Beyond a bias toward local stocks, investors prefer companies in certain cities over others. This study uses the geographic network of investor-followed stocks from stock watchlists to identify intercity investment preferences in China. We measure the city-pair connectivity by its likelihood of sharing an investor in common whose stock watchlist is highly concentrated in the firms of that city pair. We find that a higher connectivity-weighted aggregate stock demand-to-supply ratio across connected cities is associated with higher stock valuations, higher turnover, better liquidity, and lower cost of equity for firms in the focal city. The effects are robust to controls for geographic proximity and the broad investor base, are stronger among small firms, extend to stock return predictability, and imply excess intercity return comovement. Our results suggest that city connectivity revealed on the stock watchlist helps identify network factors in asset pricing.

Culture and experience associate A with superior quality. In the marketing of dual-class IPOs, issuers are mindful of this preference. For years after IPO issuance, inferior voting rights shares labeled Class A enjoy higher market valuations and smaller voting premiums than do Class B shares.

We study how investor composition is related to future return, trading volume, and price volatility in the cross- section of the music-content non-fungible tokens (music NFTs). Our results show that the breadth of NFT ownership negatively predicts weekly collection-level median-price returns and trading counts. In contrast, ownership concentration and the fraction of small wallets are positive predictors. The fraction of large NFT wallets is a bearish signal for future collection floor-price returns. Investor composition measures have weak predictive power on price volatility. Further analysis indicates that an artist’s Spotify presence moderates the predictive power of investor composition for future NFT returns and trading volume, consistent with the notion that reducing information asymmetry helps improve price efficiency.

Many corporate executives believe blockchain technology is broadly scalable and will achieve mainstream adoption, yet there is little evidence of significant shareholder value creation associated with corporate adoption of blockchain technology. We collect a broad sample of firms that invest in blockchain technology and examine the stock price reaction to the “first” public revelation of this news. Initial reac- tions average close to +13% and are followed by reversals over the next 3 months. However, we report a striking differ- ence based on the credibility of the investment. Blockchain investments that are at an advanced stage or are con- firmed in subsequent financial statements are associated with higher initial reactions and little or no reversal. The results suggest that credible corporate strategies involving blockchain technology are viewed favorably by investors.

Using data from 11 major international markets that celebrate six cultural New Year holidays that do not occur on January 1, we find that stock markets tend to outperform in days surrounding a cultural New Year. After controlling for firm characteristics, an average stock earns 2.5% higher abnormal returns across all markets in the month of a cultural New Year relative to other months of the year. Further evidence suggests that positive holiday moods, in conjunction with cash infusions prior to a cultural New Year, produce elevated stock prices, particularly among those stocks most preferred and traded by individual investors.

We study the effects of a direct high-speed rail (HSR) service between two cities on investors and firms in China’s A-share markets. After an HSR introduction, retail investors make more cross-city web searches and block stock purchases of firms in connected cities. An HSR introduction also leads to less comovement among local stocks and more comovement between stocks in connected cities. Firms located in more central cities in the HSR network enjoy higher firm valuation, lower cost of equity, higher turnover, and better liquidity, in part through the channel of increased investor recognition. The HSR effects on capital market outcomes are more pronounced among small firms and when the connected city-pair distance is below 1,500 km, for which HSR is faster than flying. The findings highlight the importance of in-person interactions in financial markets.

We find that institutional investors' local culture of religiosity influences their stock lending decisions and induces short-sale constraints on the underlying stocks. Firms with higher ownerships by blockholders located in more religious counties are associated with higher utilization of lendable shares. This effect is driven by a lower supply of, rather than a higher demand for, lendable shares. Stock lending fees of such firms are higher, and higher short interests of such firms more strongly predict lower future stock returns. Our findings suggest that the cultural norms of institutional investors can create market friction through the stock lending channel.

Corporate misconduct poses significant risks to financial markets, undermining investor confidence and economic stability. This study investigates the influence of World Heritage culture, with its social, historical, and symbolic values, on reducing corporate misconduct. Using firm-level data from China, with its rich cultural heritage and ancient civilization, we find a significant negative association between the number of World Heritage sites near a company and corporate misconduct. This suggests that a richer World Heritage culture fosters an informal institutional environment that mitigates corporate misconduct. This effect is robust across 100 km, 200 km, and 300 km thresholds and remains significant when using a binary misconduct indicator. The results also show that World Heritage culture enhances corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social capital, which in turn reduces corporate misconduct. Additionally, the impact of World Heritage culture is more pronounced in firms located in high social trust areas, those with high institutional investor supervision, and those farther from regulatory authorities. These findings advance academic knowledge and offer practical implications for policymakers and investors.

如何通过宏观经济政策有效支持气候适应性投资，从而提升气候韧性，是现阶段推进气候适应性社会建设的重要议题。本文首先在动态测度气候韧性的基础上，为气候适应性投资提升气候韧性的效果提供初步证据；然后构建嵌入气候适应型财政货币政策的气候灾难风险模型，考察气候适应性投资缺口的产生机理以及宏观经济政策的支持效果。最后进一步讨论最优的宏观经济政策支持力度与政策组合。研究发现：第一，气候适应性投资能够显著增强经济的抗气候风险冲击能力以及冲击后的反弹能力，有效提升气候韧性。但由于银行、企业道德风险以及气候适应性技术约束的存在，气候适应性投资低于社会最优水平，气候适应性投资缺口由此产生。第二，气候再贷款政策通过缓解银行道德风险引起的贷款利率溢价；气候适应补贴通过补偿适应性技术门槛产生的投资调整成本，能够有效缩小气候适应性投资缺口。但企业道德风险会削弱两类政策的实际效果。第三，宏观经济政策通过支持气候适应性投资，能够有效缓解气候灾难风险对经济金融系统的负面冲击，其中气候再贷款政策的效果主要体现在金融层面，气候适应补贴政策对实体经济的作用更加显著。第四，为完全弥补气候适应性投资的缺口，最优的宏观经济政策支持力度随着气候灾难风险升高需要不断增强。但气候再贷款政策会受到零利率下限的约束，过低的气候再贷款利率不利于社会福利改进，气候再贷款政策搭配使用气候适应补贴政策能够更好地增进社会福利。

Analyzing data from 3,616 Chinese listed firms, we find a strong positive relationship between policy uncertainty and firms’ exchange rate exposure. This result remains robust after controlling for macroeconomic conditions and addressing endogeneity issues. Notably, policy uncertainty’s impact is significantly stronger for firms with a higher degree of international involvement and for poorly-governed firms. Interestingly, firms use financial hedging more intensively and reduce their operational hedging in high-uncertainty periods. Our results suggest that policy uncertainty exacerbates the impact of currency movements on firms’ financial performance, as firms become increasingly involved in international operations. Consequently, firms should strengthen their corporate governance and make effective use of hedging tools.