Abstract:This paper analyzes the internal mechanisms for facilitating the domestic and international circulation of industrial chains under the new development pattern through the innovation of intermediate goods, from the perspective of intermediate goods and by constructing a game theory model. Two scenarios are examined: one in which intermediate goods are monopolized by a foreign manufacturer, and the other in which intermediate goods are produced simultaneously domestically and abroad. Building on this, the paper discusses how to incentivize innovation in intermediate goods to elevate the value chain. Our findings indicate that achieving breakthroughs in the innovation of intermediate goods domestically can structurally alter the profit distribution pattern within the industrial chain, potentially changing the impact of intermediate goods trade costs on various economic variables and helping to mitigate risks associated with the domestic and international circulation of the industrial chain. Furthermore, the paper finds that altering certain external economic conditions can effectively enhance firms’ willingness to engage in the innovation of intermediate goods.

Abstract:In recent years, frequent geopolitical conflicts and the potential formation of alliances based on shared values have undermined the efficiently functioning, tightly interdependent network of global value chains (GVCs). This study proposes a novel conceptual framework for assessing GVC vulnerability, develops composite metrics to quantify GVC vulnerability at the economy and sector levels, and systematically investigates how current geopolitical risks amplify GVC vulnerabilities across economies and sectors. The empirical results indicate that accounting for geopolitical risks leads to increases in the vulnerabilities of economies participating in GVCs, to varying degrees. The amplification effect is particularly pronounced for the United States and economies with high GVC dependency on the U.S. At the key sector level: in the computer, electronic, and optical equipment manufacturing sector, major supply-hub countries in the value chain such as the U.S., Germany, and the U.K. exhibit relatively low vulnerability; in the basic pharmaceutical products and drug formulations manufacturing sector, China has the lowest vulnerability globally, though it is more sensitive to geopolitical risks. A scenario simulation analysis of the U.S.-Japan-India-Australia Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) alliance indicates that eliminating geopolitical risks among member states has a very limited effect on enhancing the security of their participation in GVCs. If the Quad further escalates into consistent geopolitical tensions with China, it will instead exacerbate the GVC vulnerability of the U.S., Japan, and Australia.

Abstract:Intellectual property (IP) protection constitutes a fundamental institutional safeguard for firm-level digitalization and high-quality economic development. Using the establishment of National Intellectual Property Demonstration Cities (NIPDC) as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper constructs a multi-period difference-in-differences model to empirically examine the impact of enhanced IP protection on firms’digitalization. The results show that NIPDC significantly promotes firm-level digitalization, and this baseline conclusion remains robust after a series of endogeneity and robustness checks. Mechanism analyses reveal that strengthened IP protection alleviates financing constraints and effectively stimulates firms’digital innovation, thereby facilitating endogenous digitalization. Moreover, strengthened IP protection fosters the agglomeration of digital service providers, expanding exogenous channels for firms’digitalization and further improving their digitalization level. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that the promoting effect is more pronounced for digital follower firms, firms with digitally skilled executives, firms with lower patent density, and firms located in cities with lower degrees of marketization. This study expands the understanding of the channels enabling firms’digital transformation and delivers useful policy implications for strengthening IP governance and promoting enterprise digitalization.

Abstract:The social credit system is an important support for fostering a new development pattern. In recent years, China has taken a distinctive path, which is systematic, comprehensive, and digital, in the construction of the social credit system. Based on the policy background of credit construction pilot cities in China, this paper uses new firm registration data from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of China (SAIC) to study the effect of social credit system construction on entrepreneurship vitality with a difference-in-differences framework. The study finds that the establishment of credit construction pilot cities, an important measure to promote the credit system, has significantly promoted urban entrepreneurship. It is proved that the policy has improved the levels of business, government, and judicial integrity. The results of the mechanism test indicate that the construction of credit cities could promote entrepreneurship by alleviating financing constraints and reducing policy uncertainty. Further analysis shows that the positive effect of credit city construction on entrepreneurship is greater in regions with high levels of social trust and the rule of law, indicating that the development of a culture of trust and the rule of law are both important supports for social credit system construction. This research assesses the economic effects of social credit system construction from the perspective of entrepreneurship and provides Chinese evidence that an effective government can help develop an efficient market. The findings are important for further promoting social credit system construction and for high-quality economic development.

Abstract:Venture accelerators provide essential professional training and entrepreneurial resources that are critical to the growth of social enterprises. To attract the attention of accelerators, social enterprises must effectively employ signaling mechanisms to convey their unique advantages. Drawing upon signaling theory and the literature on social entrepreneurship, this study conducts an empirical analysis based on a unique dataset of 11 369 social enterprises from the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI) from 2016 to 2019. The findings reveal that founders’ capital investment serves as a key signal that increases the likelihood of a social enterprise being selected by an accelerator. Further analysis shows that a single-founder structure and the possession of patents strengthen the signaling effect, whereas the level of internationalization in the enterprise’s home country can partially substitute for the signal of founder capital investment. This research not only deepens our understanding of social enterprise financing mechanisms and fills the gap in studies on accelerator selection, but also enriches the analytical framework of signaling theory from a multi-source signal fitting perspective, offering valuable theoretical and practical implications for both social enterprises seeking resources and accelerators making selection decisions.

Abstract:This paper examines the transition from employees to entrepreneurs and their subsequent innovation behaviors using data from the China Family Panel Survey(CFPS) and the Enterprise Survey of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China(ESIEC). The analysis reveals that entrepreneurs’innovation activities are positively correlated with their research and management skills from previous occupations, but not with their external social skills. Furthermore, among the population of Chinese employees, individuals with higher research and management skills are less likely to become entrepreneurs, whereas those with stronger external social skills are more likely. Finally, improving the business environment significantly increases the entrepreneurial likelihood among individuals with higher research and management skills, which could also help explain the differences in entrepreneurial skill structures between China and the United States. From the micro perspective of the employee-employer transition among individuals with different occupational skill sets, this paper analyzes the mechanisms by which the business environment affects the overall innovation level in the economy, offering insights for policymaking aimed at accelerating the development of new quality productive forces.

Abstract:This paper constructs an indicator to evaluate the city-level business environment in China from 2011 to 2020. From the perspective of corporate bond issuance, the effect of the city business environment on financial asset pricing is examined. The results show that an improved city business environment can reduce bond issuance spreads for local firms. In addition, this effect becomes more pronounced following the acceleration of the bond market marketization (The breaking of rigid payment and the net-value transformation of the asset management products guided by the “New Asset Management Regulations”). Mechanism analysis reveals that optimizing the business environment significantly reduces business uncertainty and enhances the information transparency of local firms, thereby reducing the credit risk premium and liquidity premium of their bonds. Heterogeneity tests show the effects of the business environment on bond issuance spreads are more pronounced during periods of higher macroeconomic policy uncertainty, local government leadership transitions, and for longer-maturity bonds. Meanwhile, the different dimensions of business environment have varying impacts on bond issuance pricing. This study reveals that the business environment is a key factor in explaining the inter-regional differences in financial asset pricing and enriches research on its economic consequences by highlighting its role in enhancing the efficiency of regional financial resource allocation.

Abstract:Enhancing firm total factor productivity (TFP) is critical for achieving high-quality economic development. As a key application of financial technology (FinTech) in the real economy, supply chain finance (SCF) remains underexplored in its internal mechanisms for TFP improvement. Existing studies primarily focus on technological progress, credit constraints, and inclusive finance, leaving a gap in understanding the role of SCF depth. Using panel data from Chinese A-share listed manufacturing firms (2012-2021), this study examines how FinTech development affects firm TFP from the perspective of core enterprises. The results indicate that: 1) FinTech significantly improves firm TFP; 2) The effect is heterogeneous across firm types, with resource-processing industries, local state-owned enterprises, and private firms benefiting more prominently; 3) SCF depth mediates this relationship by alleviating short-term funding pressures, enhancing liquidity, and optimizing financial structures on both supply and sales sides. These findings provide empirical evidence for policymakers and practitioners to leverage FinTech and SCF for productivity growth in China.

Abstract:Digital financial platforms have created favorable conditions for asset managers to maximize their own interests by leveraging the flow effect. However, this development has also led to a significant deviation from their primary fiduciary duty of investing on behalf of clients. A prominent manifestation of this phenomenon is fund flow implantation: A novel strategy in which managers highlight the industry attributes of fund products to simultaneously cater to platform algorithms and investor preferences. As such, it represents a new form of agency conflict in the digital era. This study finds that fund flow implantation effectively attracts investor capital and contributes to fund size growth. Mechanism analysis reveals that this strategy aligns with the information display rules of digital financial platforms, leveraging popular industries and increased marketing expenditure to appeal to investors’salience-like preferences. However, its economic consequences include heightened investor risk exposure, diminished future returns, and a worsening misalignment of interests between funds and investors. These findings confirm that fund flow implantation intensifies agency conflicts, providing a critical policy basis for addressing the issue of “funds make money, but investors do not,” as well as for enhancing the regulation of digital financial platforms and the protection of investor rights.

Abstract:Trust is an essential informal system in human society, serving as the foundation for the smooth functioning of financial markets. The erosion of investor trust can impede the efficient transfer of information, leading to a decline in the accuracy and reliability of stock prices in the market. This paper employs the financial fraud filing as a shock to the trust system and finds that, although such filing event improves the quality of accounting information in the market, the resulting loss of trust causes share price synchronization among other companies in the same industry segment to increase significantly in the long run. The contagion effect is more pronounced in instances where individual investors exhibit low attention levels, demonstrate an inactive search for financial report information, exhibit a low level of internal corporate governance, and engage in low levels of investor communication. It is imperative that regulators proactively guide listed companies to communicate with investors in a two-way manner while enhancing enforcement of disclosure violations.

Abstract:The existing literature highlights a significant research gap regarding the influence of servitization in manufacturing on inter-firm performance. To address this gap, this study adopts a novel perspective focusing on risk-sharing mechanisms, exploring how servitization enables manufacturing service providers to collaboratively assume greater risks with their clients. Utilizing U.S. manufacturing data from 2003 to 2022, this research employs stock market excess returns as quantitative indicators for risk-sharing and risk exposure. Empirical analyses using large-scale panel data are conducted to validate these effects. The findings reveal that firms with higher degrees of servitization exhibit enhanced capabilities in sharing risks with their clients, thereby reducing the risks faced by the latter. However, it is important to note that the social embeddedness of manufacturers in the service sector may negatively impact this positive relationship. Specifically, manufacturers with higher levels of service embeddedness may experience a decline in their risk-sharing intensity with clients during the transition to servitization. This study not only addresses the research gap in the field of servitization from a supply chain management perspective but also advances the application of social embeddedness theory in strategic management practices within enterprises.

Abstract:This study focuses on the resource scheduling problem of the precooling service platform, aiming to provide technical methods for the post-harvest precooling issue of smallholders in China. Considering the time sensitivity of precooling demands and the cost-effectiveness of service operations, and incorporating both fixed precooling and mobile precooling resources, this problem is formulated as a multi-depot vehicle routing problem with heterogeneous service efficiencies and time windows. A mixed-integer linear programming multi-objective optimization model is formulated to minimize the scheduling cost of precooling services while also reducing precooling delay times. Furthermore, considering the heterogeneity of precooling resources, an EC-ALNS multi-objective optimization algorithm, based on an enhanced Box splitting method and an adaptive large neighborhood search algorithm, is developed to efficiently obtain an approximately accurate Pareto frontier for this problem. The effectiveness and advantages of the EC-ALNS are verified through comparisons with the CPLEX solver and two classical algorithms. Finally, a case study is conducted to validate the robustness of our model, and management implications are derived through numerical experiments and parameter sensitivity analysis under various order scenarios.