| In recent years,China’s economy has experienced the serious problem of "turning from real to virtual",which results a large amount of industrial capital flowing from the original real economy to the virtual economy,arising the phenomenon of "idling" of funds in the financial system.At the micro level,the scale of financial assets allocated by firms shows an increasing trend,and the proportion of profits relying on financial channels is rising,that is called financialization of non-financial firms.Financialization of non-financial firms is an Asset-light strategy,firms can obtain financial returns in the short term by using internal idle funds to invest financial assets,which can not only maintain liquidity but also improve current performance.However,once non-financial firms excessively pursue the short-term benefits brought by financialization excessively,it is easy to cause the firms to be "short-sighted" and ignore the sustainable development of their production and operation business,which may affect the growth and stability of the real economy.Therefore,the financialization of non-financial firms can’t be regarded as homogenization behavior,and the economic consequences of non-financial firms’financialization should be fully understood,and then to obtain the appropriate level of non-financial firms’financialization.The discussion on above-mentioned can not only comprehensively distinguish the influence of financialization on the operation and development of firms,but also guide non-financial firms to allocate financial assets reasonably,and lay a foundation for exploring the influencing factors of excessive non-financial firms’ financialization.Driven by the profit-seeking motive of capital,non-financial firms will reduce their business operations and over-invest industrial capital in the financial field for cross-industry arbitrage.Excessive financialization of non-financial firms will not only lead to the hollowing out of industry and insufficient of R&D and innovation,but also lead to the decline of the real economy and increase the economic operational risks.In the face of the grim situation,the report to the 19th National Congress of the CPC clearly stated that"building a modern economic system,the focus of economic development must be on the real economy".Therefore,in order to guide industrial capital back to the real economy and promote the sustainable development of the real economy,it is necessary to explore the influencing factors of financialization of non-financial firms.The discussion on the above issues not only helps to formulate targeted policies to restrain the financialization trend of non-financial firms and guide non-financial firms to return to the real economy,but also have important theoretical and practical significance preventing financial systemic risks and promoting healthy and sustainable economic development.Around these problems,the main research contents and relevant conclusions of this paper are as follows:Content 1:Analysis on the economic effects of financialization of non-financial firms.This part first analyzes the allocative motives and effects of non-financial firms’ financial assets,and then uses China A-share listed non-financial firms from 2009 to 2017 as research samples,building a multivariate regression model to empirically test the positive,negative and the synthetic economic effects of financialization,and obtaining the appropriate level of financialization based on the synthetic economic effects.The results show that financialization of non-financial firms has brought positive effects on the improvement of short-term business performance and the increase of cash flow;It has also caused the negative impact on the decline of industrial investment scale;In general,there is an inverted U relationship between non-financial firms’ financialization and total factor productivity.Moderate financialization improves total factor productivity,while excessive financialization inhibits total factor productivity.Finally,a further analysis of the appropriate level of financialization shows that,when the ratio of financial assets to total assets is lower than 0.1058,the level of financialization is moderate,and when the ratio is higher than 0.1058,it is the excessive level of financialization.About 77.49%of non-financial firms are in the moderate financialization range,and about 22.51%of non-financial firms are in the excessive financialization range.Among all the firms of the excessive financialization,manufacturing firms accounted for 65.14%,which will hinder the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry.Financialization has more sensitive impact on the TFP of state-owned firms and capital-intensive firms.The research in this part provides empirical evidence for the economic consequences of financialization and has certain reference value for guiding non-financial firms to allocate financial assets reasonably.Content 2:The influence of main business profitability on the financialization of non-financial firms.This part first analyzes the impact of the main business profitability on the investment choices of non-financial firms’ financial assets based on the law of capital chasing profits,analyzing its two transmission paths based on resource allocation and earnings management,and then uses China A-share listed non-financial firms from 2009 to 2018 as research samples,building an mediating effect model to empirically test the impact and the mechanism of the main business profitability on the financialization of non-financial firms.The results show that the decrease of main business profitability is an important factor affecting the financialization of non-financial firms,which is mainly manifested as the motive of capital arbitrage.Further mediation model test showed that the decline of industrial investment and earnings management manipulation are part of the mediating factors of the influence of main business profitability on the financialization of non-financial firms.On the one hand,the financial asset investment is a helpless choice for non-financial firms when the prospects of industrial investment are poor,the "elimination"of industrial investment will lead to passive "growth" of financial assets.On the other hand,financial asset allocation becomes a means of earnings management,when the main business profitability of non-financial firms weakens,firms invest more financial assets that can obtain high returns in the short term in order to avoid firm earnings falling below the expected target.Finally,in non-state-owned firms and firms with low financing constraints,the main business profitability is more sensitive impact on financialization.This part of the study provides empirical evidence for the influence factors of financialization at the aspect of corporate profitability and has reference significance for the government to introduce economic policies to revitalize the real economy.Content 3:The impact of macroeconomic uncertainty on the financialization of non-financial firms.This part first analyzes the impact of macroeconomic uncertainty on the financialization of non-financial companies based on real options theory,and then uses China A-share non-financial listed firms from 2009 to 2018 as research samples,using the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic model GARCH(1,1)to obtain the GDP growth rate variance to measure the condition of macroeconomic uncertainty,and building a moderating effect model to empirically test the impact of macroeconomic uncertainty on the financialization of non-financial firms and the moderating effect.The results show that with the increase of macroeconomic uncertainty,the level of financialization of non-financial firms will increase significantly.The further test of the moderating effect shows that the increasing macroeconomic uncertainty amplifies the negative relationship between the profitability of the main business and the level of firm financialization.When macroeconomic uncertainties rise,non-financial firms with low profitability tend to invest more in financial assets with higher yields and lower adjustment costs in order to improve their short-term profitability and avoid future uncertainties,and provide buffer room for firms in the event of macroeconomic uncertainties.Finally,when the degree of competition in the industry where the firm located is high,the increase of macroeconomic uncertainty has a greater impact on firm financialization.Moreover,the significant influence of the rising macroeconomic uncertainty on the financialization of firms is mainly concentrated in eastern regions.This part of the study from the macro level of uncertainty gives the explanation of non-financial firm financialization,and has a certain reference value for the government to improve the "from the virtual to the real" economic policy.In view of the above research conclusions,this paper proposes the following countermeasures and suggestions:Firstly,improve the profit margin of non-financial firms’main business.By stimulating domestic consumption demand,reducing the uncertainty of industrial investment,and providing industry and tax support policies,the profitability of the main business of firms can be further enhanced and non-financial firms can be encouraged to return to the main business.Secondly,promote the marketization process of the financial industry.By deepening the reform of the financial system,relaxing the regulation of the financial industry and carrying out the reform of interest rate liberalization,the monopoly degree of the financial industry can be reduced and the profit gap between the financial industry and the real industry can be narrowed.Then,improve the firm governance mechanism to promote the long-term development of non-financial firms.Strengthen the sensitivity between long-term performance and manager compensation,and strengthen the approval and supervision of financial asset investment.Finally,standardize the use of funds,optimize the efficiency of capital allocation,and increase the power of financial services to serve the real economy.Regulatory authorities should standardize the use of financing funds,strictly examine the flow of funds,prevent credit funds from flowing back into the financial sector,develop a multi-level direct financing system,and make finance better serve the real economy. |
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