Improving business environment quality through online government service integration: A quasi-natural experiment in China

This study provides a viable path to save energy by means of e-commerce development. Taking the national e-commerce demonstration cities (NEDC) pilots policy implemented in China as a quasi-natural experiment, based on the city panel data from 2006 to 2019, this study applies the multi-period difference-in-difference (DID) method to evaluate the effect of NEDC on energy saving in pilot cities. The empirical results suggest that the NEDC policy obviously contributes to energy conservation. The treated cities reduced energy consumption by 14.2% as a result of the implementation of NEDC, relative to the untreated cities. The conclusions remain valid after conducting robustness tests such as placebo test, instrumental variables regression, propensity score matching-difference-in-difference (PSM-DID), and synthetic difference-in-difference (SDID). The NEDC achieves energy-saving effects through technological innovation, industrial restructuring, and economic agglomeration. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis indicates that, in cities with high levels of human capital, well-developed information infrastructure, non-resource-based cities, and favorable business environments, the impact of NEDC on energy saving is more significant. Analysis of spatial effects shows that the implementation of NEDC has negative externalities, increasing energy consumption in the surrounding area. In the context of the digital economy, this paper presents new insights on the relationship between e-commerce and energy consumption and provides policy direction for countries looking for energy-saving solutions.

Can Industrial Transfer Improve Environmental Quality?- A Quasi-Natural Experiment in China

Key audit matters and stock price synchronicity: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

The impact of supply chain digitization on the carbon emissions of listed companies—A quasi-natural experiment in China

In the context of global aging, promoting the health of the elderly has become a critical issue. However, whether the development of smart cities can impact the health of older adults remains to be further validated. In this paper, based on panel data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), a difference in difference model is used to empirically investigate whether smart city construction improves the health of older people in the region. The results show that smart city construction enhances the health of the elderly. Specifically, the construction achieved a significant improvement in the physical health of the elderly who did not live with their children. The health promotion effect of the smart city was more significant for the urban elderly than for the rural elderly. The elucidated mechanisms of influence suggest that smart cities bring about their effects through the promotion of urban leisure infrastructure, enhancement of medical service provision, advancement in urban environmental protection and stimulation of urban information and communication technology infrastructure development.

Price limit performance: New evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China's ChiNext market

Purpose This study aims to investigate whether and how auditors price corporate compliance programs. Design/methodology/approach Using a unique experiment of the implementation of corporate compliance programs in China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the authors conduct a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) research design. Findings The authors find that audit pricing of pilot SOEs declines after the implementation of corporate compliance programs. Mechanism tests reveal that corporate compliance programs significantly reduce regulatory scrutiny and corporate misconduct, while improving the quality of internal controls. This, in turn, supports auditors’ perception of a reduced audit risk. Moreover, the effect of corporate compliance programs on audit pricing is more pronounced in firms with higher compliance risk and those audited by the Big 4 auditors. The additional analyses show that after the implementation of corporate compliance programs, auditors are more likely to issue clean audit opinions and reduce audit delays. Originality/value This study fills a gap in the literature by examining the unintended spillover effects of corporate compliance programs on auditors’ behaviors and decisions. This research also adds to the ongoing discussion about the trade-offs between the costs and benefits of corporate compliance.

Stock market liberalization and pay for market-based performance: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

Market access/potential is main explanations for spatial variation in economic activity. Past research has used quasi-natural experiments such as the imposition and removal of the Iron Curtain to assess how changes in market access influence economic outcomes. Rather, we focus on key quantity effects of market access by tracking population changes induced by the creation of a subnational border. We exploit a quasi-natural experiment in China and use a difference-in-difference identification strategy to estimate the effects of introducing a new border when Sichuan province was split into Chongqing and Sichuan in 1997. We find that the new border had negative population effects on Sichuan counties located near the new border. Further investigation finds that such border effects are unique to the new border region and are not related to other factors such as being more rural. We also provide additional evidence to exclude alternative explanations including differences in industry composition or access to transportation.

Ultimate parent's board reform and controlling shareholder entrenchment: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

Improving Business Environment Quality Through Online Government Service Integration: A Quasi-Natural Experiment in China

Review of: "How Effective Is Traffic and Production Restriction for Air Pollution? Evidence From a Quasi-natural Experiment in China"

This thesis comprises three essays on empirical corporate finance.The first essay provides a new explanation for investment-cash flow sensitivity from the perspective of CEO inside debt holdings. We examine the effect of CEO pensions and deferred compensation (inside debt) on investment-cash flow sensitivity for a sample of U.S. manufacturing firms from 2006 to 2012. We find that the firms with higher relative CEO leverage ratios (CEO’s debt/equity ratio scaled by the firm’s debt/equity ratio) generate higher investment-cash flow sensitivity. Moreover, one standard deviation increase in the logarithm of the relative CEO leverage ratio enlarges investment-cash flow sensitivity by 50%. This positive relationship still holds even after we take endogeneity and financial constraints into account.The second essay explores the net effect of a politically connected board on a firm. Using a quasi-natural experiment in China — a regulatory change to forbid bureaucrats from sitting on the board of public firms — we address the causality by testing the market reaction. Those firms with politically connected directors who are targeted by the regulatory change show a significantly positive abnormal stock return on average. The result is robust for various model settings and for a matched sample using the propensity score methodology. Additionally, the announcement effect when a politically connected director resigns is significantly positive, and significantly higher than the effect when a non-connected director resigns. Overall, our results suggest that the agency cost effect of a politically connected director dominates the value effect.The third essay examines the effect of investor divergence of opinions on the long-run performance of private placements. We propose and construct a direct measure of investor divergence of opinion, based on auction bids data of the private placements in China. We find that firms with higher bids dispersion generate lower long-term stock returns after the issuance of private placements. This effect is economically significant and robust when controlling for market discount and for dispersion in analyst forecasts. Moreover, this negative relation is stronger for stocks with more stringent shortsale constraints. Our findings provide strong evidence in support of the Miller’s (1977) divergence of opinion hypothesis.

Review of: "How Effective Is Traffic and Production Restriction for Air Pollution? Evidence From a Quasi-natural Experiment in China"

As important carriers of local innovation activities, innovative industrial clusters are attracting increasing attention. Therefore, several countries have started promotion policies for innovative industrial clusters. However, there are few empirical studies on relevant policies. This paper investigates the impact of China’s “innovative industrial cluster pilot” (IICP) policy on regional innovation. Taking the implementation of IICP policy as a quasi-natural experiment and using the panel data of 266 prefecture-level cities in China in 2008-2019, this paper provides strong evidence that IICP policy promotes regional innovation. The conclusion still holds after a battery of robustness checks. The heterogeneity test shows that the promoting effect of IICP policy on innovation is more significant in central and western region than in eastern region. Moreover, the lower the city administrative level and the lower the dependence on natural resource, the more prominent the innovation effect of IICP policy. Further, the mechanism test shows that the IICP policy can promote regional innovation indirectly by strengthening government support for innovation and attracting the agglomeration of science and technological talents, but the mediation effect of industrial structure has not been verified.