The socioeconomic impacts of infrastructure investment are worth examining in both academic and practical areas. Regarding Chinese high-speed railway construction, the existing literature mainly focuses on the macro-economic level consequences of high-speed railway openings, leaving the micro-economic level impacts commonly untested. Using archival data of Chinese listed companies from 2009 to 2018 and the difference-in-difference (DID) approach, this paper examines the influential effect of Chinese high-speed railway openings on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. Empirical results show that high-speed railway openings can significantly improve Chinese listed companies’ CSR performance, and this positive effect is more salient when companies are experiencing lower information transparency. Mediating effect tests illustrate that the increased investor site visits caused by high-speed railway openings are one internal mechanism behind the main connection. Overall, from a micro-level perspective, this article provides additional evidence on the socioeconomic impact of transportation infrastructure investments.

As the biggest black swan event of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly weakened the ability of corporate stakeholders to monitor companies on site. In this context, exploring whether the on-site supervision restrictions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic affect management earnings forecast disclosure is crucial to protect investors' interests and promote the stable development of the capital market. Based on quarterly data of Chinese A-share listed companies' earnings forecasts, this paper finds that: First, when the company's registry region is more severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has less willingness to disclose its management earnings forecast. And those released forecasts tend to have lower qualities. Second, a higher level of media monitoring and a better legal environment can mitigate the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on both the willingness and the quality of management earnings forecast disclosure. Furthermore, mediating effect analysis shows that, the reduced on-site monitoring activities that were originally implemented by independent directors, institutional investors, and analysts during the epidemic period greatly limited stakeholders' monitoring efficiency, and thus cause significant influence on the disclosure of management earnings forecasts.

No abstract

Using data from Chinese A-share listed companies in tourism related industries from 2009 to 2018, this paper examines the influence of institutional investor shareholdings on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. Results show that: First, institutional investor shareholdings can significantly improve CSR performance of tourism related public companies in China. After implementing robustness test, this positive relationship remains solid. Second, the positive effect of institutional investor shareholdings is significantly unbalanced regarding different CSR dimensions, with the most salient influence in promoting companies’ social welfare contributions. And third, the impact of institutional investor shareholdings can be strengthened when listed companies are ultimately controlled by the state.

No abstract