团队

We compile a novel data set on mandatory environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure around the world to analyze the stock liquidity effects of such disclosure mandates. We document a positive effect of ESG disclosure mandates on firm-level stock liquidity. The effects are strongest if the disclosure requirements are implemented by government institutions, not on a comply-or-explain basis, and coupled with strong enforcement by informal institutions. Firms with weaker information environments benefit more from ESG disclosure mandates. Our results support the view that ESG disclosure regulation improves the information environment and has beneficial capital market effects.

We study the impact of an urban land titling program on firm investment in Shenzhen, China. We find that this program increased the investment rate for titling firms, but this positive effect only holds for politically-connected firms. Further analysis suggests that the titling effect is more pronounced for those titling firms associated with greater expropriation risk. During program implementation, the connected titling firms increased their investment perhaps because, as observed, they experienced fewer disputes than non-connected titling firms.

Credit default swaps (CDS) are a major financial innovation related to debt contracting. Because CDS markets facilitate bad news being incorporated into equity prices via cross-market information spillover, CDS availability may curb firms’ information hoarding. We find that CDS trading on a firm’s debt reduces the future stock price crash risk. This effect is stronger in active CDS markets, when the main lenders are CDS market dealers with securities trading subsidiaries, or when managers have more motivation to hoard information. Our findings suggest that debt market financial innovations curtail the negative equity market effects of firms withholding bad news.

Employee treatment is an important but challenging element of corporate environmental, social, and governance policies. Satisfying employee needs can increase corporate productivity, but is also costly to shareholders. Using unique data of Chinese publicly listed firms, we show that having satisfied employees is valuable to the firm. Specifically, firms with higher employee satisfaction scores withstand COVID-19 better, in terms of stock market performance. Such an effect is more pronounced for firms with more intangible assets and in knowledge-based industries. Moreover, higher employee satisfaction scores predict better operating performance. While not fully revealed in tranquil times, the effect of employee satisfaction is materialized when the firms experience negative shocks, such as COVID-19. Our findings suggest that firms can do well in crisis periods by doing good in normal times.

内地刺激经济政策陆续出台，带动A股及港股上周五表现向好。港大经管学院金融学教授汤勇军（图）早前接受访问时表示，外国投资者购买内地A股并不多，但实际上内地股票有很多好处值得他们考虑，由于A股市场与全球股票市场的关连性较低，受国际金融危机的影响比其他主要经济体都要小，因此若将A股纳入国际投资组合，便会提高其夏普比率(反映衡量风险与回报的指标)，数目越高回报越好。

Punitive sanctions incurred by President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are leaving Russia economically isolated. Speaking on Feb. 24, the day of the incursion, U.S. president Joe Biden announced measures that “exceed anything we’ve ever done.”

《粵港澳大灣區發展規劃綱要》提到將香港打造成為區內綠色金融中心，港府也承諾將致力爭取於2050年前實現碳中和。事實上，港府近年銳意發展綠色金融，迄今累計發行綠色債券總值已逾3000億元，未來5年更計劃再發行多1700億元綠債。經濟學家看好前景，預期未來幾年本港有望發展成為區內綠色金融重鎮。

港大经管学院金融学教授汤勇军及其团队研究发现，利用 CDS满足资本要求的银行能够以更多的资金提供额外的金融服务，但同时贷款期亦可能相对延长，大大增加其资产组合的风险。

信用违约互换(CDS)被视为2008年金融海啸的「元凶」之一，香港大学经管学院金融学教授汤勇军表示，监管机构应对CDS作更多规管，若监管机构落后于金融创新，将会带来社会后果。