IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ijfiec/v30y2025i4p4237-4254.html

Capital Market Opening and Corporate Innovation: Mediating Role of ESG Performance and Financing Constraints

Author

Listed:
  • Jiyang Zhao
  • Xiaohong Wang
  • Xiangyu Luan

Abstract

This study uses a quasi‐natural experiment of the Shanghai‐Hong Kong and Shenzhen‐Hong Kong Connect Trading Systems to investigate the role of the capital market opening in fostering corporate innovation. We use panel data for A‐listed corporations covering 2009–2021 to construct empirical analysis, and corroborate that the capital market opening can exert significantly positive influences on corporate innovation. The robustness of the research is verified. Furthermore, we conduct quantile analysis to investigate asymmetric effects, and employ multi‐phase difference‐in‐difference‐in‐difference model, which reveals that the positive effect of capital market opening is more distinctly potent among the heavy polluters and the new‐high‐tech corporations. Moreover, the results also reflect that the capital market opening can enhance ESG performance and ease financing constraints, which in turn enhances corporate innovation. This study extends the researches on the topic regarding the relationship between capital market opening and corporate innovation, and outlines the theoretical and practical implications of helping foster corporate innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiyang Zhao & Xiaohong Wang & Xiangyu Luan, 2025. "Capital Market Opening and Corporate Innovation: Mediating Role of ESG Performance and Financing Constraints," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 4237-4254, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ijfiec:v:30:y:2025:i:4:p:4237-4254
    DOI: 10.1002/ijfe.3119
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.3119
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/ijfe.3119?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lai, Wen-Hsiang & Chang, Pao-Long, 2010. "Corporate motivation and performance in R&D alliances," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 490-496, May.
    2. Holmstrom, Bengt, 1989. "Agency costs and innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 305-327, December.
    3. Wang, Ye & Liu, Xufeng & Wan, Die, 2023. "Stock market openness and ESG performance: Evidence from Shanghai-Hong Kong connect program," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1306-1319.
    4. Shen, Huayu & Hou, Fei, 2021. "Trade policy uncertainty and corporate innovation evidence from Chinese listed firms in new energy vehicle industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    6. Clyde Eiríkur Hull & Sandra Rothenberg, 2008. "Firm performance: the interactions of corporate social performance with innovation and industry differentiation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(7), pages 781-789, July.
    7. Zhang, Shengling & Wu, Zihao & He, Yinan & Hao, Yu, 2022. "How does the green credit policy affect the technological innovation of enterprises? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    8. Liu, Chen & Xiong, Mengxu, 2022. "Green finance reform and corporate innovation: Evidence from China✰," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    9. Shi, Yang & Li, Jiachen & Liu, Ruiming, 2023. "Financing constraints and share pledges: Evidence from the share pledge reform in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Hao, Jing & He, Feng, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and green innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    11. Zhang, Ping & Sha, Yezhou & Wang, Yu & Wang, Tewei, 2022. "Capital market opening and stock price crash risk – Evidence from the Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    12. Sha, Yezhou & Zhang, Ping & Wang, Yiru & Xu, Yifan, 2022. "Capital market opening and green innovation——Evidence from Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    13. Feng, Gen-Fu & Niu, Peng & Wang, Jun-Zhuo & Liu, Jian, 2022. "Capital market liberalization and green innovation for sustainability: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 610-623.
    14. He, Feng & Lucey, Brian & Wang, Ziwei, 2021. "Trade policy uncertainty and its impact on the stock market -evidence from China-US trade conflict," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    15. Guanming He & Xiaorong Li & Jingbo Luo, 2023. "The impact of the Shanghai–Hong Kong stock market connection on corporate innovation: Evidence from mainland China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 3132-3161, July.
    16. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    17. Jason Z. Ma & Hung-Yi Huang & Qi Zhu & Xixi Shen, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure, Market Supervision, and Green Investment," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(15), pages 4389-4398, December.
    18. Yan Du & Yi Lu, 2018. "The Great Opening up and the Roadmap for the Future: The Story of China's International Trade," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 26(2), pages 68-93, March.
    19. D’Hondt, Catherine & Merli, Maxime & Roger, Tristan, 2022. "What drives retail portfolio exposure to ESG factors?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    20. Zhang, Rongwu & Fu, Wenqiang & Lu, Tong, 2023. "Capital market opening and corporate environmental performance: Empirical evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    21. Wang, Shuxun, 2021. "How does stock market liberalization influence corporate innovation? Evidence from Stock Connect scheme in China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    22. Korschun, Daniel & Du, Shuili, 2013. "How virtual corporate social responsibility dialogs generate value: A framework and propositions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(9), pages 1494-1504.
    23. Duong, Huu Nhan & Nguyen, Justin Hung & Nguyen, My & Rhee, S. Ghon, 2020. "Navigating through economic policy uncertainty: The role of corporate cash holdings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    24. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Peng, Yu-Lu & Ma, Chao-Qun & Shen, Bo, 2017. "Can environmental innovation facilitate carbon emissions reduction? Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 18-28.
    25. Fang Cai, 2018. "Perceiving Truth and Ceasing Doubts: What Can We Learn from 40 Years of China's Reform and Opening up?," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 26(2), pages 1-22, March.
    26. Li, Chao & Wu, Mian & Chen, Xi & Huang, Wenli, 2022. "Environmental, social and governance performance, corporate transparency, and credit rating: Some evidence from Chinese A-share listed companies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    27. Lutfi Abdul Razak & Mansor H. Ibrahim & Adam Ng, 2023. "Environment, social and governance (ESG) performance and CDS spreads: the role of country sustainability," Journal of Risk Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(5), pages 585-613, July.
    28. Beckmann, Joscha & Rogmann, Jennifer, 2024. "Determinants and effects of country ESG controversy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    29. Vivian W. Fang & Mark Maffett & Bohui Zhang, 2015. "Foreign Institutional Ownership and the Global Convergence of Financial Reporting Practices," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 53(3), pages 593-631, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Min, Shiyao & Dai, Bin & Wu, Qiqi, 2026. "When global standards meet local firms: Capital market internationalization and the decline of R&D manipulation," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    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. Jiang, Mobing & Chen, Xinyu & Xiao, Mingyue & Zhang, Yuning & Wen, Wu & Chen, Xiaohua, 2025. "From connect to conquer: capital market liberalization and Chinese firms' cross-border mergers and acquisitions," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    2. Han, Weihui & Han, Lv & Yang, Qingqing, 2024. "Capital market liberalization and firms’ OFDI performance: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    3. Chen, Zhenni & Li, Bin & Lou, Xinna & Liang, Yilan & Feng, Tong, 2025. "Is the increasing carbon pressure an incentive or obstacle to corporate creativity? Evidence from Chinese listed firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 186-201.
    4. Zhang, Zhida & Ruan, Peiheng & Wang, Yuetang, 2025. "Does stock market liberalization restrain corporate misconduct: Evidence from research and development manipulation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    5. Li, Wei-An & Du, Hanyu & He, Feng, 2025. "Mandatory corporate ESG disclosure and default risk – Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Liu, Wenjun & He, Qian & Cao, June & Kamar, Amina, 2024. "Exploring the catalysts of eco-innovation: Employee ownership and sustainable practices," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    7. Tan, Yafei & Zhu, Zhaohui, 2024. "The internationalization of capital market and corporate innovation capabilities: A quasi-natural experiment on the inclusion of China's A-shares in the MSCI index," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 1021-1038.
    8. Yuan, Li & Rao, Siqi & Yang, Shenggang & Dai, Pengyi, 2023. "Does equity market openness increase productivity? the dual effects of Shanghai-Hong Kong stock Connect program in China," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Shehub Bin Hasan & Md Samsul Alam & Sudharshan Reddy Paramati & Md Shahidul Islam, 2022. "Does firm-level political risk affect cash holdings?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 311-337, July.
    10. Huang, Hongyun & Mbanyele, William & Wang, Fengrong & Song, Malin & Wang, Yuzhang, 2022. "Climbing the quality ladder of green innovation: Does green finance matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    11. Zhang, Jian & Wu, Wenruo & Yang, Jingyun & Xiao, Yi, 2025. "Trade policy uncertainty and corporate innovation —Evidence from the US-China trade war," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Yadav, Akash Singh & Yadav, Inder Sekhar, 2025. "The impact of country- and firm-level governance on capital allocation efficiency: New evidence from India," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Jiang, Kangqi & Chen, Zhongfei & Rughoo, Aarti & Zhou, Mengling, 2022. "Internet finance and corporate investment: Evidence from China," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. Caixe, Daniel Ferreira, 2025. "Policy uncertainty and cash holdings: The role of corporate governance in Brazil," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    15. Wang, Ye & Liu, Xufeng & Wan, Die, 2023. "Stock market openness and ESG performance: Evidence from Shanghai-Hong Kong connect program," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1306-1319.
    16. Cui, Di & Ding, Mingfa & Han, Yikai & Suardi, Sandy, 2022. "Foreign shareholders, relative foreign policy uncertainty and corporate cash holdings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    17. Chang, Yuyuan & He, Wen & Mi, Lin, 2024. "Cross-border regulatory cooperation and cash holdings: Evidence from US-listed foreign firms," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6).
    18. Kim, Hyeong Joon & Han, Seung Hun & Mun, Seongjae, 2022. "Analyzing the effects of terrorist attacks on the value of cash holdings," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    19. Guangrui Liu & Hao Qian & Yong Shi & Deli Yuan & Ming Zhou, 2024. "How do firms react to capital market liberalization? Evidence from ESG reporting greenwashing," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 4329-4344, September.
    20. Sun, Zhennan & Du, Qunyang & Du, Anna Min & Li, Zhongyuan & Yang, Tianle, 2024. "The information environment and ecological environment perspectives: Capital market openness and firm ESG rating divergence," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:ijfiec:v:30:y:2025:i:4:p:4237-4254. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/1076-9307/ .

    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.