{"title":"An Underappreciated Benefit of Large Mutual Funds: Funding Conditions and Decreasing Returns to Scale","authors":"Danyang Ge,Tyler K. Jensen","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.110759","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2026.110759","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"1 1","pages":"110759"},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148934246","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":"Challenges in low- and middle-income countries: From climate change to geopolitics","authors":"Tony Klein","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.110830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2026.110830","url":null,"abstract":"Low- and middle-income countries face complex interactions of climate, geopolitical, financial, institutional, and distributional risks. This special issue collected studies that examine these challenges from a finance-centred perspective. Across diverse countries, methods, and levels of analysis, the contributions show that finance is neither uniformly stabilizing nor inherently destabilizing. Its effects depend on institutional quality, financial access, policy credibility, market structure, and the composition of external capital. We organise these papers into six main themes: (1) climate resilience and adaptation; (2) green and transition finance; (3) corporate climate responses; (4) geopolitical and policy uncertainty; (5) financial-market spillovers and hedging; and (6) development finance, institutions, digitalisation, and social outcomes. Three broader conclusions emerge. First, climate and geopolitical risks increasingly operate as an interconnected system transmitted through firms, banks, public balance sheets, and asset markets. Second, the effectiveness of financial development and sustainable-finance instruments is conditional on governance, transparency, and implementation capacity. Third, effects are frequently nonlinear, state-dependent, and heterogeneous across countries and market regimes. Distributional outcomes further show that resilience must be evaluated beyond aggregate growth and financial stability. This special issue collection therefore supports a policy agenda centred on institutional complementarity, resilient financial architecture, and the integration of climate, geopolitical, and inclusive-development objectives.","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"33 1","pages":"110830"},"PeriodicalIF":10.4,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149123362","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":"Enterprise Digitalization and New Quality Productive Forces: A Textual Analysis","authors":"YongZe Ma, HongLi Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.110272","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.110272","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study assesses the pivotal role of enterprise digitalization in fostering new quality productive forces (NQPFs). Using annual reports from Chinese listed firms from 2014 to 2023 and leveraging natural language processing techniques, we construct a firm-level digitalization. Results show that higher digitalization promotes the formation of NQPFs, and the effect is robust to various econometric strategies. The positive impact is more pronounced among firms with stronger human capital and those located in regions with supportive digital infrastructure. Mechanism tests indicate that digitalization facilitates resource reallocation efficiency, strengthens innovation output, and improves firms’ capability to integrate production factors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 110272"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148183057","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":"Intellectual Property Demonstration City Construction, Financial Innovation, and Corporate Governance","authors":"Pengyue Duan , Huihui Wang , Xiangjian Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.110261","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.110261","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper uses panel data at the level of Chinese listed companies to empirically investigate the intrinsic relationship and interaction mechanisms among the construction of Intellectual Property Demonstration Cities (IPDC), financial innovation, and corporate governance. The results show that IPDC development significantly promotes the improvement of corporate governance among listed firms. Further analysis reveals that the promoting effect of IPDC on corporate governance varies significantly across corporations with different levels of cash flow levels. Financial innovation plays a key mediating role in the process through which IPDC influences corporate governance. This study not only enriches academic research on IPDC but also provides a theoretical basis for governments to formulate policies that enhance corporate governance. It also helps enterprises leverage the opportunities brought by IPDC development and financial innovation to optimize their governance structures and enhance market competitiveness.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"106 ","pages":"Article 110261"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148183058","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":"Testing characteristics importance with neural network gradients: Evidence from the China A-share market","authors":"Hongxu Wu , Zhibin Deng , Shaoze Li","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109856","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109856","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper develops a hypothesis testing framework based on neural network gradients to evaluate the importance of firm characteristics in predicting monthly excess returns in the China A-share market. Using smooth neural networks with one to five hidden layers, we find that many characteristics, including several traditionally viewed as important, are not statistically significant. Growth and valuation characteristics dominate return prediction, whereas operational and solvency characteristics have limited explanatory power. A comparison with the traditional <span><math><msup><mrow><mi>R</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup></math></span>-reduction approach reveals that conclusions on characteristics importance depend on the analytical method. Monte Carlo simulations confirm the robustness of the proposed discrete testing procedure. The framework offers a rigorous and interpretable approach to assessing characteristics importance, contributing to model transparency and financial forecasting.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 109856"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147605684","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":"Dynamic portfolio choice with stochastic liquidity risk: A perturbation approach","authors":"Jayden Zian Wang , Zheqi Fan , Yifan Ye","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109847","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109847","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We study a dynamic portfolio choice problem under the liquidity-adjusted asset price specification proposed by Feng et al. (2014). Given the intractability of an explicit solution to this problem, we develop a perturbation method to derive a second-order approximate solution, which captures not only the frictionless benchmark and linear liquidity effects, but also nonlinear liquidity corrections Finally, a series of numerical illustrations is provided to demonstrate the sensitivity of the approximate indirect utility function and optimal portfolio strategy to key model parameters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"99 ","pages":"Article 109847"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147598577","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}
Finance Research LettersPub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-03-14DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109711
Oliver González, Benjamin Keddad
{"title":"Corrigendum to \"The Piggy Bank Index: An intuitive risk measure to assess liquidity and capital adequacy in banks\" Finance Research Letters, Volume 60, February 2024, 104846","authors":"Oliver González, Benjamin Keddad","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109711","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109711","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 109711"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147448465","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}
Finance Research LettersPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-23DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109570
Xiaowei Zhang , Jiayin Liu , Fan Wang
{"title":"Impact of China’s climate-resilient city pilot policy on enterprises’ green technological innovation","authors":"Xiaowei Zhang , Jiayin Liu , Fan Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109570","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109570","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using green patent data from Chinese A-share listed companies spanning 2010–2024, this study takes China’s initial 2017 climate-resilient city pilot policy implementation as a quasinatural experiment to examine the impact of the pilot policy on enterprises’ green technological innovation (GTI) and its underlying mechanism using a difference-in-differences model. Notably, the policy significantly promotes enterprises’ GTI, mainly by strengthening regional environmental regulation and alleviating enterprises’ financing constraints,with a long-term driving effect. Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that the policy’s effect on enterprises’ GTI is primarily reflected in green invention patents. In addition, large-scale, state-owned, and high-market development enterprises and those in high-pollution industries are more affected. Our conclusions provide empirical evidence and valuable insights for China to refine the climate-resilient city pilot policy to strike a balance between adaptation and mitigation, as well as other countries to implement or improve similar policies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 109570"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146075700","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}
Finance Research LettersPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-09DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.109498
Hongzhou Yuan , Jianye Liang
{"title":"Can the accumulation of household financial assets and consumption upgrading enhance residents' subjective well-being?","authors":"Hongzhou Yuan , Jianye Liang","doi":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109498","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.frl.2026.109498","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper employs data from the 2018, 2020, and 2022 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) to examine the impact of household financial asset accumulation and consumption upgrading on residents' subjective well-being. The research findings are as follows: First, household financial asset accumulation significantly enhances residents' subjective well-being; second, consumption upgrading significantly increases residents' subjective well-being; third, consumption upgrading serves as a mediating factor in the relationship between household financial asset accumulation and residents' subjective well-being; fourth, the impact of household financial asset accumulation on residents' subjective well-being demonstrates heterogeneity between urban and rural residents; fifth, the effect of consumption upgrading on residents' subjective well-being also differs between urban and rural residents.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12167,"journal":{"name":"Finance Research Letters","volume":"91 ","pages":"Article 109498"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145973766","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}