This study examines the effects of the robotic subsidy policy in China’s manufacturing sector. The demand-side subsidy policy aims at encouraging manufacturing firms to invest in robotics by lowering the cost of purchase. Our difference-in-difference analysis reveals distributional impacts of municipality-level robot subsidies on manufacturing firms of different scales. Although the subsidy brings a 14.2% increase in the application of robot patents, the facilitated access to robotics has not transformed into new firm entries. Strikingly, new firm entry decreases by 23.5% after the policy implementation. On the other hand, robot subsidies have increased the revenue, total asset, and employment of larger manufacturing firms by 9.8%, 6.9%, and 6.7%, respectively. To interpret the mechanism, we develop a simplified framework incorporating financial frictions into a task-based model. The model reveals that idiosyncratic borrowing costs lead to an inefficient equilibrium by generally depressing automation adoption and creating automation dispersion across firms. Such ex-ante distortion results in a uniform subsidy disproportionately benefiting firms with better capital access, thus creating a trade-off in terms of efficiency: while the subsidy can enhance overall automation, it simultaneously exacerbates automation dispersion. To quantify the efficiency implications, we embed this simplified model into a dynamic heterogeneous-agent framework, calibrated to the 2010 productivity distribution, financial frictions, and robot density in the industrial sector in China. Our dynamic model reveals that a 20% robot subsidy narrows the gap between mean and optimal automation level by 22% percentage points, while raises automation dispersion by 49%. This results in a 1.23% increase in aggregate output at the cost of a 2.40% decline in TFP. This dynamic model proposes a novel mechanism that automation exacerbates capital misallocation by enlarging asset accumulation dispersion between workers and entrepreneurs. Controlling for this dynamic feedback could enhance the subsidy-induced output gain by an additional 26%

贸易摩擦作为近年来世界经济格局最显著的风险因素之一，不仅阻碍了多边主义包容发展的整体进程，也对我国以广大中小企业为代表的经营主体产生了直接且深远的影响。本研究以2018年中美贸易战为准自然实验，聚焦某一线城市高新技术企业的全量样本，运用强度双重差分法系统探究贸易摩擦对中小企业创新产出的影响及其作用机制。基准回归结果表明，相较于对照组，受出口冲击企业的创新总产出和实质性创新均呈现显著增长。异质性分析进一步揭示，国有产权、低外资投资比例以及位于自贸区外的企业更能强化贸易摩擦对创新的促进效应。机制分析则指出，加大政策扶持力度、优化人力资本结构和增加企业内源研究是提升企业创新产出的关键渠道。本文的研究揭示了在面对关税冲击时，中小企业应当迅速调整内部决策以促进自主创新，同时也强调了政府在提供适度支持和引导方面的重要性，这些发现为理解贸易摩擦背景下中小企业的创新策略及政策制定提供了重要启示。

In recent decades, over 40% of dollar-denominated corporate bonds have been issued by non-US firms. Strikingly, these foreign issuers face an extra discount of 20 bps than their US counterparts. While standard risks fail to account for the discount, the Economic Policy Uncertainty index from Baker, Bloom, and Davis (2016) can explain a substantial portion of this discrepancy, consistent with uncertainty-based model calibrations. Moreover, such foreign discount (USA effect) dominates the dollar safety premium (USD effect). My findings highlight the foreign discount effect in interna- tional corporate bonds, particularly amidst escalating global economic instability and uncertainty.

中国式现代化建设科技创新是关键，科技金融为促进科技创新高质量发展提供了有力支撑。本文基于2013—2022年省级面板数据，构建科技金融、科技创新高质量发展综合指标体系，检验科技金融对科技创新高质量发展的影响。实证结果表明，科技金融能通过实质性创新、可持续性创新以及协同性创新三个维度，显著促进科技创新高质量发展，且该促进作用表现出地区及投入异质性。一方面，科技金融对东、西部地区科技创新高质量发展作用明显；另一方面，来自科技资本市场、企业的科技金融投入对科技创新高质量发展有更为显著推动作用。利用不同稳健性检验方法、科技和金融结合试点政策等内生性检验方法的回归结果仍然支持该结论。

How does information sharing affect consumers' usage of FinTech credit? Using a unique dataset of ``Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)" users from a large digital platform and exploiting a credit reporting policy change, we document that consumers significantly reduce their usage of BNPL credit when the BNPL lender becomes subject to credit reporting regulation. This reduction is more pronounced among borrowers with previous default records, who also become more disciplined in repayment behaviors, than those without such records. The decrease in BNPL usage also leads to a reduction in online consumption, supporting the financial constraint hypothesis. Our results suggest that information sharing can help alleviate overborrowing and overspending, with stronger effects observed among younger borrowers, those who previously consumed more, or those with credit cards. We also highlight the synergies between BNPL lending and Big Tech platforms' ecosystems, which imperfectly substitute for formal enforcement institutions.

This study empirically investigates the impact of dialect diversity on corporate investment efficiency under different levels of economic policy uncertainty. Our findings reveal that local dialect diversity enhances investment efficiency during stable periods, but this advantage significantly diminishes under high economic policy uncertainty. This reduction primarily arises from underinvestment and overly cautious decision-making by fragmented management during periods of turmoil. Further analysis reveals that this reduction is exacerbated by stronger internal governance, which emphasizes checks and balances, and mitigated by stronger external governance, which focuses on supervisory power. Our results remain robust when using alternative measures of main variables and employing topography as an instrumental variable.

We investigate the causal impact of a company's environmental and social (ES) risk on the borrowing costs of its peer firms (that share lending banks). Using a regression discontinuity design based on the voting outcomes of ES-related shareholder proposals in US public companies' annual meetings from 2005 to 2021, we find that the passage of ES-related proposals leads to an average increase of 38 basis points in the loan costs for peer firms in the subsequent year. The negative spillover is more pronounced for peers with lower bargaining power in their banking relations or having lower ex-ante ES scores, on credit lines rather than term loans, and during the earlier years, validating that banks indeed channel the spillover. Notably, the spillover is particularly significant if the peer firms locate in the same states as the focal firm, or when the proposals reflect a higher degree of disagreement between the proposing shareholders and the managers, or for loans issued by banks lacking prior incentives or expertise in pricing ES risks (``non-ES banks''). We interpret these findings as evidence that the passage of ES-related shareholder proposals releases new information related to peers' ES risks and especially raises the awareness of ES risks among non-ES banks, prompting them to adjust loan rates for their portfolio companies accordingly.

This study investigates how firms respond to restricted access to government information. Specifically, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, which limits the stock trading activities of government officials (hereafter referred to as politicians), reduces the willingness of politicians from federal executive branches to engage with firms. Utilizing this exogenous disruption in private communication, we employ a difference-in-differences approach to demonstrate that firms with significant government customers decrease the frequency of management forecasts more than other firms due to the STOCK Act. This reduction is more pronounced for firms where government sales are crucial to their performance and for those that serve as suppliers and government contractors. Further, the positive impact of the STOCK Act on voluntary disclosures is more significant for firms that ex-ante rely heavily on direct political engagements, as indicated by their discussions of political risk and political contributions, and for those expecting government support, as evidenced by higher competition levels within their industry. Conversely, the STOCK Act does not significantly affect the non-financial disclosures of these firms. Finally, consistent with findings on executive branch officers, our results indicate that congressmen are also involved in corporate communications and are effectively regulated on information exchange by the STOCK Act. Overall, these results justify the powerful supervisory impact of the STOCK Act on the U.S. government and capital market and help to facilitate a new U.S. government information disclosure policy for a fairer investment environment.

央国企在我国经济社会中除了创造经济价值和国家税收外，还承载着广泛的社会责任与企业担当。受行业属性、经营状况和政策因素等多方面影响，部分央国企长期存在市场估值偏低、投资者情绪低迷的问题。中国特色估值体系的提出与实践，有利于修复当前国企和非国企估值水平割裂的现状，对我国金融高质量发展具有重要意义。本文利用股吧文本、股票市场交易和公司股权数据，采用模糊断点回归设计，评估中国特色估值体系提出之后上市公司经营性质对于投资者情绪的影响。研究发现：（1）“中特估”在官方层面正式提出后，上市公司国有控股经营性质对个股投资者情绪有显著的提升作用；（2）该效应在日常消费品、工业和通讯服务三大行业和高市值公司较为明显，且在时间维度上具有短期滞后性和长期衰减性；（3）本文进一步发现，这一处理效应可能通过股息偏好机制发挥作用。本文的研究在一定程度上填补了对“中特估”效应定量分析的空白，有助于理解新形势下上市公司股权结构优化、混合所有制改革的实践，对引导市场投资者情绪也有一定的政策和企业决策参考价值。

为评价中国“价格型”货币政策的调控效果，本文基于企业面板数据全面考察了中国人民银行的公开市场操作对企业债券到期收益率和企业信贷融资成本的影响。首先，基于企业债券数据的实证研究表明，公开市场操作所形成的政策利率（以下简称 OMO 利率）对企业债到期收益率存在显著的正向乘数效应。其次，基于上市企业财务数据的估计结果显示，OMO 利率对企业信贷融资成本存在显著的正向传导效果。最后，非对称性的研究结果表明，OMO 利率上升对债券到期收益率的推升效果显著大于下降时的降低效果。本文的研究证实了，从实体经济角度而言，公开市场操作是高效率的货币政策实施工具，其所形成的OMO 利率是有效的货币政策测量指标。