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This study uses a nonparametric causality-in-quantiles approach to investigate the causal relationship between the gold market and geopolitical risks from 4 January 2000, to 17 November 2017, using high-frequency data. The results indicated that geopolitical risks affect volatility rather than returns in the gold market. We also decompose intraday volatility into continuous and discontinuous jump components and find that geopolitical risks have stronger causality with the jump component under bear and normal market conditions. The results show, moreover, that the effects of geopolitical risks on realized volatility are asymmetric. Lastly, we divide the entire sample into four major geopolitical events (i.e. the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Irap invasion, the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and Paris attacks) and find that the effect of these events on the gold market varied by type and scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, offering inexpensive industrial land is a major means for local governments to participate in interregional subsidy competition, which caused regional industrial land price distortions. This article examines the effect of regional industrial land price distortions on the overinvestment of Chinese manufacturing enterprises. Chinese industrial enterprises data and land price monitoring data of 49 major cities in China between 1998 and 2007 are employed. This article has found that industrial land price distortions will significantly stimulate the overinvestment of manufacturing enterprises. Such a promoting effect varies among manufacturing enterprises of different ownership and industry attributes. Industrial land price distortions have the most significant promoting effect on the overinvestment of foreign-invested firms, followed by private firms, while state-owned enterprises are the least affected. Compared with private heavy-industry firms, industrial land price distortions have a more significant effect on the overinvestment of private light-industry firms. Compared with foreign-invested heavy-industry firms, industrial land price distortions have a more significant effect on the overinvestment of foreign-invested lightindustry firms. This study represents a positive exploration and supplement to the existing studies on the effects of subsidy competition on corporate investment behaviours and the studies on Chinese-style subsidy competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards primary stakeholders on the cost of equity capital in Chinese listed firms, and divides the sample into state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-state-owned enterprises (NSOEs) for comparison. We construct a set of CSR index systems to measure the quality of the CSR practices and use several approaches to estimate firms’ ex ante cost of equity capital. The results show that firms with higher CSR scores have significantly lower cost of equity capital. In particular, we find that investments in improving CSR towards investors make the greatest contribution to reducing firms’ equity financing costs, and the cost of capital effects of CSR is more significant in recessions than in economic booms. In addition, SOEs have better CSR and lower cost of equity capital than NSOEs, but the effect of CSR in reducing the cost of equity capital is greater for NSOEs than for SOEs. The findings suggest that CSR toward primary stakeholders can be profitable and beneficial to Chinese firms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article systematically studies investment regulation policies adopted after 1994 to prevent overcapacity in the Chinese iron and steel industry. Theoretical analysis shows that these policies have three major limitations: they cannot fundamentally govern overcapacity; they cannot be used by policymakers to make accurate predictions or formulate acceptable investment plans; they may disturb the market process and lead to negative policy results. Reviews of policy predictions show that there has always been a large difference between iron and steel industry policy forecasts and plans for investment regulation and market realities. A Hodrick-Prescott filter analysis of the effects of these policies on fixed-asset investment in the industry further reveals that the policies obstruct self-adjustment of fixed-asset investment in the market, leading to negative policy results. Policies of these types should be adopted with great caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a dynamic panel threshold model to empirically investigate whether the effects of technological progress on metal consumption in the electricity industry differs by the change of industrial structure upgrading level (INSTRU). We consider a panel data set including 41 countries over the period 2000–2016. The estimated results suggests 2.72, 2.39 and 2.84 as the average threshold parameters of INSTRU for basic ferrous metals (Iron and Chromium), basic non-ferrous metals (Aluminium, Copper and Nickel) and critical metals (Indium, Neodymium and Dysprosium) respectively. When INSTRU is lower than the corresponding threshold, domestic technological progress (LnSRD) and foreign technological spillover progress (LnSIM) significantly promote the consumption of the above-mentioned metals. However, when INSTRU is higher than the corresponding threshold, LnSRD and LnSRD will reduce the consumption of basic ferrous metals such as Iron and Chromium, but will continue to increase the consumption of critical metals such as Indium, Neodymium and Dysprosium. Last, we confirm that LnSRD play a more important role in changing metal consumption structure in the electricity industry than that of LnSIM. These findings are of great significance to government policies that ensure the transition to low-carbon electricity systems. • Nonlinear effects of TEC on metal consumption in the electricity industry is examined. • A dynamic panel threshold model was used to estimate the threshold effect of INSTRU. • The effects of SRD and SIM on metal consumption structure depends on INSTRU. • The consumption of basic metals has decreased, while critical metals has increased. • The effects of SRD on metal consumption is stronger than that of SIM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the relationship between international nonferrous metal prices and industrial economic variables. To this end, we propose a new extended time-varying parameter structural vector autoregression with stochastic volatility (TVP-SVAR-SV) model to examine the time-varying characteristics and structural changes of shock effects for the period Q1 2001 to Q1 2018. The results show that the time-varying effects of international nonferrous metal price shocks on China's industrial economy are different at different time horizons, and the impacts are the most significant in the short term. Additionally, the negative effects of international nonferrous metal price shocks on industrial added value has significant lag effects, which appear in medium and long-term, while the shock effects on PPI and industrial employment are positive. Variance decomposition analysis shows that international nonferrous metal price shocks are an important driving force for industrial economic cycle fluctuations, second only to neutral technology shocks. The explanatory power of international nonferrous metal price shocks for the fluctuations in China's industrial added value, PPI, and employment significantly increases after the international financial crisis. • We study the time-varying effects of nonferrous metal price shocks on China's industrial economy using a TVP-SVAR-SV model. • The effects of international nonferrous metal price shocks on industrial economy are different at different time horizons. • International nonferrous metal price shocks are an important driving force for industrial economic cycle fluctuations. • The shock effects of nonferrous metal prices have significantly strengthened after the international financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]