Abstract

Purpose – This paper explores the linkage of digital infrastructure to the cost of debt.

 

Design/methodology/approach – This study uses the implementation of the “Broadband China” policy that improves digital infrastructure as an exogenous shock and exploits the difference-in-differences method (DID).

 

Findings – Empirical analyses show that digital infrastructure leads to increased firms’ borrowing costs, which is robust to several robustness checks. In addition, we find that this unfavourable effect can be attributed to intensified market competition led by digital infrastructure construction. Cross-sectional analysis shows that this effect is greater for non-SOEs and smaller firms. Finally, we offer additional evidence of the unfavourable effect by showing that digital infrastructure construction leads to decreased fundamentals.

 

Originality/value – Our paper unveils how digital infrastructure construction affects firms’ business strategy in using private debts and extends the determinants of firms’ borrowing costs.

How long have you been doing your current job? Have you ever thought about trying a new profession? How difficult does change seem to you? The current rapid transformation of the labor market is putting many workers to the test: they struggle to keep up and move into new roles, while at the same time companies are having difficulty finding qualified personnel. A new study has analyzed the French labor market using methods from statistical physics, and found that over 90% of jobs today function as bottlenecks: they are easily accessible, but once entered, they become traps from which it is hard to move elsewhere—even when other opportunities are available.

The study, conducted by Max Knicker, Karl Naumann-Woleske, and Michael Benzaquen of École Polytechnique in Paris, and published in the Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment (JSTAT), provides a detailed mapping of accessibility and transferability characteristics within the French occupational network. It reveals strong structural rigidity in the overall labor system and offers a basis for understanding what kinds of interventions and policy decisions might help to break this deadlock.

 

Agricultural economists with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and Kansas State University examined product attributes present in dry dog food to show there exist potential price premiums and discounts associated with health and wellness attributes. The findings indicate price premiums are associated with attributes related to digestion and allergy care. Pricing discounts are found to be associated with immune support and dental attributes. The results of this study are anticipated to be a starting point for more sophisticated and dynamic analysis of pricing and willingness-to-pay studies int the pet food industry.

The surprisingly announced 90-day tariff pause in the trade war between the US and China could destabilize global maritime trade more than the tariff increases imposed so far. While the tariff shock almost completely paralyzed trade between the world's two largest economies—with a drop in trade volumes at US ports of up to around 60 percent—there is now a threat of a “rebound effect”, an abrupt increase in demand up to 150 percent. The expected consequences are price increases, logistical bottlenecks, congestion, and delays in maritime transportation - especially on the US West Coast - similar to what was seen during the Covid-19 pandemic.

An Osaka Metropolitan University researcher examined the spatial patterns and geographic characteristics of tourism-accommodation hotspots in Kyoto. The results of this study revealed hotspots in the areas around historic Kyoto through the tourism-accommodation intensity index.