| In recent years,with the slowing of economic growth,the need to deepen industrial transformation and upgrading,and the decline of the return on investment of the real sector,China’s economy has begun to show the financialization trend of "disreal to virtual" at the macro and micro levels,and this trend may persist and become increasingly prominent in the future.If this trend is allowed to develop freely,it will not only destroy the foundation of the development of the real economy,but also be detrimental to the high-quality circular development of the finance and real economy.So as an important part of the real economy,why do real enterprises invest in financial assets? What kind of impact will its financial asset investment have on micro enterprises and macro economy? Will this influence be heterogeneous due to differences in characteristics of financial assets and corporate characteristics? What are the channels of action? Further,how to effectively deal with the financial asset investment behavior of real enterprises and avoid a series of problems caused by excessive financial asset investment? A good answer to these questions will not only help to enrich the theoretical basis of financial asset allocation in theory,but also help to clarify the real motivation and economic consequences of real enterprises’ investment in financial assets in practice.Meanwhile,it will also help to give play to the joint efforts of real enterprises and government departments in policy to improve the quality and efficiency of financial services for the real economy.In view of this,on the basis of systematic review of financial asset allocation theories and relevant literature,this paper takes non-financial listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets from 2007 to 2020 as samples,and follows the research logic of "status analysis--motivation analysis--impact analysis--governance analysis".Firstly,this paper analyzes the current situation of financial asset allocation of entity enterprises.Secondly,through constructing and expanding the theoretical model and combining with theoretical analysis,the fixed effect model is used to conduct an empirical study on the motivation of financial asset allocation of real enterprises and its influence on corporate profit level,corporate overall risk and systemic financial risk.A series of robustness tests are carried out by adopting instrumental variable method,propensity score matching test,Heckman two-stage model,replacing variables,expanding the definition domain of financial assets,using subsample regression,transforming empirical model,and considering missing variables.At the same time,heterogeneity analysis is carried out from the perspective of financial asset characteristics and enterprise characteristics.Finally,based on the research conclusions of the motivation and influence of financial asset allocation of real enterprises,the governance path of financial asset allocation of real enterprises is empirically tested from two aspects of micro enterprises and macro environment.Based on the above analysis,the following conclusions are drawn:First,in terms of current situation analysis,the total amount of financial asset investment of real enterprises and its proportion in total assets are on the rise,and may further increase in the future.At the same time,although the total financial investment income of real enterprises and its proportion in operating income also showed a rising trend,the growth rate was relatively small compared with the total investment in financial assets and the proportion of financial assets in total assets.To some extent,this suggests that the effect of boosting earnings through investment in financial assets may be relatively weak.In addition,combined with the macro background of Chinese real enterprises’ financial asset investment and the comparison of the development of pan-financial industry and manufacturing industry in China and the United States,it is found that the focus of China’s economic development is shifting from the real sector represented by manufacturing industry to the financial sector.Second,in terms of motivation analysis,the real enterprises allocate financial assets mainly for the purpose of obtaining investment interest margin and avoiding the investment risk of real assets,rather than to relieve their financing constraints.Further analysis of the influence of other factors on the financial asset allocation behavior of real enterprises,the results show that in addition to the impact of investment spreads and real asset investment risks,the financial asset allocation level of real enterprises will also increase due to the increase of the severity of principal-agent problems and the continuous development of financial markets.Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the motivation of financial asset allocation of real enterprises varies with the level,structure and period of financial asset allocation,as well as with the growth ability of main business,industry category and market concentration degree of enterprises.Third,in terms of impact analysis,the allocation of financial assets by real enterprises has no significant effect on the total profit or the total profit rate of enterprises.After distinguishing profit composition according to profit sources,it is found that although the allocation of financial assets by real enterprises can improve the income of financial investment,it will reduce the income of main business,which leads to the insignificant impact of financial asset investment on the total profit of enterprises.Similarly,although the allocation of financial assets by real enterprises can increase the rate of return on financial investment,it will inhibit the rate of return on main business,so that the investment of financial assets has no significant impact on the total profit rate of enterprises.Further analysis shows that whether the heterogeneity analysis is conducted from the perspective of difference in financial assets characteristics or that of enterprises,the results show that it is relatively difficult for real enterprises to improve their profit level through investment in financial assets,and even the loss will outweigh the gain.In addition,the extended analysis points out that,on the whole,real enterprises still invest in financial assets even when their profit level is not significantly improved,which may be because the financial investment activities among real enterprises have a certain "demonstration effect".At the same time,the allocation of financial assets by real enterprises will significantly expand the overall risk of enterprises.Further analysis shows that from the perspective of differences in financial asset characteristics,compared with the low level of financial asset allocation,the increase of financial asset investment in the high level of financial asset allocation has a relatively greater impact on the overall risk of the enterprise.After distinguishing the period of financial asset allocation,it is found that the expansion of financial asset investment by real enterprises on the overall risk of enterprises is more prominent after 2013.Meanwhile,the subdivision of financial asset allocation structure shows that the reason why the investment in financial assets of real enterprises has an expanding effect on the overall risk of enterprises is mainly influenced by the investment in financial assets available for sale.From the perspective of differences in firm characteristics,compared with high growth capacity firms,low growth capacity firms’ increasing financial asset investment plays a greater role in expanding the overall risk of firms.However,the increase in financial asset investment of manufacturing and non-manufacturing enterprises,as well as high market concentration and low market concentration enterprises,will increase the overall risk of each enterprise,but the difference between the groups is not significant.In addition,further mechanism analysis shows that the financial asset investment of real enterprises will expand the overall risk of enterprises by crowding out the investment in real assets,reducing the main business income and increasing the linkage risk between enterprises.In addition,the allocation of financial assets by real enterprises will also significantly increase systemic financial risks.The heterogeneity analysis is further conducted from the perspective of financial asset allocation level,time period and structure differences.The results show that compared with the low level of financial asset allocation,the increase of financial asset investment in the high level of financial asset allocation has a relatively greater impact on the systemic financial risk.At the same time,the increased investment in financial assets by real enterprises has played a more prominent role in the expansion of systemic financial risks after2013.In addition,the impact of financial asset allocation by real enterprises on systemic financial risk is mainly influenced by tradable financial assets,financial assets available for sale and hold-to-maturity investment,among which hold-tomaturity investment has a relatively greater impact.However,from the perspective of differences in firm characteristics,compared with manufacturing enterprises and enterprises with low market concentration,non-manufacturing enterprises and enterprises with high market concentration have a relatively greater effect on the expansion of systemic financial risks by increasing financial asset investment.No matter enterprises are high-growth enterprises or low-growth enterprises,although the increase of financial asset investment has a significant effect on the expansion of systemic financial risk,the difference between groups is not significant.The further mechanism test shows that the increase of financial asset investment by real enterprises will enlarge the systemic financial risk by increasing the overall risk of enterprises.Fourth,in terms of governance analysis,the research results show that,from the micro enterprise level,measures such as increasing the degree of information disclosure,improving the incentive mechanism and optimizing the quality of internal control can not only alleviate the impact of principal-agent problems on the financial asset allocation behavior of real enterprises.Moreover,it can reduce the impact of investment spread and real asset investment risk on real enterprise financial asset investment.And from the macroscopic environment level,through to accelerate the process of technological innovation,stable business investment expected,strengthen financial supervision and improve the financial service system,on the one hand,helps to increase the entity investment potential and reduce the investment risk in kind,on the other hand,helps to standardize the financial assets investment and improve the financial service quality,standardize financial asset investment,improve the quality and efficiency of financial services,so as to reduce the impact of investment spreads,real asset investment risks and financial market development on the financial asset investment behavior of real enterprises.Based on the above research conclusion,to regulate the entity enterprise financial assets investment,reduce short-term profit-driven financial speculation,and resolve the problems that the excessive financial asset investment of real enterprises will aggravate the economy from real to virtual,and expand macro financial risks,this paper puts forward the following policy suggestions: Increase the degree of information disclosure and reduce information asymmetry;Improve the incentive mechanism for enterprises and alleviate principal-agent problems;Optimize the quality of internal control and improve the efficiency of enterprise investment;The government’s policy suggestions mainly include: Accelerating the process of technological innovation and increase the potential of real investment;Stabilize enterprise investment expectations and reduce real investment risks;Strengthen financial supervision and standardize financial investment behavior;Improve the financial service system and improve the quality and efficiency of financial services.Compared with previous literatures,the possible innovations of this paper are as follows:Firstly,in terms of research theory,in terms of theoretical research,this paper demonstrates the motivation of financial asset allocation of real enterprises from multiple angles by constructing and expanding the theoretical model of portfolio and combining with the theory of real option,financing constraint and precautionary savings.At the same time,according to the principal-agent theory,entity intermediary theory and other theoretical analysis,other possible motivations are covered in the same framework for empirical research,so as to clarify the real motivations of entity enterprise allocation of financial assets.Compared with the previous literatures,which mainly used descriptive analysis or indirect empirical method to discuss the motivation of entity enterprises’ allocation of financial assets,and don’t carry out theoretical analysis and empirical test on other possible motivations.Through the combination of theory and demonstration,direct and indirect methods,and other possible causes are covered in the same framework for analysis and demonstration,this paper not only enriched and expanded the theoretical basis of the research on the motivation of financial asset allocation of real enterprises,but also made up for the shortcomings of the existing research,and provided the theoretical basis of why real enterprises allocate financial assets in a relatively systematic and direct way.Secondly,in terms of research perspective,this paper expands the research perspective on the impact of financial asset allocation of entity enterprises from local to overall and from micro to macro.Compared with the previous literatures,they mainly studied the influence of the financial asset allocation behavior of micro enterprises from local aspects such as investment,production or operation,and ignored the influence of the financial asset allocation of real enterprises on the overall enterprise and macro economy from the perspective of risk.This paper not only studies the influence of financial asset allocation behavior on corporate profit level and corporate total risk from the overall level of micro enterprises,but also studies the influence of financial asset allocation behavior of real enterprises on systemic financial risk from the macro level.At the same time,the mediating effect model is used to study the effect mechanism of financial asset allocation on firm total risk.This not only expands the research perspective on the economic consequences of financial asset allocation of real enterprises,but also helps to objectively judge the economic effects of financial asset allocation of real enterprises at the present stage.Thirdly,in terms of research content,firstly,this paper pays attention to multidimensional heterogeneity analysis,that is,it not only pays attention to the heterogeneous impact caused by the difference in the characteristics of enterprises,but also pays attention to the heterogeneous impact caused by the difference in the characteristics of financial assets,which is easily ignored by previous literatures.Secondly,this paper focuses on maintaining the coherence of research logic,namely on the basis of studying the motivation and influence of financial asset allocation of real enterprises,this paper empirically examines how to effectively govern the financial asset investment behavior of real enterprises from the perspectives of micro enterprises and macro environment,which not only makes up for the deficiency of existing studies that mainly put forward governance suggestions from the logical level,but also improves the pertinence of policy suggestions proposed in this paper.Thirdly,this paper focuses on reducing the influence of factors such as financial asset investment index construction and sample selection interval.As the category of financial asset allocation is not consistent in some literatures,and the sample interval adopted is different,the research conclusions are different.In order to reduce the impact of this problem and ensure the scientific rationality of the research content,this paper not only defines and expands the category of financial assets allocation on the basis of existing literature and Chinese accounting standards,but also uses a unified sample range. |
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