Research+

2025

1. Dialect Diversity, Uncertainty and Corporate Investment Efficiency

   Lingtian Bu, Meng Miao, and Xingjian Wang

   International Review of Finance, 2025

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   This research empirically examines how dialect diversity influences corporate investment efficiency under different levels of economic policy uncertainty (EPU). Our findings reveal that local dialect diversity enhances investment efficiency during stable periods, but this advantage significantly diminishes under high EPU. This reduction primarily arises from underinvestment and overly cautious decision-making by fragmented management during periods of turmoil. Further analysis indicates that this decline is exacerbated by stronger internal governance, which emphasizes checks and balances, and mitigated by stronger external governance, which focuses on supervisory power. Our findings remain robust when adopting alternative measures of key variables and utilizing topography as an instrumental variable.

2023

1. Monetary policy uncertainty and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China

   Haozhe Han and Xingjian Wang

   Journal of Financial Stability, 2023

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   This paper empirically explores the effect of monetary policy uncertainty on corporate cash holdings in China. We find robust evidence that monetary policy uncertainty is positively related to corporate cash holdings. The firms’ precautionary behavior in cash holdings is chiefly attributed to the increase in financial frictions rather than the reduction in corporate investments. The promoting effect of monetary policy uncertainty on cash holdings is more pronounced among firms with more severe financial constraints, firms with higher dependence on external finance, firms with worse access to bank financing, and non-SOEs, and during the period of monetary policy tightening. Our study suggests that firms hold more cash to cushion potential liquidity shortfalls induced by the increase in monetary policy uncertainty.

2. 监管强度预期与上市公司盈余管理——基于证监会随机抽查威慑作用的研究 Perceived Regulation Intensity and Earnings Management of Listed Firms——A research on the deterrent effect of the random spot check program by CSRC

   Changyun Wang, Yunhong Li, Xingjian Wang, and Rui Tian

   审计研究 Auditing Research, 2023

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   Effective regulation can help improve the quality of information disclosure, and the deterrent effect of regulation has always been one of the important concerns for academics and practitioners. This paper empirically analyzes the deterrent effect of the “double random” spot checks of listed firms by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on the earnings management behavior of listed firms using manually-collected data of such “double random” spot checks from 2016 to 2020. We use the expected probability of spot checks as the perceived regulation intensity. This paper finds that first, the “double random” spot check mechanism has a significant deterrent effect on the accrual earnings management of listed companies. The higher the perceived regulation intensity, the weaker the earnings management behavior. Second, this deterrent effect is affected by the market- oriented and law-based environment in the region, the nature of ownership and .corporate governance. Third, corporate audit fees are negatively related to perceived regulation intensity, while auditors will require higher audit fees for firms selected for spot checks. The paper provides empirical evidence for evaluating the effect and impact of the “double random” spot check mechanism of listed firms by the CSRC.

2022

1. Pandemic effect on corporate financial asset holdings: Precautionary or return-chasing?

   Haoyu Gao, Huiyu Wen, and Xingjian Wang

   Research in International Business and Finance, 2022

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   This study empirically investigates whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic affects corporate financial asset holdings. We find that firms with higher pandemic exposure are less likely to hold financial assets. Mechanism analyses suggest that the return-chasing rationale dominates the precautionary motive concerning the pandemic effect on corporate financial asset holdings. Furthermore, firms prefer to liquidate highly liquid financial assets to fill the pandemic-induced liquidity shortage. This study contributes to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic regarding corporate portfolio choice, and sheds light on corporate resilience to crises.

2025

1. The Political Economy of ESG: How Government Procurement Shapes Corporate Sustainability in China

   Huoqing Tang, Xingjian Wang, and Guangshun Zhu

   2025

   Presented at 2025 Financial Markets and Policies Conference, Beijing, China

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   This paper investigates the role of government-enterprise collusion in shaping firms’ ESG performance. Based on the sample of China’s A-share listed firms from 2015 to 2022, we find that same-city government procurements significantly improve firms’ ESG performance, while government procurements awarded by non-local governments show no significant effect on ESG outcomes. We propose and empirically validate an explanation that local governments strategically use government procurement projects to incentivize firms’ ESG actions. The positive effect of local government procurements on corporate ESG performance is more pronounced in the cities with lower fiscal pressure or a long-tenured mayor. Additional analyses demonstrate that these effects are particularly pronounced among privately-owned enterprises rather than state-owned enterprises, with environmental and governance dimensions showing the strongest responses. This study suggests that government-enterprise collusion represents a profound yet previously underexplored motivation for firms’ ESG activities, particularly in emerging economies where governments play a pivotal role in shaping institutional and economic frameworks.

2. Monetary Policy Uncertainty and Retrenchment of Liquidity Provision within Supply Chains: Evidence from China

   Haozhe Han, Xingjian Wang, and Chi Yao

   2025

   Presented (scheduled) at 2026 China Financial Research Conference (CFRC), and the 22nd Chinese Finance Annual Meeting (CFAM) 2025, Nanjing, China

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   This paper examines how monetary policy uncertainty disrupts the transmission of monetary policy through supply chain networks by inducing firms to retrench from liquidity provision. Using data from Chinese listed non-financial firms, we find that monetary policy uncertainty significantly increases firms’ reliance on supplier financing while reducing credit extended to customers, transforming firms from net liquidity providers to net liquidity receivers within supply chains. Mechanism analysis reveals that elevated financing costs drive this liquidity retrenchment, with effects concentrated among financially constrained firms and those with stronger bargaining power. The disruption is more severe among non-state-owned enterprises and during monetary policy tightening periods, precisely when maintaining liquidity flows would be most valuable for economic stability. Our findings identify a novel friction in monetary policy transmission: uncertainty induces firms to prioritize self-preservation over their intermediary role in facilitating liquidity flows, potentially weakening trade credit as a transmission channel of monetary policy.

3. Digital Transformation and the Market Value of Cash: Evidence from China

   Xingjian Wang, Yubing Xuan, and Teng Zhong

   2025

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   This study examines how digital transformation influences the market value of corporate cash holdings using data from Chinese non-financial listed firms from 2007 to 2023. Our findings reveal that digital transformation significantly enhances cash value. Mechanism analysis shows that this effect operates primarily through expanding investment opportunities—evidenced by increased R&D intensity and patent applications—rather than through mitigating agency problems or alleviating financing constraints. Heterogeneity analyses demonstrate that the positive effect is more pronounced among firms with lower financial constraints, better corporate governance, and those in non-high-tech industries. Our results highlight that digital transformation creates value by enhancing firms’ innovation capabilities and expanding productive uses of cash.

2023

1. 公募基金持股与企业绿色创新——来自中证800/1000指数断点回归的证据

   Zelin Xu, Yuchen Lin, Xingjian Wang, and Xingzi Ren

   2023

   Presented at China International Conference in Finance (CICF) 2024, Beijing, China; 2024 CFRN Young Financial Scholars Annual Conference, Beijing, China

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   在“双碳”目标与高质量发展的背景下，绿色创新成为企业转型升级的关键，而金融支持的作用日益凸显。基于2014年至2019年中证800指数和中证1000指数成份股定期调整的准自然实验，本文运用断点回归方法，探究公募基金持股对上市公司绿色创新的影响及其作用机制。研究发现，公募基金持股比例的外生增加显著提升了上市公司的绿色创新水平。机制分析发现，一方面，公募基金通过互动式监督强化外部治理，促使管理层关注绿色发展和技术创新，从而提升企业开展绿色创新的“意愿”；另一方面，公募基金持股能够降低信息不对称，提高股票流动性并缓解融资约束，为企业绿色创新提供资金支持，增强企业绿色创新“能力”。公募基金作为耐心资本的重要组成部分，在推动科技金融与绿色金融发展、助力经济高质量发展中具有重要的理论价值和实践意义。

2025

1. Housing Price Expectations and Community Participation: Evidence from Urban China

   Meng Miao and Xingjian Wang

   2025

   Presented at American Political Science Assosiation (APSA) 2025, Vancouver, Canada
2. Grassroot Election and Democratic Attitude: Evidence based on China Homeowner Association

   Meng Miao and Xingjian Wang

   2025

   Presented at American Political Science Assosiation (APSA) 2025, Vancouver, Canada
3. Voting for Value: The Impact of Grassroots Democracy on Housing Prices in Urban China

   Lingtian Bu, Meng Miao, and Xingjian Wang

   2025

   Accepted by American Political Science Assosiation (APSA) 2025, Vancouver, Canada

2022

1. Do Local Human Capital Policies Affect Venture Capital Investments? Evidence from Search Engines in China

   Zelin Xu, Xingjian Wang, and Teng Zhong

   2022

2021

1. Manager Sentiment and Corporate Capital Allocation

   Xiaoming Liu, Changyun Wang, and Xingjian Wang

   2021

2019

1. The Horizontal Agency Conflicts and Corporate Cash Holdings: Evidence from Share Pledges in China

   Changyun Wang, Xingjian Wang, and Jianyu Zeng

   2019