Pub Date : 2026-01-19DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102663
Yafei Li , Shaoxiang Jiang , Jinping Sun
Inventor executives are important organizers and promoters of corporate innovation. This paper constructs a database of inventor executives in Chinese listed companies by utilizing data on corporate patent inventors and executives' personal resumes. Using data from 2008 to 2022, we investigate the association between inventor executives and corporate innovation. The results indicate: (1) Hiring inventor executives leads to higher innovation growth for firms; (2) The underlying four key mechanisms are signaling effects, R&D investment, executive incentives, and social capital. (3) Inventor CEOs, chairmen, CFOs, and junior executives all boost firm innovation, though the mechanisms through which they operate vary; (4) Inventor executives demonstrate greater innovation-stimulating effects in SOEs than in non-SOEs. This paper introduces a new method to identify internal inventors within companies and further explore their impacts on corporate innovation.
{"title":"Inventors in the top management team: How position shapes corporate innovation","authors":"Yafei Li , Shaoxiang Jiang , Jinping Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102663","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102663","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Inventor executives are important organizers and promoters of corporate innovation. This paper constructs a database of inventor executives in Chinese listed companies by utilizing data on corporate patent inventors and executives' personal resumes. Using data from 2008 to 2022, we investigate the association between inventor executives and corporate innovation. The results indicate: (1) Hiring inventor executives leads to higher innovation growth for firms; (2) The underlying four key mechanisms are signaling effects, R&D investment, executive incentives, and social capital. (3) Inventor CEOs, chairmen, CFOs, and junior executives all boost firm innovation, though the mechanisms through which they operate vary; (4) Inventor executives demonstrate greater innovation-stimulating effects in SOEs than in non-SOEs. This paper introduces a new method to identify internal inventors within companies and further explore their impacts on corporate innovation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102663"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-19DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102666
Jia Guo , Yijie Min , Ben Zhe Wang , Zhiming Cheng
We examine the relationship between facial attractiveness and entrepreneurship in China using survey data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). To address the endogeneity of attractiveness, we employ an instrumental variable (IV) strategy. The estimates show that a one-standard-deviation increase in interviewer-assessed attractiveness raises the probability of becoming an entrepreneur by 4.6 percentage points. The findings are robust to a battery of robustness checks. Mechanism analyses indicate that attractiveness facilitates entrepreneurship by enhancing entrepreneurial skills, easing access to finance, and increasing risk preference. The effect is stronger among individuals with lower human capital or those facing tighter institutional constraints. Furthermore, we find that attractiveness leads to better business outcomes, including being an employer entrepreneur and earning higher business profits.
{"title":"Beauty and the business: Facial attractiveness and entrepreneurship","authors":"Jia Guo , Yijie Min , Ben Zhe Wang , Zhiming Cheng","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102666","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102666","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine the relationship between facial attractiveness and entrepreneurship in China using survey data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). To address the endogeneity of attractiveness, we employ an instrumental variable (IV) strategy. The estimates show that a one-standard-deviation increase in interviewer-assessed attractiveness raises the probability of becoming an entrepreneur by 4.6 percentage points. The findings are robust to a battery of robustness checks. Mechanism analyses indicate that attractiveness facilitates entrepreneurship by enhancing entrepreneurial skills, easing access to finance, and increasing risk preference. The effect is stronger among individuals with lower human capital or those facing tighter institutional constraints. Furthermore, we find that attractiveness leads to better business outcomes, including being an employer entrepreneur and earning higher business profits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102666"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-14DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102664
Shaohui Wu , Ge Yin , Xin Zhang
This study is among the first to examine the impact of a pollution information disclosure (PID) program on the cognitive abilities of middle-aged and elderly individuals in a developing country. Leveraging China's rollout of PID as a quasi-natural experiment and using nationally representative survey data, we find that the adoption of PID mitigates the adverse effect of PM2.5 exposure on cognitive performance by 53.01%. This effect is enhanced by increased awareness of pollution risks and changes in health-related behaviors. Moreover, the impact is more pronounced among men, younger individuals, those with higher levels of education and income, internet users, and individuals living with their children.
{"title":"Information, pollution, and cognition: The impact of air pollution disclosure on aging minds","authors":"Shaohui Wu , Ge Yin , Xin Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102664","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102664","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study is among the first to examine the impact of a pollution information disclosure (PID) program on the cognitive abilities of middle-aged and elderly individuals in a developing country. Leveraging China's rollout of PID as a quasi-natural experiment and using nationally representative survey data, we find that the adoption of PID mitigates the adverse effect of PM2.5 exposure on cognitive performance by 53.01%. This effect is enhanced by increased awareness of pollution risks and changes in health-related behaviors. Moreover, the impact is more pronounced among men, younger individuals, those with higher levels of education and income, internet users, and individuals living with their children.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102664"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-12DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102651
Wei Tang , Yuan Wang , Haiqi Wei
This paper investigates the impact of FDI liberalization on allocative efficiency in host countries. Using China’s 2002 FDI deregulation as a policy experiment, we show that growth impacts of FDI in a policy-distorted economy is primarily driven by between-firm resource reallocation rather than within-firm productivity improvements. Domestic firms with higher pre-reform marginal revenue products of capital (MRPK) receive greater capital inflows and exhibit subsequent declines in MRPK. We emphasize the role of FDI reform in reducing ownership-related distortions: it accelerated the exit of state capital. These results highlight that the pro-competitive effects of openness policies can act as external catalysts to mitigate domestic policy-induced distortions.
{"title":"FDI In, SOE Out: Understanding the reallocation effects of FDI liberalization in China","authors":"Wei Tang , Yuan Wang , Haiqi Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102651","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102651","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the impact of FDI liberalization on allocative efficiency in host countries. Using China’s 2002 FDI deregulation as a policy experiment, we show that growth impacts of FDI in a policy-distorted economy is primarily driven by between-firm resource reallocation rather than within-firm productivity improvements. Domestic firms with higher pre-reform marginal revenue products of capital (MRPK) receive greater capital inflows and exhibit subsequent declines in MRPK. We emphasize the role of FDI reform in reducing ownership-related distortions: it accelerated the exit of state capital. These results highlight that the pro-competitive effects of openness policies can act as external catalysts to mitigate domestic policy-induced distortions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102651"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-12DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102660
Shuang-Xuan Sun , Chun-Yu Ho , Xi Zhu
This study examines how financial institutions adjust their skill demand when their customers increasingly adopt financial technology (fintech). By utilizing approximately 1 million job vacancies from financial institutions, including banks, insurers, securities brokerages and investment companies, in China from 2014 to 2022, we find that financial institutions increase their demand and wage premiums for information and communication technology (ICT) skills when more of their customers adopt fintech. Specifically, we instrument customer adoption of fintech with a Bartik-style instrumental variable (IV) utilizing the variation in distance between customers and the fintech hub in China. Further, banks and state-owned financial institutions are the least responsive in their demand for ICT skills to customer adoption of fintech, which suggests that market competition may play a role in driving the skill demand of financial institutions. Finally, we do not find that artificial intelligence (AI) skill demand responds to customers' adoption of fintech.
{"title":"Fintech adoption and skill demand of financial institutions","authors":"Shuang-Xuan Sun , Chun-Yu Ho , Xi Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102660","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2026.102660","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines how financial institutions adjust their skill demand when their customers increasingly adopt financial technology (fintech). By utilizing approximately 1 million job vacancies from financial institutions, including banks, insurers, securities brokerages and investment companies, in China from 2014 to 2022, we find that financial institutions increase their demand and wage premiums for information and communication technology (ICT) skills when more of their customers adopt fintech. Specifically, we instrument customer adoption of fintech with a Bartik-style instrumental variable (IV) utilizing the variation in distance between customers and the fintech hub in China. Further, banks and state-owned financial institutions are the least responsive in their demand for ICT skills to customer adoption of fintech, which suggests that market competition may play a role in driving the skill demand of financial institutions. Finally, we do not find that artificial intelligence (AI) skill demand responds to customers' adoption of fintech.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102660"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-03DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102648
Xingjian Zhang , Yi Zhang , Yingjie Fu , Feichi Lu
This study examines the impact of bank internationalization on the efficiency of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). Using a large dataset of OFDI for 1035 Chinese firms across 136 host economies from 2013 to 2023, we find that the presence of Chinese banks in a host economy significantly improves Chinese firms’ investment efficiency there. This finding is robust to addressing endogeneity with instrumental variables and a series of robustness checks. Mechanism analysis identifies two channels: the credit channel, which lowers borrowing costs and improves loan utilization efficiency, and the information channel, which reduces institutional unfamiliarity and mitigates discrimination. Moreover, its impact varies with host economy characteristics, banking service features, and firm-specific factors. These findings provide important policy insights for emerging economies, highlighting the need to promote greater banking internationalization to improve the global competitiveness of their multinational firms.
{"title":"The impact of bank internationalization on the efficiency of Chinese outward foreign direct investment","authors":"Xingjian Zhang , Yi Zhang , Yingjie Fu , Feichi Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102648","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102648","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the impact of bank internationalization on the efficiency of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). Using a large dataset of OFDI for 1035 Chinese firms across 136 host economies from 2013 to 2023, we find that the presence of Chinese banks in a host economy significantly improves Chinese firms’ investment efficiency there. This finding is robust to addressing endogeneity with instrumental variables and a series of robustness checks. Mechanism analysis identifies two channels: the credit channel, which lowers borrowing costs and improves loan utilization efficiency, and the information channel, which reduces institutional unfamiliarity and mitigates discrimination. Moreover, its impact varies with host economy characteristics, banking service features, and firm-specific factors. These findings provide important policy insights for emerging economies, highlighting the need to promote greater banking internationalization to improve the global competitiveness of their multinational firms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102648"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145941251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-02DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102650
Xiaoting Zheng , Jiayu Wen , Xun Wu
Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) in essential infrastructure face persistent tensions between commercial viability and public service obligations, leading to widespread challenges in implementation and sustainability. In contrast, Government-Linked Companies (GLCs)—corporations with significant state ownership operating under market principles—have emerged as alternative social capital participants within China's PPP framework, offering a hybrid approach that combines state backing with market-based operations. This study applies principal–agent theory and analyzes a panel dataset of Chinese water utilities for 2000–2016 to assess how a GLC-involved hybrid governance structure influences financial and operational performance. The findings indicate that GLC involvement significantly enhances financial outcomes, increasing revenue by 9.2 % and profit by 98.6 %, while improving operational efficiency through strategic workforce management. These effects are particularly pronounced in regions with annual precipitation below 800 mm and in provinces with higher marketization indices, suggesting that GLCs are most effective where market institutions are stronger. By demonstrating how GLCs mitigate the governance challenges that have hindered traditional PPPs, this study highlights their potential as a sustainable infrastructure model that balances financial sustainability with public service commitments.
{"title":"Government linked companies (GLCs) and public private partnership (PPP) in the water sector in China: Political connection, utility performance and service quality","authors":"Xiaoting Zheng , Jiayu Wen , Xun Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102650","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102650","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) in essential infrastructure face persistent tensions between commercial viability and public service obligations, leading to widespread challenges in implementation and sustainability. In contrast, Government-Linked Companies (GLCs)—corporations with significant state ownership operating under market principles—have emerged as alternative social capital participants within China's PPP framework, offering a hybrid approach that combines state backing with market-based operations. This study applies principal–agent theory and analyzes a panel dataset of Chinese water utilities for 2000–2016 to assess how a GLC-involved hybrid governance structure influences financial and operational performance. The findings indicate that GLC involvement significantly enhances financial outcomes, increasing revenue by 9.2 % and profit by 98.6 %, while improving operational efficiency through strategic workforce management. These effects are particularly pronounced in regions with annual precipitation below 800 mm and in provinces with higher marketization indices, suggesting that GLCs are most effective where market institutions are stronger. By demonstrating how GLCs mitigate the governance challenges that have hindered traditional PPPs, this study highlights their potential as a sustainable infrastructure model that balances financial sustainability with public service commitments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 102650"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145941250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102449
Jie Tang , Huiwen Li
This special issue adopts a multidisciplinary lens to examine the rapid transition of China's urban development from traditional industrial agglomeration to innovation convergence. Integrating New Economic Geography theory, spatial economics insights, and policy case studies, it offers a comprehensive overview of China's innovation-driven urbanization. The collection highlights how market-based price mechanisms, targeted government interventions, and cross-regional knowledge spillovers jointly shape emerging innovation clusters. It also surveys theoretical frontiers in the “age of innovation,” including the enduring role of geographic distance, the impacts of heterogeneity and complexity, the integration of endogenous growth frameworks, and the micro-mechanisms of knowledge creation and diffusion. Finally, the issue previews empirical contributions that analyze urban innovation patterns, cross-boundary collaboration, infrastructure-enabled division of labor, and the pressing challenges of equity, sustainability, and methodological development in the study of industrial clusters and urbanization.
{"title":"China's urban agglomerations: Surging from industrial-led to innovation-driven","authors":"Jie Tang , Huiwen Li","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102449","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102449","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This special issue adopts a multidisciplinary lens to examine the rapid transition of China's urban development from traditional industrial agglomeration to innovation convergence. Integrating New Economic Geography theory, spatial economics insights, and policy case studies, it offers a comprehensive overview of China's innovation-driven urbanization. The collection highlights how market-based price mechanisms, targeted government interventions, and cross-regional knowledge spillovers jointly shape emerging innovation clusters. It also surveys theoretical frontiers in the “age of innovation,” including the enduring role of geographic distance, the impacts of heterogeneity and complexity, the integration of endogenous growth frameworks, and the micro-mechanisms of knowledge creation and diffusion. Finally, the issue previews empirical contributions that analyze urban innovation patterns, cross-boundary collaboration, infrastructure-enabled division of labor, and the pressing challenges of equity, sustainability, and methodological development in the study of industrial clusters and urbanization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 102449"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145925063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102642
Yuanbo Liang , Jingyang Fu , Xiao Teng , Xi Qu
This study contributes to the literature on infrastructure and economic geography by exploring how improved shipping conditions influence regional development. Using a unique township-level dataset and leveraging the operation of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) as a natural experiment, we show that enhanced waterborne transportation significantly promotes economic growth in port areas along the riverbanks. Mechanism analysis reveals that the TGD increased total freight volume by shifting freight composition toward waterborne transport, which induced water-transport-oriented industrial growth and generated larger gains for ports that initially had worse shipping conditions. Extension analysis shows that the regional economic hierarchy has strengthened after the operation of the TGD, suggesting that the reorganization of regional economic geography is likely associated with improvements in shipping endowments.
{"title":"Waterway infrastructure, shipping endowment and regional economic geography: Evidence from the operation of the three gorges dam","authors":"Yuanbo Liang , Jingyang Fu , Xiao Teng , Xi Qu","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102642","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102642","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study contributes to the literature on infrastructure and economic geography by exploring how improved shipping conditions influence regional development. Using a unique township-level dataset and leveraging the operation of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) as a natural experiment, we show that enhanced waterborne transportation significantly promotes economic growth in port areas along the riverbanks. Mechanism analysis reveals that the TGD increased total freight volume by shifting freight composition toward waterborne transport, which induced water-transport-oriented industrial growth and generated larger gains for ports that initially had worse shipping conditions. Extension analysis shows that the regional economic hierarchy has strengthened after the operation of the TGD, suggesting that the reorganization of regional economic geography is likely associated with improvements in shipping endowments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 102642"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145884414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102639
Qilin Cao , Muxing Li , Wenke Wang , Xiaoke Wu
China's Company Law amendment emphasizes boards' fiduciary responsibilities and mandates corporate social responsibility, thereby positioning boards as the primary entities responsible for corporate ESG governance and establishing their oversight obligations. Utilizing data from Chinese A-share listed manufacturing companies between 2012 and 2023, this paper employs the entropy weighting method to construct an indicator system for measuring board ESG oversight. Based on this system, the empirical analysis reveals that robust board ESG oversight significantly facilitates corporate international expansion. The mitigation of financing constraints and the enhancement of supply chain resilience are identified as key mediating channels. Furthermore, green technology innovation, media attention, and government subsidies are found to exert significant positive moderating effects on the relationship. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the aforementioned facilitating effect is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, firms in regions with better legal environments, and those in provinces designated under the Belt and Road Initiative. Additionally, significant changes in this promoting effect were observed around the amendment of the Company Law and the onset of the Sino-US trade friction. This study provides important evidence for understanding the theoretical implications of board ESG oversight and its role in promoting corporate international expansion, while also yielding key insights for the enhancement of board governance and ESG practices.
{"title":"Can board ESG oversight promote corporate international expansion? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms","authors":"Qilin Cao , Muxing Li , Wenke Wang , Xiaoke Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102639","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102639","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>China's Company Law amendment emphasizes boards' fiduciary responsibilities and mandates corporate social responsibility, thereby positioning boards as the primary entities responsible for corporate ESG governance and establishing their oversight obligations. Utilizing data from Chinese A-share listed manufacturing companies between 2012 and 2023, this paper employs the entropy weighting method to construct an indicator system for measuring board ESG oversight. Based on this system, the empirical analysis reveals that robust board ESG oversight significantly facilitates corporate international expansion. The mitigation of financing constraints and the enhancement of supply chain resilience are identified as key mediating channels. Furthermore, green technology innovation, media attention, and government subsidies are found to exert significant positive moderating effects on the relationship. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the aforementioned facilitating effect is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, firms in regions with better legal environments, and those in provinces designated under the Belt and Road Initiative. Additionally, significant changes in this promoting effect were observed around the amendment of the Company Law and the onset of the Sino-US trade friction. This study provides important evidence for understanding the theoretical implications of board ESG oversight and its role in promoting corporate international expansion, while also yielding key insights for the enhancement of board governance and ESG practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 102639"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145884456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}