Contemporary Finance & Economics

Removing the Labor Market Obstacles: Provincial Boundaries, Culture and Geography

Wei Dong-xia, Lu Ming

2026, 0(7): 3-17.

Asbtract ( 1 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Removing the obstacles of migration is most significant for a unified market. Lacking the inter-temporal assessment of migration obstacles, people observed that the inter-provincial population mobility is weakening. Based on the census data from year 2000 to 2015, the division of provincial boundaries significantly reduced the scale of migration between cities, and its effects tended to be enhanced. Dialects, natural geography, and distance also acted as barriers to population movement. The weakening of inter-provincial labor mobility is essentially the result of the inter-provincial labor market integration lagging behind within-provincial integration. For example, the unified pension insurance system in the population-outflow provinces significantly reduced the probability of inter-provincial mobility, while the high threshold for getting hukou in inflow cities strengthened the segmentation effect of provincial boundaries. Although the development of the tertiary industry in the inflow city weakened the effect of provincial boundary barriers, it strengthened the blocking effect of dialects on population mobility. The above analysis indicates that provincial boundaries, dialect differences and geographical distances between city pairs widened their income gaps. With the aim of narrowing the income gap between regions, we must build consensus and further smooth the flow of labor across provinces.

How can public data openness improve urban economic resilience

Chao Xiao-jing, Wang Qing

2026, 0(7): 18-32.

Asbtract ( 1 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Public data open platform has dual attributes of governance and production. It is a new carrier to fully release the value of data elements and has an important impact on urban economic resilience. Based on the dual attributes of governance and production of public data, and using China city-level data from 2009 to 2023 and Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed company data, the empirical study shows that, firstly, public data opening has a significant effect on urban economic resilience. Secondly, public data opening can promote urban economic resilience through two key channels: collaborative governance optimization and supply-demand targeted adaptation. Thirdly, the better the initial development endowment of the city, the larger the population scale, the better the industrial foundation, the better the development state of the digital economy, the higher the supply level of digital technology, the stronger the support of digital infrastructure, the higher the activity of the data element market, the better the market competition environment and the more perfect the digital rule of law construction, the more significant the urban economic resilience enhancement effect released by the opening of public data. Based on the above conclusions, the government should further strengthen the collaborative governance function and supply-demand matching efficiency of the public data open platform in improving urban economic resilience, effectively enhance the overall operation strength of the city and improve the urban economic resilience by constructing a cross-domain linked digital governance network and promoting the formation of a data-driven integrated urban operation ecology.

Has the Opening of Public Data Enhanced the Fiscal Resilience of Local Governments: A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the Launch of Public Data Platforms

Ma Shao-jie, Ni Zhi-liang, Li Jun-shuai

2026, 0(7): 33-45.

Asbtract ( 1 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Facing the increasingly complex international and domestic environment, maintaining strong fiscal resilience is an inevitable requirement for deepening finance as the foundation and important pillar of national governance. In the context of the digital economy, exploring the impact of public data opening on local fiscal resilience is of great significance for promoting the modernization of national governance systems and capabilities, and coordinating national stability and development. Using the launch of public data platforms as a quasi-natural experiment, this study selects panel data of prefecture-level cities from 2007 to 2023 to explore the impact and mechanism of public data opening on local fiscal resilience. The results show that public data opening significantly improves local fiscal resilience, and this promoting effect is more prominent in regions with lower dependence on transfer payments, higher economic policy uncertainty, higher government digital attention, and higher initial level of digital infrastructure. Mechanism tests indicate that public data opening significantly enhances local fiscal resilience through the incentive effect of technological innovation and the improvement effect of government governance efficiency. Therefore, it is suggested to continuously promote public data opening and improve the data element sharing mechanism; implement differentiated policies according to local conditions to fully release the dividends of public data elements; standardize the data element market and accelerate the construction of digital government.

The Impact of Government Green Fund Investment on Corporate Green Governance: An Analysis Based on Green Patient Capital and Green Development Strategy

Zheng Zhuo-ji, Li Xue-qin, Han Xian-feng

2026, 0(7): 46-58.

Asbtract ( 1 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Corporate green governance is a vital component in establishing a modern environmental governance system and requires strong support from government green funds. Utilizing data on government green fund investment and A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2022, this study systematically explores the impact and mechanisms of government green fund investment on corporate green governance. The findings reveal that government green fund investment effectively drives corporate green governance, as evidenced by a significant improvement in corporate green governance performance following the investment. Mechanism analysis indicates that government green fund investment promotes corporate green governance performance by fostering green patient capital and supporting firms in implementing green development strategies. Further analysis shows that the effects of government green fund investment are more pronounced in private firms and firms subject to stricter oversight from institutional investors, the media, the public, and the government. Government departments should accelerate the development of a multi-tiered and diversified green financial market system with Chinese characteristics, increase investment from government green funds, and cultivate patient capital to support corporate green governance.

Risk Buffer or Risk Amplifier: Corporate ESG Performance and Financial Market Stability

Shao Zhi-quan, Yu Bo

2026, 0(7): 59-71.

Asbtract ( 1 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Drawing on the granular economics framework, we integrate data from ten Chinese local and international ESG rating agencies to examine the dual effects of corporate ESG performance on financial market stability. We find that higher core ESG ratings reduce firms’ idiosyncratic tail risk while simultaneously strengthening their systemic connectedness with the broader market. Mechanism analyses show that improved corporate compliance and stronger financial conditions are the key channels through which ESG performance mitigates idiosyncratic tail risk, whereas greater homogeneity in investor composition is the primary driver of enhanced systemic connectedness. Improvements in core ESG ratings not only convey salient information about firms’ internal governance and financial position, but also attract ESG-oriented investors, thereby increasing the homogeneity of their investor base. Our findings reveal a clear methodological divergence: domestic ESG rating agencies emphasize firms’ alignment with national development strategies as a substantive manifestation of ESG performance, thereby primarily mitigating idiosyncratic tail risk. By contrast, international rating agencies play a more pronounced role in amplifying systemic connectedness. These findings suggest that, in promoting corporate sustainable development, policymakers should fully consider its dual implications for financial market stability, so as to better reconcile high-quality economic development with financial risk prevention.

How Intelligent Manufacturing Empowers Chinese Enterprises to Achieve Breakthroughs in Independent Innovation

Xi Ming-ming, Zhang Lu-qian-yi, Xia Ruo-xuan

2026, 0(7): 72-84.

Asbtract ( 1 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Mastering key core technology is an inherent requirement for achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening. Using the Intelligent Manufacturing Pilot Demonstration Action launched in 2015 as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper conducts an empirical study based on panel data from A-share listed manufacturing firms and a staggered difference-in-differences model. The results show that Intelligent Manufacturing significantly improves firms' Independent Innovation. The mechanism tests indicate that Intelligent Manufacturing not only promotes Firms' engagement in R&D collaboration, but also strengthens firms' knowledge absorptive capacity; accordingly, Intelligent Manufacturing improves firms' Independent Innovation. The heterogeneity analysis finds that the effect of Intelligent Manufacturing on Independent Innovation is stronger among firms involved in the U.S. Section 301 investigation and firms with higher perceived uncertainty. The extended analysis shows that, after Intelligent Manufacturing improves firms' Independent Innovation, firms strengthen the overall resilience of their supply chains. These findings imply that, to fully leverage the role of the Intelligent Manufacturing Pilot Demonstration Action in improving firms' Independent Innovation, the government should implement differentiated strategies for advancing Intelligent Manufacturing by considering industry competition dynamics and firm risk characteristics, focus on building deep industry-university-research cooperation platforms, and clarify the cultivation pathways for firms' knowledge absorption capacity.

Data Security Governance and Stock Price Synchronicity：A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the Implementation of the Data Security Law

Zhao Ting-ting, Guo Xiao-min

2026, 0(7): 85-97.

Asbtract ( 1 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

The implementation of the Data Security Law of the People’s Republic of China has strengthened data security governance, improved information efficiency in the capital market, and increased stock price informativeness. Taking this law as a policy shock, this study empirically investigates how data security governance affects stock price synchronicity. The findings reveal that the implementation of this law significantly reduces firms' stock price synchronicity. Mechanism tests indicate that this law curbs synchronicity by enhancing corporate information disclosure quality and promoting corporate digital transformation. Heterogeneity analyses further indicate that such mitigating effect is more pronounced for firms with lower innovation capacity and those located in regions with underdeveloped local data governance. Accordingly, governments ought to strengthen supervision over corporate data security; enterprises should construct and refine their internal data security governance systems; and investors should pay attention to the data security governance of listed companies.

Research on the Impact of Promotion of Integration of Domestic and Foreign Trade on the Domestic Value-Added Rate of Enterprises’ Exports

Li Ming-guang, Xu Pei-yuan, Wang Ya-bei

2026, 0(7): 98-113.

Asbtract ( 1 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Strengthening the reform of integration of domestic and foreign trade, fully tapping into the potential of the massive domestic market, is crucial for shaping new export competitive advantages centered around high added value. By incorporating the intermediate goods into a classic heterogeneous firm trade model and extending the theoretical framework established, this paper studies the impact and mechanisms of domestic and international trade integration on the domestic value-added rate of enterprise exports(DVAR), and conducts an empirical test based on micro-level enterprise data from China. The findings show that the integration of domestic and foreign trade, which balances domestic sales and exports, can effectively enhance the DVAR of enterprise exports, and this conclusion remains valid after correcting for reverse causality, omitted variable issues, and multiple robustness tests. Moreover, heterogeneity analysis results show that the positive effect is mainly reflected in the eastern region, foreign capital and general trade enterprises. Mechanism examination research reveals that domestic and international trade integration can increase the DVAR of Chinese enterprise exports through domestic substitution of intermediate goods and the promotion of R&D innovation. Therefore, improving the institutional systems for domestic and international market circulation, and then facilitating enterprises’ integration of domestic and foreign trade to build an independent and controllable domestic supply chain system, which in turn reduces reliance on imported intermediate goods and enhances the innovation drive and capability of enterprises, is a key pathway to shaping new competitive advantages in China’s export by leveraging the vast domestic market.

Artificial Intelligence, Industrial Integration, and Industrial Chain Resilience

Liu Jin, Li Xiao-hong

2026, 0(7): 114-126.

Asbtract ( 0 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Artificial intelligence, as a new generation of general-purpose technology, has been applied in various fields such as intelligent manufacturing, supply chain management, and risk warning, continuously expanding its application scenarios. It promotes the optimization and reorganization of production factors, reshapes the industrial division of labor pattern, and enhances the efficiency of resource allocation. Its innovative development has become an important driving force to overcome the resilience dilemma of the industrial chain and is also becoming the core engine for the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. Based on the panel data of 281 cities in China from 2011 to 2023, a dual machine learning model was used to systematically examine the impact of artificial intelligence on the resilience of industrial chains. The findings are as follows: First, AI promotes industrial chain resilience. This effect is more pronounced in cities with digital ecological advantages, such as those possessing data trading platforms, high levels of financial technology development, and well-established digital infrastructure, as well as in non-resource-based and non-old industrial base cities. Second, AI enhances the resilience of industrial chains through deepening industrial integration. Third, the impact of artificial intelligence on the resilience of industrial chains has a nonlinear threshold characteristic. The effect of technological investment is a single threshold effect, and it can only activate its enabling role by crossing the critical value; digital talents show a dual threshold, and their reserves need to successively break through two critical points to enable the gradual and stepwise rise of the promoting effect of artificial intelligence. Therefore, it is necessary to further strengthen the deep integration of artificial intelligence and industrial chains, consolidate the foundation for resilience improvement; build a comprehensive supporting policy system for industrial integration, form a coordinated promotion path; strengthen the threshold management of key supporting elements, implement phased investment and cultivation plans, and especially increase investment in common technology research and development platforms for artificial intelligence, computing infrastructure, and other fields with public goods attributes.

How the Safe Harbor Rule for Forward-looking Statements Reduce Stock Price Synchronicity?

Bi Xiao-fang, Wang Yi, Liu Yong-tian

2026, 0(7): 127-138.

Asbtract ( 1 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Based on the efficient market hypothesis and signaling theory, this study uses the implementation of China’s Safe Harbor Rule for Forward-looking Information as a quasi-natural experiment, selects A-share listed companies in China’s capital market from 2017 to 2024 as the research sample, examines the impact of the Safe Harbor Rule for Forward-looking Information on stock price synchronicity. The study finds that the implementation of the Safe Harbor Rule can reduce firms’ stock price synchronicity. Mechanism tests indicate that the Safe Harbor Rule enables firms to disclose more forward-looking incremental information and forward-looking firm-specific information, thereby lowering stock price synchronicity. Further analysis reveals that the reduction effect is more pronounced among high-tech enterprises, firms with high analyst coverage, and firms with a high degree of information asymmetry between insiders and outsiders. Accordingly, regulators should improve and refine the implementation guidelines of the Safe Harbor Rule for Forward-looking Information; firms should clarify the applicable boundaries of the Safe Harbor Rule; and investors should enhance their ability to interpret firms’ forward-looking information.

How Does Age Discrimination Inhibit Intergenerational Knowledge Sharing? An Explanation Based on Theory

Zhu Zhen-bing, Hou Xuan-fang

2026, 0(7): 139-151.

Asbtract ( 1 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

Against the backdrop of rapid population aging and the impending wave of retirements among older employees, organizations urgently need to facilitate older employees’ intergenerational knowledge sharing with younger coworkers to prevent knowledge discontinuities. However, age discrimination experienced by older employees may inhibit such knowledge sharing. Prior research has mainly explained the relationship between perceived age discrimination and older employees’ intergenerational knowledge sharing from identity- and capability-based perspectives, while paying insufficient attention to resource constraints. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study proposes emotional exhaustion as a key mechanism through which perceived age discrimination undermines older employees’ intergenerational knowledge sharing. Using three-wave survey data from 376 older employees, the results show that perceived age discrimination positively predicts emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion partially mediates the relationship between perceived age discrimination and intergenerational knowledge sharing, and its indirect effect is stronger than those through organizational identification and occupational self-efficacy. Moreover, older employees’ occupational future time perspective negatively moderates the relationship between perceived age discrimination and emotional exhaustion, and further weakens the indirect effect of emotional exhaustion on the link between perceived age discrimination and intergenerational knowledge sharing. Based on these findings, organizations can promote older employees’ intergenerational knowledge sharing by strengthening anti-age-discrimination systems and inclusive cultures, offering resource-recovery and emotion-management training, and expanding older employees’ occupational future time perspective.

The Mechanism of Perceived Interactivity on Information Behavior of Virtual Community Members: Evidence from Mainstream Communities Both Domestically and Internationally

Lyu Jie, Fang Ling-zhi

2026, 0(7): 152-164.

Asbtract ( 1 )

References | Related Articles | Metrics

With the in-depth development of the digital economy, virtual communities have become core arenas for traffic aggregation, value conversion, and information flow. The information behavior of community members directly influences the exploitation of commercial value and the sustainable operation of virtual communities; however, its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Drawing on social exchange theory and user value theory, this study focuses on the relationships among perceived interactivity, sense of community, and virtual community engagement, aiming to explore the influencing mechanisms of information behavior differentiation among virtual community members. Based on survey data collected from 248 domestic and 223 international members across multiple types of virtual communities, this study employs structural equation modeling to conduct empirical testing. The results indicate that perceived interactivity significantly and positively drives the formation of sense of community; sense of community positively promotes virtual community engagement; virtual community engagement positively predicts information exchange behavior while negatively inhibiting information hiding behavior; and both sense of community and virtual community engagement play significant chain mediating roles between perceived interactivity and the two types of information behavior. Based on the multiple transmission logic of information behavior differentiation in virtual communities, enterprises can implement community operation strategies such as interaction optimization, emotional cultivation, demand matching, and behavior guidance to enhance the commercial value of the community.

Theoretical Reconstruction of Marxist Development Economics in the Digital Age—A Review of Digital Revolution and the Evolution of Production Mode: A New Beginning for Marxist Development Economics

Zhang Lei, Tian Guan-hao

2026, 0(7): 165-166.

Asbtract ( 0 )

Table of Content