With the increasing executive-employee pay disparity in recent years, research on executive compensation has grown exponentially. This paper reviews all articles on executive compensation published between 2000 and 2022 in the six accounting journals with the highest impact index in South Korea and China (five journals in China), and evaluates and analyzes the research in both countries. The analysis results are organized as follows: First, the research on executive compensation started earlier in South Korea than in China; second, the focus of the research on executive compensation differs between the two countries; then, the study on the determinants of executive compensation varies between the two countries; forth, the proxies for firm performance are mostly the same in the two countries; and finally, most of the studies in the two countries assert that executive compensation has a positive impact on firm performance. Based on the above research, this paper confirms that the agency theory, which has been widely validated in Western countries, is also valid in Asian countries. In addition, it provides an essential reference for future research on executive compensation in Asian countries.

Comprehensive evaluation and identification of the critical regulatory determinants of carbon emission efficiency (CEE) are very important for China’s low-carbon transition. Accordingly, this paper first employs an undesirable global super-hybrid measure approach to calculate the CEE of China’s iron and steel industry (ISI). We then further use spatial error and threshold regression models to examine the spatial and non-linear effects of heterogeneous environmental regulations on CEE, respectively. Our empirical results show that (1) CEE varies significantly across China’s regions, with the eastern region having the highest CEE score, followed by the western and central regions, with the northeast region ranking the lowest; (2) command-and-control and market-incentive regulations both promote CEE, whereas the public participation approach does not significantly contribute to performance gains; (3) all three types of environmental regulations exhibit a non-linear threshold effect on CEE; (4) openness level, technological progress, and industrial concentration enhance efficiency gains, while urbanization level exerts a negative impact on CEE. Our findings have important implications for the design of environmental regulations.

Purpose – This study aims to investigate whether firms purchase directors’ and officers’ liability (D&O) insurance when the country-level economic policy uncertainty (EPU) is high. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses D&O insurance data from Chinese listed firms between 2003 and 2019 to conduct regression analyses to examine the association between D&O insurance and EPU. Findings – The results show that government EPU, despite being an exogenous factor, increases the likelihood of firms’ purchasing D&O insurance, and this effect is more pronounced when firms are exposed to great share price crash risk and high litigation risk, suggesting that firms intend to purchase D&O insurance possibly due to the accentuated stock price crash risk and litigation risk associated with EPU. In addition, the results indicate that the effect of EPU on the D&O insurance purchase decision is moderated by the provincial capital market development and internal control quality. Practical implications – The study highlights the role of uncertain economic policies in shareholder approval of D&O insurance purchases. Originality/value – The study enriches the literature on the determinants of D&O insurance purchases by documenting novel evidence that country-level EPU is a key institutional factor shaping firms’ decisions to purchase D&O insurance.

Owing to the liberalisation of financial markets, the impact of international capital flows on the Chinese stock market has become substantial. This study investigates the effects of economic policy uncertainty (EPU), geopolitical risk (GPR), consumer sentiment (CCI), macroeconomic fundamentals (MECI), and money supply (M2) on the correlations between the stock and exchange rate markets. The negative correlation between these two markets has become more pronounced in recent years. Moreover, EPU, GPR, CCI, and MECI negatively impact long-term stock-exchange rate correlations, while M2 has a positive impact. Portfolios of stock-exchange rates effectively reduce risk, especially when considering structural breaks.

Empowered by comprehensive data on smartphone fund investors’ trading and browsing histories from a Chinese financial company, we explore the role of investors’ financial attention in influencing the relationship between unrealized profits and investors’ selling decisions. Against a backdrop in which retail investors are not attentive to their portfolio information, we find supportive evidence suggesting that investors exhibit realization preference when we condition on days when investors pay financial attention. Further, we show that failing to account for investors’ financial inattention may induce observers to reject the realization-preference hypothesis. This paper also offers insights into the determinants of financial attention and the influence of financial attention on investor disposition effect.

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.

本文首次对我国 2019 年新证券法生效前的内幕交易案件进行了一个全面和深入的实证研究，并与境外法域进行比较，揭示我国内幕交易法律的执行情况。我国对内幕交易的打击力度持续加大，案件数量显著增长，以行政处罚为主，但 2008 年后刑事处罚逐渐增加。内幕交易变得更为隐蔽，体现在非传统类型的内幕人增多、内幕信息主要与并购相关、选择只交易且利用他人账户交易等。我国的内幕交易处罚类型与境外法域基本接轨，处罚强度甚至居于前列，其主要的影响因素包括违法所得、社会影响、减轻处罚情节、是否使用他人账户等。基于这些发现，本文评价了 2019 年证券法相关修订，提出了相关完善建议，并指出了需要进一步研究的课题。

The implementation of prefabricated housing (PH) has become prevalent in China recently because of its advantages in improving production efficiency and saving energy. However, the benefits of adopting PH cannot always be accrued by the stakeholders because of the arising transaction costs (TCs) in the projects’ development process. This study investigates the strategies for developers to make rational choices for minimizing the TCs of the PH project considering their own attributes and external constraints. A Bayesian Belief Network model was applied as the analytical method, based on the surveys in China. The single sensitive analysis indicated that developers influence the TCs of PH through the three most impactful factors: Prefabrication rate, PH experience, and Contract payment method. Furthermore, combined strategies were recommended for developers in various situations based on the multiple sensitivity analysis. Developers facing high prefabrication rate challenges are suggested to reduce the risks by procuring high-qualified general contractors and adopting unit-price contracts type. For developers with limited PH experience, adopting the Engineering-Procurement-Construction procurement method is the most efficient in reducing their TCs in the context of China’s PH market. This study contributes to the current body of knowledge concerning the effect of traders’ attributes and choices on TCs, expanding the application of TCs theory and fulfilling the study on the determinants of TCs in construction management.

Employee helping behavior is a critical aspect of organizational behavior that has been studied extensively in the literature. This study provides an integrative review and research agenda for exploring the determinants of employee helping behavior. The study addresses the current state of knowledge on the determinants of employee helping behavior, the strengths and limitations of existing theories, methods, and findings in this field of research, and avenues for future research. The study identifies the importance of considering individual and situational factors, leadership behavior and communication, recognition and reward programs, and creating a positive and supportive work environment for promoting and managing employee helping behavior in organizations. Future research directions include further examination of specific determinants, examination of individual and organizational factors, examination of cross-cultural differences, longitudinal studies, and implementation of promoting strategies. The study contributes to the development of effective strategies for promoting and managing employee helping behavior in organizations. [译]员工帮助行为是组织行为学中一个至关重要的方面，在文献中已得到广泛研究。本研究提供了一个综合性的评述和研究议程，以探索员工帮助行为的决定性因素。该研究涵盖了当前关于员工帮助行为决定因素的知识状态，现有理论、方法和研究成果在该研究领域的优势与局限性，以及未来研究的可能方向。研究指出，在组织中促进和管理员工帮助行为时，考虑个人和情境因素、领导行为和沟通、认可和奖励计划，以及创造一个积极支持性的工作环境的重要性。未来的研究方向包括进一步审查特定的决定性因素，探究个人和组织因素，研究跨文化差异，进行纵向研究，以及实施推广策略。该研究为组织中促进和管理员工帮助行为的有效策略的发展做出了贡献。

There is mixed evidence of a positive relationship between the stock market risk and return. We reexamine this critical implication of asset pricing theory using fresh data from China's stock market, which is largely segmented from the rest of the global financial market. Using formal variable selection methods and a comprehensive set of predictor variables, we identify conditional market variance, scaled market prices, and inflation as crucial determinants of equity premiums. The estimated simple risk-return relationship exhibits downward omitted variable bias, which underlines the importance of considering multiple factors to explain the variation in equity premiums. We cannot wholly attribute the three-factor conditional equity premium model to data mining, as Guo, Sanni, and Yu (2022) select the same model for the U.S. stock market. These findings challenge existing asset pricing models and provide valuable guidance for future theoretical research.