Yaoyao Liu

The registration system reform (RSR) represents a landmark innovation in China’s IPO system, aiming to promote a more transparent, competitive, and sustainable market. Exploiting the staggered implementation of RSR as a quasi-natural experiment, we employ a difference-in-differences (DID) model using a sample of Chinese A-share IPO firms from 2016 to 2022 to investigate its impact on corporate sustainability, as proxied by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. Our findings indicate that RSR significantly enhances corporate ESG performance, especially the governance (G) performance. Mechanism analysis suggests that market competition, investor rationality, and sponsor reputation are potential channels through which the reform facilitates corporate sustainability. Furthermore, the above relationship is more pronounced in regions with a higher degree of marketization, among non-state-owned enterprises, and those with weaker profitability. Moreover, the reform not only exhibits long-term effects but also demonstrates positive spillover effects on peer firms originally listed under the approval-based system. Overall, our study extends the understanding of how capital market institutional reforms promote corporate sustainability in the era of the digital economy and provides valuable insights for regulators to standardize and enhance RSR, thereby establishing a resilient and sustainable financial ecosystem.

This study examines whether climate risk disclosure (CRD) matters to financial analysts in China. Using textual analysis to measure CRD, we find that CRD is negatively related to analyst forecast error and dispersion, supporting the information hypothesis. We also find that information disclosure quality (e.g., earnings quality) and external monitoring (e.g., long-term institutional investor) may moderate this relationship. Mechanism analysis indicates that lower information asymmetry and more climate-related on-site visits are potential channels through which CRD influences analyst forecast properties. Furthermore, the above relationship is more pronounced in regions with higher climate awareness, carbon-intensive industries, and state-owned enterprises, and the relationship is primarily driven by transition risk disclosure (TCRD) rather than physical risk disclosure (PCRD). Our findings, which remain valid after addressing various robustness and endogeneity concerns, have significant implications for regulators to standardize and enhance CRD practices.