Theme: Broadband Construction and Farm Outflow Study

Synopsis: China's broadband infrastructure construction has made great progress, but there are fewer studies in the literature on the impact of broadband construction on farm household outflows. We empirically examine the impact of broadband infrastructure construction on farm household outflows based on China's 2016-2021 telecom universal service project, combined with data from the 2013-2021 China Household Finance Survey and corresponding community data. The findings show that the telecom universal service project significantly increases the probability that administrative villages are connected to fiber optics and significantly increases the proportion of farm households connected to the Internet. Households use cell phones more and respondents pay more attention to economic and financial information. The telecommunication universal service project significantly increases the probability of farm household outflow, including the probability of outflow from districts and counties, but the impact on the probability of inter-provincial outflow is not significant.

Guest Speaker：Prof. MA Shuang, Guang Zhou University

Guest Bio: Prof. MA Shuang is the vice dean, professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Economics and Statistics of Guangzhou University, his research field is income distribution, he has published more than 40 papers in the top journals of economics both at home and abroad, domestic journals such as Economic Research (8), Management World (2), Economics (Quarterly) (6), and international journals including Journal of International Economics, World Development, Journal of Empirical Finance, China Economic Review. He has participated in China's household finance survey and statistics for a long time, and published many research reports, including "China's Household Income Gap Report", "China's Urban Housing Vacancy Rate Report", etc., which have had a significant impact on society.

Theme：The Role of Local Government Debt in Promoting Green Technological Innovation: Evidence from China

Synopsis: Effectively harnessing the positive externalities of local government debt while minimizing associated debt risks holds is crucial for ensuring the effectiveness of urban governance and promoting the sustainable growth of urban economies. We explore the impact of local government debt on green technological innovation across Chinese cities from 2015 to 2021, with a focus on firms listed on the A-share market. Our findings suggest that the strategic use of local government debt to support new infrastructure investment and improve firm profitability, has significantly incentivized firm green technological innovation. Our results remain consistent across endogenous treatment and robustness tests. The promotional effect is more pronounced in economically developed regions with optimal industrial structure, and among state-owned, large-sized, and high ESG-rated firms. Furthermore, there is a nonlinear impact of implicit debt on green technological innovation, initially showing insignificance and then presenting a noteworthy limitation. It can be suggested that the financing of local government debt can be allocated to more efficient areas such as new infrastructure construction, thus promoting urban innovation and economic growth.

Guest Speaker: Associate Prof. LI Ziran, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics

Guest Bio: Dr. LI Ziran, an associate professor and graduate supervisor in the Department of Investment at the School of Finance and Taxation, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from Iowa State University in the United States in 2017. He also serves as an expert for the Sichuan Provincial Expert Service Group. His main research interests include the evaluation of public investment in the fields of agriculture, development, and the environment, as well as the analysis of investor behavior. His academic achievements have been published in top journals in the field of agricultural economics, such as the "American Journal of Agricultural Economics," as well as internationally renowned journals including "Journal of Futures Markets," "Financial Research Letters," and "The Social Science Journal."