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• The paper measures regional fintech levels by the count of fintech firms. • The paper examines the link between fintech and firm productivity. • The findings developed in this study can offer additional value for entrepreneurs. Recent data show that the number of fintech investment deals is increasing, implying that fintech is gradually penetrating various industries and may have far-reaching impacts on industrial production and operations. This paper studies the impact of fintech on firm productivity and the mediating effects of financing constraints, information asymmetry and technological innovation. This paper collects data from 1662 samples of Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2022 and screens the number of firms that meet the fintech criteria to construct the regional fintech development level. Our analysis shows that fintech has a positive effect on enhancing firm productivity. Path analysis reveals that digital transformation indirectly enhances firm productivity by reducing information asymmetry, easing financing constraints, and improving technological innovation. Our research introduces innovative approaches for developing indicators in financial technology. The insights generated from this study hold potential value for both entrepreneurs and governmental bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper explores the relationship between corporate green innovation structure and ESG ratings. • ESG ratings can promote the shifting from symbolic to substantive green innovation. • ESG ratings optimize corporate green innovation structure mainly through the monitoring and incentive effects. Green innovation, primarily substantive green innovation, is critical for improving corporate sustainable development. In contrast to existing literature, this paper examines how environment, society, and governance (ESG) optimizes corporate green innovation structure from an innovation motivation perspective. Based on A-share listed firms, this study reveals a significant enhancement of ESG ratings in corporate green innovation structure, verifying that ESG ratings can promote the shifting from symbolic to substantive green innovation. This impact operates mainly through the monitoring and incentive effects. This paper theoretically enriches the related research and emphasizes the necessity of ESG construction for sustainable development in emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper examines the connection between market liquidity and corporate asset mismatch. • Market liquidity is essential for enterprises in high-leverage, competitive banking environments to avoid asset mismatch. • The positive impact has been minimal in companies with limited bank rivalry and modest borrowing levels. Based on the period from 2011 to 2021 and considering macroeconomic data, this paper analyzes the relationship between market liquidity and asset mismatch in manufacturing firms. Specifically, this paper reveals that market liquidity can mitigate manufacturing firms' asset mismatch by optimizing credit maturity structure. Further, heterogeneous effects exist in the impact of the policy above, both at a regional and individual level. Market liquidity is crucial in mitigating asset mismatch for companies operating in locations with intense competition among banks and high leverage levels. However, its impact has been minimal in companies with limited bank rivalry and modest borrowing levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Examine the impact of digital transformation on supply chain diversification, focusing on the transaction costs. • Digital transformation can significantly promote upstream, downstream, and the whole supply chain diversification. • The positive effects mainly through the coordination and inventory transportation costs reduction effects. Companies must implement digital transformation to achieve supply chain diversification with the current volatile economic conditions, which is crucial for their survival and as a fundamental measure to ensure industrial supply chain resilience and security. Based on A-listed companies, this paper systematically examines the impact of digital transformation on supply chain diversification, exploring the underlying mechanism of this effect from the transaction cost perspective. This paper reveals that digital transformation can significantly promote upstream suppliers, downstream customers, and the whole supply chain diversification. This impact operates mainly through the reduction effects of supply and demand coordination and inventory transportation costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There is a U-shaped relationship between the performance of carbon neutrality and firm value. • The U-shaped relationship is weaker in state-owned firms and firms operating in B2C industries. • The U-shaped relationship is stronger when information uncertainty is higher. Carbon neutrality is critical in addressing the climate crisis. Using the data of Chinese listed firms from 2018 to 2022, this paper shows a significant U-shaped association between the performance of carbon neutrality and firm value. Our key findings hold after a battery of robustness tests and endogeneity concerns. The U-shaped relationship is weaker in state-owned firms and those operating in B2C industries, and stronger when information uncertainty is higher. This paper has implications for the promotion of carbon-neutral practices in enterprises and the realization of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper examines how social trust affects institutional investor herd behaviour. • Increasing social trust can inhibit institutional investor herd behaviour, especially investor sell-side. • The impact is achieved by enhancing audit quality, especially in the international Big Four. Trust is essential for a well-functioning market economy and is influenced by social institutions and technical advancement, not just cultural traditions. This paper examines how social trust affects institutional investor herd behaviour. Based on data from 2011 to 2021, this paper adopts a fixed effect model to explore the effects and underlying mechanisms. The findings indicate that increasing social trust can inhibit institutional investor herd behaviour, especially investor sell-side herd behaviour. The impact is achieved by enhancing audit quality, especially in the international Big Four. The findings advise the government on reducing institutional investors' herd behaviour from a macro perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper investigates the effect of top management team (TMT) functional diversity on ESG performance. • We find that TMT functional diversity positively affects ESG performance. • Enhanced green management and technology innovation play mediating roles. • Effect is stronger in non-state-owned enterprises, firms from non-heavy pollution industry, and those with better external governance. This paper investigates the effect of top management team (TMT) functional diversity on ESG performance, utilizing data from Chinese A-share listed companies spanning 2009 to 2022. The study finds that TMT functional diversity positively influences ESG performance, with this positive impact predominantly observed in non-state-owned enterprises, firms from low pollution industry, and those with better external governance. Further analysis indicates that improvements in green management innovation and green technology innovation serve as underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper investigates the supply chain spillover Effect of media attentions to customers. • Media attentions to customers significantly affect supplier's real earnings management. • Higher external supervision and Internal constraints are two potential channels. This paper investigates how media attention to customers affects the supplier's information environment from the perspective of real earnings management. Our empirical results for 2010–2020 reveal a negative association between media attention to customers and the supplier's real earnings management. Causality is established through the instrumental variable two-stage least squares approach. Cross-sectional tests further illustrate that more external supervision and internal constraints are two potential channels for this observed relationship. Overall, our findings emphasize that the media, as a crucial information intermediary, significantly affects the behavior of companies in the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Textual risk disclosure (TRD) decreases the financial firms' market liquidity. • TRD increases the market liquidity of large financial firms. • Financial firms' TRD is informative to market participants. • We offer textual method for future research. The informativeness of textual risk disclosure (TRD) of financial firms is unexplored in the extant literature. Employing a sample of UK FTSE all-share financial firms, this paper fills this gap in the literature by providing the first empirical evidence on the relationship between TRD and market liquidity. Consistent with the convergence argument for TRD, we find that TRD decreases the financial firms' market liquidity. However, consistent with the divergence argument for TRD, our further analysis shows that TRD increases the market liquidity of large financial firms. Overall, our results suggest that financial firms' TRD is informative to market participants. In addition to the practical and policy implications of our results, this paper opens avenues for future research to use our textual method to measure the determinants and use risk information of financial firms in different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• In this paper, we investigate cross-sector risk contagion among Chinese financial institutions using the quantile connectedness approach, which helps differentiate between the spillover networks in upper, middle, and lower quantiles. • Furthermore, we examine the impact of macroeconomic factors on risk spillover effects across different quantiles. • Our findings offer valuable insights for regulators to effectively manage and mitigate the risk contagion within the Chinese financial system. This paper investigates the cross-sector risk contagion among Chinese financial institutions using the quantile connectedness approach, and analyzes the impact of macroeconomic factors on risk spillover effects at different quantiles. The empirical results show that the volatility spillovers in the tail quantiles are higher than those in the median quantile, suggesting that financial risk propagate more intensely during extreme events relative to normal conditions. Furthermore, we demonstrate that macroeconomic factors have a significant impact on volatility spillovers among financial institutions. Our findings provide valuable insights for regulators to effectively manage and mitigate the risk contagion within the Chinese financial system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]