{"title":"Navigating Economic Policy Uncertainty: The Role of ESG Performance in Mitigating the Risk of Nonfinancial Firms in China","authors":"Yinan Fan, Sajid Anwar, Rui Long","doi":"10.1111/ecpo.12352","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12352","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Amid rising economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and escalating financial risks facing nonfinancial firms in China, this study investigates the impact of EPU on firm-level risk exposure, with a particular focus on the moderating role of environmental, social, and governance(ESG) performance. Using panel data from nonfinancial firms listed on China's A-share market between 2011 and 2020, the empirical analysis finds that higher levels of EPU significantly increase both systematic and idiosyncratic risks. Importantly, stronger ESG performance mitigates the positive relationship between EPU and firm risk, underscoring ESG as a strategic buffer in periods of heightened policy uncertainty and reflecting the broader interaction between corporate governance and China's political-economic environment. Further analysis reveals heterogeneity in this moderating effect: ESG performance plays a more pronounced role in firms that are highly sensitive to policy changes or located in regions with higher levels of marketization. These findings remain robust across various model specifications and endogeneity checks, highlighting the strategic value of ESG in managing policy-induced risks within China's evolving institutional landscape.</p>","PeriodicalId":47220,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Politics","volume":"37 3","pages":"958-977"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecpo.12352","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145224145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chunmei Liang, Maokai Geng, Xiaonan Li, Zihao Jing, Qi Wang
{"title":"Digital Inclusive Finance, Entrepreneurial Vitality and Common Prosperity: Evidence From China's Provinces","authors":"Chunmei Liang, Maokai Geng, Xiaonan Li, Zihao Jing, Qi Wang","doi":"10.1111/ecpo.12353","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12353","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The contribution of digital technology to driving the high-quality development of inclusive finance has become a key focus in advancing common prosperity, especially against the backdrop of China's evolving economic environment. Using panel data from 30 provinces in China spanning the years 2011 to 2022, this study investigates the positive impact of digital inclusive finance on the achievement of common prosperity. The results demonstrate that digital inclusive finance significantly boosts common prosperity by stimulating the residents' enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. Specifically, opportunity entrepreneurship plays a more substantial mediating role in this process compared to necessity entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the effectiveness of digital inclusive finance in fostering the realization of common prosperity would be diminished by excessive financial regulation. The study also highlights that the positive effects of digital inclusive finance are more significant in regions with advanced digital infrastructure and favourable policy environments, as well as the east and middle of China. These results further underscore the importance of targeted policies that leverage digital finance to drive common prosperity at both the regional and national levels.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47220,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Politics","volume":"37 3","pages":"978-996"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145224144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"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 for Investors' Green Attentions From China?","authors":"Liu Desheng, Jia Xin, Li Mingzhu, Miao Wang","doi":"10.1111/ecpo.12350","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12350","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>With global warming, climate risk has become an important factor influencing investors' decision-making. This study empirically examines how climate risk influences investors' green attentions and explores the underlying mechanisms by developing a conceptual model that links climate risk to investors' green attentions. The results show that climate risk greatly heightens investors' green attentions, and a series of robustness tests, the conclusion remains valid. This research contributes to the existing body of literature regarding the effects of climate risk from the viewpoint of investors and enhances the involvement of investors in the governance of corporate climate risk.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47220,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Politics","volume":"37 3","pages":"946-957"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145224129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Supply Chain Digitalization and Firms' Access to Bank Loans: Evidence From China","authors":"Qian Liu, Libin Qin, Xuena Liu","doi":"10.1111/ecpo.12351","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12351","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Using a quasi-natural experiment of Supply Chain Innovation and Application Pilot program, this study reveals that supply chain digitalization significantly increases firms' access to bank loans. Supply chain digitalization promotes firms' access to bank loans by alleviating information asymmetry, reducing financial risk and facilitating the development of supply chain finance. The impact of supply chain digitalization on bank loans is stronger among firms with higher industry uncertainty, lower proportion of independent directors and higher digital transformation levels. Moreover, the study shows that supply chain digitalization significantly reduces the cost of firms' bank loans and helps companies obtain more credit loans instead of mortgage loans. The economic consequence analysis shows that supply chain digitalization can ultimately improve firms' market value. Our findings provide references for building the modern supply chain system.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47220,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Politics","volume":"37 3","pages":"931-945"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145224293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Can Politics Explain Contracting Out?","authors":"Andrew Abbott, Shasikanta Nandeibam, Lucy O'Shea","doi":"10.1111/ecpo.12349","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12349","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The theoretical literature suggests that political ideology matters in the decision to contract out public sector services, whereas the empirical literature is divided. We seek to explain the divide in the empirical literature by providing a link from theory to our empirical analysis by describing the nature of political competition. Using the number of seats in English local government as a measure of political ideology, we find that those governments dominated by Conservative party members have a higher likelihood of contracting out, whereas the opposite is true for the Greens. We also investigate the marginal effect of a Conservative seat. Our results suggest that local governments are more likely to contract out waste management and recycling services, the greater the number of seats that are controlled by the right-wing party (Conservatives). However, an additional Conservative seat seems to have a stronger positive influence when one of the other opposition parties (the Liberal Democrats) is controlling the local legislature rather than the Conservative themselves.</p>","PeriodicalId":47220,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Politics","volume":"37 3","pages":"915-930"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecpo.12349","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145224371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Time-Varying Interactions Between US–China Political Relation, Flight Frequency, and Inbound Tourism","authors":"Shiteng Xu, Yifei Cai, Yahua Zhang, Chunan Wang","doi":"10.1111/ecpo.12347","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12347","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study investigates the dynamics among US–China political relations, flight frequency, and inbound tourism through the utilization of a time-varying parameter vector autoregression model. As political relations warm, there is a notable uptick in flight frequency between the two nations. Moreover, the rising flight frequency would further increase inbound tourists. Interestingly, our analysis reveals no substantial evidence supporting a significant impact of inbound tourists on either political relations or flight frequency. The study concludes with insightful policy implications drawn from these findings.</p>","PeriodicalId":47220,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Politics","volume":"37 3","pages":"903-914"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecpo.12347","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145224406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does R&D Mediate the Link Between Corporate Governance and Enterprise Value? Evidence From Family Firms Across Jurisdictional Contexts","authors":"Ella Xu, Guangxin","doi":"10.1111/ecpo.12345","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12345","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study examines the mediating effect of R&D investment on the relationship between corporate governance and enterprise value, considering ownership (i.e., family vs<i>.</i> non-family firms) and jurisdictional differences (i.e., common law vs. civil law). Using a multinational sample from 2009 to 2018, this study reveals that R&D negatively and partially mediates the relationship between corporate governance and enterprise value, with a more substantial effect in family firms within a civil law context. This supports the assumption that family firms are more conservative towards R&D investment. This study highlights the need for strategic decision-making to consider ownership differences and legal context in shaping enterprise value.</p>","PeriodicalId":47220,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Politics","volume":"37 3","pages":"880-902"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecpo.12345","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145224131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Investor Network Density and Stock Crash Risk","authors":"Xiaoying Zhai, Huiping Ma, Yongmin Zhang, Hanglin Jin, Moau Yong Toh","doi":"10.1111/ecpo.12348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12348","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Using the shareholding data of fund institutional investors on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, this paper constructs institutional investor networks of stocks and investigates the influence of investor network density on stock price crash risk. Empirical results show that investor network density has a significant restraining effect on stock price crash risk by reducing the delay in stock price response to information to a certain extent. The results are robust to alternative measurements of stock price crash risk and subsamples of stocks with enterprises' different property rights and institutional investors' shareholding ratios.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47220,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Politics","volume":"37 3","pages":"869-879"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145224194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From Rhetoric to Reality: Assessing the Effects of Populism on Corruption","authors":"Vincenzo Alfano, Salvatore Capasso","doi":"10.1111/ecpo.12346","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12346","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study explores the relationship between populism and corruption, focusing on the impact of the rise of populist parties on different kinds of corruption levels in a sample of 30 European countries over a recent period (1993–2019). Utilizing feasible-generalized least square estimators, our quantitative analysis reveals a positive correlation between the share of seats held by populist parties and both grand and passive corruption, whereas populist electoral support is negatively correlated with public sector active corruption. The findings, robust to several different robustness tests, suggest that while electoral support for populist parties contributes to a decline in petty and active corruption, once in power there is an increase in grand and passive corruption. The consequences of these findings are discussed. In short, this study sheds light on the nuanced dynamics between populism and corruption, providing crucial empirical insights into the consequences of populist movements on governance and integrity.</p>","PeriodicalId":47220,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Politics","volume":"37 3","pages":"845-868"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecpo.12346","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145224186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Optimal Supply Chain Decision With Pre- and Aftersales Services and Capital Constraints","authors":"Jing Wang, Junli Zhou, Fengshan Si, Yuling Wang","doi":"10.1111/ecpo.12344","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12344","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This paper examines a two-tier supply chain system where the manufacturer leads by managing aftersales service, and the retailer follows by handling presales service. To address the manufacturer's capital constraints, we develop three game-theoretic models: a model without capital constraints, another model with external financing under capital constraints, and yet another model with internal financing under capital constraints. We identify optimal financing strategies across these scenarios through comparative analysis. The findings reveal that external financing does not improve the level of presales service provided by the retailer. Under external financing, high consumer price sensitivity tends to increase product retail prices. Furthermore, wholesale prices are higher when financing is involved than in scenarios without financing. Interestingly, regardless of the financing model, higher consumer sensitivity to the retailer's presales service reduces wholesale prices, paradoxically benefiting the profits of both the manufacturer and retailer. An increase in the manufacturer's initial capital consistently enhances the manufacturer's profitability but may negatively impact the retailer's profits under internal financing. The manufacturer prefers internal financing, regardless of whether the manufacturer faces rising financing interest rates or increased aftersales service investments.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":47220,"journal":{"name":"Economics & Politics","volume":"37 2","pages":"826-837"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144197658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}