Does FinTech development facilitate firms' innovation? Evidence from China

This study examines the impact of financial technology (FinTech) development on firms' innovation. Using Chinese listed firms' panel data from 2011 to 2021 and the FinTech indicators we constructed, we find that FinTech development significantly facilitates firms' innovation by alleviating their information asymmetry and financing constraints. This finding continues to hold after a series of robustness tests and endogeneity discussions. Moreover, we find that the effect of FinTech development on innovation is more pronounced for non-state-owned firms, firms in the central region, and high-tech firms. These results offer important policy implications as they demonstrate the crucial role of FinTech in the high-quality development of the real economy.     

Human Capital Allocation and Enterprise Innovation Performance: An Example of China's Knowledge-Intensive Service Industry

This paper examines the impact of human capital mismatch on the innovation performance of knowledge-intensive service enterprises. Taking China's knowledge-intensive service industries (KISI) as our research object, we construct a human capital allocation measurement framework to evaluate the current state of human capital allocation of sub-industries in China using the 2007 and 2013 Chinese Household Income Project data and Chinese A-share listed company data. Results show that human capital mismatch do exist in China's knowledge-intensive service industries, which exerts inhibitory effect on the innovation performance of KISI enterprises. We further find that such an effect varies with regions and industries. Our study aims to provide useful reference for relevant departments in stimulating innovation and accelerating market reform.     

The effects of stricter regulation on the going public decision of small and knowledge-intensive firms

This paper studies the impact of increased securities regulation on the IPOs of small and high-tech, knowledge-intensive firms. We take advantage of the adoption of European SOX-like provisions, staggered at different dates across European countries, to test its influence on the going public decision. Starting from the population of European private firms during 1995–2012, we find that the likelihood of going public has decreased among small and high-tech, knowledge-intensive firms. Consistently, we document a 6% and 8.5% decrease in the industry-adjusted Tobin's Q of small and knowledge-intensive firms that go public after the regulatory change.     

Does Fintech facilitate cross-border M&As? Evidence from Chinese A-share listed firms

This paper examines whether and how financial technology (Fintech) affects the cross-border M&A decision-making and the performance of acquiring firms. Using a sample of Chinese A-share listed firms over the period of 2011–2019, we find that local Fintech development effectively facilitates firms' cross-border M&A activities. This effect is more prominent for firms with lower innovation capability, with higher profitability, and those in key participant provinces of the Belt and Road Initiative. We provide evidence that Fintech supports the decision-making of cross-border M&As due to the mitigation of financing friction and the decrease in information disadvantage. Further analysis also shows that the acquirer's cross-border M&A performance is higher when it is located in a province with better development of Fintech. Our paper provides new insights into the impact of technology-enabled innovation in the financial industry on the behavior of firms in non-financial industries.     

经济治理能力、出口贸易与中国高新技术产业自主创新

在国家治理能力现代化和“双循环”相互促进背景下，探究经济治理能力和出口贸易对我国高新技术产业自主创新的影响。结果表明：经济治理能力和出口贸易对高新技术产业自主创新能力有显著正向影响；要素市场发育程度、非国有经济发展、法律制度质量、研发资本投入对内资企业自主创新有正向影响；产品市场发育程度、研发劳动投入显著提升了外资企业创新能力。在以国内大循环为主体的背景下，应提升经济治理能力以激发国内市场主体的创新活力。     

开发区层级与域内企业创新:激励效应还是挤出效应？——基于国家级和省级开发区的对比研究

中国经济已由高速增长阶段转向高质量发展阶段,各地各层级开发区能否激励域内企业创新,对于引领区域经济高质量发展至关重要。与既有研究主要聚焦于国家级开发区不同,本文以2007-2018年上市公司为样本,结合手工收集整理的开发区域内企业信息,对比研究了国家级和省级开发区对域内企业创新活动的影响。研究表明,与国家级开发区显著促进域内企业创新投入不同,省级开发区表现出负向抑制作用。国家级和省级开发区对域内企业创新的影响机制也存在明显差异:国家级开发区通过税收优惠、政府补助和融资支持等“政策效应”,以及金融资源、研发人才和经济主体的“集聚效应”激励企业创新;而省级开发区的发展更容易受地方经济竞争的影响从而挤出企业的创新投入。进一步,国家级开发区对域内企业创新的促进作用在市场化程度较高的地区和中央国有企业中更明显;省级开发区的抑制作用在地方国有企业中更明显。本文研究为我国优化各层级开发区建设和促进地区经济高质量发展提供了决策参考。     

财政引导创新资源配置效率及其影响因素——来自18个高新区与新区的经验分析

基于18个国家级新区所在地和其高新区的数据,运用四阶段 DEA模型,考量企业在创新资源配置过程中的财政政策效率,研究发现:多数地方的新区和高新区的财政政策效率均大于1,且中部地区的财政政策效率不管是在新区还是其高新区均是最小,说明多数地区财政政策对企业创新的作用表现为"激励效应";结合Tobit模型的影响因素分析发现,高新区与新区的财政政策效率影响因素差异较大,一些能对新区财政政策效率造成显著影响的因素,并不能对高新区财政政策效率造成影响,说明高新区的发展已相对成熟,对产业集聚及创新资源引导发挥了较好作用,而新区仍有提升的空间.     

Determinants of the guarantee circles: The case of Chinese listed firms

China's external capital market has been developing rapidly since the establishment of its stock markets. However, financing from the internal capital market, especially through the guarantee system provided by other associated firms (the guarantee circle), remains significant for some Chinese firms. We analyze the importance associated with the guarantee system in China with a focus on the macro and micro determinants that affect Chinese firms' participation in the guarantee circle. Our findings suggest that both macroeconomic and microeconomic factors have significant impact on a firm's involvement in the guarantee circle. Firms in regions with higher economic growth, less developed banking system and worse legal protection are more likely to receive guarantee from firms associated with the controlling shareholders. On the other hand, firms controlled by the state are less likely to receive guarantee but more likely to provide guarantee, while firms with alternative financing sources are more likely to provide guarantee. Firms within a complex group with more pyramidal layers are more likely to get involved in the guarantee circle, either as a guarantor or a guarantee. Our findings have implications to general guarantee systems with the presence of agency and moral hazard problems.     

Judicial independence and corporate innovation: Evidence from the establishment of circuit courts

This study explores the effects of judicial independence on corporate innovation by analyzing the staggered establishment of Circuit Courts in China. We find that introducing Circuit Courts increases corporate innovation, particularly for central state-owned enterprises and private firms. Channel analysis shows that Circuit Courts significantly reduce local judicial protectionism, ease financial constraints, and improve corporate governance, which stimulates innovation. The positive effects of Circuit Courts are more pronounced in cities facing severe political intervention, regions with weak legal environments, and private firms without political or banking connections. Our results are robust to endogeneity concerns, alternative measures and specification models. Overall, this study supports the theoretical arguments that institutions matter and that improvements in judicial quality boost firms' incentives to innovate.     

Do productive firms get external finance? Evidence from Chinese listed manufacturing firms

Due to information asymmetry problem in financial markets good quality firms often find it difficult to prove to external finance providers about their true quality and to distinguish themselves from bad quality firms. We argue that instead of sending indirect signals to financial market good quality firms could focus on improving their productivity to obtain external finance. Besides relying solely on firms' balance sheet information external finance providers using firms' TFP or labour productivity information would have a true knowledge of firms' efficiency and risk. Overall, using a panel of 1591 Chinese listed manufacturing firms between 2003 and 2016 we find that productivity measured by TFP or labour productivity is statistically and economically important and positive in determining firms' external finance, i.e. total leverage, new issue of equity and long-term debt. We find that productivity is helpful for firms to raise new equity finance, but only some weak results for total leverage and long-term debt. Such results hold for both the whole sample and private firm sample. We also find that large and/or old firms and exporting firms are able to make better use of their productivity to gain external finance than their respective counterparts, i.e. small young firms and non-exporting firms. The causality of the regression results is also confirmed by difference-in-difference tests using an exogenous industrial policy shock.     

Do strategic alliances in a developing country create firm value? Evidence from Korean firms

This paper examines the impact of strategic alliances on the increment of firm value in the case of Korean firms. For this, we apply an event study using OLS and GARCH market models. The results of our study show that, strategic alliances in Korea produce significant positive abnormal returns before and at the announcement date, indicating an increase in firm value. This firm value augmented by alliance announcements does not have any relationship with firms' growth but has an inverse relationship with firms' sizes. Interestingly, non-technological marketing alliances contribute to increasing firm value more than technological alliances do, regardless of partner firms' nationality. This evidence is contrasted to the cases of firms in advanced countries. Particularly, Korean firms' marketing alliances with firms in advanced G7 countries contribute to largely increasing the firm value of the former.     

产业协同集聚、技术创新与经济高质量发展——基于生产性服务业与高技术制造业实证分析

基于2008—2018年30个省级行政区面板数据构建空间计量模型,考量生产性服务业与高技术制造业产业协同集聚、技术创新对经济高质量发展的影响。结果显示：生产性服务业与高技术制造业协同集聚对经济高质量发展具有显著的正向效应,且不具有非线性关系;技术创新在两产业协同集聚促进经济高质量发展的过程中起到了部分中介作用,且呈显著的区域差异性和行业异质性。     

Does technology-seeking OFDI improve the productivity of Chinese firms under the COVID-19 pandemic?

This paper empirically investigates the impact of technology-seeking outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on firms' productivity under the influence of negative external shocks, taking as a sample the investment data of Chinese firms before and during COVID-19. The results show that technology-seeking OFDI improves productivity, but not under negative external shocks. The dampening effect of such shocks is more significant when the host country is a developed country and in firms with multiple branches. Technology-seeking OFDI particularly improves the productivity of research and development and processing firms, and (among the productivity measures tested) most prominently affects total factor productivity.     

Banks and innovation: Microeconometric evidence on Italian firms

In this paper we investigate the effect of local banking development on firms’ innovative activities, using a rich data set on innovation for a large number of Italian firms over the 1990s. There is evidence that banking development affects the probability of process innovation, particularly for firms in high-tech sectors, in sectors more dependent upon external finance, and for firms that are small. The evidence for product innovation is much weaker and not robust. There is also some evidence that banking development reduces the cash flow sensitivity of fixed investment spending, particularly for small firms, and that it increases the probability they will engage in R&D.     

Carbon risk and dividend policy: Evidence from China

Using a large sample of Chinese listed industrial firms from 2009 to 2019, this study investigates the effect of firm-level carbon risk on dividend policy. We find that carbon risk has a significant and negative impact on a firm's dividend payout level. We also find that when firms' capability in innovation is stronger, the degree of earnings uncertainty is higher, a firm belongs to high‑carbon industries, the negative relationship between carbon risk and dividend payout level is more significant. Furthermore, financial constraints and cash holdings are two underlying channels through which carbon risk affects cash dividend payouts. Our findings remain consistent across several robustness checks.     

Institutional investors' site visits,information asymmetry,and investment efficiency

Based on data from Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2017, this paper studies the relationship between institutional investors' site visits (SVs) and corporate investment efficiency and its intrinsic transmission mechanism. Institutional site visits (SVs) can effectively mitigate firms' underinvestment, but it has no significant inhibitory effect on overinvestment. The conclusion still holds after using the instrumental variables and alternative measurements of investment efficiency. Mechanism analysis finds that site visits can alleviate underinvestment by reducing information asymmetry. We further document that the impacts are more pronounced for brokerages, funds, and private equity firms, firms with higher levels of internal governance, and firms' regions with better marketization. Our study suggests that institutional SVs mainly contribute to mitigating underinvestment rather than inhibiting overinvestment. This study provides practical insights for regulating corporate investment decision-making and is of significant practical significance for promoting the healthy development of enterprises.     

Can foreign suppliers act as “innovation springboards” for firms? Evidence from China

This study provides a new approach for measuring supplier characteristics by distinguishing the countries where they are located. Using data of Chinese listed companies, we explore how firms' R&D investment and innovation efficiency (patents and citations) are affected by having foreign suppliers in their top five suppliers. Our findings suggest that foreign suppliers acting as transmitters of international technology increase firms' innovation efficiency based on organizational learning theory. Moreover, a series of uncertainties caused by foreign suppliers encourages firms to invest more in R&D based on strategic growth option theory. Mechanism tests show that foreign suppliers from countries with high innovation capacity and a similar Eastern culture have a greater impact on corporate innovation. Firms conduct more R&D activities to mitigate the uncertainties caused by foreign suppliers when they have insufficient overseas channels to acquire international knowledge and a high degree of dependence on foreign suppliers. These results are consistent with a series of robustness tests after accounting for endogeneity.     

高技术企业自主创新战略形成的一个理论框架

自主创新是高技术企业生存与发展的持久动力,自主创新战略是高技术企业发展战略的核心。本文从企业自主创新的内涵与特征出发,分析了高技术企业生命周期各阶段的创新行为与能力特征,在此基础上构建了高技术企业自主创新战略形成的理论框架。     

How does corporate social responsibility have influence on firms' access to trade credit

This study identifies and examines the channels through which corporate social responsibility (CSR) impacts firms' access to trade credit. Using a sample of Chinese firms, we identify two channels through which CSR impacts firms' access to trade credit: (i) better CSR performance reduces firms' systematic risk; and (ii) better CSR performance enhances trust from suppliers. We also document that the positive effect that CSR has on firms' access to trade credit is more pronounced in firms with limited access to formal financial resources, i.e., in non-state-controlled enterprises, especially those without political connections, and in firms located in regions with a lower level of social trust. Our findings are robust to a series of tests that address the endogeneity issue. Overall, we argue that CSR performance enhances firms' access to trade credit through the channels of systematic risk and trust enhancing.     

Economic policy uncertainty and firm investment decisions: Dilemma or opportunity?

In an environment of economic policy uncertainty (EPU), how to improve efficiency and optimize the scale of firm investment is an important topic worthy of attention. This paper examines the impact of EPU on firms' investment decisions, using Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2019 as a research sample. The study finds that macro EPU inhibits the increase of firms' investment scale and efficiency while exacerbating the risk of overinvestment or underinvestment. Local EPU enhances a firm's investment scale but simultaneously exacerbates the risk of over- or underinvestment, which in turn inhibits investment efficiency. The mechanism test shows that, first, macro EPU promotes firms' R&D investment but inhibits their green investment. In contrast, local EPU inhibits R&D investment and promotes green investment. Second, macro EPU has a significant negative effect on firms' business performance, while local EPU has a smaller effect. Therefore, in an uncertain environment, the government should actively stabilize the macroeconomic environment, and firms should actively optimize investment structures and improve their risk prevention mechanisms.