| The real economy is the foundation of a country’s economic development and the backbone of its economic growth.In building a modern economic system,we must focus on the real economy and raise total factor productivity as our primary goal.In recent years,however,due to the general decline in the rate of return in the real economy and the high rate of return in the financial industry,more and more companies are branching out from their primary business into the financial sector.As a result,the capital does not flow into the real production but idling in the virtual economy,and the trend of corporate financialization has become increasingly fierce.Against this background,clarifying the impact of corporate financialization on total factor productivity can enrich relevant theories,point out the direction for guiding financial services to the real economy,and provide guidance for improving corporate total factor productivity.Therefore,this paper selects China’s A-share non-financial listed companies from2007 to 2021 as the research object,and empirically studies the effects of corporate financialization on total factor productivity and its specific mechanism.Firstly,this paper summarizes the definition,measurement method and literature related to total factor productivity of corporate financialization.Secondly,based on precautionary saving theory,principal-agent theory,investment substitution theory and the current situation of China’s economic development,this paper proposes the research hypothesis and influence mechanism of corporate financialization on total factor productivity.Thirdly,the fixed-effect model is used to test the influence of corporate financialization on total factor productivity,heterogeneity test is conducted according to the characteristics of different financial assets,the nature of the companies and the industry classification.In order to ensure the reliability of the conclusion,endogeneity test and robustness test are conducted.Finally,the paper examines the influence mechanism of corporate financialization on total factor productivity,and the interaction term is used to test the moderating effect of executive incentive and digital finance on the relationship between corporate financialization and total factor productivity.The research conclusions of this paper are:(1)Corporate financialization has a significant negative impact on total factor productivity.(2)Corporate financialization suppresses total factor productivity by raising agency costs and financial risk.(3)This negative effect still holds after the endogeneity test and robustness test using instrumental variable method,nonlinearity test,changing time interval,replacing variables and other methods.(4)According to the grouping test,the inhibition effect of corporate financialization on total factor productivity is mainly played by speculative financial assets,and this inhibitory effect is more significant in state-owned companies,labor-intensive companies and capital intensive companies.(5)From the internal perspective,executive equity incentive and executive compensation incentive can weaken the negative effect of corporate financialization on total factor productivity to a certain extent.From the external market perspective,the digital finance can also ameliorate this inhibitory effect.According to the conclusion of this paper,some suggestions are put forward: First,companies should coordinate the relationship between main business and financial investment,improve the corporate governance structure,and implement reasonable executive incentive system.Second,the government should exert macro-control and supervision functions to guide real enterprises to return to their main business.Including:vigorously promoting the development of digital finance,strengthening supervision over the capital flow of real enterprises,and improving the business environment for enterprises.Third,individuals should be transformed from "speculators" to "investors" in the market,correctly understand the current development stage and future development prospects of companies,and play a role in urging companies. |
