This paper examines the impact of political risk stemming from resource policy debates on the cost of capital for non-resource firms in Ghana. Using unique survey data from 527 Ghanaian firms and employing Ordinary Least Squares and Instrumental Variable regression techniques, we find a strong positive relationship. A one-unit increase in a firm's perceived political risk index is associated with a 3.2 percentage point increase in interest rates, a 3.3 percentage point rise in investment hurdle rates, and a 1.8 percentage point elevation in Ghana-specific risk premiums. The instrumental variable analysis, using media exposure as an instrument, confirms that this effect is causal and not driven by endogeneity. Our findings reveal that political uncertainty in the resource sector creates significant negative spillovers, increasing financing costs across the entire economy. This underscores the critical importance of stable and predictable resource governance for fostering a conducive investment climate and promoting broader economic development. Keywords: Political Risk, Cost of Capital, Resource Policy, Ghana, Survey Data.

ABSTRACT Using a sample of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2000 to 2019, we examine the relationship between cultural heritage and corporate financial constraints. We measure cultural heritage based on firms that inherited China’s time-honoured brands during the joint public-private transition in the 1950s. Our empirical analysis shows that firms with such historical heritage experience fewer financing constraints, particularly when information transparency is low, consistent with the view that cultural heritage serves as a credible signal of firm value. Further analysis suggests that proactive investor relations activities facilitate external financing and alleviate concerns about cultural rigidity. The results remain robust across a series of alternative specifications and identification checks. Overall, our findings contribute to the literature on corporate financing and extend the understanding of how cultural heritage influences firm – investor relationships in emerging markets.

Based on resource dependence theory, this study takes Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2023 as samples, adopting panel fixed-effects models and mediation effect tests to explore how the regional business environment impacts corporate equity structure. Key findings: (1) Optimizing the business environment significantly reduces the proportion of state-owned enterprises. For every unit increase in the regional business environment index (BHAR), the probability of state-owned enterprises decreases by 3.16%, verifying the theoretical path of "improving the institutional environment weakening resource dependence optimizing equity structure"; (2) regional heterogeneity exists: the effect is significant in eastern China but insignificant in central and western regions, reflecting the synergy of institutional quality and market maturity; (3) the business environment promotes equity diversification by reducing corporate financialization. Innovatively integrating the business environment into corporate governance analysis, the study reveals external institutional impacts on ownership arrangements, providing theoretical and empirical support for targeted policy optimization and coordinated reform, with implications for high-quality economic development.

Science and technology policy and corporate financing: evidence from China’s national industrial technology innovation strategic alliance

Industry-finance collaboration and corporate financialization: Evidence from China

Digital finance, investor sentiment, and corporate investment and financing

Financial innovation in the logistics industry, artificial intelligence-driven, and corporate financing costs

Impact mechanism of ESG ratings on corporate financing costs: a hybrid machine learning analysis using marginal effect and ESG rating effect in developed and developing countries

Corporate Financing Effects of the ECB’s CSPP: Evidence from Bond Spreads and Firm Leverage

Debt governance effects of bankruptcy courts: A judicial pathway to reducing corporate financing costs while analyzing heterogeneity

Patent infringement litigation, development of financial technology, and corporate financing costs

An empirical analysis of digital financial innovation, corporate financing behavior, and information transparency

Does key audit matters (KAMs) disclosure affect corporate financialization?

ABSTRACT We examine the impact of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance on corporate short‐term financing structure, with particular focus on trade credit and bank loans. Using 28,785 firm‐year observations from all A‐Share listed companies in China between 2009 and 2020, we find that superior ESG performance reduces financing costs. Based on the pecking order theory, we find that such companies tend to rely more on trade credit, highlighting a substitution effect between trade credit and bank loans. This substitution effect is more pronounced for companies that face higher financing constraints, possess stronger competitive advantages, are relatively smaller in size, and operate in regions subject to stringent environmental regulations. A further examination of bank loans reveals that trade credit mainly substitutes for short‐term loans, with no significant effect on long‐term loans. Additionally, such companies benefit from bank loans at lower cost. The results remain robust after addressing concerns related to alternative measurements of key variables, endogeneity problems, and special samples. Overall, this research advances our understanding of ESG performance as a determinant of financing structure helps policymakers establish a holistic framework to improve corporate ESG performance.

Abstract Our analysis focuses on understanding the financing behaviour of Italian firms during a period marked by a significant economic crisis and the resulting deleveraging process. The objective is to identify the determinants of Italian firms’ leverage decisions during this deleveraging phase and to assess whether their financing behaviour is more consistent with the predictions of the Pecking Order Theory (PO) or the Trade-Off Theory (TO). We consider the main determinants identified in the literature when selecting the independent variables, to control for factors that may simultaneously influence leverage. The analysis is based on a large longitudinal micro-dataset provided by the Italian National Statistical Institute, covering the years 2008–2015, and employs a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) approach. The GMM estimations were performed both on the full sample and on various subpopulations. The results suggest that explaining the financing behaviour of Italian firms solely through one of these two theoretical frameworks would not be realistic.

The financing constraints of enterprises are the core bottleneck that restricts their sustainable operation and innovative development, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises that face recognized problems in the industry such as information asymmetry, insufficient collateral assets, and narrow financing channels. Under the background of deep integration of digital technology and the financial field, financial technology provides a new path to alleviate financing constraints for enterprises by relying on mature technological advantages such as data processing, intelligent algorithms, and platform construction. This article adopts a combination of literature analysis and case studies to systematically sort out the theoretical basis of the impact of financial technology on corporate financing constraints. It focuses on analyzing the three core mechanisms of data-driven information asymmetry alleviation, platform based financing channel expansion, and intelligent risk pricing optimization. The actual application effect of these mechanisms is verified by taking online commercial banking services for small and micro enterprises (publicly available business models) and JD Technology supply chain finance (case disclosed on the company's official website) as examples. Research has found that financial technology can effectively alleviate corporate financing constraints by reducing transaction costs, improving financing efficiency, and covering blind spots in traditional financial services. However, it also faces industry wide challenges such as data security risks and inadequate regulatory adaptability. The conclusion of this article can provide reference for enterprises to use financial technology to optimize financing strategies and for policy makers to improve the financial technology regulatory system, thereby helping to solve the problem of "difficult and expensive financing" for enterprises.

In the context of deepening government green procurement policies and accelerated corporate ESG, government procurement serves as a critical instrument with both demand-pull and policy-guidance functions, significantly driving corporate ESG performance. Leveraging data on government procurement orders, CSI ESG ratings, and financing constraints of Chinese listed companies from 2015 to 2023, this study employs two-way fixed effects panel models, instrumental variable (IV) methods, and mediation effect models to empirically investigate the enabling mechanism through which government procurement influences corporate ESG performance. The results reveal that government procurement significantly enhances corporate ESG performance, a conclusion that remains valid after a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. Furthermore, the effect varies across firm size, profitability, pollution attributes, ownership type, and geographic location, being more pronounced among large firms, profitable enterprises, non-heavy polluters, university- or research institute-affiliated firms, and those based in eastern China. Mechanism analyses indicate that government procurement improves ESG performance by alleviating corporate financing constraints. This mediating role is confirmed by Sobel and bootstrap testing in this paper. This research offers a theoretical foundation and policy insights for guiding corporate sustainable development through government procurement and provides valuable references for improving green procurement mechanisms and supporting high-quality economic development.

Aim: How companies make financing decisions is a fundamental issue in contemporary corporate finance. This paper empirically investigates how corporate sustainability performance influences firms' financing decisions. Method: We measure corporate sustainability performance using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores. The sample includes publicly listed non-financial firms on Borsa Istanbul from 2008 to 2022. Empirical models were estimated using the seemingly unrelated regression method within a dynamic multiple equation system framework. Results: Results show that firms with higher ESG performance prefer equity financing for long-term investments and rely on cash reserves for short-term investments. These findings highlight that firms with stronger ESG performance seek to align with the maturity-matching principle by relying more on equity financing for long-term investments and use of cash reserves for short-term needs. Conclusion: These findings suggest that firms leveraging ESG strategies are better equipped to optimize their financing decisions and sustain operational efficiency amid financial uncertainties.

The article is devoted to the study of international experience in the implementation and legal support of financial inclusion, as well as the prospects for its application in Ukraine. The paper reveals the development of international initiatives on financial inclusion implemented within the activities of the Group of Twenty (G20), the World Bank Group, the Center for Global Development, and other institutions. Certain studies on the impact of legal regulation on the level of financial inclusion are analyzed, as well as typical research by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) regarding economic and legal mechanisms for promoting financial inclusion of forcibly displaced persons from Ukraine in specific foreign jurisdictions. Factors that may hinder the development of financial inclusion are identified. It is established that the introduction of a more favorable regulatory environment will contribute to increasing the level of financial inclusion. The principles of inclusive financial legal regulation are revealed, the implementation and compliance with which at the national level will allow enhancing financial inclusion in Ukraine. These include: functional regulation; a risk-based approach in legal regulation; a balance between ex ante and ex post regulation. The current state of financial inclusion development in Ukraine and the features of its legal regulation under the crisis conditions of the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against our state are analyzed. The main organizational measures, informational campaigns, and legal initiatives to build the financial inclusion system are implemented by the National Bank of Ukraine and aimed at expanding access to financial services for all segments of the population, especially veterans, internally displaced persons, and representatives of small and medium-sized businesses. It is established that currently, legal regulation of financial inclusion in Ukraine is carried out mainly at the level of strategic documents of the National Bank of Ukraine, while a special law comprehensively defining the principles of inclusive financial regulation is absent. It is concluded that the implementation of international principles of inclusive regulation will contribute to increasing the transparency, security, and integration of Ukraine’s financial system into the global financial space.

Behavioral finance provides a powerful lens for understanding how cognitive biases, heuristics, and emotional influences shape managerial decision-making. Traditional financial models assume rationality, yet managers frequently rely on intuitive judgments that deviate from optimal choices, creating inefficiencies in capital allocation, risk assessment, and strategic planning. This research examines key behavioral finance constructs—overconfidence, loss aversion, anchoring, herd behaviour, mental accounting, and framing effects—to analyze their impact on managerial decisions across corporate finance, investment evaluation, and organizational strategy. Using empirical datasets, experimental simulations, and behavioral scoring models, this study highlights how irrational tendencies affect forecasting accuracy, budgeting outcomes, and risk-taking patterns. Further, the study proposes an integrated Behavioral Insight Framework (BIF) using bias diagnostics, predictive analytics, and nudging mechanisms to guide managers toward more rational financial decisions. The findings demonstrate that incorporating behavioral finance insights leads to improved decision accuracy, enhanced risk management, and stronger strategic consistency. The study ultimately contributes to the development of behaviorally informed managerial policies that drive better organizational performance and financial stability.