How does media regulatory pressure affect the share of labor income in enterprises? Mechanisms and macroeconomic effects analysis

Understanding the role of media regulation in shaping firms’ labor income distribution is of both theoretical and practical importance in the context of ongoing adjustments in income distribution and the strengthening of external governance mechanisms. Using data from Chinese A-share listed firms, this study systematically examines the impact of media regulatory pressure on firms’ labor income share, and further explores the underlying mechanisms and associated macroeconomic effects. The results show that media regulatory pressure significantly increases firms’ labor income share, and this finding remains robust across a series of robustness checks. Mechanism analysis reveals that media regulation operates primarily through enhancing corporate reputation, improving corporate governance, and increasing information disclosure quality, thereby shifting income distribution toward labor. Further analysis indicates that a higher labor income share significantly promotes household consumption and raises the price level, suggesting that firm-level income distribution adjustments have important macroeconomic implications. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive effect of media regulation is more pronounced among small firms and non-high-tech firms. This study provides new empirical evidence from an external governance perspective on corporate income distribution and offers policy implications for improving media regulation and promoting fairer income distribution.