The Employment Effects of Enterprises Financialization:Facilitation or Suppression?
Enterprises play a crucial role in employment and stabilizing job markets.This study aims to analyze the ef-fect of enterprises financialization on employment and explore the underlying mechanisms.Utilizing data from domestic non-financial listed companies from 2012 to 2019,the empirical results indicate that corpo-rate financialization has intensified financing costs and reduced investments in real industries.This transition has suppressed labor employment without improving staff allocation efficiency.However,improvements in main business performance can miti-gate the"crowding out"effect of financialization on labor demand.Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the dampening effect on labor hiring is mainly found in regions with higher levels of shadow banking and in firms with excessive allocations to medium-term and long-term financial assets.Additionally,extended analysis finds that strong financial regulation can effec-tively curb corporate financialization,thereby enhancing the willingness of enterprises to hire and expanding employment op-portunities.This study offers policy insights from two perspectives:corporate practice and government regulation.Enterprises should establish correct operational models,utilize financial assets as supportive tools,and improve internal control systems and incen-tive mechanisms.The government should strengthen its supervision over high-risk financial investments by non-financial en-terprises,guiding them towards a"shift from fictitious to real"economic activities.
EmploymentEnterprises FinancializationShift from Fictitious to RealIndustrial Investment