The literature has extensively explored the relationship between trade and envi-ronment, with most studies focusing on how trade affects the environment. However, our research takes a different approach by examining how air pollution affects firms’ exports. We use Chinese export and pollution data from 2000 to 2007 at the firm and county levels. By using fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations as a proxy for air pollution and employing thermal inversion as an instrumental variable, we ffnd that a 1% increase in PM2.5 leads to a 0.89% reduction in firms’ exports. We also observe this negative effect of air pollution on entry and exit (i.e., extensive margins). Our mechanism analysis identiffes two channels through which air pollution affects exports. First, air pollution decreases exports by reducing firm productivity. Second, air pollution induces stringent environmental regulations, which reduces exports as firms need to increase abatement costs or reduce production to meet the environment standards.

Using firm-customer matched data from 2005 to 2020 in China, we examined the spillover effects and mechanisms of green innovation (GI) among supply chain partners. Results show a positive association between customers' GI and their supply firms' GI, indicating spillover effects in the supply chain. Customers' GI increase from the 25th to the 75th percentile leads to a significant 19% increase in supply firms' GI. Certain conditions amplify the spillover effect, including customers with higher bargaining power, operating in less competitive industries, and supply firms making relationship-specific investments or experiencing greater customer stability. Geographic proximity and shared ownership further enhance the spillover effect. Information-based and competition-based channels drive the spillover effect, while customers with higher GI encourage genuine GI activities by supply firms. External environmental regulations, such as the Chinese Green Credit Policy and Environmental Protection Law, strengthen the spillover effect, supporting the Porter hypothesis. This research expands understanding of spillover effects in the supply chain and contributes to the literature on GI determinants.

The role of Market-incentive environmental regulation (MIER) within the framework of environmental governance is patently evident. While extant literature lauds the advantageous outcomes attributed to the environmental protection tax (EPT) which as a representative of MIER, our empirical inquiry presents a contrasting narrative. By employing the sophisticated Difference-in-Difference-in-Difference (DDD) methodology and utilizing data from A-share listed firms in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2015-2022, our investigation reveals a significant decrease in firms’ total factor productivity (TFP) following the implementation of EPT. Our core assertion is fortified through the discernment of two plausible mechanisms, namely, the production downsizing effect and the production capital crowding-out effect. Building upon this revelation, we delve into the nuanced pathways through which firms can strategically mitigate the impacts of EPT, encompassing the enhancement of human capital, amplification of research and development (R&D) investments, and fortification of overall firm resilience. Heterogeneity analysis discloses a notably heightened impact of EPT on TFP of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), larger enterprises and enterprises located in eastern regions. Ultimately, an approximately cost-benefit analysis conclusively demonstrates that the benefits derived from EPT far surpass the costs incurred by the concomitant industrial output reduction, which further illustrates the rationale for the implementation of EPT.

A strong reputation is a cornerstone of corporate finance theory, widely believed to relax financial constraints and lower capital costs. We challenge this view by identifying an ‘reputation paradox’: under modern risk-sensitive regulation, for firms with long-term liabilities, a better reputation may paradoxically increase capital strain. We argue that the improvement of firm’s reputation alters customer behavior , , which extends liability duration and amplifies measured risk. By using the life insurance industry as an ideal laboratory, we develop an innovative framework that integrates LLMs with actuarial cash flow models, which confirms that the improved reputation increases regulatory capital demands. A comparative analysis across major regulatory regimes—C-ROSS, Solvency II, and RBC—and two insurance products, we further demonstrate that improvements in reputation affect capital requirements unevenly across product types and regulatory frameworks. Our findings challenge the conventional view that reputation uniformly alleviates capital pressure, emphasizing the necessity for insurers to strategically align reputation management with solvency planning.

How do Held-to-Maturity (HTM) securities that limit the impacts of banks’ unrealized capital loss on the regulatory capital measures affect banks’ exposure to deposit run risks when policy rates increase? And how should regulators design policies on classifying securities as HTM jointly with bank capital regulation? To answer these questions, we develop a model of bank runs in which banks classify long-term assets as HTM or Asset-for-Sale (AFS). Banks trade off the current cost of issuing equity to meet the capital requirement when the interest rate increases against increasing future run risks when the interest rate increases further in the future. When banks underestimate interest rate risks or have limited liability to depositors in the event of default, capping held-to-maturity long-term assets and mandating more equity capital issuance may reduce the run risks of moderately capitalized banks. Using bank-quarter-level data from Call Reports, we provide empirical support for the model’s testable implications.

The economic institutionalist literature often suggests that sub-optimal institutional arrangements impart unique distortions in China, and excessive corporate debt is a symptom of this condition. However, lax monetary policies after the global financial crisis, and specifically, quantitative easing have led to concerns about debt bubbles under a wide range of institutional regimes. This study draws on data from Chinese listed firms, supplemented by numerous macroeconomic control variables, to isolate the effect of international capital flows from other drivers of firm leverage. We conclude that the rise in, and distribution of, Chinese corporate debt can partly be as-cribed to the effects of monetary policy outside of China and that Chinese institutional features amplify these effects. Whilst Chinese firms are affected by developments in the global financial ecosystem, domestic institutional realities and distortions may unevenly add their own particular effects, providing further support for and extending the variegated capitalism literature.

This study examines how localized carbon reduction policies affect corporate environmental productivity. Leveraging a quasi-experiment from China’s low-carbon pilot policy rollout across cities, we implement a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the causal impact of these interventions. Pilot policies significantly increased regulated polluting corporate environmental productivity by around 3 percentage points. The productivity gains persisted over time and were greater for financially constrained firms, firms facing less market competition and with lower capital intensity. Additional analysis reveals the pilots enhanced executive environmental awareness. Overall, our results demonstrate appropriately designed local regulations can improve environmental productivity.

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.

We employ a time-varying parameter vector autoregression (TVP-VAR) joint connectedness approach to study the dynamic risk spillover effects between cryptocurrencies and China’s financial market, further exploring the impact of cryptocurrencies on China’s financial market. Our results show that there is asymmetric risk transmission between cryptocurrencies and China’s financial market, and the risk spillover effect is very weak. Specifically, the spillover of cryptocurrencies to China’s financial market is significantly stronger than the spillover of China’s financial market to cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies have a stronger spillover effect to China’s exchange rate and gold. The net spillover effect of cryptocurrencies is weakening over time. Overall, the return spillover impact of cryptocurrencies on China’s financial market is greater than the volatility spillover impact, and the degree of impact of different cryptocurrencies is heterogeneous. This study provides some reference and guidance for cross-market investment portfolios and the regulation of China’s financial market.

This study investigates the role of financial development in shaping the relationship between FDI and firm innovation, based on Chinese firm-level dataset during 2008-2014. Our findings reveal that bank deregulation significantly enhances the positive effect of FDI on firm innovation. We also find that firms with greater financial constraints and those located in cities with lower levels of bank competition exhibit a more pronounced response. These results underscore the importance of considering financial market conditions and highlight the role of financial constraints and bank competition as crucial channels through which bank deregulation influences the effect of FDI on firm innovation.