Blind imitation or rational decision-making? The impact of generative artificial intelligence on corporate investment herd behavior

IF 5.6 2区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

International Review of Economics & Finance Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-03-19 DOI:10.1016/j.iref.2026.105139

Yongxiang Wang , Zhanhong Wu , Jun Zhang

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Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence, as an emerging technology, is transforming corporate decision-making processes, particularly in investment decisions. While existing research highlights its potential to improve decision efficiency, its impact on corporate investment herd behavior remains underexplored. Using panel data from non-financial listed companies in China's A-share market from 2017 to 2024, this study examines how generative AI affects corporate investment herd behavior and its heterogeneity across industries and firm types. The results show that generative AI significantly reduces herd behavior in corporate investment decisions and enhances decision-making independence. Mechanism analysis indicates that this effect operates through improved investment decision quality, reduced agency costs, and enhanced interaction between firms and investors. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that the effect is stronger in non-state-owned enterprises and high-tech industries, while it is weaker in non-high-tech industries and state-owned enterprises. These findings provide firm-level evidence on the role of generative AI in shaping corporate investment behavior and mitigating investment herd effects.

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盲目模仿还是理性决策？生成式人工智能对企业投资羊群行为的影响

作为一项新兴技术，生成式人工智能正在改变企业的决策流程，尤其是投资决策。虽然现有研究强调了其提高决策效率的潜力，但其对企业投资羊群行为的影响尚未得到充分探讨。本文利用2017 - 2024年中国a股非金融类上市公司的面板数据，研究了生成式人工智能对企业投资羊群行为的影响及其在不同行业和企业类型之间的异质性。结果表明，生成式人工智能显著降低了企业投资决策中的羊群行为，增强了决策独立性。机制分析表明，这种效应通过提高投资决策质量、降低代理成本和增强企业与投资者之间的互动来实现。异质性分析进一步表明，非国有企业和高新技术产业的影响较强，而非高新技术产业和国有企业的影响较弱。这些发现为生成式人工智能在塑造企业投资行为和缓解投资羊群效应方面的作用提供了企业层面的证据。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Review of Economics & Finance Multiple-

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

2.20%

发文量

253

期刊介绍： The International Review of Economics & Finance (IREF) is a scholarly journal devoted to the publication of high quality theoretical and empirical articles in all areas of international economics, macroeconomics and financial economics. Contributions that facilitate the communications between the real and the financial sectors of the economy are of particular interest.