Impact of carbon disclosure on debt financing costs

Creditors,such as banks,often use disclosed environmental information to assess a company’s environmental risk and ensure the safety of debt funds.Consequently,carbon disclosures have become an important consideration for creditors when making investments.This study explores the relationship between carbon disclosure and debt financing costs using data on listed companies from 2008 to 2019.The results show that carbon disclosure can reduce the debt financing costs of enterprises,and that this influence is more significant for private companies than for state-owned enterprises.Instrumental variables and Propensity Score Matching(PSM)were used to evaluate the robustness of negative relationships.Furthermore,carbon disclosure has a more significant impact on debt costs with less environmental supervision pressure,weak residents’environmental awareness,and weak product market competition.These findings provide guidance for companies’carbon information disclosure and support the establishment of official carbon disclosure standards.

State-Owned Capital Participation in Private Enterprises:A Perspective of Debt Financing

This study takes debt financing as the entry point and explores the impact of state-owned capital participation in private enterprises from the perspectives of“unarticulated rules”and“articulated rules”.The study finds that state-owned capital participation significantly reduces the debt financing costs of private enterprises and expands the scale of their debt financing.This conclusion remains valid after a series of endogeneity and robustness tests.Further analysis of the mechanism reveals that state-owned capital participation improves the debt financing of private enterprises through multiple channels:Enhancing their social reputation,mitigating the“statistical bias”they face,optimizing their information quality,and reducing the“shareholder-creditor”agency problems.This paper conceptualizes these benefits as the“complementary advantages of heterogeneous shareholders”.This not only constructs a theoretical framework for“reverse mixed-ownership reform”but also better narrates the Chinese story of“mixed-ownership reform”by adopting a more universally applicable theory of equity structure.Additionally,the paper supplements existing research on the macro-and meso-level relationship between the government and the market by exploring the government’s positive role at the micro-level.

Research on the Coordinated Development of Inclusive Finance and Financing for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

As an important force in promoting economic and social development,small and medium-sized enterprises play a crucial role in enhancing China’s economic strength,creating employment opportunities,and promoting industrial structural transformation.However,due to their inherent weaknesses,small and medium-sized enterprises often face difficulties in financing within the traditional financial service system.This makes it difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to inject vitality into the development of the market economy by expanding their financing scale.Since 2013,China has vigorously developed inclusive finance and extended the services of traditional financial institutions to small and medium-sized enterprises,providing policy guidance,resource support,and technical support to alleviate the financing difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises.Based on this,this article focuses on the current financing problems faced by small and medium-sized enterprises and specifically elaborates on how to lower the financing threshold for small and medium-sized enterprises and broaden their financing channels through inclusive finance,in order to promote the development of inclusive finance and a virtuous cycle of financing for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Estimated Financing Amount Needed for Essential Medicines in China, 2014

Background： At the present time, the government is considering to establish the independent financing system for essential medicines （EMs）. However, it is still in the exploration phase. The objectives of this study were to calculate and estimate financing amount of EMs in China in 2014 and to provide data evidence for establishing financing mechanism of EMs. Methods： Two approaches were adopted in this study. First, we used a retrospective research to estimate the cost of EMs in China in 2014. We identified all the 520 drugs listed in the latest national EMs list （2012） and calculated the total sales amount of these drugs in 2014. The other approach included the steps that first selecting the 109 most common diseases in China, then identifying the EMs used to treat them, and finally estimating the total cost of these drugs. Results： The results of the two methods, which showed the estimated financing amounts of EMs in China in 2014, were 17,776.44 million USD and 19,094.09 million USD, respectively. Conclusions： Comparing these two results, we concluded that the annual budget needed to provide for the EMs in China would be about 20 billion USD. Our study also indicated that the irrational drug use continued to plague the health system with intravenous fluids and antibiotics being the typical examples, as observed in other studies.

Trade credit financing for supply chain coordination under financial challenges:a multi‑leader–follower game approach

This study is designed to solve supply chain inefficiencies caused by some members’financial problems,such as capital shortages and financing restrictions in a stochastic environment.To this end,we have established a supply chain finance framework by designing two novel coordinating contracts based on trade credit financing for different problem settings.These contracts are modeled in the form of multi-leader Stackelberg games that address horizontal and vertical competition in a supply chain consisting of multiple suppliers and a financially constrained manufacturer.However,previous studies in the trade credit literature have addressed only simple vertical competition,that is,seller-buyer competition.To solve the proposed models,two algorithms were developed by combining population-based metaheuristics,the Nash-domination concept,and the Nikaido-Isoda function.The results demonstrate that the proposed supply chain finance framework can eliminate supply chain inefficiencies and make a large profit for suppliers,as well as the financially constrained manufacturer.Furthermore,the results of the contracts’analysis showed that if the manufacturer is required to settle its payments to suppliers before the end of the period,the trade credit contract cannot coordinate the supply chain because of a lack of incentive for suppliers.However,if the manufacturer is allowed to extend its payments to the end of the period,the proposed trade credit financing contract can coordinate the supply chain.Finally,the sensitivity analysis results indicate that the worse the financial status of the manufacturer,the more bargaining power suppliers have in determining the contract parameters for more profit.

Universal Health Coverage in Somalia: Charting the Path to Equitable Healthcare Financing and Governance

Somalia is a country facing numerous challenges in achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and ensuring adequate healthcare financing, This article explores the complexities and obstacles that Somalia must overcome in its pursuit of UHC, the paper begins by providing an overview of the current healthcare landscape in Somalia, highlighting the lack of infrastructure, political instability, and limited financial resources that hinder the establishment of a comprehensive and equitable healthcare system. It then examines the role of international aid and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in filling the healthcare gap, while emphasizing the need for a more sustainable, domestically financed solution. Drawing on a range of data sources and case studies, the article proposes a multi-faceted approach to strengthen healthcare governance, improve resource allocation, and foster local capacity building, the study delves into the unique obstacles that Somalia faces, including a lack of infrastructure, political instability, and limited financial resources, which hinder the establishment of a comprehensive and equitable healthcare system. The paper also examines the role of international aid and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in filling the healthcare gap, while highlighting the need for a more sustainable, domestically financed solution. The findings underscore the importance of political commitment, international cooperation, and innovative financing mechanisms in advancing towards UHC in Somalia, providing valuable insights for other low resource, conflict affected settings.

A Review on the Security of the Ethereum-Based DeFi Ecosystem

Decentralized finance(DeFi)is a general term for a series of financial products and services.It is based on blockchain technology and has attracted people’s attention because of its open,transparent,and intermediary free.Among them,the DeFi ecosystem based on Ethereum-based blockchains attracts the most attention.However,the current decentralized financial system built on the Ethereum architecture has been exposed to many smart contract vulnerabilities during the last few years.Herein,we believe it is time to improve the understanding of the prevailing Ethereum-based DeFi ecosystem security issues.To that end,we investigate the Ethereum-based DeFi security issues:1)inherited from the real-world financial system,which can be solved by macro-control;2)induced by the problems of blockchain architecture,which require a better blockchain platform;3)caused by DeFi invented applications,which should be focused on during the project development.Based on that,we further discuss the current solutions and potential directions ofDeFi security.According to our research,we could provide a comprehensive vision to the research community for the improvement of Ethereum-basedDeFi ecosystem security.

Journal Introduction:China Finance Review International

Background The China Finance Review International is a flagship academic journal broadly covering the Chinese and international financial markets.The journal is founded by Antai College of Economics and Management at Shanghai Jiao Tong University,one of the top universities in Asia.The China Finance Review International aims to publish quality empirical and theoretical works on important financial and economic issues in the profession.We encourage ground-breaking research related to new and niche areas in finance,such as Fintech and cryptos,ESG,climate finance,and socially responsible investments.We welcome critiques of existing literature and comparative analysis between emerging markets and developed economies.

Charting the course:India's health expenditure projections for 2035

Objectives Understanding past trends and forecasting future changes in health spending is vital for planning and reducing reliance on out-of-pocket(OOP)expenses.The current study analyzed health expenditure patterns in India and forecasted future trends and patterns until 2035.Methods Data on health expenditure in India from 2000 to 2019 was collected from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD)iLibrary and National Health Accounts 2019 databases.Gross domestic product(GDP)data from the World Bank was also utilized.Descriptive statistics analyzed the composition and pattern,while the exponential smoothing model forecasted future health expenditures.Results The findings revealed that expenditure made by OOP is the primary health financing source,followed by government and pre-paid private spending.The percentage of GDP allocated to total health expenditure remains stable,while the per capita health expenditure fluctuates.Variations in expenditure among states are observed,with Karnataka relying heavily on pre-paid private coverage.Future projections suggest a decline in per capita and total health expenditure as a share of GDP,with a slight increase in the government’s share.Pre-paid private expenditure per capita and OOP health expenditure as a share of the total is projected to remain relatively constant but still high in absolute terms.Conclusion The study highlights variations in health spending in India,characterized by high OOP spending,limited public coverage,and a need for investments,and reforms to improve healthcare access and equity.

Deep Learning for Financial Time Series Prediction:A State-of-the-Art Review of Standalone and HybridModels

Financial time series prediction,whether for classification or regression,has been a heated research topic over the last decade.While traditional machine learning algorithms have experienced mediocre results,deep learning has largely contributed to the elevation of the prediction performance.Currently,the most up-to-date review of advanced machine learning techniques for financial time series prediction is still lacking,making it challenging for finance domain experts and relevant practitioners to determine which model potentially performs better,what techniques and components are involved,and how themodel can be designed and implemented.This review article provides an overview of techniques,components and frameworks for financial time series prediction,with an emphasis on state-of-the-art deep learning models in the literature from2015 to 2023,including standalonemodels like convolutional neural networks(CNN)that are capable of extracting spatial dependencies within data,and long short-term memory(LSTM)that is designed for handling temporal dependencies;and hybrid models integrating CNN,LSTM,attention mechanism(AM)and other techniques.For illustration and comparison purposes,models proposed in recent studies are mapped to relevant elements of a generalized framework comprised of input,output,feature extraction,prediction,and related processes.Among the state-of-the-artmodels,hybrid models like CNNLSTMand CNN-LSTM-AM in general have been reported superior in performance to stand-alone models like the CNN-only model.Some remaining challenges have been discussed,including non-friendliness for finance domain experts,delayed prediction,domain knowledge negligence,lack of standards,and inability of real-time and highfrequency predictions.The principal contributions of this paper are to provide a one-stop guide for both academia and industry to review,compare and summarize technologies and recent advances in this area,to facilitate smooth and informed implementation,and to highlight future research directions.

Synergistic dance of digital economy and green finance on carbon emissions:Insights from China

China has recently implemented a dual-carbon strategy to combat climate change and other environmental issues and is committed to modernizing it sustainably.This paper supports these goals and explores how the digital economy and green finance intersect and impact carbon emissions.Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces over the period 2011-2021,this paper finds that the digital economy and green finance can together reduce carbon emissions,and conducts several robustness tests supporting this conclusion.A heterogeneity analysis shows that these synergistic effects are more important in regions with low levels of social consumption Meanwhile,in the spatial dimension,the synergistic effect of the local digital economy and green finance adversely impacts the level of carbon emissions in surrounding areas.The findings of this paper provide insights for policymakers in guiding capital flow and implementing carbon-reduction policies while fostering the growth of China’s digital economy and environmental sustainability.

The Impact of Digital Finance on High-Quality Development of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle

This paper developed a comprehensive evaluation system that was able to quantify the levels of high-quality development across the cities within the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle,and investigate the impact that digital finance had on the cities’high-quality development and the underlying mechanisms through which it achieved this.This comprehensive evaluation system was constructed using statistical data from these cities for the period 2014 to 2020 while also taking China’s high-quality development philosophy into account.The key findings revealed that:(a)Digital finance was able to significantly promote high-quality development in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle;(b)Digital finance had a significant positive effect in promoting innovative,coordinated,green,open,and shared development;(c)Digital finance was able to stimulate the high-quality development in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle by boosting entrepreneurial dynamism;(d)Digital finance had a significant impact on the high-quality development of the axis areas,while its impact was less discernible in non-axis areas.The insights from this research offer a deeper understanding of the factors that drive high-quality development,the role digital finance plays,and the mechanisms through which digital finance is able to propel high-quality development at the city cluster scale.

Does green finance drive high-quality economic development?-Based on empirical evidence from China

Green finance,as an important branch of modern finance,has far-reaching significance that is not limited to the financial sector.By promoting green investment and optimizing resource allocation,green finance plays a crucial role in reducing environmental pollution and carbon emissions.At the same time,it can also promote the quality of economic growth and achieve the harmonious development of economy,society and environment.Based on China's provincial panel data from 2008 to 2022,the direct impact and indirect transmission mechanism of green finance on high-quality economic development are analyzed by constructing a dynamic panel model and a mediation effect model.It is found that green finance not only directly promotes the high-quality development of the economy,but also indirectly promotes the sustainable and healthy growth of the economy through the transmission channel of technological innovation.This mediating effect of technological innovation is as high as 78.65%,which shows the close connection between green finance and high-quality economic development.In addition,the study also found that the direct promotion effect of green finance on high-quality economic development has significant regional heterogeneity.The results of this study suggest that when formulating relevant policies,it is necessary to fully consider the actual situation of each region and tailor them to the local conditions to ensure the in-depth promotion of green finance and the overall development of the economy.

Reduction effect of carbon emission and optimisation path of green finance

Under the background of"dual-carbon",green finance is an important way to promote carbon emission reduction and realize the development of a low-carbon economy.Using provincial panel data from 2000 to 2020,this paper constructs a basic regression model to study the"carbon reduction"effect,mechanism of action,and heterogeneity of green finance.The study finds that:the development of green finance significantly inhibits carbon emissions and has an obvious"carbon reduction"effect;green technology innovation has a mediating effect on the carbon emission reduction effect of green finance;in regions with a high level of economic development or a high degree of marketization,the"carbon reduction"effect of green finance is significant.

Access to Financial Services——An Analysis from the Human Rights Perspective

There is a broad connection between finance and human rights,with finance having both positive and negative impacts on human rights.Everyone has a need for access to financial services.Documents in both the international human rights and international finance fields address the relationship between financial services and human rights.Among financial services,microcredit and inclusive finance have the closest connection to human rights and potentially the greatest impact on human rights.Access to financial services promotes economic,social,and cultural rights as well as the rights of specific groups.The conditions for access to financial services to promote human rights require the state to assume obligations to recognize,respect,protect,and fulfill the need for individuals to access financial services,and to ensure the availability,accessibility,acceptability,and adaptability of basic financial services.Access to financial services has played a significant role in China’s comprehensive victory in the battle of poverty alleviation,providing valuable experience for the international community in poverty eradication,achieving sustainable development goals,and protecting and promoting human rights.

The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Commitment to Change Among Jordanian Government Accountant Toward IPSAS Implementation

IPSAS was accepted by Jordan’s government in accordance with worldwide trends.The Jordanian Ministry of Finance launched cash-basis IPSAS in 2015 and planned to implement accrual accounting by January 1,2021.However,the commitment to change remains uneven,hindering the full shift.Moving from old accounting processes to new ones is tough.Even then,it hasn’t been implemented,creating a gap due to the difficulty in committing to new accounting standards throughout implementation due to obstacles.Thus,knowing government accountants’issues is essential to applying IPSAS in government accounting.This study examines how transformational leadership affects government accountants’commitment to IPSAS adoption in Jordan’s public sector.This study used a quantitative approach to survey Jordanian Ministry of Finance accountants.The 384-person study had a 78%response rate.Additionally,PLS-SEM was used to confirm variable relationships.Transformational leadership positively predicted IPSAS implementation,according to the study.

Automated Actuarial Data Analytics-Based Inflation Adjusted Frequency Severity Loss Reserving Model

In this paper, the Automated Actuarial Loss Reserving Model is developed and extended using machine learning. The traditional actuarial reserving techniques are no longer compatible with the increase in technological advancement currently at hand. As a result, the development of the alternative Artificial Intelligence Based Automated Actuarial Loss Reserving Methodology which captures diverse risk profiles for various policyholders through augmenting the Micro Finance services, Auto Insurance Services and Both Services lines of business on the same platform through the computation of the Comprehensive Automated Actuarial Loss Reserves (CAALR) has been implemented in this paper. The introduction of the four further types of actuarial loss reserves to those existing in the actuarial literature seems to significantly reduce lapse rates, reduce the reinsurance costs as well as expenses and outgo. As a matter of consequence, this helps to bring together a combination of new and existing policyholders in the insurance company. The frequency severity models have been extended in this paper using ten machine learning algorithms which ultimately leads to the derivation of the proposed machine learning-based actuarial loss reserving model which remarkably performed well when compared to the traditional chain ladder actuarial reserving method using simulated data.

DEBT MATURITY STRUCTURE IN PROJECT FINANCING

Based on the concept of debt duration,this paper proposes the elasticity of cash flow.Then,the debt maturity structure in project financing is discussed.The results show that in the project financing structure,the debt maturity structure is closely related with debt capacity.Higher debt ratio requires short term debt,and vise versa.

Research on the Impact of Equity Pledge on Company Value

This article aims to provide a literature review on the impact of equity pledges on corporate value,and to explore in depth the application of equity pledges as a financial tool in corporate governance and capital operation,as well as its multidimensional impact on corporate value.By reviewing and analyzing relevant literature both domestically and internationally,this article first defines the basic concept of equity pledges and then elaborates on the impact mechanism of equity pledges on company value from both positive and negative perspectives.In terms of positive impact,this article explores how equity pledges can promote corporate financing,optimize capital structure,and enhance the control of major shareholders over the company.In terms of negative impacts,the possible control risk,market risk,and potential damage to the interests of small and medium-sized shareholders brought about by equity pledges were analyzed.Furthermore,this article also discusses the differences in the impact of equity pledges on company value in different scenarios and proposes corresponding policy recommendations and research prospects.

Current Situation of Digital Inclusive Finance in China

Inclusive finance is not only an innovation in financial service concepts but also an institutional arrangement to address the imbalance in social and economic development.Therefore,it is particularly necessary to study the current development status,development level,and challenges of inclusive finance and to conduct research on these issues.Overall,inclusive finance has demonstrated a positive momentum of development,but improvements are still needed in terms of market players,products and services,and the external ecosystem.China’s inclusive finance is still in its infancy,making it essential to accelerate its development and promote inclusive finance in the country.