Theodoros Daglis , Konstantinos N. Konstantakis , Georgios Lazarou , Panayotis G. Michaelides , Dimitrios L. Stamos
{"title":"Crypto VS Wall Street: Decoding the effect of Bitcoin halving","authors":"Theodoros Daglis , Konstantinos N. Konstantakis , Georgios Lazarou , Panayotis G. Michaelides , Dimitrios L. Stamos","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108569","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108569","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores how Bitcoin halving reshaped the dynamic interplay between cryptocurrencies and traditional financial assets. Using daily data from November 9, 2017, to March 14, 2022, and applying spectral causality tests with a frequency-domain approach, we examine the evolving relationships between Bitcoin, Ethereum, and key conventional investments, such as gold, the S&P 500, and U.S. Treasury bonds, before and after halving episodes. We uncover strong causality between cryptocurrencies and traditional assets in the pre-halving phase, which weaken significantly post-halving, highlighting a decoupling effect. Our findings shed light on market transformation mechanisms, with critical insights for investors, portfolio managers, and regulators navigating the crypto-financial nexus.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 108569"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145236272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does digital transformation decrease firms’ natural dependence?","authors":"Yufei Gan , Qingyu Song , Zhaoying Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108490","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108490","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the relationship between digital transformation and firms’ natural dependence. Using data from Chinese A-share listed companies (2010–2023), we find that digital transformation significantly reduces firms’ dependence on nature, with stronger effects among smaller firms, high-tech industries, and private enterprises. Environmental policy stringency amplifies these effects. Mechanism analysis reveals that digital transformation promotes substantive green technology innovation (particularly source control technologies) and enhances green total factor productivity through improved technical efficiency. This research provides new insights into how technological advancement can systematically reduce firms’ dependence on natural ecosystem services, supporting coordinated digital-green development policies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 108490"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145236275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Quantile spillover effect among cryptocurrency and financial markets in regulated environment","authors":"Wenhao Gu , Jiahao Li , Xianming Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108630","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108630","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the risk spillovers among the cryptocurrency market and financial markets—stock, bond, foreign exchange, and money—in China and Singapore, highlighting heterogeneity under different quantiles and cryptocurrency regulations. Utilizing Quantile-Vector Autoregression (QVAR) model, we find that in both countries, static spillovers are more pronounced at extreme quantiles than under normal market conditions. Compared with Singapore, China’s cryptocurrency prohibition reduces spillovers between cryptocurrency and stock markets but increases spillovers between cryptocurrency and foreign exchange markets. Additionally, this prohibition amplifies total spillovers among the five markets at extreme quantiles, primarily driven by the spillover from the money market to the cryptocurrency market.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 108630"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145236241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The deployment of general large language models and corporate value: Evidence from the stock market","authors":"Li Dong , Junxian Liu , Jinghan Yang , Xin Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108625","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108625","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the impact of deploying general LLMs on corporate value by analyzing the Chinese stock market's reaction to listed companies' disclosures of DeepSeek deployment. The results show that within the event window surrounding the disclosures, the cumulative abnormal returns of the stocks are significantly positive, indicating that deploying general LLMs improves corporate value. The positive effect is stronger for API access compared to local deployment, and more pronounced in high-tech service industries, firms with higher digital technology levels, and non-state-owned enterprises. This study provides direct empirical evidence of the impact of general LLMs on corporate value.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 108625"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145236269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Investors’ response to real estate investment trust in China","authors":"Xiao Lu , Qingyu Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108621","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108621","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using an event study methodology, this study examines the listing event of the first nine public Real Estate Investment Trusts (C-REITs) to determine whether its introduction impacts China’s capital market. Notably, the cumulative averaged abnormal return of listed infrastructure companies shifts from negative to positive on the event date and continues to increase. Herein, C-REIT launch focuses market’s attention on infrastructure assets through web searches and analyst coverage. This elevates buying and excessive returns of listed infrastructure companies. Notably, the market performance is largely driven by sentiment. However, to some extent, this effectively guides capital and resources toward the infrastructure sector. The findings hold significant implications for investors and policymakers, shedding light on the development of C-REITs. Although the study focuses on short-term effects, it mentions the long-term investment value of C-REITs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 108621"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145236270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The spillover effect of a CSR mandate for China’s state-owned enterprises on mutual funds’ responsible investment","authors":"Zhuang Zhuang , Wei Cui , Ganghua Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108615","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108615","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Whether government-mandated corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives foster meaningful CSR practices is a widely debated issue. Using a difference-in-differences approach and a sample of 38,684 fund observations from 2010 to 2021, we provide empirical evidence that a CSR mandate targeting Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has generated a positive spillover effect—manifested in enhanced socially responsible investment by mutual funds. Specifically, mutual funds affiliated with controlling state-owned capital shareholders increased their responsible investment following the implementation of the mandate, compared to funds without such affiliations. We further find that this spillover effect is statistically significant only among funds dominated by retail investors. Our findings suggest that government-led CSR policies targeting SOEs can meaningfully influence the asset management sector by guiding investment decisions and promoting more socially responsible investing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 108615"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145236271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Global risk contagion and financial assets security: evidence from quantile connectedness approach","authors":"Dian Yin , Shaoze Yang , Wei Wu , Zhi Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108620","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108620","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using the quantile connectedness approach, we examine volatility spillovers and contagion effects across global assets under varying shock scales. Our empirical results reveal that spillover effects among asset price indices exhibit an asymmetric U-shaped pattern across conditional quantiles. Moreover, the direction and magnitude of risk spillovers vary with changes in shock scales and time. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the US stock market initially acted as a net recipient of volatility spillovers at lower quantiles, but shifted to a net contributor at higher quantiles. These results help regulators track how risk contagion roles shift under shocks of varying intensity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 108620"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145236242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Beyond the literature: what policymakers reveal about financial asset overvaluation?","authors":"Lorenzo Menna, Rubens Moura, Martin Tobal","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108577","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108577","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper explores how global shocks transmit to emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) when assets in major financial centers are overvalued. While international organizations and historical experience have long warned about asset overvaluation, academic research has yet to scrutinize its role as a source of global financial vulnerability. Using a panel local projection model and plausibly exogenous shocks, we find that a tightening of global financial conditions raises sovereign spreads in EMDEs and the effect is amplified when assets are overvalued. Strong external balances help cushion this impact, which is particularly important in the current context of elevated volatility.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 108577"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145217240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Who pays when zombie firms Persist? Asymmetric debt conditions by credit rating","authors":"Jaeweon You , Beomseok Seo , Junyoung An","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108616","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108616","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine how zombie firm prevalence relates to debt financing conditions for viable firms in a bank-based economy. Using firm-level panel data from South Korea, we find that a higher share of zombie firms within an industry is associated with higher borrowing costs for non-zombie firms, without a significant reduction in their debt growth on average. However, the relationship is highly asymmetric; low-rated non-zombie firms exhibit both elevated interest rates and restricted credit access. Moreover, the adverse effects of zombie prevalence are more pronounced in the service sector than in manufacturing and during periods of monetary easing than tightening. This pattern reflects the heightened sensitivity of such contexts to macro-financial conditions. Our findings highlight credit policy frameworks that incorporate firm-level risk sensitivity and context-dependent amplification.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 108616"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145236267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of social trust on allocative efficiency of green finance: The mediating role of information transparency","authors":"Haocheng Zan , Kailin Jiang , Jing Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108618","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.108618","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2014 to 2023, this study investigates the impact of social trust on allocative efficiency of green finance. Results show that social trust significantly enhances allocative efficiency of green finance, and information transparency mediates the relation between social trust and the allocative efficiency of green finance. Moreover, enhancing the allocative efficiency of green finance through social trust exhibits regional differences, with significant effects in eastern and central China but not in its western regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 108618"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145217242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}