Confucianism and the costs of high leverage
研究了儒家文化如何减轻高杠杆对企业销售增长的负面影响，发现儒家思想通过影响客户、竞争者、员工和供应商的积极行为来发挥作用，尤其对盈利能力低、无政治关联、位于制度薄弱地区的企业帮助更大。
In this paper, we investigate the influence of Confucianism on the product market performance of enterprises with high leverage. A sample including 2608 Chinese listed enterprises was gathered throughout the period spanning from 2007 to 2020, encompassing regions characterized by varying degrees of Confucianism influence. We first find that enterprises operating in places characterized by a high prevalence of Confucianism exhibit a notably diminished adverse impact of high leverage on sales growth. Our research also shows that highly leveraged companies can reap the benefits of Confucianism by influencing their customers, competitors, employes, and suppliers to behave more positively. Firms with low profitability, no political connections, provincial headquarters with weak legal or incomplete institutional environments, and regions with less exposure to overseas cultures benefit more from Confucianism's moderating effect on high leverage costs. In sum, our results indicate that Confucianism reduces the negative impact of high leverage.