21世纪金融开放的影响的探讨相对较少，而21世纪经历了几次金融危机，资本管制广泛复苏。本研究使用涵盖1995年至2021年159个国家的综合面板数据集和两个广泛使用的金融开放指标——KAOPEN （Chinn and Ito, 2006）和CAPITAL (Quinn, 1997; Quinn and Toyoda, 2008)，重新审视了这个基本问题。采用固定效应、两阶段最小二乘和系统- gmm估计，分析考虑了内生性问题。在所有指标中，结果一致显示金融开放度与实际人均GDP增长之间存在负相关关系，这表明近几十年来，更大的开放度降低了增长。与理论相反，只有微弱的证据表明，这种影响对主要进口资本的国家和那些遭受“原罪”的国家更强。这些结果挑战了金融自由化本质上促进经济增长的传统观点。从政策角度来看，他们认为，维持选择性资本管制可能有助于提高宏观经济稳定性和持续增长，不仅对发展中国家如此。
{"title":"Facilitator or inhibitor?","authors":"Dominik Ulke","doi":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104923","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104923","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The relationship between financial openness and economic growth has long been debated, with empirical evidence remaining mixed. Much of the existing literature focuses on the late 20th century, leaving the effects of financial openness in the 21st century, a time that saw several financial crises and a widespread revival of capital controls, comparatively underexplored. This study revisits this fundamental question using a comprehensive panel dataset covering 159 countries from 1995 to 2021 and two widely used indicators of financial openness, KAOPEN (Chinn and Ito, 2006) and CAPITAL (Quinn, 1997; Quinn and Toyoda, 2008). Employing fixed effects, two-stage least squares, and system-GMM estimators, the analysis accounts for endogeneity concerns. Across all specifications, results consistently show a negative association between financial openness and real per capita GDP growth, suggesting that greater openness has reduced growth in recent decades. Contrary to theory, there is only weak evidence to suggest that this effect is stronger for countries that predominantly import capital and for those that suffer from ”original sin”. These results challenge the conventional wisdom that financial liberalization inherently fosters economic growth. From a policy perspective, they suggest that maintaining selective capital controls may contribute to greater macroeconomic stability and sustained growth, not only for developing countries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14444,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics & Finance","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 104923"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146074645","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-19DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2025.104857
Zerun Wang , Yingying Geng , Peiyang Xie , Ke Peng
Cross-border e-commerce offers significant opportunities for firms seeking international market access through digital channels. This study investigates how digital leadership drives cross-border e-commerce development among Chinese enterprises. We define digital leadership as top management's demonstrated commitment to digital transformation, operationalized through the proportion of intangible assets allocated to digitalization initiatives. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2023, we measure cross-border e-commerce development through textual analysis of annual reports. Empirical results demonstrate that digital leadership significantly promotes cross-border e-commerce development. Mechanism analysis identifies two mediating pathways: supply chain digitalization and digital technology application depth. Furthermore, government digitalization incentives positively moderate the relationship between digital leadership and cross-border e-commerce outcomes. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that digital leadership effects are more pronounced in large enterprises and state owned enterprises, suggesting that leadership driven transformation proves particularly consequential in complex organizations with substantial resources but potential structural inertia. These findings remain robust across alternative variable measurements, Tobit estimation, exclusion of pandemic years, instrumental variable approaches, propensity score matching, and Heckman selection correction. This research contributes to the literature by proposing an asset based measure of digital leadership that captures actual resource commitment rather than executive background characteristics. The findings offer guidance for managers seeking to translate digital strategy into international market outcomes and for policymakers designing incentive programs that complement firm level transformation efforts.
{"title":"Digital leadership and the development of firms’ cross-border E-commerce","authors":"Zerun Wang , Yingying Geng , Peiyang Xie , Ke Peng","doi":"10.1016/j.iref.2025.104857","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iref.2025.104857","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cross-border e-commerce offers significant opportunities for firms seeking international market access through digital channels. This study investigates how digital leadership drives cross-border e-commerce development among Chinese enterprises. We define digital leadership as top management's demonstrated commitment to digital transformation, operationalized through the proportion of intangible assets allocated to digitalization initiatives. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2023, we measure cross-border e-commerce development through textual analysis of annual reports. Empirical results demonstrate that digital leadership significantly promotes cross-border e-commerce development. Mechanism analysis identifies two mediating pathways: supply chain digitalization and digital technology application depth. Furthermore, government digitalization incentives positively moderate the relationship between digital leadership and cross-border e-commerce outcomes. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that digital leadership effects are more pronounced in large enterprises and state owned enterprises, suggesting that leadership driven transformation proves particularly consequential in complex organizations with substantial resources but potential structural inertia. These findings remain robust across alternative variable measurements, Tobit estimation, exclusion of pandemic years, instrumental variable approaches, propensity score matching, and Heckman selection correction. This research contributes to the literature by proposing an asset based measure of digital leadership that captures actual resource commitment rather than executive background characteristics. The findings offer guidance for managers seeking to translate digital strategy into international market outcomes and for policymakers designing incentive programs that complement firm level transformation efforts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14444,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics & Finance","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 104857"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146074656","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-10DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2026.104900
Weiyu Zhang, Zhihui Dou, Qianru Wang, Xindong Yang
This study explores the governance implications of Confucian culture on internal control effectiveness in Chinese listed firms from 2012 to 2021, drawing on informal institutional theory. Moving beyond reliance on single proxy variables, we operationalize Confucian culture by decomposing it into the “Five Constant Virtues” (Ren, Yi, Li, Zhi, Xin). We construct a weighted index using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), assigning the highest weight to “Xin” (Trust) based on the logic of corporate survival. By integrating expert-based AHP weighting with textual big data from annual reports, we significantly enhance the external validity of our cultural measurement. Empirical results reveal that Confucian culture significantly improves internal control, functioning as an ethical substitute for formal institutions in weak rule-of-law environments. Conversely, its governance utility is significantly weakened in highly marketized regions, suggesting institutional friction between relationship-based norms and market principles. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that Confucian values exert a stronger positive effect in state-owned enterprises. These findings underscore the situational duality of informal institutions and highlight the complex role of Confucian ethics in hybrid governance systems. This study contributes to cross-cultural corporate governance literature by providing a nuanced framework for ethical-institutional alignment and proposing differentiated governance strategies across diverse institutional contexts.
{"title":"Ethical substitutes or institutional frictions? Confucian culture, marketization, and internal control effectiveness","authors":"Weiyu Zhang, Zhihui Dou, Qianru Wang, Xindong Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104900","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104900","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the governance implications of Confucian culture on internal control effectiveness in Chinese listed firms from 2012 to 2021, drawing on informal institutional theory. Moving beyond reliance on single proxy variables, we operationalize Confucian culture by decomposing it into the “Five Constant Virtues” (Ren, Yi, Li, Zhi, Xin). We construct a weighted index using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), assigning the highest weight to “Xin” (Trust) based on the logic of corporate survival. By integrating expert-based AHP weighting with textual big data from annual reports, we significantly enhance the external validity of our cultural measurement. Empirical results reveal that Confucian culture significantly improves internal control, functioning as an ethical substitute for formal institutions in weak rule-of-law environments. Conversely, its governance utility is significantly weakened in highly marketized regions, suggesting institutional friction between relationship-based norms and market principles. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that Confucian values exert a stronger positive effect in state-owned enterprises. These findings underscore the situational duality of informal institutions and highlight the complex role of Confucian ethics in hybrid governance systems. This study contributes to cross-cultural corporate governance literature by providing a nuanced framework for ethical-institutional alignment and proposing differentiated governance strategies across diverse institutional contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14444,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics & Finance","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 104900"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980868","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-02-06DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2026.104972
Daniil Bargman
Latent variables are used in many prominent models in economics and finance. Yet the standard methodologies for estimating latent variables often produce sub-optimal results in inferential settings. This paper proposes a new methodological framework for latent variable modelling which stands on the conceptual foundations of Principal Component Analysis but endows the estimated latent variables with inferential properties. The new framework is then applied to derive a new latent variable regression model called LARX: an extension of the ubiquitous autoregressive model with exogenous inputs (ARX) in which any or all input variables can be latent. As a side-effect of deriving the LARX model, a minor contribution is also made to the field of matrix calculus: A new matrix operator is defined and applied to solve a class of Lagrangian optimisation problems with interactions between multiple coefficient vectors subject to case-by-case constraints.
In the empirical section, the LARX model is used to re-examine the relationship between stock market performance and real economic activity in the United States. The LARX model attains an out-of-sample R-squared of up to 79.7% compared to 50.3% for the baseline OLS specification. It also reveals new information about the underlying drivers of the relationship between stock returns and economic growth, including the predictive power of sector rotations.
{"title":"Latent variable modelling by supervised diffusion","authors":"Daniil Bargman","doi":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104972","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104972","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Latent variables are used in many prominent models in economics and finance. Yet the standard methodologies for estimating latent variables often produce sub-optimal results in inferential settings. This paper proposes a new methodological framework for latent variable modelling which stands on the conceptual foundations of Principal Component Analysis but endows the estimated latent variables with inferential properties. The new framework is then applied to derive a new latent variable regression model called LARX: an extension of the ubiquitous autoregressive model with exogenous inputs (ARX) in which any or all input variables can be latent. As a side-effect of deriving the LARX model, a minor contribution is also made to the field of matrix calculus: A new matrix operator is defined and applied to solve a class of Lagrangian optimisation problems with interactions between multiple coefficient vectors subject to case-by-case constraints.</div><div>In the empirical section, the LARX model is used to re-examine the relationship between stock market performance and real economic activity in the United States. The LARX model attains an out-of-sample R-squared of up to 79.7% compared to 50.3% for the baseline OLS specification. It also reveals new information about the underlying drivers of the relationship between stock returns and economic growth, including the predictive power of sector rotations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14444,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics & Finance","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 104972"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146189202","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-02-05DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2026.104985
Shiwei Chang , Cong Wang , Bo Chen , Yu Song
This paper examines the dynamic impact of geopolitical risk on short-term capital flows using a time-varying parameter vector autoregression (TVP-VAR) model and analyzes the transmission mechanism through interest rate differentials and exchange rate expectations. The findings indicate that geopolitical risk is a significant driver of short-term capital flows in China, with increased geopolitical risk leading to short-term cross-border capital outflows. Impulse response analysis across different time points indicates that financial opening-up policies affect short-term capital flows, yet gradual financial opening-up has not significantly amplified the impact of geopolitical risk. Under the influence of geopolitical risk, interest rate differentials and exchange rate expectations play crucial roles in the transmission of financial market risks in China.
{"title":"“Safe haven\" or “risk source\" ? The time-varying impact of geopolitical risk on China's short-term capital flows","authors":"Shiwei Chang , Cong Wang , Bo Chen , Yu Song","doi":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104985","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104985","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the dynamic impact of geopolitical risk on short-term capital flows using a time-varying parameter vector autoregression (TVP-VAR) model and analyzes the transmission mechanism through interest rate differentials and exchange rate expectations. The findings indicate that geopolitical risk is a significant driver of short-term capital flows in China, with increased geopolitical risk leading to short-term cross-border capital outflows. Impulse response analysis across different time points indicates that financial opening-up policies affect short-term capital flows, yet gradual financial opening-up has not significantly amplified the impact of geopolitical risk. Under the influence of geopolitical risk, interest rate differentials and exchange rate expectations play crucial roles in the transmission of financial market risks in China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14444,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics & Finance","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 104985"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146189416","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2026.104930
Lu Chen , Sizhou Wen , Yang Gao , Jiurui Rong
With the high-speed growth of new-generation information technology, the digital economy has had a profound impact on the global value chain (GVC) division of labor status in the manufacturing. Based on country-industry panel data from 2008 to 2018, our research explore the factors influenced by the digital economy on the manufacturing GVC division of labor. It is found that the digital economic growth dramatically contributes to the enhancement of manufacturing GVC division of labor status, and influences by promoting the production link to climb up to the R&D end, enhancing the inter-industry linkage, and reducing the cost of inter-country trade. Heterogeneous factors such as foreign digital resource inputs, higher national income levels, and industry capital-technology intensity reinforce the value chain status -enhancing effect of the digital economy. The results of the study are instructive for the policy making on the digital economy and manufacturing industry development.
{"title":"Evolution of the manufacturing industry's status in the global value chain division of labor driven by the digital economy","authors":"Lu Chen , Sizhou Wen , Yang Gao , Jiurui Rong","doi":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104930","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104930","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the high-speed growth of new-generation information technology, the digital economy has had a profound impact on the global value chain (GVC) division of labor status in the manufacturing. Based on country-industry panel data from 2008 to 2018, our research explore the factors influenced by the digital economy on the manufacturing GVC division of labor. It is found that the digital economic growth dramatically contributes to the enhancement of manufacturing GVC division of labor status, and influences by promoting the production link to climb up to the R&D end, enhancing the inter-industry linkage, and reducing the cost of inter-country trade. Heterogeneous factors such as foreign digital resource inputs, higher national income levels, and industry capital-technology intensity reinforce the value chain status -enhancing effect of the digital economy. The results of the study are instructive for the policy making on the digital economy and manufacturing industry development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14444,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics & Finance","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 104930"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146189417","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-16DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2025.104810
David M. Kemme , Bhavik Parikh , Tanja Steigner
The COVID-19 pandemic provides a natural experiment to examine how institutional capacity mediates tax evasion during economic shocks. Utilizing comprehensive data covering the period 2015–2020, with 9996 observations across 191 source and 38 OECD host countries, we analyze foreign portfolio investment flows to test two hypotheses about tax evasion behavior through roundtripping. We predict that tax evasion increases in non-developed markets, where economic incentives dominate, but decreases in developed markets, where regulatory constraints prevail. We find strong evidence for the incentive-driven response in MSCI non-developed market host countries, where economic distress and limited enforcement capacity outweighed operational constraints during the pandemic, leading to increased offshore tax evasion. We also confirm the constraint-driven response in MSCI-developed market host countries, where enhanced enforcement capabilities and operational barriers outweighed increased incentives, thereby reducing tax evasion activities. These results suggest that institutional capacity influences whether economic distress or regulatory constraints dominate during crisis periods.
{"title":"Public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on international tax evasion","authors":"David M. Kemme , Bhavik Parikh , Tanja Steigner","doi":"10.1016/j.iref.2025.104810","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iref.2025.104810","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The COVID-19 pandemic provides a natural experiment to examine how institutional capacity mediates tax evasion during economic shocks. Utilizing comprehensive data covering the period 2015–2020, with 9996 observations across 191 source and 38 OECD host countries, we analyze foreign portfolio investment flows to test two hypotheses about tax evasion behavior through roundtripping. We predict that tax evasion increases in non-developed markets, where economic incentives dominate, but decreases in developed markets, where regulatory constraints prevail. We find strong evidence for the incentive-driven response in MSCI non-developed market host countries, where economic distress and limited enforcement capacity outweighed operational constraints during the pandemic, leading to increased offshore tax evasion. We also confirm the constraint-driven response in MSCI-developed market host countries, where enhanced enforcement capabilities and operational barriers outweighed increased incentives, thereby reducing tax evasion activities. These results suggest that institutional capacity influences whether economic distress or regulatory constraints dominate during crisis periods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14444,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics & Finance","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 104810"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146035966","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}
This paper examines the relationship between firms' environmental sustainability and the cost of debt, with a specific focus on how firms' transition efforts are taken into account. Using a dataset of large European listed companies covering the period from 2015 to 2023, we provide evidence that better environmental practices on polluting emissions, energy sources and waste management reduce firms' cost of debt. This result remains robust when environmental metrics are combined into a unique composite indicator and after testing for endogeneity. Further analysis shows that the reduction in the cost of debt is stronger for less sustainable firms engaged in environmental transition. Our findings shed light on the importance of considering firms’ transition needs and efforts for effective transition finance.
{"title":"Environmental Practices and Corporate Cost of Debt: Evidence from European Listed Firms","authors":"Sabri Boubaker , Lorenzo Fichera , Simona Galletta , Sebastiano Mazzù","doi":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104910","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iref.2026.104910","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the relationship between firms' environmental sustainability and the cost of debt, with a specific focus on how firms' transition efforts are taken into account. Using a dataset of large European listed companies covering the period from 2015 to 2023, we provide evidence that better environmental practices on polluting emissions, energy sources and waste management reduce firms' cost of debt. This result remains robust when environmental metrics are combined into a unique composite indicator and after testing for endogeneity. Further analysis shows that the reduction in the cost of debt is stronger for less sustainable firms engaged in environmental transition. Our findings shed light on the importance of considering firms’ transition needs and efforts for effective transition finance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14444,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics & Finance","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 104910"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146036069","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}
We examine the impact of natural disasters at the county-level on trademark registrations (representing the commercialization of established technological innovations) in a large sample of U.S. public companies. Our results identify a reduction in trademark registrations following a disaster, which we find to be associated with (i) financial constraints on firms, (ii) reduced commitment to product development as evidenced by lower R&D and advertisement spending, and (iii) reduced human capital due to the tendency of marketing talents to avoid areas affected by disasters. Despite the reduction in trademark registrations, we find that firms significantly increase their innovation efficiency after a natural disaster, meaning that they convert a higher proportion of existing patents into trademarks than in non-disaster periods.
{"title":"Do natural disasters affect product development? Evidence from trademarks","authors":"Dieter Gramlich , Thomas Walker , Aoran Zhang , Yunfei Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.iref.2025.104863","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.iref.2025.104863","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine the impact of natural disasters at the county-level on trademark registrations (representing the commercialization of established technological innovations) in a large sample of U.S. public companies. Our results identify a reduction in trademark registrations following a disaster, which we find to be associated with (i) financial constraints on firms, (ii) reduced commitment to product development as evidenced by lower R&D and advertisement spending, and (iii) reduced human capital due to the tendency of marketing talents to avoid areas affected by disasters. Despite the reduction in trademark registrations, we find that firms significantly increase their innovation efficiency after a natural disaster, meaning that they convert a higher proportion of existing patents into trademarks than in non-disaster periods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14444,"journal":{"name":"International Review of Economics & Finance","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 104863"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146035970","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}
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号