{"title":"Mandatory CSR expenditure regulation and credit ratings: Evidence from India","authors":"Neetu Yadav, Satish Kumar","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.106811","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106811","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the impact of mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure on credit ratings for 2759 firm-year observations from 2015 to 2023 in the Indian context. Our findings indicate that compliance with mandatory CSR spending significantly enhances credit ratings, particularly for firms with a history of voluntary CSR engagement. This suggests that rating agencies positively perceive consistent CSR activities, viewing them as indicators of enhanced transparency and reduced default risk, thus improving creditworthiness under the new regulatory environment. Our findings are validated using a Difference-in-Differences framework and an instrumental variable approach to address endogeneity concerns.","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143055293","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 increased digital transformation decrease corporate cash holdings? The moderating role of business environment quality","authors":"Huong Vu Van, Cuong Ly Kim","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.106800","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106800","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the growing impact of digital transformation on firms' financial performance, its effect on corporate cash holdings remains underexplored. This study addresses this research gap by investigating the relationship between digital transformation and corporate cash holdings in Vietnam. The findings, based on microeconometric analysis of Vietnamese-listed firms, indicate that digital transformation reduces corporate cash holdings. However, this effect diminishes when considering the moderating role of business environment quality. These results highlight that digital transformation policies alone may be insufficient to address excessive corporate cash holdings without concurrent improvements in the quality of the business environment.","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143055297","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":"Trying to think: An experimental study of the impact of cognitive load on financial risk taking by groups","authors":"E. Lahav, R. Manos, G. Kashy-Rosenbaum, N. Sitbon","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.106823","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106823","url":null,"abstract":"In today's corporate arena, decision-making processes are performed by professional groups such as directorates and investment committees. These decisions are often made under cognitive load. This study explores the impact of cognitive load on group investment decisions. We conduct a game-like investment experiment involving individuals, groups, and gender-heterogeneous groups, with half of the participants placed under cognitive load. The findings reveal that cognitive load increases risk-taking for both individuals and groups. Joining a group and experiencing losses in previous rounds also increase risk-taking, although the effect of past losses weakens under cognitive load. Practical implications for corporate decision-making are discussed.","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"96 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143020084","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":"Asymmetric effects of media climate sentiment divergence on the volatility of green and grey energy stocks","authors":"Yating Fu, Lingyun He, Yufei Xia, Rongyan Liu, Ling Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.106798","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106798","url":null,"abstract":"We analyze 542,496 posts from Sina Weibo and construct a media climate sentiment divergence (<ce:italic>MCSD</ce:italic>) indicator to investigate the asymmetric impact of disagreement on green and grey energy markets. To this end, a non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model with daily data from January 2, 2014 to September 28, 2023 is employed, and the results show that since the negative change is significantly larger than the positive, <ce:italic>MCSD</ce:italic> and energy stocks volatility are asymmetric in the short- and long- term. Greater <ce:italic>MCSD</ce:italic> corresponds to larger absolute price changes in energy stocks, resulting in increased volatility, and green ones are more prominent than grey ones due to the herding effect. In addition, different types of <ce:italic>MCSD</ce:italic> have different impacts on the volatility of green and grey energy stocks and need to be treated differently. Our findings hold significant implications for financial regulators, retail investors, and energy companies.","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"137 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143020299","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":"Government governance, family financial support, and financial well-being of the elderly: Evidence from CHARLS Data","authors":"Liuhui Yang, Ruoyi Li","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.106807","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106807","url":null,"abstract":"Based on 2018 CHARLS data, this study examines how government governance affects elderly financial well-being, finding a significant positive impact via enhanced household support. Impacts vary across urban/rural areas and different care models, enriching governance-wellbeing theories and informing policy.","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143055301","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":"Climate risks and the connectedness between clean and dirty energy markets","authors":"Jingyan Huang, Zhenhua Liu, Kun Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.106799","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106799","url":null,"abstract":"Climate risks pose significant challenges and threats to complex energy market system. This paper illuminates the interactions between clean and dirty energy markets and further investigates their asymmetric responses to climate risks. The influence of climate risks extends beyond extreme values and has a substantial impact on the overall distribution of the connectedness between clean and dirty energy markets. As the physical risk intensifies, the connectedness within both clean and dirty energy markets increases. The abnormal transition risk will render energy market fluctuations more uncertain and accentuate the distinction between clean and dirty energy markets.","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143020082","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":"Digital communication and informed trading: Evidence from social distancing orders","authors":"JinGi Ha","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.106786","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106786","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the relationship between digital communication and the probability of informed trading (PIN). Using social distancing orders in March 2020 as an exogenous shock, this study identifies digital communication among market participants and finds that PIN significantly decreased after the social distancing orders became effective. Robustness tests at the state level and using an international sample further confirm the negative impact of digital communication on PIN. These findings suggest that the ongoing media transition from face-to-face to digital communication can negatively influence informed trading in financial markets.","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143020297","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}
Roberto Moro-Visconti, Javier Sánchez García, Joaquín López Pascual, Salvador Cruz Rambaud
{"title":"Digitalization intensity and its impact on financial performance: The role of scalable platforms","authors":"Roberto Moro-Visconti, Javier Sánchez García, Joaquín López Pascual, Salvador Cruz Rambaud","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.106772","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106772","url":null,"abstract":"This research investigates the impact of digital platforms on financial and economic outcomes, emphasizing EBITDA, market capitalization, and the capacity for debt financing. The research illustrates that digital platforms enhance revenue streams while simultaneously decreasing operational expenditures, thereby leading to an overall enhancement in financial performance. Utilizing a dynamic panel data methodology, the results demonstrate the temporal impacts of digital platforms on key financial indicators. Furthermore, it explores the complex interplay between digital intensity and marginal benefits, offering practical ideas for companies seeking to enhance both scalability and funding opportunities. By analyzing differing levels of digital intensity, we illustrate how scalability influences financial margins and market capitalization. The results imply that organizations adopting digital platforms are more inclined to secure long-term economic viability and financing capability through improved efficiencies in data processing and strategic decision-making. However, investing in digitalization has an optimal point from where it shows diminishing returns.","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"109 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143020303","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":"Legal system environment and banking risk","authors":"Ruiqi Yang, Man Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.106793","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106793","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the impact of the legal system environment—rule of law, government effectiveness, and political stability—on banking risk proxied by gross financial flows (GRFIN). Using panel data from 19 upper middle-income countries, we apply multiple econometric models. Macroeconomic variables such as trade openness, inflation rate and foreign direct investment have also been included. The results indicate that the scale of legal institutions has an even more pronounced negative relationship with banking risk. The interaction effects show that legal factors improve the level of resistance to macroeconomic fluctuations. In terms of policy implications, major factors stress institutional changes to strengthen governance and minimize the system risk of banking structures.","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143055298","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 green credit on financing constraints of energy-consuming firms","authors":"Shanshan Zhao, Qiong Wu, Xiaodong Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2025.106801","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.106801","url":null,"abstract":"This study empirically investigates the influence of green credit on financing constraints faced by A-share-listed energy-consuming enterprises between 2012 and 2022. Findings reveal that green credit intensifies financing constraints for energy-consuming enterprises. Specifically, when considering enterprises with varying ownership structures, green credit exacerbates financing constraints for private energy-consuming enterprises but has minimal impact on state-owned ones. In diverse regions, green credit significantly aggravates financing constraints for energy-consuming enterprises in areas with lower economic development pressure.","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143020081","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}