Reputation is widely regarded as a stabilizing factor in financial institutions, reducing capital constraints and enhancing firm resilience. However, in the insurance industry, where capital requirements are shaped by solvency regulations and policyholder behavior, the effects of reputation on capital management remain unclear. This paper examines the unintended consequences of reputation in insurance asset-liability management, focusing on its impact on capital allocation. Using a novel reputation risk measure based on large language models (LLMs) and actuarial models, we show that reputation shifts influence surrender rates, altering capital requirements. While higher reputation reduces surrender risk, it increases capital demand for investment-oriented insurance products, whereas protection products remain largely unaffected. These findings challenge the conventional wisdom that reputation always eases capital constraints, highlighting the need for insurers to integrate reputation management with capital planning to avoid unintended capital strain.

Using “the Measures for the Administration of Bank Wealth Management (henceforth BWM) Funds Sales” as an exogenous shock in fund distribution channels in Chinese BWM industry, we investigate the impact of non-affiliated distribution on fund performance. We find that the adoption of non-affiliated distribution brokers has a positive effect on BWM fund performance. We further find that the effect is more pronounced when the non-affiliated distribution broker has more market power and when the fund issuer has better governance. We interpret our findings to indicate that non-affiliated distribution brokers alleviate the agency problems of fund managers by introducing both ex-ante and ex-post monitoring, highlighting the role of non-affiliated distribution brokers as an external governance mechanism in wealth management industry.

This study empirically investigates the impact of supply chain network centrality on corporate greenwashing behavior. By constructing supply chain networks of Chinese A-share listed companies, we find a strong positive correlation between supply chain network centrality and corporate greenwashing behavior, with an increase of approximately 6.20%. The paper identifies the underlying mechanism as the contagion of the green bandwagon effect within the supply chain, which is observed specifically in the downstream network, particularly among corporate-customers. Additionally, we observe that the positive effects are more pronounced in companies with lower information asymmetry, as well as in labor- and capital-intensive industries and regions with disadvantaged economic conditions. These findings offer important insights for improving corporate environmental responsibility and curbing greenwashing practices.

气候信息披露对于实现“双碳”目标，促进供应链可持续发展至关重要。本文通过合并中国上市公司和海关数据，基于各国强制性ESG披露政策的自然实验，考察其对中国出口供应商企业气候信息披露的影响。研究发现，出口目的国强制性ESG披露政策对中国出口供应商企业气候信息披露具有增进效应，供应商企业的主动模仿和客户倒逼是重要的实现机制。异质性检验发现，当中国出口供应商为污染型企业、面临较高的外部环境关注度，及目的国强制性ESG披露政策执行更为严格时，政策效果更为显著。进一步分析发现，中国出口供应商企业气候信息披露的完善不仅有助于增加企业对实行强制性ESG披露政策国家的出口，而且能够提升供应商企业未来的经营绩效。本文丰富了气候信息披露影响因素与实现机制的研究，增强了对强制性ESG披露政策的理解，对构建可持续供应链和提升企业国际竞争力具有重要启示。

The reform of the IPO registration system is a crucial step toward the maturity, improvement, and marketization of the securities market. In recent years, the trend of corporate financialization has become increasingly evident. Based on data from firms listed on the ChiNext Market and the Main Board, this paper constructs a Propensity Score Matching-Difference-in-Differences (PSM-DID) model and an RDD-DID model to examine the impact of IPO registration system reform on corporate financialization and analyze its underlying mechanisms from multiple perspectives. The estimation results of both models indicate that the IPO registration system reform has significantly increased firms’ financialization levels. Furthermore, a series of robustness checks confirm the reliability of the findings. The mechanism analysis reveals that the reform has promoted corporate financialization by lowering listing thresholds, alleviating financing constraints, and intensifying market competition. Meanwhile, its information disclosure mechanism has to some extent curbed financialization. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the reform’s promoting effect is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, firms with lower growth potential, and those with weaker corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. This study enriches the literature on the policy impact of IPO registration system reform, provides a new perspective on how such reforms influence corporate financialization, and offers important implications for curbing excessive financialization in real-sector enterprises, deepening IPO registration system reform, and further improving capital markets.

This study examines the relationship between industry litigation risk and corporate misconduct using China's A-share listed companies’ data from 2007 to 2022. The findings indicate a significant and negative association, where companies in industries with higher median litigation amounts relative to their assets exhibit reduced incidents of misconduct. This suggests that businesses in high-risk litigation sectors may adopt more cautious practices to mitigate legal challenges and protect their reputations. The robustness of these findings is confirmed through a variety of tests, including a quasi-experimental setting of the chief judges rotation implemented in 2008. Furthermore, the study finds that external monitors including financial analysts’ site visits and local law firms moderate the negative relationship between litigation risk and misconduct. We further show that legal enforcement and moral capital are the two channels through which industry litigation risk impacts corporate misconduct. Our findings underscore the role of litigation risk in shaping peer firms' behavior.

本文基于2000-2024年手工收集的IPO公司上市前的现金分红数据，系统考察了上市前现金分红与公司长期市场表现的关系。研究发现，（1）上市前实施高额现金分红的公司，其IPO后长期市场表现显著较差，这一负面效应在成长型公司和融资约束较高的公司中尤为突出；（2）通过构建考虑公司盈利能力、成长性、规模及杠杆水平的超额分红指标，发现超额分红公司的IPO前分红水平与上市后长期表现呈显著负相关，而分红不足公司则呈现微弱的正相关关系；（3）IPO前超额分红行为通过挤占公司资本性支出、降低投资效率等渠道削弱了企业的增长潜力。本研究不仅丰富了公司股利政策的经济后果研究，也为完善新股发行监管制度提供了重要的经验证据。

Using a unique dataset from China spanning 2005 to 2023, we investigate how superstitious beliefs influence mutual fund managers’ risk-taking behavior and how this influence evolves over their careers. We find a significant 6.82% reduction in risk-taking during managers’ zodiac years, traditionally considered unlucky in Chinese culture. This effect is particularly pronounced among less experienced managers, those without financial education backgrounds, and those with lower management skills. The impact also intensifies during periods of high market volatility. Our findings challenge the traditional dichotomy between retail and professional investors, showing that even professional fund managers can be influenced by irrational beliefs early in their careers. However, the diminishing effect of superstition with experience and expertise suggests a gradual transition towards more rational decision-making. Our results provide insights into the process by which financial professionals evolve from exhibiting behavior akin to retail investors to becoming the rational actors often assumed in financial theory.

Estimates of canonical affine term structure model parameters are highly sensitive to sample periods. For example, depending on whether the sample starts in 1961 or 1981, the 5-5 forward risk-neutral rate for September 1981 differs by 4.6 percentage points or 98% of the latter. The estimated response of this rate to high-frequency monetary policy shocks differs by a factor of three, even within a fixed sample for the monetary policy transmission regression. We suggest that a shifting endpoint model can mitigate these issues. Additionally, we provide new estimates of the effects of monetary policy shocks on long-term risk-neutral rates.

2019年，国家发布《绿色产业指导目录》，首次明确绿色产业范围和技术标准，旨在为包括绿色金融体系在内经济社会绿色转型中一系列制度安排的重点支持方向提供技术上的参考目录，提高资源配置效率。本文以《目录》提供的技术文本为基础、运用前沿的大语言模型，构建了全新的基于专业技术角度的企业绿色技术指标，避免了传统企业环境效益评价指标（如ESG指标）存在的覆盖不足和漂绿高估问题。以该指标为基础，本文运用双重差分法考察《目录》对企业创新能力、投资行为及经营绩效的影响。实证结果表明，《目录》的颁布鼓励企业加大了研发投入、增加了绿色支出，提升了绿色企业的创新能力，尤其促进了企业的高质量创新产出。进一步地融资机制探索表明，明确绿色标准显著降低了相关企业的融资成本，尤其对企业信贷融资渠道的影响更为显著。最后，本文通过经济意义分析发现，《目录》提高了企业的经营绩效和节能减排。本文的研究结论为进一步健全绿色金融机制、实现绿色可持续发展提供了有益参考。