Table of Content

15 June 2024, Volume 0 Issue 6

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Theoretical Economics

Research on the Changes in the Form of Capital and Its Circulation Processes in the Age of Digital Capitalism

ZHANG Xin-wei, LIU Gang

2024, 0(6):  3-16. 

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In the era of the digital economy, the application of digital technology has driven the transformation of the form of capital and reshaped the process of capital circulation and value proliferation. In terms of the form of capital, the digitalization of currency has increased the amount of funds that can be converted into monetary capital within the economic system, expanding the scope of financing activities for industrial capital. The capitalization of data and the digitization of production capital have further strengthened the control of capital over data as a means of production. Through digital forms and digital marketing channels, commodity capital has accelerated the process of transformation from commodity into money, further enhancing the speed and efficiency of capital circulation. From the perspective of capital circulation and value proliferation, the digitalization of capital forms has made the capital circulation in different industrial sectors exhibit heterogeneity and complexity characteristics, while its value proliferation process is more diverse and secretive. The capital circulation in digital goods and services is reflected in the increase in capital circulation and proliferation speed caused by the use of digital production means. The capital cycle in the integration of data factors and traditional production factors is represented by the gradual separation of the direct material production process and living labor with the participation of materialized data factors, and its capital proliferation tends to be completed in the production process of data factors. In the gig economy dominated by digital platforms, capital circulation is manifested through monopolizing data factors and sales channels to control the realization of value growth, thereby strengthening the exploitation of individual laborers and small producers.

Human Capital, Technological Progress, and High-Quality and Full Employment of Rural Youth

LI Jian-qi, DING Shu-lei

2024, 0(6):  17-29. 

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In the context of declining population growth and accelerated technological advancement, focusing on enhancing the human capital of rural youth to promote their high-quality and full employment holds significant implications for high quality population development, urban and rural regional coordination and development, and shared prosperity. Taking the Rural Compulsory Education Student Nutrition Improvement Program as an exogenous shock of human capital, this paper conducts a study based on a difference-in-difference model. The findings show that, firstly, the rural youth with higher levels of human capital by health and educational exhibit more sufficient and higher-quality employment compared to their peers. Secondly, the high-quality and full employment effects of human capital expansion are more pronounced in underdeveloped areas, economically disadvantaged households, and among female rural youth. Thirdly, human capital expansion can promote high-quality and full employment among rural youth by improving their employment structure and occupational levels, thus aiding their adaptation to the trends of digitization and industrial intelligence. Therefore, it is suggested to deepen household registration system reforms, optimize the allocation of educational resources, enhance the accessibility of medical services in rural areas, and bridge the urban-rural human capital gap through targeted fiscal policies, so as to promote the high quality and full employment among rural youth.

Public Economics & Administration

Opportunity Structure and Digital Transformation of Tax Governance: A Sociological Analysis Framework

ZHOU Zhi-bo, ZHANG Xiao-fang, LIU Ye

2024, 0(6):  30-42. 

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The digital transformation of tax governance is a significant change in promoting the modernization of tax governance, which is of great significance for accelerating the modernization process of the national governance system and governance capacity. Based on the social structure concept, this paper constructs a sociological analysis framework for the digital transformation of tax governance to examine the global tax governance practices. The findings show that the urgency of digital economy development, the intensity of government governance changes, and the intensity of digital technology innovation in various countries have shaped a unique opportunity structure in this transformation process. However, the opportunity structure itself is also in the process of continuous evolution. COVID-19 is the most important external event to promote the opening of its opportunity structure in recent years, while technological alienation is the biggest practical dilemma that leads to the closing of its opportunity structure. China should base itself on its own reality, strive to eliminate the negative impact of digital intelligence technology, maintain the continuous opening of the opportunity structure for digital transformation of tax governance, and promote the modernization of tax governance with high-quality tax digitization. As for the specific path, it is necessary to eliminate tax digital monopoly and tame the tax digital Leviathan, break down the digital tax barriers and improve the efficiency of digital tax governance, bridge the digital gap in taxation and safeguard the digital rights of taxpayers in taxation, and eliminate the internal competition of tax revenue figures and make long-term plans for digital governance.

The Impact of Fiscal Transparency on Corporate Tax Compliance: Evidences from the Implementation of the New Budget Law

XIAO Peng, WANG Ya-qi

2024, 0(6):  43-56. 

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As an important feature of the modern budget system, fiscal transparency is not only an important channel to improving the national governance system and the modernization of governance capacity, but also the important factors affecting the operational behaviors of enterprises and their tax compliance. Taking the implementation of the new Budget Law as the starting point and based on the data of China’s prefecture-level cities and A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2021, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of fiscal transparency on corporate tax compliance and its mechanism. The results show that fiscal transparency can significantly improve corporate tax compliance, indicating that fiscal transparency, as a governance tool, plays an important role in corporate tax decision-making. The results of the mechanism analysis show that, from the social dimension, fiscal transparency can improve the willingness of enterprises to pay tax by improving the effectiveness of fiscal expenditure. From the political dimension, fiscal transparency can reduce the tax avoidance space by reducing government official corruption and political connections. From the economic perspective, fiscal transparency can reduce corporate tax avoidance motives by improving the business environment. The results of the heterogeneity analysis show that fiscal transparency can significantly improve corporate tax compliance in regions with higher degree of informatization and lower fiscal pressure. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a long-term budget disclosure mechanism, improve the systematization and coordination of budget disclosure with other budget reform measures, optimize the allocation of fiscal resources, strengthen the economic and social governance effects of fiscal transparency, and improve corporate tax compliance.

Modern Finance

Does the Matthew Effect Exist in Bank Digital Transformation: From the Perspective of Business Performance

XIONG Jian, LI Chao-wei

2024, 0(6):  57-70. 

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Digital transformation is an inevitable choice for banks’ high-quality growth, but it can also trigger a series of inequalities. By making use of the data of 208 commercial banks in China from 2010 to 2021, this paper examines the Matthew effect and its intrinsic mechanism in the bank digital transformation from the perspective of business performance. The results show that the relationship between bank digital transformation and business performance manifests itself first as the digital paradox and then as the financial enhancement, with an overall U-curve relationship. There is a clear Matthew effect in the digital transformation of large and small banks. As banks increase in size, the turning point of the U-shaped curve of the relationship between digital transformation and business performance shifts to the left, indicating that large-scale banks require lower degree digital transformation to achieve financial enhancement compared to small-scale banks. The mechanism analysis shows that bank digital transformation has an inverted U-shaped and U-shaped relationship with operating costs and operating revenues respectively, and the turning point of the curves shift to the left as the size of the bank increases, leading to a nonlinear impact of bank digital transformation on business performance and the Matthew effect in the digital transformation of large and small banks. Further discussion reveals that the Matthew effect of bank digital transformation is also reflected at the level of operational risks. Compared to small-scale banks, digital transformation is more beneficial for large-scale banks to reduce operational risks. Therefore, it is recommended that while accelerating the digital transformation of banks, we should focus on mitigating the Matthew effect, fully release the dividends of digital development, and improve the quality and efficiency of financial services to the real economy.

CVC Accelerating the Coupling Development of Industrial Chain and Innovative Chain: Theoretical Basis and Empirical Evidences

ZHANG Rao, ZHANG Yue, GUO Xiao-xu

2024, 0(6):  71-83. 

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The coupling relationship between industrial chain and innovation chain has received increasing attention in academic researches. Based on the 2008-2022 dataset of Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) in China, this paper explores the potential functions of CVC in promoting the coupling development of industrial chains and innovative chains. By employing the entropy evaluation method and a coupling coordination degree model, this paper analyzes the spatiotemporal evolution and the distribution of the integration of the dual chains across provinces. The findings show that the coupling coordination degree has been increasing gradually year by year, but the regional development is imbalanced, showing a declining trend from the east to the central then to the west. The empirical tests reveal that CVC plays a positive promotion effect on the coupling development of the dual chains by alleviating financing constraints, attracting talent concentration and optimizing industrial structures. Further analysis reveals that there exists a significant threshold effect of CVC, when the inflow of the amounts of funds on deposit and the level of economic development reach a certain threshold, the function of CVC to promote the chain coupling is gradually apparent. As the volume of capital and economic development levels continue to rise, the empowering effect of CVC becomes more prominent. Meanwhile, CVC has a regional heterogeneous effect on the coupling of the dual chains, and this effect is more significant in the eastern region compared with the central and western regions. Therefore, it is suggested to increase support for CVC at both the national and regional levels, let science play a positive role in CVC, encourage cross regional entrepreneurial investment and promote coordinated development between different regions, emphasize the role of enterprises, promote the integration of innovative elements and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and provide strong support for the efficient coupling of the dual chain.

Business Administration

Multiple Large Shareholders and Corporate ESG Performance

TAN Lin, LIU Jiang-tao

2024, 0(6):  84-97. 

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The question of whether good stakeholder relationships can solve a wider range of ESG issues has attracted much attention. As the most direct stakeholders of a company, the major shareholders usually have a significant impact on the formulation and implementation of corporate strategy. Taking A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2021 as samples, this study examines the impact and mechanism of multiple large shareholders on corporate ESG performance. The results indicate that the multiple large shareholders can improve corporate ESG performance. This incentive effect is more significant when there are more major shareholders and a higher proportion of shareholding relative to the controlling shareholder. Furthermore, multiple large shareholders promotes corporate ESG strategic adjustments mainly by alleviating the financing constraints faced by the enterprise and monitoring the opportunistic behavior of the controlling shareholders. In addition, the participation of institutional investors, news media, and external auditors as three external information intermediaries can form a synergistic governance effect with multiple major shareholders, thereby having a positive impact on the relationship between multiple large shareholders and corporate ESG performance. Therefore, policy makers should encourage and support the diversification of corporate equity, fully guide the external stakeholders to play a supervisory and governance role, and promote enterprises to actively practice sustainable concepts.

Workplace Prestige Syndrome: Scale Development and Validation

CAO Yuan-kun, ZHANG Qiong, LUO Yuan-da

2024, 0(6):  98-110. 

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Talents with high performance and high potential are crucial to the development of an organization. However, the recognition and expectation given by the organization may make them burdened by reputation and bring negative effects to the organization. Therefore, workplace prestige syndrome has important research value and practical significance as an important psychological explanation mechanism to solve the dilemma of“talent curse”faced by organizations. However, there are some limitations in the existing researches on the conceptual connotation and measurement tools of the workplace prestige syndrome, which hinders the development and application of the related researches. Following the standardized procedures, this paper develops the Workplace Prestige Syndrome Scale and works out a structured measurement tool that includes the three dimensions: evaluating, achieving, and working with the prestige. The predictive validity test of this scale indicates that workplace prestige syndrome has a positive impact on emotional exhaustion and work stress. Based on the above research results, organizations should pay close attention to the workplace prestige syndrome, evaluate the effectiveness of talent incentive measures based on the three-dimensional measurement table, and effectively respond to the three different types of reputation difficulties by improving interpersonal communication, ensuring organizational fairness, and enhancing the matching degree between talents and work.

Industry & Trade

How Does Digital Transformation Facilitate High-Level“Going Global”of Chinese Enterprises

WEI Yun-yan, LIU Chun, SHI Bing-zhan, ZHANG Yi

2024, 0(6):  111-123. 

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With the development of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, the deep integration between digital technologies and the real economy will become a new driving force for enterprises to“go global”at a high level. Based on the data of Chinese listed companies, this paper conducts an empirical examination of the impact of digital transformation on China’s corporate outward foreign direct investment and the underlying mechanisms. The results show that digital transformation has significantly increased the probability, frequency and scale of cross-border investment of enterprises, and this effect is mainly reflected in the green field investments. The mechanism tests show that digital transformation mainly provides important support for enterprises to“go global”by alleviating financing constraints, enhancing innovation capabilities, and improving social responsibility performance. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that the investment promotion effect of digital transformation is stronger in such enterprises as the non-state-owned enterprises, enterprises with export experience, and enterprises with higher human capital levels. At the same time, this promotion effect is also more significant in the heavily polluting industries, the high-tech industries, the industries relying more on external financing, and in the regions where the institutional environment is better. In addition, digital transformation helps enterprises overcome the liability of foreignness and invest in countries and regions with better institutions, which can ensures the high-standard“going global”of enterprises. Based on the above results, the government should provide a good regional institutional environment and talent introduction policy for enterprises’ digital transformation, and fully unleash the role of digital transformation in promoting high-level“going out”of enterprises. In addition, it is also necessary to consider the differences in the impact of digital transformation on different enterprises, so as to effectively achieve a high level of opening up to the outside world.

Opening up of the Services Industry and the Quality of Export Products of Manufacturing Enterprises

LI Chao, CAI Lu-lu

2024, 0(6):  124-138. 

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The opening up of the service industry to the outside world has provided a new perspective from the non physical factor input for the issue of how Chinese manufacturing enterprises can transform from relying on the quantity of exported products to the quality. By introducing product quality into the consumer preferences and the production and export decisions of the manufacturing enterprises, this study constructs a local equilibrium model that includes consumers and both of the service and manufacturing enterprises to explain the impact of improving the level of service industry openness on the quality of exported products of manufacturing enterprises. Based on the policy texts, this paper constructs an impact index of service industry openness and conducts an empirical study of the relationship between the service industry openness and the quality of export products of the manufacturing enterprises. The findings show that service industry openness mainly improves product quality by reducing production costs and increasing productivity of the manufacturing enterprises. The improvement effect is related to the types of the service industry opening to the outside world, and is not related to the geographical characteristics, ownership attributes, and the degree of service factor dependence of the manufacturing industry. The theoretical and empirical evidences suggest that China should further eliminate foreign investment barriers in the service industry to expand its level of opening up to the outside world. In the process of opening up to the outside world, it is necessary to focus on guiding foreign investment and advanced production technologies to flow into productive service industries, but there is no need to overly focus on the geographical layout, production technology, and ownership differences of the manufacturing enterprises.

Modern Accounting

Corporate ESG Rating Divergence and Auditor Risk Response: From the Perspective of Abnormal Audit Fees and Audit Team Changes

YU Peng, FAN Yi-zhong, LI Xiao-yan, REN Yi-jia

2024, 0(6):  139-152. 

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There are differences in the ratings of the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) of enterprises by different ESG rating agencies. By making use of the data of ESG performance of A-share listed companies from 2018 to 2021, this study investigates the impact of the differences in ESG rating results on auditor risk response behaviors. The findings show that the greater the divergence in ESG rating results among companies, the higher the abnormal audit fees charged by auditors, and the better the audit team configured by accounting firms. The mechanism testing reveals that the differences in ESG rating results among companies can increase their operational risks, leading auditors to adopt risk response behaviors such as increasing audit investment and charging higher abnormal audit fees. Further research has found that compared to the differences in the environmental rating results and the social responsibility rating results of enterprises, auditors are more likely to take risk response actions in response to the differences in corporate governance rating results. The economic consequence analysis reveals that the risk response actions taken by auditors and accounting firms in response to the differences in ESG rating results can improve audit quality. To this end, auditors should strengthen the risk assessment of enterprises with differing ESG rating results, and the government departments should develop and promote a standardized and unified ESG rating system and ESG information disclosure standards..

The Audit Quality Spillover Effect of the Random On-Site IPO Inspections: From the Perspective of Audit Linkage

ZHOU Dong-hua, ZENG Qing-mei

2024, 0(6):  153-164. 

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As one of the important regulatory measures supporting the registration system, the random on-site inspections of IPOs can improve the professional quality of auditors. Taking the IPO enterprises listed from 2014 to 2021 as the research objects, this study focuses on the audit quality spillover effects of the random on-site inspections of IPOs from the perspective of audit linkage. The findings show that the random on-site inspections of IPOs can improve the audit quality of accounting firms in their auditing of the connecting enterprises. The mechanism analysis reveals that the random on-site inspection of IPO has improved the risk perception level and professional ability of auditors, thereby enhancing the audit quality of audit linkage enterprises. The economic consequence analysis found that the random on-site inspections of IPOs have increased the success rate of IPO companies selected for on-site inspections. Therefore, in order to improve the quality of listed companies from the source, the regulatory authorities need to increase the intensity of random on-site inspections of IPOs, so as to strengthen the supervision of information disclosure of IPO enterprises and standardize the audit behaviors of accounting firms.