This study explores the price drivers of Chinese Emissions Allowances (CEAs) in the early stage of China’s national carbon market. Using daily time series data from July 2021 to July 2023, we find limited influence from conventional drivers, including energy prices and economic factors. Instead, national power generation emerges as a significant driver. These are primarily due to the distinct institutional features of China’s national carbon market, notably its rate-based system and sectoral coverage. Moreover, the study uncovers cumulative abnormal volatility in CEA prices ranging from 12% to 20% around the end of the first compliance cycle, reflecting sentiments about the policy design and participants’ limited understanding about carbon trading. Our results extend previous literature regarding carbon pricing determinants by highlighting China’s unique carbon market design, comparing it with the traditional cap-and-trade programs, and offering valuable insights for tailored market-based policies in developing countries.

It is diffffcult to understand the risk-return trade-off in option market with observable factormodels. In this paper, we employ a latent factor model for delta-hedge option returns over a varietyof important exchange traded options in China, based on the instrumented principal componentanalysis (IPCA). This model incorporates conditional betas instrumented by option characteristics,to tackle the diffffculty caused by short lifespans and rapidly migrating characteristics of options. Ourresults show that a three-factor IPCA model can explain 19.30% variance in returns of individualoptions and 99.23% for managed portfolios. An asset pricing test with bootstrap shows that there isno unexplained alpha term with such a model. Comparison with observable factor model indicatesthe necessity of including characteristics. We also provide subsample analysis and characteristicimportance.

This paper examines the influence of gambling culture on household investment decisions concerning risky financial assets. To estimate these effects, the study utilizes data from the 2019 China Household Finance Survey. The empirical findings reveal that gambling culture significantly enhances household preferences for risky financial assets and raises the proportion of household allocations to these assets. Furthermore, both subjective financial literacy and objective financial literacy amplify these positive effects. The heterogeneity analysis revealed that the effects of gambling culture on household preference for and allocation of risky financial assets varied across regions, income levels, and household types.

This paper revisits the default-crash risk relation in the context of China. We find that firms with higher default risk have lower stock price crash risk both in monthly and yearly frequencies. To identify the causal effect, we use the first-ever default event in China’s onshore bond market in 2014 as an exogenous shock to the strength of implicit guarantees. The negative relation arises from the active involvement of the government before 2014 and creditors after 2014 in corporate governance. Consistent with the external scrutiny mechanism, the impact of default risk on stock price crashes is stronger in situations in which creditors are more likely to engage in active monitoring (i.e., firms with higher liquidation costs, lower liquidation value, and higher levels of information asymmetry), with these effects primarily observed in the post-2014 period. Overall, our study highlights the role of the “invisible hand” in the absence of the “visible hand.”

人工智能技术正以前所未有的速度重塑人类社会的基本结构，其影响广度从 日常生活延伸至全球治理体系。2025年，全球人工智能核心产业规模已突破6000 亿元人民币，用户规模接近 2.5 亿，技术渗透率高达 17.7%。这一指数级增长态 势既孕育着社会效率革命的曙光，又潜伏着深刻的伦理危机。当深度伪造技术能 够以几可乱真的方式模拟人类生物特征，当算法偏见在招聘、信贷领域悄然固化 社会不平等，人类不得不面对一个核心命题：如何在享受 AI 技术红利的同时， 构建牢不可破的伦理防护网？本文从 AI 技术的社会影响全景出发，系统分析其 作为效率引擎与犯罪工具的双重面相，并探索符合技术伦理与现实需求的治理路 径，为构建安全可信的人工智能未来提供理论支撑与实践指南。

The aging population is intensifying, and solving the problem of elderly care is urgent. This article is based on CHFS (2019) survey data, and empirical research has found that commercial pension insurance significantly promotes households' allocation of risky financial assets. The mechanism is tested using household risk perception and investment risk preference as mediating variables. In addition, through heterogeneity testing, it was found that the positive effect of commercial pension insurance on the allocation of risky financial assets is more significant in rural households with household registration, two sets of housing, and households in the northeast.

As digital transformation strategies have emerged as a primary approach for enterprises to enhance their Total Factor Productivity (TFP), it is crucial to empirically examine the impact of these strategies on TFP. For this purpose, this study considers these transformation strategies as a quasi-natural experiment and employees a propensity score-weighted difference-indifferences methodology on data from Chinese firms listed on the A-share market between 2007 and 2020. The key findings include: (1) digital transformation has a significant positive influence on TFP; (2) Generalized boosted regression trees analysis reinforces this finding after controlling for other TFP determinants; (3) notably, non-state-owned and technology-intensive enterprises exhibit a more distinct enhancement in TFP following digital transformation. These results underscore the need for firms to increase investment in research and development capabilities and digital competencies.

Using data from Chinese A-share listed firms from 2015 to 2022, we employ a difference-in-differences model to empirically examine the impact of bankruptcy regimes, marked by the establishment of bankruptcy courts, on firms’ total factor productivity (TFP). The results show a significant decline in TFP among firms in regions following the establishment of bankruptcy courts. This finding remains valid after a series of robustness tests. Mechanism tests reveal that establishing bankruptcy courts increases firms’ risk aversion incentives by endowing creditors with excessive rights. Consequently, firms tend to reduce liabilities, curtail R&D investment, and accumulate liquid assets as coping measures, ultimately contributing to a decline in TFP. Furthermore, this effect is more pronounced for firms with high financial risk. However, the improvement of the market mechanism can alleviate the negative impact of bankruptcy courts excessively strengthening creditor protection. Specifically, when firms are located in regions with weak government intervention and strong financial development, as well as in market environments with low uncertainty and strong competition, this negative impact can be mitigated. These findings provide fresh insights into the dual nature of creditor protection and offer valuable references for governments to improve the bankruptcy legal system.

随着全球经济的发展以及环境容量资源有限性之间的矛盾升级、无实际控制人现象在上市公司中逐渐增多。无实际控制人企业引发的内外部治理结构对碳排放强度会产生何种影响呢？本文基于代理理论，以2007-2022年沪深A股上市公司为研究对象，检验无实际控制人对碳排放强度的影响。研究发现，无实际控制人企业的碳排放强度更高。内部治理结构如股权制衡、管理层持股有助于显著降低无实际控制人企业的碳排放强度，外部治理机制如建立环保法庭和实施低碳城市的试验政策，使得碳排放强度显著降低。本文的研究结论为改善无实际控制人企业的碳排放强度提供了经验证据，拓展了代理理论的适用范围，基于无实际控制人视角丰富了碳排放管理的相关研究。

Do firms adjust their hiring decisions after receiving environmental punishments? Using data on over 4.3 million job postings for Chinese listed firms from 2015 to 2021, we find that firms subjected to environmental punishments will subsequently increase their corporate green hiring (i.e., employees with green skills). Pressure from local environmental concerns and regulatory efforts incentivizes firms to increase their demand for employees with green skills. Environmental punishments have a more pronounced effect on corporate green hiring for non-state-owned enterprises and firms with lower financial constraints. Moreover, green hiring can have a remediation effect on firms' environmental performance and stimulate their green innovation activities and spillover effects on other firms within the industry. Overall, our findings shed light on corporate hiring decisions under environmental regulations.