Pub Date : 2025-09-08DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101365
Zhengyi Zhou
This paper investigates the effect of house price co-movement on inter-city labor migration, leveraging China's unique institutional background. We construct a shift-share instrumental variable (IV) for house price co-movement, using pairwise banking integration as a source of exogenous variation. We find that at household level, house price co-movement facilitates inter-city labor migration, particularly for migrants with a stronger incentive to hedge against housing consumption risk. At city-pair level, house price co-movement also positively affects migration flows. Hence, as housing market interventions become increasingly city-specific, policymakers should take measures to prevent the deterrence of labor mobility.
{"title":"House price co-movement and labor migration: Evidence from China","authors":"Zhengyi Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101365","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101365","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the effect of house price co-movement on inter-city labor migration, leveraging China's unique institutional background. We construct a shift-share instrumental variable (IV) for house price co-movement, using pairwise banking integration as a source of exogenous variation. We find that at household level, house price co-movement facilitates inter-city labor migration, particularly for migrants with a stronger incentive to hedge against housing consumption risk. At city-pair level, house price co-movement also positively affects migration flows. Hence, as housing market interventions become increasingly city-specific, policymakers should take measures to prevent the deterrence of labor mobility.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47886,"journal":{"name":"Emerging Markets Review","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101365"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145049415","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 : 2025-09-08DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101367
Lei Xu , Massimiliano Tani , Yu Zhu , Xin Wen
We investigate the impact of China's 2014 hukou reform – a major change allowing migrants living in small and medium-sized cities of less than 5 million people to apply for urban residence - on formal and informal borrowing at a time of rapid economic transformation. We find that the hukou policy change has predominantly increased natives' access to finance, especially through informal sources, and for investments in housing. We also find that the policy affects households differently according to education level, with more educated households borrowing more to capitalise on rising asset prices driven by the ‘additional’ urban population created by the policy.
{"title":"Formal and informal debt in China: Evidence from the 2014 hukou reform","authors":"Lei Xu , Massimiliano Tani , Yu Zhu , Xin Wen","doi":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101367","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101367","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate the impact of China's 2014 <em>hukou</em> reform – a major change allowing migrants living in small and medium-sized cities of less than 5 million people to apply for urban residence - on formal and informal borrowing at a time of rapid economic transformation. We find that the <em>hukou</em> policy change has predominantly increased natives' access to finance, especially through informal sources, and for investments in housing. We also find that the policy affects households differently according to education level, with more educated households borrowing more to capitalise on rising asset prices driven by the ‘additional’ urban population created by the policy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47886,"journal":{"name":"Emerging Markets Review","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101367"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145117697","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 : 2025-09-08DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101361
Yaojing Wang , Cheng Yuan , Jiayu Zhao
This study examines the potential of growth-mindset financial education to empower low-income married women and increase their labor force participation. In contrast to traditional financial literacy programs, which focus on outcomes that concerns managing existing resources, our approach targets maximizing income opportunities outcomes alongside financial knowledge interpretation. We conducted a randomized experiment involving 680 rural married women in a poverty county in China to test the effectiveness of income growth oriented financial education. The results show that women who received this education had 14% higher labor supply participation rate and 1.17 times higher frequency of seeking job information compared to the control group through increased self-efficacy and confidence in pursuing income-generating opportunities. This study offers a novel perspective on how financial education programs can improve financial conditions of underprivileged populations.
{"title":"Growth-mindset financial education and labor supply of low-income women: An RCT evidence from rural China","authors":"Yaojing Wang , Cheng Yuan , Jiayu Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101361","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101361","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the potential of growth-mindset financial education to empower low-income married women and increase their labor force participation. In contrast to traditional financial literacy programs, which focus on outcomes that concerns managing existing resources, our approach targets maximizing income opportunities outcomes alongside financial knowledge interpretation. We conducted a randomized experiment involving 680 rural married women in a poverty county in China to test the effectiveness of income growth oriented financial education. The results show that women who received this education had 14% higher labor supply participation rate and 1.17 times higher frequency of seeking job information compared to the control group through increased self-efficacy and confidence in pursuing income-generating opportunities. This study offers a novel perspective on how financial education programs can improve financial conditions of underprivileged populations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47886,"journal":{"name":"Emerging Markets Review","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101361"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145049416","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}
Given Vietnam's current anticorruption campaign and its distinctive context of decentralized governance and public sector dominance, this paper investigates how anticorruption efforts affect corporate investment behaviour during 2006 and 2019. Using a novel text-based measure of anticorruption and comprehensive firm-level datasets, we uncover a consistent pattern that firms tend to delay investments in response to heightened uncertainty triggered by anticorruption activities. This strategic hesitation reflects a rational response to avoid potential regulatory and political uncertainty, and holds across a wide range of robustness checks, including alternative model specifications, variable definitions, and advanced estimation techniques such as system GMM and entropy balancing. Our findings also reveal that anticorruption campaigns significantly reduce informal business costs—particularly bribery, thus highlighting institutional improvements and a more transparent business environment. Notably, while public sector investment efficiency improves under the campaign, private firms show no significant efficiency gains, underscoring the asymmetry in how reforms affect different ownership structures. By bridging institutional reform with corporate finance, the study offers new insights into the channels through which anticorruption influences firm decision-making, governance, and political strategy. This research fills a critical gap in the literature, demonstrating that anticorruption is not merely a legal or ethical issue, but a transformative force in corporate investment dynamics.
{"title":"Investment under anticorruption: Evidence from the high-profile anticorruption campaign in Vietnam","authors":"Huy Viet Hoang , Khanh Hoang , Viet Hoang , Cuong Nguyen","doi":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101360","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101360","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Given Vietnam's current anticorruption campaign and its distinctive context of decentralized governance and public sector dominance, this paper investigates how anticorruption efforts affect corporate investment behaviour during 2006 and 2019. Using a novel text-based measure of anticorruption and comprehensive firm-level datasets, we uncover a consistent pattern that firms tend to delay investments in response to heightened uncertainty triggered by anticorruption activities. This strategic hesitation reflects a rational response to avoid potential regulatory and political uncertainty, and holds across a wide range of robustness checks, including alternative model specifications, variable definitions, and advanced estimation techniques such as system GMM and entropy balancing. Our findings also reveal that anticorruption campaigns significantly reduce informal business costs—particularly bribery, thus highlighting institutional improvements and a more transparent business environment. Notably, while public sector investment efficiency improves under the campaign, private firms show no significant efficiency gains, underscoring the asymmetry in how reforms affect different ownership structures. By bridging institutional reform with corporate finance, the study offers new insights into the channels through which anticorruption influences firm decision-making, governance, and political strategy. This research fills a critical gap in the literature, demonstrating that anticorruption is not merely a legal or ethical issue, but a transformative force in corporate investment dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47886,"journal":{"name":"Emerging Markets Review","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101360"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145010535","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 : 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101362
Jingjing Zuo , Lu Han , Wei Wang
The increasing population aging has significantly altered the labor market and may consequently affect human resource management within organizations. Specifically, we investigate how this trend affects firms' employee treatment. Using panel data from the Chinese A-share firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges between 2007 and 2022, we discover that an aging population significantly reduces firms' employee treatment. This trend, which is consistent with the threat-rigidity effect, is mainly driven by rising labor costs and age discrimination against older workers. Accordingly, we find that population aging results in increased costs for recruiting, training, and pension obligations. Additionally, in areas with more pronounced population aging, firms are more likely to engage in age discrimination during recruitment. We also discuss several possible governance mechanisms. We find that advancements in intelligent elderly care systems, enhancements in education, and a stronger law environment can help alleviate the rigidity effect of population aging on employee treatment. Our research is crucial for understanding the corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards employees in an aging society and for developing effective policies to address demographic changes.
{"title":"Who is compressing the “dividends” of employees? Research on the impact of population aging on employee treatment","authors":"Jingjing Zuo , Lu Han , Wei Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101362","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101362","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The increasing population aging has significantly altered the labor market and may consequently affect human resource management within organizations. Specifically, we investigate how this trend affects firms' employee treatment. Using panel data from the Chinese A-share firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges between 2007 and 2022, we discover that an aging population significantly reduces firms' employee treatment. This trend, which is consistent with the threat-rigidity effect, is mainly driven by rising labor costs and age discrimination against older workers. Accordingly, we find that population aging results in increased costs for recruiting, training, and pension obligations. Additionally, in areas with more pronounced population aging, firms are more likely to engage in age discrimination during recruitment. We also discuss several possible governance mechanisms. We find that advancements in intelligent elderly care systems, enhancements in education, and a stronger law environment can help alleviate the rigidity effect of population aging on employee treatment. Our research is crucial for understanding the corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards employees in an aging society and for developing effective policies to address demographic changes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47886,"journal":{"name":"Emerging Markets Review","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101362"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145003790","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 : 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101359
Karren Lee-Hwei Khaw , Yi Wei , Shiyue Ma
This study examines the evolving risk-taking behavior of family firms and the role of ESG integration in mitigating excessive risk-taking. Traditionally viewed as risk-averse, family firms are increasingly engaging in higher risk-taking to enhance competitiveness and sustain long-term growth. We find that ESG adoption significantly reduces risk-taking in family firms by improving internal control quality, governance transparency, and reducing financial constraint, thereby strengthening overall corporate resilience. Robustness tests confirm these findings, while heterogeneity analysis reveals variations across firm life cycles, ownership structures, and industry contexts. Overall, ESG serves as a crucial governance mechanism, balancing strategic risk-taking with long-term sustainability in family firms.
{"title":"Family firms and risk taking: Does the integration of ESG practices matter?","authors":"Karren Lee-Hwei Khaw , Yi Wei , Shiyue Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101359","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101359","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the evolving risk-taking behavior of family firms and the role of ESG integration in mitigating excessive risk-taking. Traditionally viewed as risk-averse, family firms are increasingly engaging in higher risk-taking to enhance competitiveness and sustain long-term growth. We find that ESG adoption significantly reduces risk-taking in family firms by improving internal control quality, governance transparency, and reducing financial constraint, thereby strengthening overall corporate resilience. Robustness tests confirm these findings, while heterogeneity analysis reveals variations across firm life cycles, ownership structures, and industry contexts. Overall, ESG serves as a crucial governance mechanism, balancing strategic risk-taking with long-term sustainability in family firms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47886,"journal":{"name":"Emerging Markets Review","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101359"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144996905","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 : 2025-08-17DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101355
Longmei Zhang , Ray Brooks , Ding Ding , Haiyan Ding , Hui He , Jing Lu , Rui C. Mano
China's national savings rate—one of the highest in the world—is at the heart of its internal/external imbalances. High savings finance elevated investment when held domestically, or led to large global imbalances when they flowed abroad. We find that high savings emanate mostly from the household sector, resulting from demographic changes induced by the one-child policy and the transformation of the social safety net and job security that occurred during the transition from centrally planned to market economy. Housing reform and rising income inequality also contributed to higher savings. Moving forward, demographic changes will put downward pressure on savings. Policy efforts in strengthening the social safety net and reducing income inequality are also needed to reduce savings further and boost consumption.
{"title":"China's high savings: Drivers, prospects, and policy implications","authors":"Longmei Zhang , Ray Brooks , Ding Ding , Haiyan Ding , Hui He , Jing Lu , Rui C. Mano","doi":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101355","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101355","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>China's national savings rate—one of the highest in the world—is at the heart of its internal/external imbalances. High savings finance elevated investment when held domestically, or led to large global imbalances when they flowed abroad. We find that high savings emanate mostly from the household sector, resulting from demographic changes induced by the one-child policy and the transformation of the social safety net and job security that occurred during the transition from centrally planned to market economy. Housing reform and rising income inequality also contributed to higher savings. Moving forward, demographic changes will put downward pressure on savings. Policy efforts in strengthening the social safety net and reducing income inequality are also needed to reduce savings further and boost consumption.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47886,"journal":{"name":"Emerging Markets Review","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101355"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144889368","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 : 2025-08-14DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101356
Zhenshu Wu , Yi-Cheng Shih , Yao Wang , Rui Zhong
This study documents that high‑carbon emitters increase cash holdings by approximately 2.6% (7.9%) on average compared with low-carbon emitters after the implementation of the Paris Agreement (or the initiation of regional emission trading scheme pilots). High-carbon emitters with stronger external financial constraints and more volatile cash flows tends to hold more cash for precautionary motives. Further, cash flow is more valuable for high-carbon emitters after the implementation of decarbonization policies and increased net investing cash flow provides cash for high-carbon emitters in response to decarbonization. Additionally, high-carbon emitters conduct a green transition to reduce carbon emissions.
{"title":"The effects of decarbonization on corporate cash holdings","authors":"Zhenshu Wu , Yi-Cheng Shih , Yao Wang , Rui Zhong","doi":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101356","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101356","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study documents that high‑carbon emitters increase cash holdings by approximately 2.6% (7.9%) on average compared with low-carbon emitters after the implementation of the Paris Agreement (or the initiation of regional emission trading scheme pilots). High-carbon emitters with stronger external financial constraints and more volatile cash flows tends to hold more cash for precautionary motives. Further, cash flow is more valuable for high-carbon emitters after the implementation of decarbonization policies and increased net investing cash flow provides cash for high-carbon emitters in response to decarbonization. Additionally, high-carbon emitters conduct a green transition to reduce carbon emissions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47886,"journal":{"name":"Emerging Markets Review","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101356"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144888695","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 : 2025-08-12DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101354
Gang Qiao , Dongmin Kong , Lihua Liu
This paper examines the effect of China's 1999 higher education expansion on firm adoption of robots, employing a quasi-natural experiment. Using the difference-in-differences estimation strategy, we find that the surge in college-educated labor from 2003 led firms in human capital-intensive industries to adopt fewer robots, reducing machine-to-human replacement. The effect is stronger in non-SOEs, financially constrained firms, large and high-tech firms, labor-intensive industries, and coastal areas. Mechanism tests suggest cheaper labor and human capital upgrading drive this reduction. These findings emphasize human capital's crucial role in mitigating robot-driven labor displacement and its broader impact on the job market.
{"title":"Higher education expansion and the adoption of robots in China","authors":"Gang Qiao , Dongmin Kong , Lihua Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101354","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101354","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the effect of China's 1999 higher education expansion on firm adoption of robots, employing a quasi-natural experiment. Using the difference-in-differences estimation strategy, we find that the surge in college-educated labor from 2003 led firms in human capital-intensive industries to adopt fewer robots, reducing machine-to-human replacement. The effect is stronger in non-SOEs, financially constrained firms, large and high-tech firms, labor-intensive industries, and coastal areas. Mechanism tests suggest cheaper labor and human capital upgrading drive this reduction. These findings emphasize human capital's crucial role in mitigating robot-driven labor displacement and its broader impact on the job market.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47886,"journal":{"name":"Emerging Markets Review","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101354"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144867528","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 : 2025-08-12DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101357
Yinghui Chen , Ting Ren , Youzhi Xiao , Heng Yue
We examine the impact of China's de-politicization regulation Rule 18 on corporate risk-taking. This rule mandates government officials to step down from their positions on the boards of public firms, thereby severing the political ties through official directors. Employing a staggered difference-in-differences design, our study reveals that the collapse of political connections results in a significant decrease in the level of risk-taking among politically connected firms. Furthermore, we identify bank credit and direct government support as plausible channels through which these effects manifest and highlight the presence of heterogeneous effects across different contextual factors.
{"title":"De-politicization and corporate risk-taking","authors":"Yinghui Chen , Ting Ren , Youzhi Xiao , Heng Yue","doi":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101357","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ememar.2025.101357","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine the impact of China's de-politicization regulation Rule 18 on corporate risk-taking. This rule mandates government officials to step down from their positions on the boards of public firms, thereby severing the political ties through official directors. Employing a staggered difference-in-differences design, our study reveals that the collapse of political connections results in a significant decrease in the level of risk-taking among politically connected firms. Furthermore, we identify bank credit and direct government support as plausible channels through which these effects manifest and highlight the presence of heterogeneous effects across different contextual factors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47886,"journal":{"name":"Emerging Markets Review","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 101357"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144867529","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}
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