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Local attention to employees’ rights and firm value: Evidence from China

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  • An, Yahui
  • Liu, Xiukun

Abstract

With the rapid development of Chinese economy, employees' rights have received growing attention in recent years. Motivated by a series of emerging labor rights issues, we construct a search-based index of local attention to employees' rights to explore whether and how local attention to labor rights affects the value of local companies in China. We find that local attention is positively associated with firm value, and this relationship is mediated by education level of employees. Additionally, we find that the level of local attention to employees’ rights can be used as an investment strategy for portfolio construction to earn positive returns.

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  • An, Yahui & Liu, Xiukun, 2023. "Local attention to employees’ rights and firm value: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 382-394.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:84:y:2023:i:c:p:382-394
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2022.11.028
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    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Yang & Huang, Wei & Zhang, Cherry Yi, 2024. "Navigating international competition with ESG: Insights from the US-China trade war," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Attention to employees' rights; Education level of employees; Firm value;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General

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