The frequent occurrence of extreme weather events not only poses serious challenges to global economic growth and financial stability but also affects firms negatively across multiple dimensions. Using a sample of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2006-2016, this study aims to explore the effect of climate risk on firm export sophistication. The findings show that climate risk inhibits firm export sophistication, with the results varying depending on firm and industry types. Specifically, climate risk (i) inhibits export sophistication for firms with low government subsidies more than for firms with high government subsidies; (ii) restraints export sophistication for firms in high-tech industries rather than for low-and medium-tech industries; and (iii) reduces export sophistication for firms in low-marketization regions more than for firms in high-marketization regions. In addition, channel analysis shows that climate risk inhibits firm export sophistication by increasing financial constraints and reducing human capital.

This study investigates the impact of early leadership experiences on innovation performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China. Using Enterprise Survey for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China (ESIEC) cross-sectional datasets, it examines the mediating role of psychological traits and the moderating effect of age in this relationship. The analysis employs fixed effects models to control for regional and industry-specific unobserved characteristics. Results indicate a significant positive relationship between early leadership experiences and innovation, with psychological traits mediating this relationship strongly in younger entrepreneurs. For older entrepreneurs, early leadership has a more direct and stronger impact on innovation. These findings underscore the importance of early leadership development in education phase and suggest that the influence and pathways evolve with age, offering particular insights into the formation and application of social and human capital in the entrepreneurial journey

As China’s Zero-COVID policy has come to an end and travel restrictions have been removed, the country’s mobility patterns are very likely to become more heterogeneous than during the pandemic. Human mobility is a key mechanism through which economic activities emerge and viruses spread. It can bring both advantages and challenges to cities with different characteristics. This paper investigates intra-city mobility trajectories of 368 Chinese cities within a non-linear time-varying latent factor framework to uncover the evolution of heterogeneity in local travel behavior amidst that China has been approaching the turning point of the post-pandemic new normal. To this end, we compiled a novel panel on a weekly basis, using the latest Baidu Mobility Data and the risk-level data released by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. We further examine the effects of exposure to high COVID-19 risk in the city on commuting behavior between May 17, 2021 and June 26, 2022. Our results provide stylized facts on stratified local travel across China: first, the 368 cities can be categorized into six clusters based on their mobility dynamics, and second, the gaps in intra-city mobility tend to narrow within each cluster but widen between different clusters. Moreover, exposure to high COVID-19 risk has a stronger impact on home-workplace commuting rates than on dining-, leisure, and recreational travel rates, persistently dampening commuting behavior. In addition, divisions in intra-city travel strength and commuting behavior between western regions and the rest of China are evident. In sum, this paper suggests that the daily life and economic activities which depend heavily on human mobility are recovering at different rates across China.

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.

We leverage machine learning to introduce belief dispersion measures to distinguish different opinion (DO) and information asymmetry (IA). Our measures align with the human-based measure and relate to economic outcomes in a manner consistent with theoretical prediction: DO positively relates to trading volume and negatively linked to bid-ask spread, whereas IA shows the opposite effects. Moreover, IA negatively predicts the cross-section of stock returns, while DO positively predicts returns for underpriced stocks and negatively for overpriced ones. Our findings reconcile conflicting disagree-return relations in the literature and are consistent with Atmaz and Basak (2018)’s model. We also show that the return predictability of DO and IA stems from their unique economic rationales, underscoring that components of disagreement can influence market equilibrium via distinct mechanisms.

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.

Firstly, the article elaborates on the concepts of metaverse and industrial metaverse, pointing out that the metaverse has driven changes and optimizations in multiple dimensions such as urban form, social organization form, and industrial production form; Secondly, the metaverse has empowered urban governance in Guangzhou, improving the efficiency of urban management, enhancing the city's emergency management capabilities, improving the quality of interaction between people and the city, and promoting the construction of a smart city; Once again, the focus was on the practices and good results achieved by Guangzhou in utilizing blockchain technology, digital twin technology, generative artificial intelligence technology, unmanned aerial vehicles+AI and other technologies in urban governance and serving the public; Finally, it is clarified that metaverse related technologies will promote the integration of carbon based civilization and silicon-based civilization in urban and social governance. Humans can use silicon-based civilization technology to expand their living space and improve their quality of life, while silicon-based civilization can also draw inspiration from the culture and emotions of carbon based life, achieving more comprehensive development.

We examine the effect of minority shareholder voting rights on labor investment efficiency using a sample of Chinese firms. Taking advantage of the difference-in-difference setting, our study reveals that the expansion of minority shareholder voting rights has a detrimental effect on labor investment efficiency. Through analysis of holding period and a managerial shortsightedness index based on textual analysis, we find that this outcome can be attributed to the fact that minority shareholders typically prioritize short-term gains over long-term corporate growth. Moreover, the impact of voting power is more pronounced in determining the investment efficiency of rank-andfileemployees. Our results are more significant for firms that face severe financial constraints, are non-state-owned enterprises, exhibit lower levels of internal control, possess fewer female managers, demonstrate lower human capital quality and higher labor intensity. Taken together, our paper suggests that minority shareholders could be myopia in making labor decisions.

This research employs the Alkire-Foster approach to measure multidimensional poverty between 2012 and 2020 in China, followed by examining the role of the three-pillar pension system in mitigating household multidimensional poverty. With the China Family Panel Studies data, our measurement uncovers the sustainable effects and mechanisms of household participation in the multi-pillar pension system on poverty mitigation. The results indicate that more participation in the pension system mitigates the probability of being trapped in multidimensional poverty. The findings reveal the significance of state social insurance, enterprise annuity, and individual commercial insurance. The mitigation effect of market-oriented pillars is achieved through more investment in and consumption for livelihood assets. Based upon the sustainable livelihoods framework, livelihood assets ameliorate household capabilities in human, natural, financial, and psychological capital against risks, shocks, and uncertainties. Our research contributes to the knowledge of how household participation in pension pillars sustainably mitigates multidimensional poverty through micro-level mechanisms and to the policy praxis of why a facilitating state is called for poverty mitigation from the perspective of new structural economics.

Based on the panel data of listed manufacturing companies in China from 2010 to 2019, the artificial intelligence (AI) index is constructed using the industrial robot data provided by the International Federation of Robotics, and the two-way fixed effect model is used to test the impact of AI on the total factor productivity (TFP) of enterprises. The results show that AI significantly improves the TFP of manufacturing enterprises, and this conclusion remains valid after robustness tests and endogeneity processing. AI promotes TFP by improving the level of human capital and technological innovation, and management and operational levels positively regulate the promotional effect of AI on the TFP of enterprises. Compared with manufacturing enterprises in the central and western regions, AI boosts the TFP of those in the eastern region; compared with non-state-owned enterprises, AI boosts the TFP of state-owned enterprises; and AI significantly boosts the TFP of high-tech and non-high-tech enterprises.