Dynamic characteristics of expectations of short-term interest rate and a generalized Vasicek model.

This study's principal mathematical deduction exploits the importance of the specification of long-term equilibrium level in the mean-reversion short-term interest rate model-such as the CKLS (Chan, Karolyi, Longstaff, and Sanders) model-to describe the dynamic characteristics of future short-term interest rate expectations, especially long-horizon expectations. Therefore, we present a preferred model by introducing a stochastic long-run equilibrium level factor to extend the specifications of the Vasicek model's short-term interest rate dynamics. Using this new type of short-term interest rate as a driver we develop a two-factor affine arbitrage-free model of term structure, the generalized Vasicek mode. The empirical results show that the model not only has a good sample fitting ability to the Chinese government bond yield curve, but also has better performance in capturing the dynamic characteristics of short-term interest rates and short-term interest rate expectations. This study provides not only a promising avenue for future research on improving interest rate modeling techniques and their practical applications in the financial industry but also a new literature base for accurately identifying public expectations and explaining the underlying mechanisms of expectation changes.

Environmental Governance Goals of Local Governments and Technological Innovation of Enterprises under Green Performance Assessment.

The current study empirically estimates the impact of local government environmental governance on enterprise technological innovation from the perspective of a green political performance assessment of local governments with Chinese characteristics. Fourteen years of data (from 2006 to 2019) on pollutant emissions, and the patents of A-share listed companies were collected from 230 cities in China. A fixed effect model and tool variable method were applied to empirically analyze the objectives of the study. The results show that the environmental governance formulated by the local government has regional differences, which are shown as lower governance indicators for underdeveloped areas and higher governance indicators for developed areas. Environmental governance has a greater promotion effect on technological innovation in enterprises in developed regions, as well as in large and private enterprises. Moreover, mechanism analysis showed that the local governments preferred the path of financial subsidies to promote the level of technological innovation in enterprises. This study provides a foundation for attaining the "win-win" scenario of local government environmental stewardship and high-quality green economic growth.

Do Green Finance Policies Foster Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance of Corporate?

The green finance policy is crucial for enterprises to participate in environmental governance actively. Taking the "Green Credit Guidelines" issued by China in 2012 as a quasi-natural experiment, this study investigated the impact of green finance policies on corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance by using a continuous Difference-in-Differences (DID) model based on the data of listed companies from 2006 to 2020. The conclusions are: (1) The green finance policy significantly improves corporate ESG, but the effects vary across enterprises. (2) The policy has encouraged enterprises to develop and adopt green products and technologies. Still, it has not had a positive effect on the treatment of enterprise pollutant emissions because the implementation of the policy makes enterprises pay more attention to front-end risk control than pollution treatment after production. (3) Research results have heterogeneity. The impact of green finance policies on enterprises at different levels of environmental regulation is different. Enterprises in areas with high intensity of environmental regulation are more vulnerable to green credit. The conclusion of this paper helps improve the green finance policy system, enhance the awareness and level of corporate ESG, and strengthen the collaborative governance of policies and enterprises on environmental issues in combination with the mandatory environmental regulations and incentive mechanisms to promote the green development of enterprises and realize the goal of carbon neutrality.