The impact of the "Belt and Road" initiative on the financialization of enterprises

Abstract

In this paper, the implementation of the "Belt and Road" initiative is taken as a quasi-natural experiment under the background of the economy "moving from real to virtual". Using the data of Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets from 2009 to 2020, this paper examines the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on corporate financialization through the DID model, and conducts the corresponding robustness test. Findings: The Belt and Road Initiative significantly inhibits the financialization level of the target enterprises. Further research shows that the inhibition effect is more obvious in non-state-owned enterprises and enterprises with weak market competitiveness. The research in this paper shows that the "Belt and Road" Initiative plays an important role in guiding real enterprises to "get rid of virtual and return to real", and the research conclusion provides a new perspective for understanding the construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative.