中央金融工作会议将数字金融与普惠金融列入“五篇大文章”之中。解决应收账款被占用导致的资金周转困难是破解中小微企业“融资难、融资贵”问题从而推动普惠金融发展的关键突破点。 为了降低银行与中小微企业的信息不对称与提升动产可质押性，中国人民银行征信中心搭建了应收账款融资服务平台作为重要的数字金融基础设施，并通过数字化系统直连进一步推动普惠金融的发展。借助平台应收账款质押与融资数据，本文的实证研究表明，核心企业使用数字化系统直连后：（1）核心企业通过系统直连上传的应收账款数量和金额上升，且新接入的主要是规模小、利润率高、现金流压力大、债务负担重的中小微型供应商企业；（2）中小微企业供应商贷款笔数与贷款金额均显著上升，且贷款利率更低；（3）供应商与核心企业财务指标均显著改善。本文结论表明建设数据中心化的统一平台作为重要的数字金融基础设施，可以为传统金融难以触及的客户提供金融服务，有力地推动普惠金融的高质量发展。

There are large regional disparities in relation to the development of digital finance in China. This study expands on the human–land relationship to analyze the impact of terrain relief on digital finance adoption using China Household Finance Survey data. The results show an inverted U-shaped relationship. Further, mechanism analysis indicates that terrain relief influences the wealth creation environment and stimulates the likelihood of entrepreneurship, especially through small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, the impact is more pronounced in rural and western areas. These findings provide insights enabling the development of a more inclusive financial system.

Using the formal implementation of the 2012 Green Credit Guidelines (GCG) as an exogenous shock to construct a quasi-natural experiment, we study the impact of green credit policies on the inefficient investment of heavily polluting firms in China's listed companies from 2008 to 2020. We find that green credit policies can significantly alleviate the inefficient investment of heavily polluting enterprises. By reducing agency costs and long-term liabilities, green credit policies mitigate the problem of inefficient investment in heavily polluting firms. Moreover, the mitigating effect of green credit policies on the inefficient investment of heavily polluting enterprises has significant heterogeneity in terms of property rights, internal characteristics.

This study examines a sample of Chinese listed companies from 2009 to 2021 and finds that Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance significantly reduces bankruptcy risk. Robustness tests support the bankruptcy risk mitigation effect of ESG performance. Mechanism analysis shows that ESG performance reduces bankruptcy risk by decreasing systematic risk and alleviating financing constraints. Further analysis indicates that the performance of the three dimensions of ESG, namely Environment (E), Social (S), and Governance (G), contributes to the reduction of bankruptcy risk.

This study provides the first empirical evidence on the relationship between the chairman of the board of directors (COB) and corporate financial performance. Using a sample of Chinese A listed firms between 2008-2017, we find reliable evidence that the COB turnover improves corporate financial performance. Moreover, the existence of a majority shareholder (Majority) positively influences corporate financial performance, while firm nature (private majority shareholder or public majority shareholder)(Private) may not.

In this study, we empirically analyze the impact of the effects of digital inclusive finance (DIF) on high-quality economic development in Chinese prefecture-level cities. We find the following conclusions: first, the total index and sub-index of DIF can promote high-quality economic development. Second, DIF significantly promotes high-quality economic development by narrowing the urban-rural income gap and alleviating financing constraints. Third, DIF is conducive to the improvement of economic quality in neighboring regions.

Corporate philanthropy is increasingly seen as an effective way to promote social equity. This paper estimates the effect of donation tax deduction policy on corporate donations. Using data from Chinese A-share listed companies, we find that the donation tax deduction policy has a significant positive effect on the amount donated. This finding remains robust to a number of robustness tests. Meanwhile, our study also suggests that the policy increases donation participation. Finally, heterogeneity analysis suggests that the effect is significant only for firms with high media attention and political connections. Our findings provide important evidence for the optimizing of social welfare.

The asymmetric dissemination of information among financial firms in the financial market reflects their asymmetric response to the dissemination of both positive and negative information. However, it is worth studying whether this asymmetry will intensify or alleviate under different financial market conditions. Based on high-frequency minute stock price data of Chinese A-share listed financial firms from July 2020 to July 2023, we decompose the good and bad information, as well as the positive and negative volatility information in the return series. We utilize the quantile cross-spectral correlation method to construct an information overflow network at monthly intervals. We use the MVMQ-CAViaR model to estimate the value at risk (VaR) for various quantiles and build a risk spillover network that incorporates both positive and negative tail risk information, using the quantile dynamic SIM-COVAR-TENET model. We calculated the network dissemination efficiency of both good and bad information, including average speed, speed deviation, densest speed, and depth, to explore the changes in the asymmetry of good and bad information dissemination under different financial market conditions. We get that when the financial market is booming, financial firms’ asymmetric response to good and bad information will increase, and the firms will pay more attention to bad information. When the financial market declines, the asymmetric response of financial firms to good and bad information is diminished, and their sensitivity to both positive and negative information is heightened. In addition, the dissemination of bad information by firms in the five sub-financial industries across various markets exacerbates the asymmetric response of other financial firms to good and bad information. More importantly, the release of positive return information, negative volatility information, and highly negative tail risk information by the real estate financial firms all impact the asymmetric response of financial firms to good and bad information in a prosperous financial market. In recessionary financial markets, financial regulators can strategically release positive information to mitigate the decline in the financial market. Conversely, in a booming financial market, financial regulators should be cautious of the negative impact that bad information can have on financial firms, particularly in relation to the excessive growth of the real estate sector and the potential chain reaction of significant adverse events.

Emotions are fundamental elements driving humans’ decision-making and information processing. Fear is one of the most common emotions influencing investors’ behaviors in the stock market. Although many studies have been conducted to explore the impacts of fear on investors’ investment performance and trading behaviors, little is known about factors contributing to and alleviating investors’ fear during the market crash (or extremely volatile periods) and their fear regulation after the crisis. Thus, the current data descriptor provides details of a dataset of 1526 Chinese and Vietnamese investors, a potential resource for researchers to fill in the gap. The dataset was designed and structured based on the information-processing perspective of the Mindsponge Theory and existing evidence in life sciences. The Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics validated the data. Insights generated from the dataset are expected to help researchers expand the existing literature on behavioral finance and the psychology of fear, improve the investment effectiveness among investors, and inform policymakers on strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of market crashes on the stock market.

This paper investigates the varying impact of government subsidies on corporate investment efficiency using micro-level data from Chinese listed firms. Through meticulous compilation of information on government subsidies revealed in financial statements, and the implementation of an innovative categorization methodology based on the nature and timing of funds (ex-ante versus ex-post), we shed light on the divergent effects of these subsidies. Our findings are as follows: (1) Government subsidies enhance corporate investment efficiency, yet their effects exhibit asymmetry by alleviating underinvestment while exacerbating overinvestment. (2) Functional subsidies exert a stronger influence on investment efficiency compared to selective subsidies. Specifically, functional subsidies prove more effective in addressing underinvestment, but also possess a higher likelihood of exacerbating overinvestment. (3) State ownership, firm size and dividend payments lead to heterogeneity in the effects of subsidies. (4) Corporate financial constraints serve as one of the mechanisms through which subsidies affect investment efficiency. This suggests that firms with easier access to financing may not effectively utilize subsidies, while those facing severe financial constraints are less prone to misusing them.