| After decades of high-speed growth since the reform and opening up,my country’s economy has gradually slowed down and entered a "shifting period of economic development".After the global financial crisis,the Chinese government launched an expansionary monetary policy of several trillion yuan to restore social production as soon as possible and stimulate economic recovery.In addition,my country has shifted from a rough development model dominated by traditional manufacturing to seeking adjustment of its economic structure.The focus of economic development has shifted from the real to the virtual,and the Internet industry has gradually become a pillar industry,which means that my country has entered a "painful period of economic restructuring".In order to cope with the above-mentioned "three-phase superposition" situation,promote the transformation of economic power and mode,smooth economic fluctuations,and maintain stable economic development,the Chinese government has continuously introduced new economic policies.Especially in recent years,the Sino-US trade war,the global outbreak of the new crown epidemic,the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike,etc.,these major public events that have occurred frequently in the international community have made the macro environment facing my country complex and changeable and not optimistic,and made economic policies.Uncertainty heightened further.Under this circumstance,it is of great significance to study how the uncertainty of economic policy as a macro factor affects the investment efficiency of enterprises at the micro level,and to explore its specific transmission mechanism.The mechanism of action in this paper is that the rise of economic policy uncertainty leads to an increase in the equity pledge ratio of enterprises,which further leads to a more serious degree of inefficient investment in enterprises.Based on the theory of information asymmetry and financing constraints,this paper focuses on the impact of economic policy uncertainty on the inefficient investment of enterprises.In terms of empirical evidence,this paper selects the panel data of A-share listed companies from 2008 to 2020,and uses the test method of the mediation effect to verify the mediation effect of equity pledge.Through empirical analysis,the following conclusions are drawn: First,economic policy uncertainty will lead to inefficient investment of enterprises.The specific realization is: the level of economic policy uncertainty has a positive correlation with the degree of inefficient investment of enterprises,and it may lead to enterprise investment.Excessive investment may also lead to underinvestment.Second,equity pledges play a mediating role between economic policy uncertainty and corporate inefficiency investment.Third,from the perspective of heterogeneity,it is found that relative to state-owned enterprises,enterprises with low market competition,high valuations and high audit reputation,economic policy uncertainty has an impact on non-state-owned enterprises,and the degree of market competition.Firms with higher valuations,lower valuations,and lower audit reputations have a greater impact on inefficiency investments. |
