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Does having an official internet platform improve firms’ investment efficiency: Evidence from China

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  • Wang, Yulan
  • Li, Jinglin
  • Zhou, Bing
  • Wang, Jiayi

Abstract

This paper focuses on the internet's information role by analyzing the role of official corporate websites on firms' investment efficiency. We manually crawl data from 30,000 official websites of Chinese listed companies and find that when a firm has an official website, its investment efficiency significantly improves. Further analysis shows that firms have a greater increase in investment efficiency when they create an investor interaction section on their website, when the section has a higher number of investor inquiries, and when the company responds more often. The mechanism analysis indicates that official corporate websites can significantly enhance information transparency, thereby improving corporate investment efficiency. Cross-sectional tests reveal that the promotional effect of official corporate websites on investment efficiency is more pronounced when a firm has more analysts following, higher informativeness of its stock price, and greater financing constraints. Additional analysis show that the effect of having official website on corporates' investment efficiency is significant in larger firms, non-state-owned enterprises and firms in low industry competition. This paper demonstrates that having an official website helps firm investors effectively leverage information to enhance corporate value.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Yulan & Li, Jinglin & Zhou, Bing & Wang, Jiayi, 2025. "Does having an official internet platform improve firms’ investment efficiency: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:98:y:2025:i:c:s1059056025001236
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2025.103960
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