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.

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.

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.

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.

Scheme Based on Multi-Level Patch Attention and Lesion Localization for Diabetic Retinopathy Grading

Early screening of diabetes retinopathy(DR)plays an important role in preventing irreversible blindness.Existing research has failed to fully explore effective DR lesion information in fundus maps.Besides,traditional attention schemes have not considered the impact of lesion type differences on grading,resulting in unreasonable extraction of important lesion features.Therefore,this paper proposes a DR diagnosis scheme that integrates a multi-level patch attention generator(MPAG)and a lesion localization module(LLM).Firstly,MPAGis used to predict patches of different sizes and generate a weighted attention map based on the prediction score and the types of lesions contained in the patches,fully considering the impact of lesion type differences on grading,solving the problem that the attention maps of lesions cannot be further refined and then adapted to the final DR diagnosis task.Secondly,the LLM generates a global attention map based on localization.Finally,the weighted attention map and global attention map are weighted with the fundus map to fully explore effective DR lesion information and increase the attention of the classification network to lesion details.This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method through extensive experiments on the public DDR dataset,obtaining an accuracy of 0.8064.

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.

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.

Green Finance Promotes High-Quality Development of Regional Economy

With the rapid development of the social economy,the role of green finance in promoting the high-quality development of regional economies is increasing day by day.The advancement of green finance not only aids in fostering the green transformation and upgrading of regional economies but also helps mitigate the risks of environmental damage stemming from traditional economic activities.In this new era,it is imperative to embrace the concept of green finance development and innovate green finance practices to further drive high-quality regional economic development.This paper will analyze the significance of green finance in regional economic development,assess the current state of green finance development,and propose optimization strategies for green finance to facilitate high-quality economic development.

Research on the Impact of Digital Finance on Energy Efficiency in China

Digital finance and green technology innovation(GTI)serve as powerful engines for promoting energy efficiency(EE)and economic development.This paper explores the mechanism by which digital finance impacts EE based on panel data from 30 provinces in China spanning from 2011 to 2019.The results demonstrate that digital finance can significantly enhance EE,with a particularly pronounced effect in the eastern region.Through mechanistic analysis,it is evident that GTI serves as the transmission pathway through which digital finance influences EE,accounting for 45.3%of the effect.The policy implication of this study suggests that China should expedite the digitization of financial markets to further harness the development of digital finance,particularly in pursuit of its technological innovation and green,lowcarbon environmental protection effects.

Exploring the Evolutionary Path of Digital Financial Inclusion in Guangdong Province,China

This study explores the development trajectory of digital financial inclusion in 21 cities in Guangdong Province through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis(fsQCA).The findings emphasize that the success of digital financial inclusion goes beyond individual dimensions,forming a systematic initiative marked by multifaceted interaction among different disciplines.In the trajectory of high-level digital inclusive finance development,the study identifies economic prosperity and technological innovation as crucial elements,highlighting their centrality,and elucidates the synergistic collaboration between market mechanisms and government guidance.Furthermore,the study emphasizes the government’s pivotal role in supporting market mechanisms and guiding policies,highlighting the need to achieve a nuanced equilibrium in the digital financial inclusion strategy.In contrast,non-high-level development paths of digital inclusive finance show a spectrum of diversities,emphasizing the critical roles played by economic fundamentals,government regulation,market mechanisms,and other contextual factors in different trajectories.Regarding policy implications,the study emphasizes the comprehensive and systemic nature inherent in the development of digital inclusive finance.It proposes four policy recommendations,including integrating development strategies,emphasizing scientific and technological innovation and economic development,achieving a delicate balance between market mechanisms and government guidance,and providing precise policy support.These insights provide valuable lessons for shaping digital inclusive financial policies in Guangdong Province and beyond,offering profound insights for strategically constructing robust digital financial ecosystems.

The Logic of Digital Finance in the Age of Digital Economy

This paper explores the development logic,trends,and challenges of digital finance in the era of the digital economy.As a crucial component of the digital economy,digital finance has completely transformed the traditional financial services model through factors such as technological innovation,data intelligence,and personalized user experiences,paving the way for new business models and market opportunities.However,the rapid development of digital finance also faces challenges such as competition,security,and regulation.This paper emphasizes the importance of finding a balance between innovation and security in the development of digital finance and discusses the potential of digital finance in promoting financial inclusion and sustainable development.Through comprehensive analysis,this paper aims to provide valuable insights for academic researchers and industry practitioners,promoting the healthy development of digital finance.

The Thinking of Financing under Dual Economies Character In Medium & Small Enterprises

In China,the dual economies show prominence in financial field.It leads to the serious dual credit ration and becomes one of the main cause which makes financing in medium & small sized enterprises becomes harder and harder.On basis of this situation,we theoretically pose that we can alleviate the difficulty through the dual cooperation of financial control and the deepening of finance.

Analysis of the Characteristics of Project Financing

Project financing is independent on the sponsors credit or tangible assets, but in the project's expected reliable, stable cash flow and future earnings as the fund source, and mainly to the project entity assets as a debt security financing. It will be of great theoretical and practical significance by conducting a detailed research on related concept and characteristics.

Financing Problems in China's Rural Areas

Solving the financing problem in rural areas and improving the level of economic development in rural areas become important guarantees for the expansion of domestic demand. This research, through studying the current situation of rural financing, pointed out the main factors restricting the financing in rural areas, such as high risk credit, slow income growth, high financing cost and difficult mortgage and guaranteed loans. Based on those, the author worked out the objectives and direction of China＇s rural financing reform, from two aspects of path selection of reform and innovation and specific embodiments for adjusting the overall reconstruction, and put forward some relevant countermeasures.

Financing Sustainable Agriculture Under Climate Change

Agriculture is facing great challenge in meeting global food security and is expected to face even greater challenge under climate change. The overall goal of this paper is to examine how finance can be used to achieve the joint objectives of development, mitigation of and adaptation to climate change in agriculture in developing world based on literature review. The results show that agriculture is much under invested and foreign aid also has not increased appropriately to assist developing countries to maintain sustainable agriculture under climate change. There are a wide range of areas in mitigation of and adaptation to climate change that need substantial investment. Major areas and successful cases mitigation of and adaptation to climate change in agriculture that have worked in developing countries are examined. A list of areas that have worked, could work and be scaled up or transferred is identified and discussed. This study concludes that mainstreaming agricultural mitigation and adaptation into agricultural development programs, enhancing local capacity, and considering different stakeholders＇ needs are major experiences for successfully financing sustainable agriculture under climate change.

Financing strategies for coal-electricity supply chain under yield uncertainty

The financing strategies for a coal-electricity supply chain in which the coal company has capital constraint and faces yield uncertainty were studied. We propose an advance payment mechanism: in the coal company's initial production period, the electricity company provides advance payment to the coal company, and the coal company pays interest to the electricity company as the risk compensation. The optimal operation strategies for the coal company and the electricity company under the advance payment mechanism are derived and compared with those under the bank loan financing case. We find that,the expected profit functions of the coal company and the electricity company under the advance payment mechanism are the same with those under the case that the coal company has enough capital;under the advance payment mechanism, the profits of the coal company and the electricity company are higher than those under the bank financing case. We also discuss the compensation interest rate of the advance payment and the ordering and production quantities under the advance payment mechanism.

Exploration of New Financing Mode of Farmers' Co-operatives——A Case of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,China

Based on the overview of the role played by farmers' co-operatives in developing rural economy and existing problems,the thesis has introduced the factors which influence the development of farmers' co-operatives including five aspects,namely conditions of scale economy,popularization and application of agricultural production technology,comparative advantage,market expectancy and government support.By analyzing typical cases of three co-operatives in Guangxi(Heng County Dadi Growing Co-operatives,talents-leading share-holding co-operatives;Long'an County Guixiniu Co-operatives,co-operatives led by leading-enterprise;Nanning City Tanluo Town Jinguang Fruits and Potatoes Co-operatives,co-operatives led by leading-enterprise),the way to develop farmers' co-operatives by dint of the external capital has been discussed.The results demonstrate that conditions of scale economy,popularization and application of agricultural production technology,comparative advantage,excellent market expectancy and government support,are conducive to absorbing external capital.Under China's existing economic conditions,the government should normalize the use and allocation procedure of program fund.

Developing Situation and Countermeasures of Mortgage Financing of “Three Rights” in China's Rural Areas

By adopting archival analysis method and investigation method,this paper expounds the relationship between "three rights" mortgage and farmers' financing in rural areas,and conducts analysis on behavior choosing of "three rights" mortgage financing in rural areas.The results show that the farmers has strong need for financing,but the satisfaction level of need is not high;the farmers have many irregular channels of financing and there is a ubiquitous phenomenon of loan being rejected without mortgage;agricultural modernization,industrialization and scaling-up management have strong need for capital.The main problems yet to be solved in the process of carrying out "three rights" mortgage loan are expounded and corresponding countermeasures are put forward as follows:first,we should solve the problems of mortgage registration as quickly as possible,which is the prerequisite of implementing "three rights" mortgage loan;second,we should establish smooth evaluation mechanism,which is important condition for promoting "three rights" mortgage loan;we should solve the difficulties in confirmation of farmers' house as quickly as possible,which is indispensable element of expanding mortgage loan of farmers' house;we should effectively solve the problem of turning an asset into cash and assets disposal,which is the key to expanding "three rights" mortgage financing;we should establish sound forestry factor market,which is the main part of promoting healthy development of forestry right mortgage loan;we should formulate management methods of financing risk compensation fund of rural property rights and adopt rational measures to reduce taxation,which is the main approach to quicken offering of "three rights" mortgage loan.

Obstacles to the Mortgage Financing of Forest Rights and its Countermeasures

Current status of the mortgage financing of forest rights is introduced.Significance of the development of mortgage financing of rural forest rights is analyzed,indicating that the mortgage financing of rural forest rights is an inevitable trend of rural reform development,Mortgage financing of forest rights in rural China is an effective vector for the farmers' income increase project with financial support,explores the great potential of forest resources,promotes the coordinated development of forestry and financial services.Major obstacles for the mortgage financing of forest rights at present is pointed out,which are the high assessment fees,the complex mortgage valuation,the unsound element market of forestry,and the lack of risk protection mechanism.Countermeasures for the development of mortgage financing of forest rights is out forward.For instance,both government and Forestry Bureau should strengthen the circulation services,establish smooth evaluation mechanism,establish companies for rural assets platform,increase the interest subsidies for forest right mortgage and the risk compensation,strengthen the team construction and improve the service system.