Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102083
Qiaochu Li, Yuehan Liu, Qinghe Yang, Jianhui Jian, Tao Li
This study examines how economic policy uncertainty (EPU) affects Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. The results demonstrate that EPU reduces overall ESG scores, specifically weakening governance (G) but enhancing social (S) performance, indicating that firms tend to prioritize social initiatives over governance under uncertainty. The effects are moderated by firms’ life cycle, ownership, and cash holdings. Mechanism analyses suggest that EPU reduces ESG performance through heightening investor pessimism, whereas it enhances ESG performance through R&D investments. In addition, stronger ESG lowers stock price crash risk during EPU but slightly reduces firm value. Overall, our findings highlight EPU’s influence on corporate sustainability strategies.
{"title":"Economic policy uncertainty and ESG performance","authors":"Qiaochu Li, Yuehan Liu, Qinghe Yang, Jianhui Jian, Tao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102083","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102083","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines how economic policy uncertainty (EPU) affects Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. The results demonstrate that EPU reduces overall ESG scores, specifically weakening governance (G) but enhancing social (S) performance, indicating that firms tend to prioritize social initiatives over governance under uncertainty. The effects are moderated by firms’ life cycle, ownership, and cash holdings. Mechanism analyses suggest that EPU reduces ESG performance through heightening investor pessimism, whereas it enhances ESG performance through R&D investments. In addition, stronger ESG lowers stock price crash risk during EPU but slightly reduces firm value. Overall, our findings highlight EPU’s influence on corporate sustainability strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"101 ","pages":"Article 102083"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145623804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-27DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102085
Jing Li , Huilin Mao , Zhongyu Sun , YunZhong Li
This paper explores the effect of cultural policy interventions on rural education investment using a difference-in-difference (DID) approach and household microdata. We found that the Change Social Practices and Customs (CSPC) policy significantly increased educational investment in rural children, with educational spending in pilot areas being 62.7 % higher than in non-pilot areas. This effect is more pronounced for boys, multi-child families, and in areas with a stronger clan culture. Our findings indicate that the policy can reduce the pressure of bride price payments and, by decreasing competitive saving within households, enhance the education premium in the marriage market, thereby increasing educational expenditures for children. This research offers new insights into the cultural dynamics influencing rural educational investment and its implications for narrowing the educational disparities between rural and urban areas, thereby supporting educational equity.
{"title":"Bridging the gap: How cultural interventions boost rural educational expenditure","authors":"Jing Li , Huilin Mao , Zhongyu Sun , YunZhong Li","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102085","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102085","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper explores the effect of cultural policy interventions on rural education investment using a difference-in-difference (DID) approach and household microdata. We found that the Change Social Practices and Customs (CSPC) policy significantly increased educational investment in rural children, with educational spending in pilot areas being 62.7 % higher than in non-pilot areas. This effect is more pronounced for boys, multi-child families, and in areas with a stronger clan culture. Our findings indicate that the policy can reduce the pressure of bride price payments and, by decreasing competitive saving within households, enhance the education premium in the marriage market, thereby increasing educational expenditures for children. This research offers new insights into the cultural dynamics influencing rural educational investment and its implications for narrowing the educational disparities between rural and urban areas, thereby supporting educational equity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"102 ","pages":"Article 102085"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145617102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-27DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102088
Le Wen , Abdelrahman Ali , Zhipeng Zhou
This study investigates the impact of rising housing rents on marriage formation among migrants in urban China, a pressing issue in the context of the country's rapid urbanization and escalating housing market pressures. Using data from the multi-year China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), we adopt an instrumental variable (IV) approach to address potential endogeneity and mainly assess how increasing rental costs affect the timing of marriage and spouse selection among migrants. Our empirical findings reveal that rising housing rents significantly delay migrants' marriages and decrease their likelihood of marrying a native spouse. Specifically, a 10 % increase in housing rents postpones marriage by approximately half a year and decreases the likelihood of marrying a native spouse by 5.837 percentage points. These effects are more pronounced among lower-income and inter-provincial migrants. Besides, the delaying effect of rising rents is stronger for male migrants and for those who eventually marry native spouses. Moreover, rising rents significantly lower the overall likelihood of marriage entry among migrants. The study highlights the need to improve housing affordability and implement targeted support measures for vulnerable migrant populations to alleviate these impacts and promote more inclusive urban development.
{"title":"Rising housing rents and migrants' marriage formation: Evidence from China","authors":"Le Wen , Abdelrahman Ali , Zhipeng Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102088","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102088","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the impact of rising housing rents on marriage formation among migrants in urban China, a pressing issue in the context of the country's rapid urbanization and escalating housing market pressures. Using data from the multi-year China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), we adopt an instrumental variable (IV) approach to address potential endogeneity and mainly assess how increasing rental costs affect the timing of marriage and spouse selection among migrants. Our empirical findings reveal that rising housing rents significantly delay migrants' marriages and decrease their likelihood of marrying a native spouse. Specifically, a 10 % increase in housing rents postpones marriage by approximately half a year and decreases the likelihood of marrying a native spouse by 5.837 percentage points. These effects are more pronounced among lower-income and inter-provincial migrants. Besides, the delaying effect of rising rents is stronger for male migrants and for those who eventually marry native spouses. Moreover, rising rents significantly lower the overall likelihood of marriage entry among migrants. The study highlights the need to improve housing affordability and implement targeted support measures for vulnerable migrant populations to alleviate these impacts and promote more inclusive urban development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"102 ","pages":"Article 102088"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145685476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-26DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102087
Huilong Liu , Yifei Wang , Jing Xie , Jun Yin
Leveraging a judicial reform in China as a quasi-natural experiment, this study employs a staggered difference-in-differences (DiD) design to investigate the causal effect of judicial independence on firm-level labor share. The results indicate that enhanced judicial independence increases labor share by 7.65 % relative to the standard deviation. This effect is driven primarily by improved labor rights protection rather than changes in labor demand. Heterogeneity analyses reveal stronger impacts in regions with weaker legal environments, labor-intensive industries, non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs), firms with higher proportions of low-skilled employees, and reform implementation with greater intensity. The reform also reduces intra-firm wage gaps and inter-firm labor share disparities. These findings underscore the importance of judicial independence as a critical institutional mechanism for promoting more equitable income distribution.
{"title":"Judicial independence and firms’ labor share: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China","authors":"Huilong Liu , Yifei Wang , Jing Xie , Jun Yin","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102087","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102087","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Leveraging a judicial reform in China as a quasi-natural experiment, this study employs a staggered difference-in-differences (DiD) design to investigate the causal effect of judicial independence on firm-level labor share. The results indicate that enhanced judicial independence increases labor share by 7.65 % relative to the standard deviation. This effect is driven primarily by improved labor rights protection rather than changes in labor demand. Heterogeneity analyses reveal stronger impacts in regions with weaker legal environments, labor-intensive industries, non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs), firms with higher proportions of low-skilled employees, and reform implementation with greater intensity. The reform also reduces intra-firm wage gaps and inter-firm labor share disparities. These findings underscore the importance of judicial independence as a critical institutional mechanism for promoting more equitable income distribution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"102 ","pages":"Article 102087"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145617101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-26DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102086
Jiaxuan Li , Shuzhen Liang , Yongwei Ye , Changjian Chen
Although extant studies have explored the determinants of corporate human capital upgrading based on multiple perspectives, it is unclear whether and how market competition affects corporate human capital upgrading. We conduct a difference-in-difference regression by employing the enactment of China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) in 2008 as a quasi-natural experiment that exposes monopolies to increased market competition. The results show that high-monopolistic firms hire more highly skilled employees after the enactment of the AML, particularly for state-owned firms, firms operating in regions with high market segmentation, firms with low R&D intensity. Further evidence suggests that the possible channel behind this positive effect is that the heightened market competition led by the AML, incentivizes monopoly firms to increase the investment in human capital and the demand for employees with high skills. In addition, we further find that the enactment of the AML increases firms’ labor income share, labor productivity, total factor productivity, and profitability. Our study highlights the crucial role of the AML in promoting corporate human capital upgrading.
{"title":"Product market competition and corporate human capital upgrading: Evidence from China’s Anti-Monopoly Law","authors":"Jiaxuan Li , Shuzhen Liang , Yongwei Ye , Changjian Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102086","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102086","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although extant studies have explored the determinants of corporate human capital upgrading based on multiple perspectives, it is unclear whether and how market competition affects corporate human capital upgrading. We conduct a difference-in-difference regression by employing the enactment of China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) in 2008 as a quasi-natural experiment that exposes monopolies to increased market competition. The results show that high-monopolistic firms hire more highly skilled employees after the enactment of the AML, particularly for state-owned firms, firms operating in regions with high market segmentation, firms with low R&D intensity. Further evidence suggests that the possible channel behind this positive effect is that the heightened market competition led by the AML, incentivizes monopoly firms to increase the investment in human capital and the demand for employees with high skills. In addition, we further find that the enactment of the AML increases firms’ labor income share, labor productivity, total factor productivity, and profitability. Our study highlights the crucial role of the AML in promoting corporate human capital upgrading.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"102 ","pages":"Article 102086"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145617175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-26DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102084
Angela C. Chao, Jiayi Tao, Jichi Tian
In pursuit of sustainable development, it is essential for firms to integrate environmental social responsibility into their core strategies. This study investigates the impact mechanism of environmental corporate social responsibility on firm growth in an oligopolistic market under regulatory pressure, based on three corporate environmental governance strategies: front-end prevention, end-of-pipe control, and comprehensive governance. The findings indicate that firms without environmental governance practices may face greater market risks and more likely to be eliminated compared to those actively engaged in such practices. This insight provides valuable guidance for firms to deepen understand social responsibility and make informed environmental governance decisions, and for policymakers to develop more effective environmental governance strategies.
{"title":"Environmental governance and CSR: Dilemma or plausibility?","authors":"Angela C. Chao, Jiayi Tao, Jichi Tian","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102084","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102084","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In pursuit of sustainable development, it is essential for firms to integrate environmental social responsibility into their core strategies. This study investigates the impact mechanism of environmental corporate social responsibility on firm growth in an oligopolistic market under regulatory pressure, based on three corporate environmental governance strategies: front-end prevention, end-of-pipe control, and comprehensive governance. The findings indicate that firms without environmental governance practices may face greater market risks and more likely to be eliminated compared to those actively engaged in such practices. This insight provides valuable guidance for firms to deepen understand social responsibility and make informed environmental governance decisions, and for policymakers to develop more effective environmental governance strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"102 ","pages":"Article 102084"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145737300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-22DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102075
Liang Chang , Bingyan Zheng , Na Tan , Haobin Zheng
This study investigates how financial constraints affect firms’ environmental decisions and how costly the resulting social externalities are in emerging economies. Using a novel text-based index of financial constraints and data on Chinese listed firms from 2000 to 2020, we find that greater financial constraints significantly reduce firms’ environmental investment. The impact is more pronounced for non-SOEs and manifests more strongly in regions with lower public environmental concern and stricter regulation intensity. Exploiting the policy shock of China’s Property Rights Law in 2007, we find that firms affected by the law have a higher degree of financial constraint mitigation and increase their environmental investments by about 24 % on average. This investment increase potentially reduces the probability of environmental penalties by 3 % and penalty amounts by 0.07–0.22 million yuan per firm, while potentially increasing the firm’s market value by 0.96–1.92 billion yuan and avoiding social losses of 3.1–9.5 million yuan.
{"title":"Unlocking green capital: Financial constraints and environmental investments in China","authors":"Liang Chang , Bingyan Zheng , Na Tan , Haobin Zheng","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102075","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102075","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates how financial constraints affect firms’ environmental decisions and how costly the resulting social externalities are in emerging economies. Using a novel text-based index of financial constraints and data on Chinese listed firms from 2000 to 2020, we find that greater financial constraints significantly reduce firms’ environmental investment. The impact is more pronounced for non-SOEs and manifests more strongly in regions with lower public environmental concern and stricter regulation intensity. Exploiting the policy shock of China’s Property Rights Law in 2007, we find that firms affected by the law have a higher degree of financial constraint mitigation and increase their environmental investments by about 24 % on average. This investment increase potentially reduces the probability of environmental penalties by 3 % and penalty amounts by 0.07–0.22 million yuan per firm, while potentially increasing the firm’s market value by 0.96–1.92 billion yuan and avoiding social losses of 3.1–9.5 million yuan.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"102 ","pages":"Article 102075"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145600358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-19DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102080
Sanjiv Kumar
This study examines the impact of climate change on inflation and output growth (OG) in India. It uses data from April 1991 to December 2022 and employs the Granger causality test, structural vector autoregressive (SVAR), and time-varying vector autoregressive (TV-VAR) techniques. The Granger causality results show that rising temperatures Granger-cause inflation, while their effect on OG is not significant. The SVAR results reveal that temperature shocks exert upward pressure on inflation, and the TV-VAR estimates further reinforce that the effects of temperature are inflationary and vary over time. Subsector analysis further suggests that increases in temperature tend to raise food, housing, and energy prices. From a policy perspective, as higher temperatures exert upward pressure on inflation, the central bank needs to integrate climate risk into inflation targeting and broader macroeconomic policy frameworks, while promoting sustainable financial instruments such as green bonds to mitigate the adverse effects of climate risk.
{"title":"Impact of climate change on inflation and output in an emerging economy: Empirical evidence from India","authors":"Sanjiv Kumar","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102080","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102080","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the impact of climate change on inflation and output growth (OG) in India. It uses data from April 1991 to December 2022 and employs the Granger causality test, structural vector autoregressive (SVAR), and time-varying vector autoregressive (TV-VAR) techniques. The Granger causality results show that rising temperatures Granger-cause inflation, while their effect on OG is not significant. The SVAR results reveal that temperature shocks exert upward pressure on inflation, and the TV-VAR estimates further reinforce that the effects of temperature are inflationary and vary over time. Subsector analysis further suggests that increases in temperature tend to raise food, housing, and energy prices. From a policy perspective, as higher temperatures exert upward pressure on inflation, the central bank needs to integrate climate risk into inflation targeting and broader macroeconomic policy frameworks, while promoting sustainable financial instruments such as green bonds to mitigate the adverse effects of climate risk.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"101 ","pages":"Article 102080"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145578540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-19DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102082
Haiwei Jiang , Tao Li , Shiyuan Pan , Chen Zhang
This paper investigates the impact of basic research on innovation by constructing measures to gauge provincial basic research intensity and firm-level innovation performance in China. To address the endogeneity issue, this paper proposes an instrumental variable for basic research by utilizing the independent recruitment policy in China as a quasi-natural experiment. The empirical analysis obtains four main findings. First, basic research improves the quantity and quality of innovation. Second, except for incremental innovation, basic research catalyzes the output of breakthrough innovation. Third, the positive effects of basic research on innovation are more prominent for state-owned enterprises, high-tech firms, and firms located in regions with more college students. Fourth, training more innovative talent for local firms and changing the direction of firm innovation serve as the mechanisms.
{"title":"How does basic research affect innovation? Evidence from China","authors":"Haiwei Jiang , Tao Li , Shiyuan Pan , Chen Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102082","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102082","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the impact of basic research on innovation by constructing measures to gauge provincial basic research intensity and firm-level innovation performance in China. To address the endogeneity issue, this paper proposes an instrumental variable for basic research by utilizing the independent recruitment policy in China as a quasi-natural experiment. The empirical analysis obtains four main findings. First, basic research improves the quantity and quality of innovation. Second, except for incremental innovation, basic research catalyzes the output of breakthrough innovation. Third, the positive effects of basic research on innovation are more prominent for state-owned enterprises, high-tech firms, and firms located in regions with more college students. Fourth, training more innovative talent for local firms and changing the direction of firm innovation serve as the mechanisms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"101 ","pages":"Article 102082"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145578533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-19DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102081
Ruowei Ma, Hui Gao, Bowen Liang
Against the dual backdrop of achieving China’s “dual-carbon” goals and mitigating risks in green finance, this study systematically examines the mechanisms through which green bonds drive corporate green innovation, using data from Chinese A-share listed firms between 2011 and 2022. The findings show that the issuance of green bonds increases firms’ green patent applications by an average of 44.6 %, with more pronounced effects among non-state-owned enterprises, firms outside carbon-trading pilot regions, and those located in areas with weaker environmental regulation. Mechanism tests reveal two transmission channels. Internally, green bond proceeds alleviate financing constraints and expand R&D investment, contributing 12.7 % and 11.4 % of the overall innovation effect, respectively, thereby enhancing the efficiency of innovation resource allocation. Externally, green bonds improve stock liquidity and attract greater investor attention: enhanced liquidity accounts for 17.4 % of innovation growth, while analyst coverage and research reports contribute 4.9 % and 4.7 %, respectively, underscoring the role of market signaling in shaping innovation behavior. Theoretically, this study advances a “dual circulation” framework that integrates internal capital optimization with external market incentives, elucidating how green bonds simultaneously foster corporate resource reallocation and reputational gains. These insights provide firm-level evidence for identifying substantive environmental contributions, curbing greenwashing risks, and informing the design of differentiated carbon-neutral financial policies.
{"title":"Green bond and green innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed companies","authors":"Ruowei Ma, Hui Gao, Bowen Liang","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102081","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.102081","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Against the dual backdrop of achieving China’s “dual-carbon” goals and mitigating risks in green finance, this study systematically examines the mechanisms through which green bonds drive corporate green innovation, using data from Chinese A-share listed firms between 2011 and 2022. The findings show that the issuance of green bonds increases firms’ green patent applications by an average of 44.6 %, with more pronounced effects among non-state-owned enterprises, firms outside carbon-trading pilot regions, and those located in areas with weaker environmental regulation. Mechanism tests reveal two transmission channels. Internally, green bond proceeds alleviate financing constraints and expand R&D investment, contributing 12.7 % and 11.4 % of the overall innovation effect, respectively, thereby enhancing the efficiency of innovation resource allocation. Externally, green bonds improve stock liquidity and attract greater investor attention: enhanced liquidity accounts for 17.4 % of innovation growth, while analyst coverage and research reports contribute 4.9 % and 4.7 %, respectively, underscoring the role of market signaling in shaping innovation behavior. Theoretically, this study advances a “dual circulation” framework that integrates internal capital optimization with external market incentives, elucidating how green bonds simultaneously foster corporate resource reallocation and reputational gains. These insights provide firm-level evidence for identifying substantive environmental contributions, curbing greenwashing risks, and informing the design of differentiated carbon-neutral financial policies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"101 ","pages":"Article 102081"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145578541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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