- Feng Guo;Youbin Cao;College of Public Finance and Investment, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics;
Profound digital transformation is one of the most significant features of the current economic society, which has also ignited a surge of academic research in the digital economics in China. However, there are several prominent issues that need to be reflected upon in the current related research: overly macroscopic indicator measurement, excessive focus on “big and comprehensive” research objects, failure to highlight the core characteristics of the digital economics in research perspectives, and lagging behind in research data and techniques.To address these issues, future research should focus on the following areas: transforming from “big and comprehensive” to “small and precise” in research objects, revealing the new changes in economic and social relationships in the digital economy era through the core characteristics of the digital economics in research perspectives; widely using multi-source big data deeply penetrated by the digital economy in research data; and embracing cutting-edge technical methods to support empirical research in research techniques. Utilizing the big data and new technologies such as artificial intelligence generated by the penetration of the digital economy, and examining and analyzing the new changes in economic and social relationships under the influence of the digital economy from the core characteristics of the digital economics, is the most ideal research paradigm for the digital economics.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 327K] - Haoning Sun;Feng Dong;Guang Yang;School of Economics and Management,Tsinghua University;School of Economics,Nankai University;
Based on Matsuyama(1999), we construct an endogenous growth model that includes innovation decisions, and discuss the impact of policies such as patent protection on corporate innovation incentives and innovation-driven development. We find that the impact of the intensity of patent protection policies on economic dynamics is nonlinear: when the patent protection policy is too weak, potential innovative firms have no incentive to innovate, and the economy cannot achieve the innovation-driven growth path; when the patent protection policy is too strong, the innovation speed and capital accumulation speed are difficult to match, resulting in an endogenous cycle between the factor-accumulation-driven interval and the innovation-driven interval. At the same time, we introduce population growth into the model and discuss the impact of declining population growth on the realization of innovation-driven growth. We find that under certain conditions, the decline in population growth will lead to an increase in innovation costs and a decrease in innovation speed, while the government can offset this effect by reasonably strengthening patent protection and subsidizing innovation.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 852K] - Yan Li;Yanlai Ma;Shuxuan Li;Haifeng Li;National Institute of Fiscal Study,Tsinghua University;Investment Research Institute,National Development and Reform Commission;Research and Planning Department,Insurance Asset Management Association of China;School of Economics,Peking University;
As a significant component of corporate costs in China, pension insurance contributions have received insufficient attention regarding to their cost-transfer mechanisms to product prices and subsequent effects on product competitiveness. This study examines the impact of pension insurance contribution rate reforms on enterprise exports, exploring transmission mechanisms through consumer price transfers(export product pricing). Our findings reveal that substantial inter-city disparities exist, with coastal regions maintaining lower rates compared to Northeast China and Tibet, whereas state-owned enterprises have higher contribution rates with smaller regional variations. Besides, higher pension contribution rates significantly reduce both export probability(extensive margin) and export volume(intensive margin), with diminished effects observed among larger, more established enterprises and industries with higher marketization levels. Furthermore, mechanism analysis demonstrates tripartite transmission channels: pension costs affect export performance through price pass-through to consumers, aggravated financing constraints, and structural labor adjustments. The study concludes that excessive pension contribution rates ultimately transfer to consumers via price increases, undermining corporate competitiveness in international markets and impeding trade's pivotal role in economic development.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 1017K] - Zhenya Sun;Shujie Yao;School of International Economics and International Relations, Liaoning University;Li Anmin Institute of Economic Research, Liaoning University;School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University;
Improving the firm capacity utilization is the realistic need to achieve high-quality economic development. Based on the matching data of the Chinese industrial firm database and China Customs, this article empirically tests the impact of the digital product imports on enterprise capacity utilization and function mechanism. The empirical results show that the digital products import can significantly improve firm capacity utilization, and the conclusion is still significant after a series of robustness tests. The mechanism test results show that digital products import improve firm capacity utilization through productivity improvement effects, innovative effects, and export expansion effects. The heterogeneity test finds that digital products import have a greater promotion effect on non-state-owned enterprises and capital-intensive industries. Further research finds that the promotion of digital intermediate products import to firm capacity utilization is greater than digital capital import. With the expansion of technological distance, the promotion effect of digital capital goods imports and digital intermediate goods imports on the capacity utilization rate of enterprises shows a trend of decreasing at first and then increasing. The results provide important theoretical and practical significance for China to improve firm capacity utilization and achieve high-quality economic development.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 374K] - Zhenli Yan;Yajing Lu;Tiantian Bao;Xiaomei Zhao;School of Accounting, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics;School of Maritime and Transportation, Ningbo University;China Graduate School of China Academy of Financial Sciences;
Industry-specific information disclosure, guided by investor demand, seeks to enhance information disclosure quality by refining industry-specific disclosure standards. Its effect on external investor risk perception and, consequently, the reduction of corporate debt financing costs is a crucial issue that needs to explore. Using a natural experiment based on the cross-listing of industry-specific information disclosure guidelines by the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, this study analyzes the impact and mechanisms of industry-specific information disclosure on corporate debt financing costs, utilizing a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2020. The findings reveal that industry-specific information disclosure significantly reduces corporate debt financing costs. Furthermore, when considering market competition and business complexity, it is observed that increased market competition and business complexity enhance the positive effect of industry-specific information disclosure in reducing debt financing costs. Mechanism analysis suggests that industry-specific information disclosure primarily reduces corporate debt financing costs by mitigating information risk and operational risk. The conclusions of this study offer important policy implications for optimizing industry-specific operational information disclosure, reducing external investor risk perception, and subsequently lowering corporate debt financing costs.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 351K] - Tong Sun;Yu Liao;School of Foreign Studies, Capital University of Economics and Business;School of Finance, Capital University of Economics and Business;
Household financial vulnerability is a crucial indicator for assessing economic risk at the household level. Mitigating household financial risk contributes not only to enchancing individuals' quality of life and well-being but also to ensuring the healthy and stable development of financial markets. Drawing on the data from the 2015—2019 China Household Finance Survey(CHFS), this study empirically examines the impact of education on household financial vulnerability and explores its underlying mechanisms. The instrumental variable estimation results indicate that higher educational attainment significantly reduces household financial vulnerability. This mitigating effect is particularly pronounced among low-income households, rural residents, and those living in central and western regions. Mechanism analysis reveals that education contributes to increasing income levels, enhancing financial literacy, and facilitating the purchase of commercial insurance, thereby alleviating household financial vulnerability. This study provides empirical evidence for a profound understanding of the role of education in mitigating household economic risks and offers insights for enhancing household economic resilience and preventing systemic risks.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 324K] - Hongchao Li;Shunjiang Nie;School of Economics, Yunnan Minzu University;School of Management, Yunnan Minzu University;
Currently, the digital economy is booming, and digital transformation of enterprises, as an important component and micro manifestation, plays an important role in promoting the performance of enterprises in environmental, social, and governance aspects. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2017 to 2021, this study empirically examines the impact and mechanism of digital transformation on ESG performance, as well as the moderating effect under internal and external collaborative governance. The research results indicate that: firstly, digital transformation of enterprises will significantly improve their ESG performance. Secondly, the analysis of the impact mechanism indicates that digital transformation of enterprises can indirectly promote ESG performance by promoting corporate structure optimization, improving green innovation capabilities, and reducing inefficient investment; Thirdly, the analysis of regulatory effects shows that the promotion effect of digital transformation on ESG performance is more significant in enterprises with weak internal governance and strong external supervision. There is a partial substitution effect between digital transformation and internal governance, and collaborative governance with “loose internal and tight external” is more likely to maximize the effectiveness of digital transformation in enterprises. This “abnormal” phenomenon overlaps with the company's regulations rather than continuity Different priorities and traditional beliefs and cultures are related. In addition, digital transformation has a significant effect in promoting balanced regional development. The robustness test indicates that the research conclusion is reliable. The study, from the perspective of digital transformation, provides theoretical support and empirical evidence to promote enterprises to better fulfill their ESG responsibilities and implement the “dual carbon” goals.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 339K] - Chun Lin;Xin Zhang;Yingjie Sun;School of Finance and trade, Liaoning University;
Digital inclusive finance is an important engine for enhancing regional financial resilience in the new development stage. Based on this, this paper takes digital inclusive finance as the starting point and uses the panel data of 283 cities from 2011 to 2019 to explore the impact of digital inclusive finance on China's regional financial resilience. The results show that digital inclusive finance has a significant role in enhancing regional financial resilience. The education level and consumption level are important transmission mechanisms between the two, and the improvement of the innovation and entrepreneurship level is conducive to the effective play of this role. Meanwhile, this role shows significant heterogeneous characteristics in the sub-dimensions, business segments, geographical locations, traditional financial development and the degree of opening up of digital inclusive finance. In addition, there is a certain non-linear relationship between the impact of digital inclusive finance on regional financial resilience, specifically presenting an inverted U-shaped structure. The conclusions of this paper not only provide a new perspective for in-depth understanding of the impact of digital inclusive finance on China's financial development, but also point out the direction for accelerating the construction of a financial powerhouse in the new era.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 380K] - Lei Zhang;Fang Liao;Chuanchuan Zhang;Business School, Xiangtan University;School of Economics, Zhejiang University;
Financial services for the real economy require a higher level of interactive coordination between the allocation of financial resources and the high-quality development of manufacturing. Based on the scientific design of the index system of financial resource allocation and high-quality development of manufacturing industry, this paper builds a coupled coordination model based on TOPSIS and grey relational method to estimate the coupling coordination degree between China's financial resource allocation and high-quality development of manufacturing industry. The spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of the structure were analyzed by Gaussian kernel function, Dagum Gini coefficient and Moran's I. The results show that:(1) From 2011 to 2020, the coupling coordination degree of financial resources allocation and high-quality development of manufacturing industry tends to increase, but it still presents the characteristics of ‘insufficient and unbalanced' development at present;(2) The subsystems of the efficiency and agglomeration degree of financial resource allocation have a high degree of coupling with the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry, but the financial resource allocation still has a large room for improvement in terms of scale adaptation and structure optimization;(3) The spatial difference of the coupling coordination degree between the allocation of financial resources and the high-quality development of manufacturing industry mainly comes from the inter-regional difference rather than the intra-regional difference. The coupling coordination degree presents a positive spatial correlation globally, and the coupling coordination degree of most provinces presents a ‘low-low' and ‘high-high' clustering mode in local space. From the perspective of building a national unified large market, the research conclusions of this paper provide a reference for promoting the financial sector to better serve the development of manufacturing industry by optimizing the allocation of financial resources.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 792K] - Hanli Wu;Yuxin Xiong;School of Management, Northwest University of Political Science and Law;
In response to increasingly prominent environmental issues, the Chinese government has legislated the imposition of an environmental protection tax, ensuring a smooth transition from “fee payment” to “tax payment” based on the principle of “tax burden shift.” Using micro-level data from A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2011 to 2022, this study examines the impact of this policy change on corporate ESG investment and its underlying mechanisms. The findings indicate that the implementation of the environmental protection fee-to-tax reform incentivizes firms to engage in ESG investments. Moreover, the increase in public environmental awareness and the intensification of regulatory penalties are two key channels through which this reform influences corporate ESG investment. These conclusions remain robust after a series of validation tests. Additionally, the impact of the reform is more pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises, non-heavy polluting firms, and companies operating in regions with stronger environmental regulations. Furthermore, the reform not only promotes corporate ESG investment but also contributes to firm-level total factor productivity and macro-level industrial structural transformation and upgrading. These findings aim to provide theoretical insights for high-quality economic growth and serve as a decision-making reference for improving the environmental tax system.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 403K] - Xin Jiang;Wentao Hu;Party School of Anhui Provincial Committee of C.P.C (Anhui Academy of Governance);Research Institute for Eco-civilization,Chinese Academy of Social Sciences;
Taxation has an important impact on enterprise innovation behavior. In the context of green development orientation, does the tax incentive created by the comprehensive value-added tax transformation induce firms to choose green innovation? We take the comprehensive value-added tax transformation as background, constructing the Chinese industrial enterprises green patent database, and using difference-in-difference method to find that: Firstly, the value-added tax transformation has significantly improved enterprise's green innovation capabilities in industries affected by the policy, but it has not encouraged more new enterprises to entry green innovation; Secondly, the ‘double' incentive effect of the value-added tax transformation on increased internal cash flow and improved external financing capacity eases the enterprise financing constraints, thus stimulating their green innovation. Tax incentives have a more pronounced effect on green innovation for enterprises that are less dependent on external financing, have a high level of nearby financial development and are state-owned. Finally, the level of environmental regulation by local governments has a positive moderating effect on the effect of value-added tax transformation in stimulating enterprises' green innovation. These findings provide useful experience support and policy inspiration for further optimizing the value-added tax policy and building a green innovation incentive policy system for enterprises.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 332K] - Fei Xue;Jiaqi Liu;Yamei Fu;School of Economics and Management, Northwest University;School of Management, Xi'an University of Science and Technology;School of Statistics, Xi'an University of Finance and Economics;
As an important emerging consumer sector, information consumption has become a key driver of industrial upgrading and a catalyst for high-quality economic development. Using the “national information consumption pilot” as an exogenous policy shock, this paper evaluates the impact of information consumption pilots on the structural upgrading of the service industry and explores the underlying mechanisms. The analysis is based on panel data from 275 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2019, employing a staggered difference-in-differences(DID) model. The findings indicate that information consumption pilots significantly enhance the development of productive and modern service industries, thereby promoting the structural upgrading of the service sector. Mechanism analysis reveals that the information consumption pilots primarily foster this structural upgrading through improvements in capital efficiency and technological progress, while the mechanism through which information consumption demand is increased appears to be less significant. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that the pilots have a pronounced positive effect on sectors such as information transmission, computer services and software, real estate, and leasing and business services. Additionally, the pilots have a stronger impact in the eastern regions of China, where more developed information infrastructure amplifies the effect. However, the marginal effect diminishes as the service industry structure improves over time. In light of these findings, this study suggests that effective strategies for developing information consumption should be explored and implemented. The government plays a crucial role in coordinating and unlocking the potential of residential information consumption, ultimately contributing to the creation of a high-quality and efficient service industry system.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 642K] - Qingquan Fan;Xingyu Wang;Yinan Liu;Jing Cao;School of Public Finance and Taxation, Capital University of Economics and Business;National Institute of Metrology;
Joint innovation is an important measure for China to break down technological barriers and achieve technological breakthroughs in key areas. Against the background of increasing pressure on China's fiscal balance, it is of great practical significance to objectively assess the impact of government R&D subsidies on corporate collaborative innovation. Taking Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2022 as a sample, based on the invention patent data, this paper identifies the joint innovation behaviours of enterprises, and examines the impact of government R&D subsidies on corporate joint innovation. It is found that government R&D subsidies have a facilitating effect on corporate joint innovation. Further analyses show that co-innovation promotion is more pronounced for firms with high R&D risks, and that the type of subsidy with high signal strength promotes joint innovation more significantly. The above findings provide a scientific basis for optimizing the structure of R&D subsidies and accelerating the establishment of joint innovation networks in China.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 293K] - Yiting Huang;School of Economics and Trade, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies;
Digital technology has become a catalyst for industrial development and a new engine for economic growth, while talent policies serve as the fundamental driving force behind the advancement of digital technology. Using data from A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2011 to 2020, this study measures the government's support for corporate talent policies through government talent subsidy programs and evaluates the level of corporate digital technology innovation using digital technology patents. The research investigates the relationship between talent policies and corporate digital technology innovation. The findings reveal that talent policies significantly promote corporate digital technology innovation, and this conclusion holds true after a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. Talent policies generate significant effects on supported enterprises, including enhanced innovation willingness, optimized human capital structure, and signaling effects, thereby improving their digital technology innovation capabilities. The innovation incentive effect of talent policies is more pronounced for enterprises with low financing constraints, high-tech enterprises, and those with low media attention. Further research shows that, under the spillover effect of digital technology innovation within the same industry, talent policies bring greater incentive effects to the digital technology innovation of supported enterprises. Additionally, talent policies can mitigate the crowding-out effect of digital technology innovation across different industries on supported enterprises. Extended analysis indicates that regional talent attraction and retention policies, talent cultivation and development policies, talent evaluation and assessment policies, and comprehensive talent support policies significantly promote corporate digital technology innovation. Regions should actively utilize talent policy tools to incentivize enterprises to innovate in the field of digital technology, thereby supporting the vigorous development of the digital economy.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 412K] - Yuanyuan Chen;Caiting Dong;School of Economics,Shanghai University of Finance and Economics;Key Laboratory of Mathematical Economics(SUFE),Ministry of Education,Shanghai University of Finance and Economics;School of Finance and Investment,Guangdong University of Finance;
Using random class assignment sample from the 2013—2014 China Education Panel Survey(CEPS),this paper analyzes the bellwether effects of top students on their class peers among the students in seventh and ninth grades. The results suggest the top rank students in primary school have significant positive spillover effects on their peers' cognitive performance and educational expectations, but have no significant impact on school engagement and mental health. The mechanism analysis shows that top students influence their peers mainly through increasing their learning initiative and improving the relationship among classmates. Meanwhile, top students also raise up the pressures among peer students and parents, and as a result, increase their peers' out-of-school tutoring and the investment of parents' money and time. The heterogeneity analysis show that the positive effect of top students on peer cognitive performance is short-term, which is only significant in grade 7 and no longer significant in grade 9. However, the positive effect of top students has a lasting effect on peer educational expectation in both grade 7 and grade 9.
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 350K]
2025 02 v.12;No.46 [Abstract][OnlineView][Download 236K]