IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i8p3402-d1378332.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nonlinear Impact of Corporate Financialization on Sustainable Development Ability: Evidence from Listed Companies in China

Author

Listed:
  • Shuanglian Chen

    (Guangzhou Institute of International Finance, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510405, China)

  • Benhuan Nie

    (School of Economics and Statistics, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China)

  • Xiaohua Huang

    (School of Economics and Statistics, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China)

Abstract

This paper takes 1179 non-financial listed companies in China from 2010 to 2021 as samples and constructs a panel fixed-effect model to examine the effect of corporate financialization on sustainable development ability. Also, we further use the moderating effect model and the mediating effect model to explore the moderating roles played by financing constraints and environmental uncertainty, as well as the influencing mechanisms transmitted by financialization motives. The results are as follows: (1) There is a significant and robust inverted U-shaped relationship between corporate financialization and sustainable development ability, which indicates the existence of a moderate range of corporate financialization in regard to the sustainable development ability of companies. (2) Financing constraints and environmental uncertainty have moderating effects on the inverted U-shaped relationship between corporate financialization and sustainable development ability. With high financing constraints (environmental uncertainty), the sustainable development ability of companies reacts more sensitively to thep change in corporate financialization level. (3) Companies hold financial assets with precautionary saving motive in the low financialization level, and the reservoir effect plays a dominant role. The sustainable development ability of companies is enhanced. However, companies increase their holdings of financial assets for speculative arbitrage motive in the high financialization level, where the short-term wealth effect becomes dominant. The results of this paper are helpful for companies’ decision-making in sustainable development and for government policy formulation in economic development.

Suggested Citation

  • Shuanglian Chen & Benhuan Nie & Xiaohua Huang, 2024. "Nonlinear Impact of Corporate Financialization on Sustainable Development Ability: Evidence from Listed Companies in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-23, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:8:p:3402-:d:1378332
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/8/3402/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/8/3402/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Demir, FIrat, 2009. "Financial liberalization, private investment and portfolio choice: Financialization of real sectors in emerging markets," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 314-324, March.
    2. Tversky, Amos & Kahneman, Daniel, 1992. "Advances in Prospect Theory: Cumulative Representation of Uncertainty," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 297-323, October.
    3. Tadesse, Solomon, 2002. "Financial Architecture and Economic Performance: International Evidence," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 429-454, October.
    4. Leng, Tiecheng & Liu, Ying & Xiao, Yi & Hou, Chunxiao, 2023. "Does firm financialization affect optimal real investment decisions? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Richard F. J. Haans & Constant Pieters & Zi-Lin He, 2016. "Thinking about U: Theorizing and testing U- and inverted U-shaped relationships in strategy research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7), pages 1177-1195, July.
    6. Cevahir Uzkurt & Rachna Kumar & Halil Semih Kimzan & Hanife Sert, 2012. "THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL UNCERTAINTY DIMENSIONS ON ORGANISATIONAL INNOVATIVENESS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON SMEs," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(02), pages 1-23.
    7. Barraza, Santiago & Civelli, Andrea, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty and the supply of business loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    8. Meghana Ayyagari & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2008. "How Important Are Financing Constraints? The Role of Finance in the Business Environment," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 22(3), pages 483-516, November.
    9. Daniele Tori & Özlem Onaran, 2018. "The effects of financialization on investment: evidence from firm-level data for the UK," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 42(5), pages 1393-1416.
    10. Zhang, Chengsi & Zheng, Ning, 2020. "Monetary policy and financial investments of nonfinancial firms: New evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    11. Arthur Lewbel, 1997. "Constructing Instruments for Regressions with Measurement Error when no Additional Data are Available, with an Application to Patents and R&D," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(5), pages 1201-1214, September.
    12. Liurui Deng & Yiwen Zhao, 2022. "Investment Lag, Financially Constraints and Company Value—Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(11), pages 3034-3047, September.
    13. Periyasami Anbarasan & Sushil, 2018. "Stakeholder Engagement in Sustainable Enterprise: Evolving a Conceptual Framework, and a Case Study of ITC," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 282-299, March.
    14. Gong, Cynthia M. & Gong, Pu & Jiang, Mengting, 2023. "Corporate financialization and investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    15. Fang Yang & Xu Li, 2023. "Corporate Financialization, ESG Performance and Sustainability Development: Evidence from Chinese-Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-28, February.
    16. Younge, Kenneth A. & Tong, Tony W., 2018. "Competitive pressure on the rate and scope of innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 162-181.
    17. Songsong Li & Daquan Gao & Xiaofeng Hui & Wei Zhang, 2021. "Corporate Governance, Agency Costs, and Corporate Sustainable Development: A Mediating Effect Analysis," Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, Hindawi, vol. 2021, pages 1-15, May.
    18. Shan Xu & Lili Guo, 2023. "Financialization and Corporate Performance in China: Promotion or Inhibition?," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 59(3), pages 776-817, September.
    19. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    20. Zhengjuan Xie & Jiang Du & Yongchao Wu, 2022. "Does financialization of non-financial corporations promote the persistence of innovation: evidence from A-share listed manufacturing corporations in China," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(2), pages 229-250, June.
    21. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    22. Jinghua Wang & Ning Mao, 2022. "Does Financialization of Non-Financial Corporations Promote or Prohibit Corporate Risk-Taking?," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(7), pages 1913-1924, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yuanlin Wu & Cunzhi Tian & Guannan Wang, 2023. "Local Government Debt and Corporate Investment Behavior in China: Real versus Financial Investment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-22, November.
    2. Shuxia Zhang & Xiangyang Yin & Liping Xu & Ziyu Li & Deyue Kong, 2022. "Effect of Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance on Corporate Financialization: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, August.
    3. Peng Hou & Mengting Zhou & Jiaqi Xu & Yue Liu, 2021. "Financialization, Government Subsidies, and Manufacturing R&D Investment: Evidence from Listed Companies in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-24, November.
    4. Ke Guo & Xuemeng Guo & Jun Zhang, 2023. "Financial asset allocation duality and enterprise upgrading: empirical evidence from the Chinese A-share market," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    5. Ma, Sichao & Shen, Ji & Wang, Fanzhi & Wu, Wanting, 2022. "A tale of two Us: Corporate leverage and financial asset allocation in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    6. Zhao, Yan & Su, Kun, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate financialization: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Liu, Xing & Liu, Fengzhong, 2022. "Environmental regulation and corporate financial asset allocation: A natural experiment from the new environmental protection law in China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    8. Yang, Baochen & Chen, Fengrui, 2023. "The financialization of nonfinancial companies in China: A macroeconomic perspective," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    9. Gu, Leilei & Liu, Zhongyang & Ma, Sichao & Wang, Hongyu, 2022. "Social trust and corporate financial asset holdings: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    10. Gao, Haoyu & Wen, Huiyu & Wang, Xingjian, 2022. "Pandemic effect on corporate financial asset holdings: Precautionary or return-chasing?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    11. Yingying Zhou & Yuehan Du & Fengyi Lei & Ziru Su & Yifei Feng & Jie Li, 2021. "Influence of Financialization of Heavily Polluting Enterprises on Technological Innovation under the Background of Environmental Pollution Control," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-21, December.
    12. Liu, Xiangsheng & Lv, Lingli, 2023. "The effect of China's low carbon city pilot policy on corporate financialization," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    13. Davis, Leila & de Souza, Joao & Kim, YK. & Rella, Giacomo, 2023. "What are firms borrowing for? The role of financial assets," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    14. Qi, Yong & Yang, Yudi & Yang, Shuo & Lyu, Simeng, 2021. "Does government funding promote or inhibit the financialization of manufacturing enterprises? Evidence from listed Chinese enterprises," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    15. Mingjun Deng & Xusheng Fang & Ziyan Tian & Wenbing Luo, 2022. "The Impact of Environmental Uncertainty on Corporate Innovation: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, April.
    16. Shen, Xieyang & Yang, Sijie & Chen, Yulin & Zeng, Jianyu, 2022. "How does economic policy uncertainty influence managers' learning from peers' stock prices? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    17. Huang, Bingbing & Cui, Yuying & Chan, Kam C., 2022. "Firm-level financialization: Contributing factors, sources, and economic consequences," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1153-1162.
    18. Xu, Xiaodong & Mu, Yayu & Wang, Juan, 2023. "Corporate risk and financial asset holdings," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    19. Ho, Ly & Bai, Min & Lu, Yue & Qin, Yafeng, 2021. "The effect of corporate sustainability performance on leverage adjustments," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).
    20. Liu, Duan & Li, Zhiyuan & He, Hongbo & Hou, Wenxuan, 2021. "The determinants of R&D smoothing with asset sales: Evidence from R&D-intensive firms in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 76-93.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:8:p:3402-:d:1378332. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.