Capital Market Liberalization and Corporate M&A Performance: Evidence from the Land-Hong Kong Connect

Capital Market Liberalization and Corporate M&A Performance: Evidence from the Land-Hong Kong Connect | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Capital Market Liberalization and Corporate M&A Performance: Evidence from the Land-Hong Kong Connect Qi'an Zhong, Kaifang Fan This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5470538/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The implementation of the Land-Hong Kong Connect (LHKC) trading system is an important symbol of the maturity of China's capital market, and its economic consequences have been the center of attention for the government as well as academics. Based on this quasi-natural experiment, our study applies the multi-period double-difference-in-differences (DID) method to examine the impact of capital market liberalization on corporate M&A performance. We find that capital market liberalization effectively enhances corporate M&A performance. Mechanism tests find that capital market liberalization enhances corporate M&A performance by improving corporate stock liquidity, reducing agency costs and information asymmetry. The findings provide some empirical evidence for capital market liberalization and corporate M&A decisions. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences capital market liberalization corporate M&A performance stock liquidity agency costs information asymmetry 1. Introduction Against the background of global economic integration, capital market liberalization has become an inevitable direction for the economic development of all countries. China's capital market has also undergone a series of reforms and explorations to actively connect with overseas markets [1] . Among them, "Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect" and "Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect" were implemented in November 2014 and December 2016, respectively, which means that overseas investors can enter the mainland capital market to buy and sell Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares, taking the opening of China's capital market to a new level. As a major step in the opening of the capital market, the smooth opening of the LHKC will help overseas funds enter the A-share market in an orderly manner, attracting overseas investors to share the dividends of the domestic reform [2] . At the same time, this will integrate China's capital market into the international capital market system, thus enhancing the efficiency of the mainland capital market. In this context, the economic consequences of capital market liberalization have become a focus of attention in academia as well as in practice [3] . Existing research on the economic consequences of capital market liberalization has focused on both the macro and micro levels, including the impact of capital market liberalization on economic growth. Capital market liberalization can increase investment and drive national economic growth [4] , achieve interest rate liberalization and credit control, and enhance the free flow of capital in the international market [5] , and drive the growth of corporate R&D [6-7] , and achieve total factor productivity [8] . Another is the impact of capital market liberalization on enterprise development. Most of the literature has confirmed the positive effects of capital market opening on enterprise development, such as reducing the cost of capital [9] , enhancing the quality of information disclosure [10] , lowering the agency cost [11] , enhancing the innovation capacity of enterprises [12] , enhancing corporate investment efficiency [13] , enhancing the information content of stock prices [3] , enhancing corporate performance [14] , and reducing corporate violations [15] . Although there are more abundant studies on capital market opening, there is still a lack of research on corporate M&A performance. The importance of focusing on the impact of capital market liberalization on corporate M&A performance is mainly due to the following reasons. First, M&A, as an important type of enterprise resource allocation [16-17] , carries an important means of solving the overcapacity and inefficiency of China's enterprises [18-19] and is a key factor in the high-quality development of the economy. Therefore, we take the implementation of the LHKC policy as a quasi-natural experiment, select companies listed on China's A-share market from 2015 to 2021 as a sample, and apply the DID method to examine the impact of capital market liberalization on the performance of M&A. The core questions of interest in this paper are as follows: How does capital market liberalization affect corporate M&A performance? Through what paths does capital market liberalization affect corporate M&A performance? Compared with previous studies, the marginal contributions of this study are in the following areas. First, it extends the analysis of the effects of capital market liberalization. The purpose of capital market liberalization is to attract experienced investors [20-21] and enhance the efficiency of resource allocation in the capital market [22-23] . This study utilizes a quasi-natural experiment of the implementation of the LHKC system to empirically test the effect of capital market liberalization on the performance of M&A and to enrich the relevant literature on the impact of capital market liberalization on corporate capital operations. Second, we clarify the mechanism by which capital market liberalization affects corporate M&A performance. That is, capital market liberalization promotes M&A performance by improving the liquidity of corporate stocks, reducing agency costs and information asymmetry. Empirical evidence is provided for a better understanding of the relationship. Third, the findings of this study provide some insights into capital market liberalization as well as corporate M&A decisions, especially in Chinese listed companies, where the overall efficiency of M&A is not high. The findings suggest that the government should open up the capital market in a beneficial and orderly manner to provide a favorable financial environment for corporate M&A and, thus, enhance corporate M&A performance. 2. Research hypothesis Financing constraints, agency problems, and information asymmetry are common among Chinese enterprises [24-25] , which is the main reason why many corporate mergers and acquisitions fall short of expectations. The implementation of the LHKC system provides an opportunity to alleviate the above problems. The specific effects are as follows: First, capital market liberalization affects corporate M&A performance by enhancing corporate stock liquidity. Zhao et al. (2020) found that capital market liberalization can effectively enhance the liquidity of the capital market, open new financing channels, and reduce the cost of corporate financing [9] . As of December 2021, total investment from overseas investors accounted for 21.5% of the turnover of the SSE, which shows that the implementation of the LHKC system has brought sufficient liquidity to the mainland capital market. The funds required for corporate mergers and acquisitions are generally characterized by long duration and large volume, and the opening of the capital market provides sufficient funds for the enterprises; the main merging enterprises will not give up the merger and acquisition projects with NPV greater than zero because of the shortage of funds, which, in turn, contributes to the performance of corporate mergers and acquisitions [26] . Second, capital market liberalization enhances corporate M&A performance by reducing agency costs. The LHKC will lead to increased market uncertainty and competition in the industry, as well as stricter regulatory requirements [27] . These pressures force managers to make decisions more from the public company's perspective, thus curbing their self-interested behavior and exerting governance utility [28] . Moreover, most of the foreign investors introduced by the LHKC are institutional investors, which can effectively reduce the opportunistic behavior of executives and the risk of ethical dilemmas [29] , so that the company will show good governance effects [30] , pay attention to post-merger and acquisition business integration as well as merger and acquisition value creation, and, thus, promote improvements in M&A performance. Finally, capital market liberalization enhances corporate M&A performance by reducing information asymmetry. The implementation of the LHKC system introduces experienced investors as well as securities analysts to China's capital market, which will effectively improve the problem of information asymmetry [27] . The specific effects are as follows: Firstly, value investors prefer companies with high information transparency and good corporate governance. Leuz et al. (2009) found that value investors pay more attention to corporate disclosure, which can reduce information asymmetry and monitoring costs. Secondly, experienced investors have strong information gathering and processing capabilities, and they are able to reflect both the disclosed and undisclosed information of a company through its stock price [31] . Companies are pressured by stock prices to focus on the M&A performance. Based on the above analysis, the following hypotheses are proposed: Hypothesis 1a: Capital market liberalization significantly improves corporate M&A performance. However, under the information disadvantage view, foreign investors may be in a disadvantageous information position due to the geographical distance and weak connections. Therefore, in the event of M&A, the increase in the degree of information asymmetry between the two sides will increase the uncertainty in the M&A process, increase the risk for M&A decision making, and increase the possibility of loss due to the failure of M&A [32] . Secondly, Since information asymmetry can exacerbate the financing constraints of the main merging firms, leading them to abandon profitable projects due to the shortage of funds caused by external factors, which in turn can reduce the performance of M&A [33] . In addition, the "double" pressure of operation and regulation brought by the LHKC is likely to prompt short-sighted behaviors of managers, making them give up long-term investment projects with positive NPVs and choose short-term businesses with a lack of growth [33] .These behaviors will bring poor M&A performance and harm the long-term value of the firm. Based on the above analysis, an opposing hypothesis to Hypothesis 1a is proposed: Hypothesis 1b: Capital market liberalization significantly reduces corporate M&A performance. 3.Research design 3.1 Sample selection and data sources We select companies listed in China's A-share market with M&A events from 2015 to 2021 as our research sample. We obtain 4861 firm-year observations. Financial data come from the CSMAR database. 3.2 Definition of variables 3.2.1 Capital market liberalization (D it ) D it represents whether firm i is a stock under the LHKC in year t. It takes the value 1 if it is a stock with LHKC for the experimental group and 0 if it is not a stock with LHKC for the control group. 3.2.2 Corporate M&A performance (Performance it ) We measure corporate M&A performance using short-term and long-term returns, where short-term M&A returns are modeled using the market modeling approach with an event window of [-5,5]. Long-term M&A performance uses the difference in ROA two years before and after the date of the first announcement of the main merger firm's merger as a proxy variable. 3.2.3 Control variable Following Chen et al. (2020) [34] , the basic characteristics of the main merging firms, the governance variables, and the variables in the related mergers and acquisitions are selected. The details are shown in Table 1. Table 1. Definitions of relevant variables. variable Definition Measures of corporate M&A performance short-term M&A performance (CAR) Cumulative returns for event window [-5,5] Long-term M&A performance (ROA) Difference in ROA two years before and after the date of the first announcement of the M&A Underlying companies of the LHKC (D it ) Firm i is a stock under the LHKC in year t.If it is the underlying stock, it takes the value 1, otherwise it is 0. Firm size (Size) Natural logarithm of assets Board size (Bsize) Natural logarithm of the number of board members Number of independent directors (Dep) Number of independent directors as a percentage of the total number of board members Corporate Growth (Sg) Growth rate of operating income Shareholding ratio of major shareholders (FS) Proportion of shares held by major shareholders Institutional shareholding (Ins) Institutional investor shareholding M&A Payment Methods (Pay) Cash payments are assigned a value of 1, otherwise 0 Scale of mergers and acquisitions (Desize) Use of the natural logarithm of the size of mergers and acquisitions 3.3 Model Specification To evaluate the impact of capital market liberalization on corporate M&A performance, we use the OLS method to estimate the following panel data models: Performance it represents corporate M&A performance. D it represents the fact that firm i becomes the underlying stock of the LHKC in year t. 4. Analysis of empirical results 4.1 Descriptive statistics Table 2 shows the descriptive statistics of the variables. The results show that the mean values of CAR and ROA are 0.016 and -0.008, respectively, indicating that the overall M&A performance of listed companies in China is relatively low, which is also in line with the reality. From the mean value of D, it can be seen that the percentage of companies affected by the LHKC is 17.6%. From the mode of payment for M&A, it can be seen that the proportion of cash payment reaches about 91%, indicating that in listed companies' M&A, mainly cash payments are used; the variables of company characteristics, governance variables, and the related variables of M&A are in line with the expectation. Table 2. Descriptive statistics. Obs Min Max Mean Std.Dev. CAR 3305 -0.183 0.252 0.016 1.005 ROA 3305 -0.021 0.267 -0.008 0.057 D 3305 0.000 1.000 0.176 0.305 Size 3305 16.354 27.362 22.102 1.339 Bsize 3305 1.610 2.640 2.150 0.152 Dep 3305 0.034 0.357 0.540 0.320 Sg 3305 0.048 0.932 0.435 0.226 FS 3305 0.300 0.534 0.372 0.052 Ins 3305 0.084 0.746 0.358 2.208 Pay 3305 0.000 1.000 0.910 0.321 Desize 3305 12.32 22.52 16.72 2.524 4.2 Regression results Table 4 highlights the relationship between capital market liberalization and corporate M&A performance. The control variables are not included in columns (1) and (2), while control variables are included in columns (3) and (4). The coefficients of D are all significantly positive, indicating that corporate M&A performance is significantly improved after capital market liberalization. Hypothesis 1a is verified. Table 3. Capital market liberalization and corporate M&A performance. CAR (1) ROA (2) CAR (3) ROA (4) D 0.628*** (10.20) 0.527*** (11.14) 0.623*** (15.36) 0.455*** (13.54) Size 0.038** (3.05) 0.034** (3.21) Bsize 0.021*** (4.35) 0.014*** (5.03) Dep 0.210*** (7.30) 0.320*** (9.12) Sg 0.124*** (4.92) 0.155** (5.02) FS -0.352*** (-3.67) -0.455*** (-4.29) Ins 0.095*** (4.63) 0.084*** (3.92) Pay -0.952*** (-20.39) -0.841*** (-22.03) Desize -0.378*** (-10.02) -0.420*** (-11.13) constant 6.305** (42.35) 7.286*** (50.36) 1.320*** (20.62) 0.965*** (22.84) Year/Firm/Industry Fixed effect YES YES YES YES Adj-R 2 0.165 0.094 0.134 0.107 N 3305 3305 3305 3305 4.3 Robustness check 4.3.1 Parallel trend test In order to further test the validity of the DID model, following Luo et al (2015) [35] and Wang (2022) [36] , Z i is defined as an annual dummy variable for the three years prior to the implementation of the LHKC, and the following model is constructed to test for parallel trends. If their correlation coefficients are not significant, the assumption of parallel trends is satisfied. The results are shown in columns (1) and (2) of Table 4. The coefficient of D*Z is insignificant, indicating that the parallel trend test is met between the treatment and control groups. 4.3.2 PSM-DID test The LHKC targets are generally subjectively selected by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and the selection criteria are better performance, stable operation and less risky enterprises, so the targets selected in this paper may have the problem of self-selection. Therefore, we use propensity score for 1:1 matching. Firm market capitalization, return on net assets, TobinQ, corporate growth, and firm and year are used as matching variables to select the non-LHKC firms with the closest scores as control samples. We obtain 5241 samples. If the regression coefficient of D for the control group is significant, it indicates the validity of the DID model. The results are shown in columns (3) and (4) of Table 4. The regression coefficients of D are significant, indicating that capital market liberalization effectively enhances corporate M&A performance. The results remain robust after accounting for self-selection of the sample. 4.3.3 Replacement of core variables We choose the difference of ROE/TobinQ in the two years before and after the date of the first announcement of M&A as a proxy variable to further verify the robustness of the conclusions. The results are shown in columns (5) and (6) of Table 4. The regression coefficients of D are significantly positive, indicating that the improvement in corporate M&A performance is due to the LHKC. Table 4. Robustness test. CAR (1) ROA (2) CAR (3) ROA (4) ROE (5) TobinQ (6) D 0.192*** (5.24) 0.096*** (4.62) 0.029*** (3.62) 0.052*** (4.58) β -3 0.102 (1.06) 0.063 (0.53) β -2 0.025 (0.52) 0.047 (0.35) β -1 0.032 (0.92) 0.096 (1.03) constant 0.058* (1.35) 0.036 (0.30) 1.205*** (32.85) 0.547*** (22.31) 0.063* (5.30) 0.015 (1.03) Controls YES YES YES YES YES YES Year/Firm/Industry Fixed effect YES YES YES YES YES YES Adj-R 2 0.151 0.257 0.182 0.297 0.112 0.228 N 3305 3305 5241 5241 3305 3305 4.4 Mechanism analysis The above studies confirmed that capital market liberalization enhances corporate M&A performance, but the mechanism of action has not been clarified. Thus, we use corporate stock liquidity, agency costs, and information asymmetry as mediating variables and utilize a three-step approach to test the mediating effect. The specific modeling is as follows: where D is the number of trading days, RMBVOL is the amount of trading, and R is the daily return. The smaller the ILL, the better the corporate stock liquidity. The results of the mediating effects of corporate stock liquidity are presented in Table 5. As can be seen, the estimated coefficient of D in column (2) is significantly positive, which indicates that capital market liberalization prompts corporate stock liquidity. When D and ILL are regressed together as ROA explanatory variables, the regression coefficient of D decreases to 0.381 compared to column (1), while the regression coefficient of ILL remains significant. Based on these calculations, the mediating effect of ILL is 16.3%. The above analysis suggests that the mediating effect of corporate stock liquidity holds. It indicates that capital market liberalization enhances corporate M&A performance by increasing the liquidity of enterprise stocks. Table 5. Mediation effect results (corporate stock liquidity). Variable ROA （1） ILL（2） ROA （3） D 0.455***(13.54) 0.108***(6.38) 0.381***(10.62) ILL 0.067***(3.69) Constant 0.965***(22.84) 0.052***（9.62） 0.169***(11.02) Controls YES YES YES Year/Firm/Industry Fixed effect YES YES YES Adj-R 2 0.121 0.134 0.159 N 3305 3305 3305 4.4.2 Agency costs Managers are the decision makers and executors of M&A, which directly affects the motivation for as well as the effectiveness of M&A. However, the reality is that the agency problem between managers and shareholders causes many M&As to fall short of expectations. The implementation of the LHKC increases the pressure on managers to reduce self-interested behaviors, which has a positive impact on M&As (Du et al., 2022). Following Wang (2022), the ratio of cash disbursed for other operating activities to operating revenues is used to quantify agency costs, with a larger index indicating higher agency costs. The results of the mediating effects of agency costs are presented in Table 6. As can be seen, the estimated coefficient of D in column (2) is significantly negative, which indicates that capital market liberalization reduces agency costs. When D and AC are regressed together as ROA explanatory variables, the regression coefficient of D decreases to 0.406 compared to column (1), while the regression coefficient of AC remains significant. Based on these calculations, the mediating effect of AC is 10.8%. The above analysis suggests that the mediating effect of agency costs holds. It indicates that capital market liberalization enhances corporate M&A performance by reducing agency costs. Table 6. Mediation effect results (agency costs). Variable ROA （1） AC（2） ROA （3） D 0.455***(13.54) -0.095***(-3.95) 0.406***(16.94) AC -0.057***(-4.37) Constant 0.965***(22.84) -0.124***（5.64） -0.207**(-2.05) Controls YES YES YES Year/Firm/Industry Fixed effect YES YES YES Adj-R 2 0.121 0.204 0.237 N 3305 3305 3305 4.4.3 Information asymmetry The information asymmetry theory suggests that at least one party has relevant information, and both parties are unequal in the amount of information (Chen et al., 2020). In M&A practice, large shareholders will use the information advantage to violate the interests of small- and medium-sized shareholders. Capital market liberalization introduces experienced investors and professional analysts to the domestic capital market, who are able to identify the behaviors of major shareholders encroaching on the interests of listed companies through their own highly advanced information collection and processing capabilities. Following Fan et al. (2022), the modified Jones model is used to estimate the absolute value of accrued surplus to measure information asymmetry. The results of the mediating effects of information asymmetry are presented in Table 7. As can be seen, the estimated coefficient of D in column (2) is significantly negative, which indicates that capital market liberalization reduces information asymmetry. When D and IS are regressed together as ROA explanatory variables, the regression coefficient of D decreases to 0.308 compared to column (1), while the regression coefficient of IS remains significant. Based on these calculations, the mediating effect of IS is 32.3%. The above analysis suggests that the mediating effect of information asymmetry holds. It indicates that capital market liberalization enhances corporate M&A performance by reducing information asymmetry. Table 7. Mediation effect results (information asymmetry). Variable ROA （1） IS（2） ROA （3） D 0.455***(13.54) -0.043***(-5.02) 0.308***(9.30) IS -0.024***(-3.60) Constant 0.965***(22.84) 0.127***(9.89) 0.085***(7.06) Controls YES YES YES Year/Firm/Industry Fixed effect YES YES YES Adj-R 2 0.121 0.184 0.195 N 3305 3305 3305 4.5 Heterogeneity analysis Since corporate governance plays an important role in corporate M&A, this study will further test the differences in the role of capital market liberalization in influencing corporate M&A performance in different governance environments. We categorize firms into state-owned and non-state-owned firms (SOEs and non-SOEs) and low-management shareholding and high-management shareholding firms. The D coefficients are significantly higher for SOEs and firms with low-management shareholding than for non-SOEs and firms with management shareholding, respectively. Table 8. Heterogeneity analysis. Variable SOE (1) Non-SOEs (2) High-management shareholding (3) Low-management shareholding (4) ROA ROA ROA ROA D 0.234***(11.05) 0.171(1.05) 0.157(1.08) 0.253***(9.30) Constant 0.965***(22.84) 0.214***（9.05） 0.148***(8.17) 0.351***（12.36） Controls YES YES YES YES Year/Firm/Industry Fixed effect YES YES YES YES Adj-R 2 0.121 0.209 0.267 0.228 N 1427 1878 1741 1564 5. Conclusions Capital market liberalization has been an important issue in the reform of China's financial system, and its economic consequences have been the focus of academic attention. Taking corporate M&A performance as an entry point, this paper systematically examines the impact of capital market liberalization on M&A performance as well as the intrinsic mechanism by utilizing the quasi-natural experiment of the implementation of the LHKC. The results show that capital market liberalization significantly enhances corporate M&A performance. The mechanism test results indicate that capital market liberalization enhances M&A performance by increasing stock liquidity, reducing agency costs, and improving the quality of information disclosure. Based on the above conclusions, this study draws the following insights. First, the government should formulate corresponding policies according to the changes in the macroeconomic environment, establish a perfect risk identification as well as an early warning mechanism, control the systemic risk within the controllable range, and steadily open up China's capital market. Second, enterprises should choose investment projects carefully and focus on the integration work necessary after M&A. In the context of the overall low performance of M&A, companies should carefully choose projects that are favorable to enterprises in the process of M&A. Particularly, in the M&A valuation link, we observe a reduction in the M&A premium rate, easing of the pressure of post-merger and acquisition performance, and enhanced efficiency of M&A. Thirdly, as far as the securities analyst industry is concerned, the rules of the analyst industry should be established to enhance the ability of corporate information interpretation, alleviate the problems caused by information asymmetry, and form a perfect external supervision mechanism to effectively supervise the major shareholders' erosion of the interests of listed companies through mergers and acquisitions. Declarations Data Availability All data in this paper are available through the authors. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank all institutions and staff for their help on data cellection and suggestions on manuscript revision. Author contributions Zhong conceived the original study idea and developed the study design. Zhong and Fan collected the study materials. Zhong and Fan did the statistical analysis and interpretation. Zhong and Fan wrote the first draft of the text. Funding The work was supported by the Jiangsu University Philosophy and Social Science Foundation Program(2023SJYB2339). Ethics approval and consent to participate All materials are publicly available from the survey conducted by CSMAR database, and informed consent was given on the first page of the survey. The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to Qi’an Zhong. References X.Liu, L.Wang, Y.Dai,Capital market liberalization and opportunistic insider sales: Evidence from China,Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money,82 ,101697.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intfin.2022.101697(2023). X. Li, H. Li, X.Ge, D. 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Huang,Stock market opening and corporate investment efficiency-a quasi-natural experiment based on the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect.Financial Research.(8),151-170(2019). W.Chen,Y.Shi,Official change and corporate mergers and acquisitions--an empirical study based on changes in the information environment. Soft Science.34(05),70-75.10.13956/j.ss.10018409.2020.05.11(2020). Z.Luo,Q.Zhao,B.YAN,Effects of constraints and incentives on long-term investment in state-owned enterprises. China Industrial Economy.(10)69-84.10.19581/j.cnki.ciejournal.2015.10. S.Wang,Capital market opening and enterprise tax avoidance comes from the empirical evidence of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect. Scientific Decision-making.(07),88-104.(2022). HASBROUCK, J.,Trading Costs and Returns for U.S. Equities: Estimating Effective Costs from Daily Data. The Journal of Finance.64,1445-1477. 10.1111/j.1540-6261.2009.01469.x(2009) Jeffrey L. Coles, Naveen D. Daniel, Lalitha Naveen,Managerial incentives and risk-taking,Journal of Financial Economics,79(2),431-468,10.1016/j.jfineco.2004.09.004.(2006). Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5470538","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":386189590,"identity":"943f4b0b-fd3d-40ad-ab9a-26cab8156667","order_by":0,"name":"Qi'an Zhong","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAyUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACfmbG9h8SFRCOBFFaJNuZD0hYnCFFi8F5tgSJyjZStDAc5jEwuDmvTnbDAeaDt3kY7PII6mBs5jFInLntsPGGA2zJ1jwMycUEtTAz8xgcltx2IHHDAR4zaR6GA4kNhLSwMfMYNv+dUwfUwv+NOC08zGzJDJINzCBb2IjTIsHMfIxB4thh45mH2Ywt5xgkE9Zif/5gG4NETZ1s3/HmhzfeVNgR1gIDjA3MIMqAWPVgLSQoHgWjYBSMghEGALp/ONnqSK5NAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Suqian University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qi'an","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhong","suffix":""},{"id":386189591,"identity":"f05e2385-5edc-477c-8c5d-8f37e34b44d0","order_by":1,"name":"Kaifang Fan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Suqian University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kaifang","middleName":"","lastName":"Fan","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-11-17 15:08:21","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5470538/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5470538/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":83932274,"identity":"12f20a3b-19b9-4ca0-830f-55ec136d21fc","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-04 15:40:19","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":666063,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5470538/v1/d44c6934-235d-4d86-9465-138003314572.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eCapital Market Liberalization and Corporate M\u0026amp;A Performance: Evidence from the Land-Hong Kong Connect\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eAgainst the background of global economic integration, capital market liberalization has become an inevitable direction for the economic development of all countries. China's capital market has also undergone a series of reforms and explorations to actively connect with overseas markets\u003csup\u003e[1]\u003c/sup\u003e. Among them, \"Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect\" and \"Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect\" were implemented in November 2014 and December 2016, respectively, which means that overseas investors can enter the mainland capital market to buy and sell Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares, taking the opening of China's capital market to a new level. As a major step in the opening of the capital market, the smooth opening of the LHKC will help overseas funds enter the A-share market in an orderly manner, attracting overseas investors to share the dividends of the domestic reform\u003csup\u003e[2]\u003c/sup\u003e. At the same time, this will integrate China's capital market into the international capital market system, thus enhancing the efficiency of the mainland capital market. In this context, the economic consequences of capital market liberalization have become a focus of attention in academia as well as in practice\u003csup\u003e[3]\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExisting research on the economic consequences of capital market liberalization has focused on both the macro and micro levels, including the impact of capital market liberalization on economic growth. Capital market liberalization can increase investment and drive national economic growth \u003csup\u003e[4]\u003c/sup\u003e, achieve interest rate liberalization and credit control, and enhance the free flow of capital in the international market\u003csup\u003e[5]\u003c/sup\u003e, and drive the growth of corporate R\u0026amp;D \u003csup\u003e[6-7]\u003c/sup\u003e, and achieve total factor productivity \u003csup\u003e[8]\u003c/sup\u003e. Another is the impact of capital market liberalization on enterprise development. Most of the literature has confirmed the positive effects of capital market opening on enterprise development, such as reducing the cost of capital \u003csup\u003e[9]\u003c/sup\u003e, enhancing the quality of information disclosure\u003csup\u003e[10]\u003c/sup\u003e, lowering the agency cost \u003csup\u003e[11]\u003c/sup\u003e, enhancing the innovation capacity of enterprises\u003csup\u003e[12]\u003c/sup\u003e, enhancing corporate investment efficiency \u003csup\u003e[13]\u003c/sup\u003e, enhancing the information content of stock prices \u003csup\u003e[3]\u003c/sup\u003e, enhancing corporate performance \u003csup\u003e[14]\u003c/sup\u003e, and reducing corporate violations \u003csup\u003e[15]\u003c/sup\u003e. Although there are more abundant studies on capital market opening, there is still a lack of research on corporate M\u0026amp;A performance.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe importance of focusing on the impact of capital market liberalization on corporate M\u0026amp;A performance is mainly due to the following reasons. First, M\u0026amp;A, as an important type of enterprise resource allocation \u003csup\u003e[16-17]\u003c/sup\u003e, carries an important means of solving the overcapacity and inefficiency of China's enterprises \u003csup\u003e[18-19]\u003c/sup\u003eand is a key factor in the high-quality development of the economy. Therefore, we take the implementation of the LHKC policy as a quasi-natural experiment, select companies listed on China's A-share market from 2015 to 2021 as a sample, and apply the DID method to examine the impact of capital market liberalization on the performance of M\u0026amp;A. The core questions of interest in this paper are as follows: How does capital market liberalization affect corporate M\u0026amp;A performance? Through what paths does capital market liberalization affect corporate M\u0026amp;A performance?\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompared with previous studies, the marginal contributions of this study are in the following areas. First, it extends the analysis of the effects of capital market liberalization. The purpose of capital market liberalization is to attract experienced investors\u003csup\u003e[20-21]\u003c/sup\u003e and enhance the efficiency of resource allocation in the capital market\u003csup\u003e[22-23]\u003c/sup\u003e. This study utilizes a quasi-natural experiment of the implementation of the LHKC system to empirically test the effect of capital market liberalization on the performance of M\u0026amp;A and to enrich the relevant literature on the impact of capital market liberalization on corporate capital operations. Second, we clarify the mechanism by which capital market liberalization affects corporate M\u0026amp;A performance. That is, capital market liberalization promotes M\u0026amp;A performance by improving the liquidity of corporate stocks, reducing agency costs and information asymmetry. Empirical evidence is provided for a better understanding of the relationship. Third, the findings of this study provide some insights into capital market liberalization as well as corporate M\u0026amp;A decisions, especially in Chinese listed companies, where the overall efficiency of M\u0026amp;A is not high. The findings suggest that the government should open up the capital market in a beneficial and orderly manner to provide a favorable financial environment for corporate M\u0026amp;A and, thus, enhance corporate M\u0026amp;A performance.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Research hypothesis","content":"\u003cp\u003eFinancing constraints, agency problems, and information asymmetry are common among Chinese enterprises \u003csup\u003e[24-25]\u003c/sup\u003e, which is the main reason why many corporate mergers and acquisitions fall short of expectations. The implementation of the LHKC system provides an opportunity to alleviate the above problems. The specific effects are as follows:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst, capital market liberalization affects corporate M\u0026amp;A performance by enhancing\u0026nbsp;corporate stock liquidity. Zhao et al. (2020) found that capital market liberalization can effectively enhance the liquidity of the capital market, open new financing channels, and reduce the cost of corporate financing\u003csup\u003e[9]\u003c/sup\u003e. As of December 2021, total investment from overseas investors accounted for 21.5% of the turnover of the SSE, which shows that the implementation of the LHKC system has brought sufficient liquidity to the mainland capital market. The funds required for corporate mergers and acquisitions are generally characterized by long duration and large volume, and the opening of the capital market provides sufficient funds for the enterprises; the main merging enterprises will not give up the merger and acquisition projects with NPV greater than zero because of the shortage of funds, which, in turn, contributes to the performance of corporate mergers and acquisitions\u003csup\u003e[26]\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSecond, capital market liberalization enhances corporate M\u0026amp;A performance by reducing agency costs. The LHKC will lead to increased market uncertainty and competition in the industry, as well as stricter regulatory requirements\u003csup\u003e[27]\u003c/sup\u003e. These pressures force managers to make decisions more from the public company's perspective, thus curbing their self-interested behavior and exerting governance utility \u003csup\u003e[28]\u003c/sup\u003e. Moreover, most of the foreign investors introduced by the LHKC are institutional investors, which can effectively reduce the opportunistic behavior of executives and the risk of ethical dilemmas \u003csup\u003e[29]\u003c/sup\u003e, so that the company will show good governance effects\u003csup\u003e[30]\u003c/sup\u003e, pay attention to post-merger and acquisition business integration as well as merger and acquisition value creation, and, thus, promote improvements in M\u0026amp;A performance.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally, capital market liberalization enhances corporate M\u0026amp;A performance by reducing information asymmetry. The implementation of the LHKC system introduces experienced investors as well as securities analysts to China's\u0026nbsp;capital market, which will effectively improve the problem of information asymmetry\u003csup\u003e[27]\u003c/sup\u003e. The specific effects are as follows: Firstly, value investors prefer companies with high information transparency and good corporate governance. Leuz et al. (2009) found that value investors pay more attention to corporate disclosure, which can reduce information asymmetry and monitoring costs. Secondly, experienced investors have strong information gathering and processing capabilities, and they are able to reflect both the disclosed and undisclosed information of a company through its stock price\u003csup\u003e[31]\u003c/sup\u003e. Companies are pressured by stock prices to focus on the M\u0026amp;A performance. Based on the above analysis, the following hypotheses are proposed:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHypothesis 1a: Capital market liberalization significantly improves corporate M\u0026amp;A performance.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, under the information disadvantage view, foreign investors may be in a disadvantageous information position due to the geographical distance and weak connections. Therefore, in the event of M\u0026amp;A, the increase in the degree of information asymmetry between the two sides will increase the uncertainty in the M\u0026amp;A process, increase the risk for M\u0026amp;A decision making, and increase the possibility of loss due to the failure of M\u0026amp;A\u003csup\u003e[32]\u003c/sup\u003e. Secondly, Since information asymmetry can exacerbate the financing constraints of the main merging firms, leading them to abandon profitable projects due to the shortage of funds caused by external factors, which in turn can reduce the performance of M\u0026amp;A\u003csup\u003e[33]\u003c/sup\u003e. In addition, the \"double\" pressure of operation and regulation brought by the LHKC is likely to prompt short-sighted behaviors of managers, making them give up long-term investment projects with positive NPVs and choose short-term businesses with a lack of growth\u003csup\u003e[33]\u003c/sup\u003e.These behaviors will bring poor M\u0026amp;A performance and harm the long-term value of the firm. Based on the above analysis, an opposing hypothesis to Hypothesis 1a is proposed:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHypothesis 1b: Capital market liberalization significantly reduces corporate M\u0026amp;A performance.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"3.Research design","content":"\u003cp\u003e3.1 Sample selection and data sources\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe select companies listed in China\u0026apos;s A-share market with M\u0026amp;A events from 2015 to 2021 as our research sample. We obtain 4861 firm-year observations. Financial data come from the CSMAR database.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.2 Definition of variables\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.2.1 Capital market liberalization (D\u003csub\u003eit\u003c/sub\u003e )\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; D\u003csub\u003eit\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003erepresents whether firm i is a stock under the LHKC in year t. It takes the value 1 if it is a stock with LHKC for the experimental group and 0 if it is not a stock with LHKC for the control group.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.2.2 Corporate M\u0026amp;A performance (Performance\u003csub\u003eit\u003c/sub\u003e )\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe measure corporate M\u0026amp;A performance using short-term and long-term returns, where short-term M\u0026amp;A returns are modeled using the market modeling approach with an event window of [-5,5]. Long-term M\u0026amp;A performance uses the difference in ROA two years before and after the date of the first announcement of the main merger firm\u0026apos;s merger as a proxy variable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.2.3 Control variable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing Chen et al. (2020)\u003csup\u003e[34]\u003c/sup\u003e, the basic characteristics of the main merging firms, the governance variables, and the variables in the related mergers and acquisitions are selected. The details are shown in Table 1.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 1. Definitions of relevant variables.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv align=\"Left\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"588\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003evariable\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;Definition\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"2\" valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 588px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMeasures of\u0026nbsp;corporate M\u0026amp;A performance\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eshort-term M\u0026amp;A performance (CAR)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCumulative returns for event window [-5,5]\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLong-term M\u0026amp;A performance (ROA)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDifference in ROA two years before and after the date of the first announcement of the M\u0026amp;A\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUnderlying companies of the\u0026nbsp;LHKC (D\u003csub\u003eit\u003c/sub\u003e)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFirm i is a stock under the LHKC in year t.If it is the underlying stock, it takes the value 1, otherwise it is 0.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFirm size (Size)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNatural logarithm of assets\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBoard size (Bsize)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNatural logarithm of the number of board members\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber of independent directors (Dep)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber of independent directors as a percentage of the total number of board members\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCorporate Growth (Sg)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGrowth rate of operating income\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eShareholding ratio of major shareholders (FS)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eProportion of shares held by major shareholders\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInstitutional shareholding (Ins)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eInstitutional investor shareholding\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eM\u0026amp;A Payment Methods (Pay)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCash payments are assigned a value of 1, otherwise 0\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 233px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eScale of mergers and acquisitions\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(Desize)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 355px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eUse of the natural logarithm of the size of mergers and acquisitions\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.3 Model Specification\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo evaluate the impact of capital market liberalization on corporate M\u0026amp;A performance, we use the OLS method to estimate the following panel data models:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"data:image/png;base64,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\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePerformance\u003csub\u003eit\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sub\u003erepresents corporate M\u0026amp;A performance. D\u003csub\u003eit\u003c/sub\u003e represents the fact that firm i becomes the underlying stock of the LHKC in year t.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. Analysis of empirical results","content":"\u003cp\u003e4.1 Descriptive statistics\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 2 shows the descriptive statistics of the variables. The results show that the mean values of CAR and ROA are 0.016 and -0.008, respectively, indicating that the overall M\u0026amp;A performance of listed companies in China is relatively low, which is also in line with the reality. From the mean value of D, it can be seen that the percentage of companies affected by the LHKC is 17.6%. From the mode of payment for M\u0026amp;A, it can be seen that the proportion of cash payment reaches about 91%, indicating that in listed companies\u0026apos; M\u0026amp;A, mainly cash payments are used; the variables of company characteristics, governance variables, and the related variables of M\u0026amp;A are in line with the expectation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 2. Descriptive statistics.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv align=\"Left\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"529\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eObs\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMin\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMax\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMean\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eStd.Dev.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCAR\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.183\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.252\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.016\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.005\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.021\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.267\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.008\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.057\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eD\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.176\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSize\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e16.354\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e27.362\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e22.102\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.339\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBsize\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.610\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.640\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.150\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.152\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDep\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.034\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.357\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.540\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.320\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSg\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.048\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.932\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.435\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.226\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFS\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.300\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.534\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.372\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.052\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIns\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.084\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.746\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.358\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.208\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePay\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.910\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.321\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDesize\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e12.32\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e22.52\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e16.72\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 88px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.524\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4.2 Regression results\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 4 highlights the relationship between capital market liberalization and corporate M\u0026amp;A performance. The control variables are not included in columns (1) and (2), while control variables are included in columns (3) and (4). The coefficients of D are all significantly positive,\u0026nbsp;indicating that\u0026nbsp;corporate\u0026nbsp;M\u0026amp;A performance is significantly improved after capital market liberalization. Hypothesis 1a is verified.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 3.\u0026nbsp;Capital market liberalization and corporate M\u0026amp;A performance.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv align=\"Left\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"572\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCAR (1)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA (2)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCAR (3)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA (4)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eD\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.628***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(10.20)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.527***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(11.14)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.623***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(15.36)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.455***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(13.54)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSize\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.038**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(3.05)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.034**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(3.21)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBsize\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.021***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(4.35)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.014***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(5.03)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDep\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.210***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(7.30)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.320***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(9.12)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSg\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.124***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(4.92)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.155**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(5.02)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFS\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.352***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(-3.67)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.455***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(-4.29)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIns\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.095***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(4.63)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.084***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(3.92)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePay\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.952***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(-20.39)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.841***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(-22.03)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDesize\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.378***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(-10.02)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.420***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(-11.13)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003econstant\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e6.305**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(42.35)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e7.286***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(50.36)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.320***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(20.62)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.965***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(22.84)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYear/Firm/Industry Fixed effect\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAdj-R\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.165\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.094\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.134\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.107\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 114px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4.3 Robustness check\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4.3.1 Parallel trend test\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn order to further test the validity of the DID model, following Luo et al (2015) \u003csup\u003e[35]\u003c/sup\u003eand Wang (2022)\u003csup\u003e[36]\u003c/sup\u003e, Z\u003csub\u003ei\u003c/sub\u003e is defined as an annual dummy variable for the three years prior to the implementation of the LHKC, and the following model is constructed to test for parallel trends. If their correlation coefficients are not significant, the assumption of parallel trends is satisfied.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"data:image/png;base64,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\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe results are shown in columns (1) and (2) of Table 4. The coefficient of D*Z is insignificant, indicating that the parallel trend test is met between the treatment and control groups.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4.3.2 PSM-DID test\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe LHKC targets are generally subjectively selected by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and the selection criteria are better performance, stable operation and less risky enterprises, so the targets selected in this paper may have the problem of self-selection. Therefore, we use propensity score for 1:1 matching. Firm market capitalization, return on net assets, TobinQ, corporate growth, and firm and year are used as matching variables to select the non-LHKC firms with the closest scores as control samples. We obtain 5241 samples. If the regression coefficient of D for the control group is significant, it indicates the validity of the DID model. The results are shown in columns (3) and (4) of Table 4. The regression coefficients of D are significant, indicating that capital market liberalization effectively enhances\u0026nbsp;corporate M\u0026amp;A performance. The results remain robust after accounting for self-selection of the sample.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4.3.3 Replacement of core variables\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe choose the\u0026nbsp;difference of ROE/TobinQ in the two years before and after the date of the first announcement of M\u0026amp;A as a proxy variable to further verify the robustness of the conclusions. The results are shown in columns (5) and (6) of Table 4. The regression coefficients of D are significantly positive, indicating that the improvement in corporate M\u0026amp;A performance is due to the LHKC.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 4. Robustness test.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv align=\"Left\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"577\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCAR (1)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA (2)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCAR (3)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA (4)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROE (5)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTobinQ (6)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eD\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.192*** (5.24)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.096***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(4.62)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.029***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(3.62)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.052***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(4.58)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026beta;\u003csub\u003e-3\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.102\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(1.06)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.063\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(0.53)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026beta;\u003csub\u003e-2\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.025\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(0.52)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.047\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(0.35)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026beta;\u003csub\u003e-1\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.032\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(0.92)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.096\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(1.03)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003econstant\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.058*\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(1.35)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.036\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(0.30)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.205***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(32.85)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.547***\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(22.31)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.063*\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(5.30)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.015\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e(1.03)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eControls\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYear/Firm/Industry Fixed effect\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAdj-R\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.151\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.257\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.182\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.297\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.112\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.228\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5241\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 85px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5241\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 77px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 87px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4.4 Mechanism analysis\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe above studies confirmed that capital market liberalization enhances corporate M\u0026amp;A performance, but the mechanism of action has not been clarified. Thus, we use corporate stock liquidity, agency costs, and information asymmetry as mediating variables and utilize a three-step approach to test the mediating effect. The specific modeling is as follows:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg 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\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ewhere D is the number of trading days, RMBVOL is the amount of trading, and R is the daily return. The smaller the ILL, the better the corporate stock liquidity.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe results of the mediating effects of\u0026nbsp;corporate stock liquidity\u0026nbsp;are presented in Table 5.\u0026nbsp;As can be seen, the estimated coefficient of D in column (2)\u0026nbsp;is significantly positive, which indicates that capital market liberalization prompts\u0026nbsp;corporate stock liquidity. When D and ILL are regressed together as ROA explanatory variables, the regression coefficient of D decreases to 0.381 compared to column (1), while the regression coefficient of ILL remains significant. Based on these calculations, the mediating effect of ILL is 16.3%. The above analysis suggests that the mediating effect of\u0026nbsp;corporate stock liquidity holds.\u0026nbsp;It indicates that capital market liberalization enhances\u0026nbsp;corporate M\u0026amp;A performance by increasing the liquidity of enterprise stocks.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 5. Mediation effect results (corporate stock liquidity).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv align=\"Left\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"569\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eVariable\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA\u0026nbsp;（1）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eILL（2）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA\u0026nbsp;（3）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eD\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.455***(13.54)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.108***(6.38)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.381***(10.62)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eILL\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.067***(3.69)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConstant\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.965***(22.84)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.052***（9.62）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.169***(11.02)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eControls\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYear/Firm/Industry Fixed effect\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAdj-R\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.121\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.134\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.159\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4.4.2 Agency costs\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eManagers are the decision makers and executors of M\u0026amp;A, which directly affects the motivation for as well as the effectiveness of M\u0026amp;A. However, the reality is that the agency problem between managers and shareholders causes many M\u0026amp;As to fall short of expectations. The implementation of the\u0026nbsp;LHKC\u0026nbsp;increases the pressure on managers to reduce self-interested behaviors, which has a positive impact on M\u0026amp;As (Du et al., 2022). Following Wang (2022), the ratio of cash disbursed for other operating activities to operating revenues is used to quantify agency costs, with a larger index indicating higher agency costs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe results of the mediating effects of\u0026nbsp;agency costs\u0026nbsp;are presented in Table 6.\u0026nbsp;As can be seen, the estimated coefficient of D in column (2)\u0026nbsp;is significantly negative, which indicates that capital market liberalization reduces agency costs. When D and AC are regressed together as ROA explanatory variables, the regression coefficient of D decreases to 0.406 compared to column (1), while the regression coefficient of AC remains significant. Based on these calculations, the mediating effect of AC is 10.8%. The above analysis suggests that the mediating effect of\u0026nbsp;agency costs holds.\u0026nbsp;It indicates that capital market liberalization enhances\u0026nbsp;corporate M\u0026amp;A performance by\u0026nbsp;reducing agency costs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 6. Mediation effect results (agency costs).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv align=\"Left\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"569\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eVariable\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA\u0026nbsp;（1）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAC（2）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA\u0026nbsp;（3）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eD\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.455***(13.54)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.095***(-3.95)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.406***(16.94)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAC\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.057***(-4.37)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConstant\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.965***(22.84)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.124***（5.64）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.207**(-2.05)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eControls\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYear/Firm/Industry Fixed effect\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAdj-R\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.121\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.204\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.237\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4.4.3 Information asymmetry\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe information asymmetry theory suggests that at least one party has relevant information, and both parties are unequal in the amount of information (Chen et al., 2020). In M\u0026amp;A practice, large shareholders will use the information advantage to violate the interests of small- and medium-sized shareholders. Capital market liberalization introduces experienced investors and professional analysts to the domestic capital market, who are able to identify the behaviors of major shareholders encroaching on the interests of listed companies through their own highly advanced information collection and processing capabilities. Following Fan et al. (2022), the modified Jones model is used to estimate the absolute value of accrued surplus to measure information asymmetry.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe results of the mediating effects of\u0026nbsp;information asymmetry\u0026nbsp;are presented in Table 7.\u0026nbsp;As can be seen, the estimated coefficient of D in column (2)\u0026nbsp;is significantly negative, which indicates that capital market liberalization reduces\u0026nbsp;information asymmetry. When D and IS are regressed together as ROA explanatory variables, the regression coefficient of D decreases to 0.308 compared to column (1), while the regression coefficient of IS remains significant. Based on these calculations, the mediating effect of IS is 32.3%. The above analysis suggests that the mediating effect of\u0026nbsp;information asymmetry holds.\u0026nbsp;It indicates that capital market liberalization enhances\u0026nbsp;corporate M\u0026amp;A performance by\u0026nbsp;reducing\u0026nbsp;information asymmetry.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable 7. Mediation effect results (information asymmetry).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv align=\"Left\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"569\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eVariable\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA\u0026nbsp;（1）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIS（2）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA\u0026nbsp;（3）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eD\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.455***(13.54)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.043***(-5.02)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.308***(9.30)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIS\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.024***(-3.60)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConstant\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.965***(22.84)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.127***(9.89)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.085***(7.06)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eControls\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYear/Firm/Industry Fixed effect\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAdj-R\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.121\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.184\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.195\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 142px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3305\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e4.5\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eHeterogeneity analysis\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Since corporate governance plays an important role in corporate M\u0026amp;A, this study will further test the differences in the role of capital market liberalization in influencing corporate M\u0026amp;A performance in different governance environments. We categorize firms into state-owned and non-state-owned firms (SOEs and\u0026nbsp;non-SOEs) and\u0026nbsp;low-management shareholding and high-management shareholding firms.\u0026nbsp;The D coefficients are significantly higher for SOEs and firms with\u0026nbsp;low-management shareholding\u0026nbsp;than for\u0026nbsp;non-SOEs and firms with\u0026nbsp;management shareholding, respectively.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003cstrong\u003eTable 8.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eHeterogeneity analysis.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv align=\"Left\"\u003e\n \u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"601\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd rowspan=\"2\" style=\"width: 120px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eVariable\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 116px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSOE (1)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 109px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNon-SOEs (2)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 124px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHigh-management shareholding (3)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLow-management shareholding (4)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 116px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 109px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 124px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eROA\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 120px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eD\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 116px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.234***(11.05)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 109px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.171(1.05)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 124px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.157(1.08)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.253***(9.30)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 120px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eConstant\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 116px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.965***(22.84)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 109px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.214***（9.05）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 124px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.148***(8.17)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.351***（12.36）\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 120px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eControls\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 116px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 109px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 124px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 120px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYear/Firm/Industry Fixed effect\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 116px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 109px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 124px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYES\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 120px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAdj-R\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 116px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.121\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 109px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.209\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 124px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.267\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.228\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 120px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 116px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1427\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 109px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1878\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 124px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1741\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"width: 132px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1564\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"5. Conclusions ","content":"\u003cp\u003eCapital market liberalization has been an important issue in the reform of China's financial system, and its economic consequences have been the focus of academic attention. Taking corporate M\u0026amp;A performance as an entry point, this paper systematically examines the impact of capital market liberalization on M\u0026amp;A performance as well as the intrinsic mechanism by utilizing the quasi-natural experiment of the implementation of the\u0026nbsp;LHKC. The results show that capital market liberalization significantly enhances corporate M\u0026amp;A performance. The mechanism test results indicate that capital market liberalization enhances M\u0026amp;A performance by increasing stock liquidity, reducing agency costs, and improving the quality of information disclosure.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on the above conclusions, this study draws the following insights. First, the government should formulate corresponding policies according to the changes in the macroeconomic environment, establish a perfect risk identification as well as an early warning mechanism, control the systemic risk within the controllable range, and steadily open up China's capital market. Second, enterprises should choose investment projects carefully and focus on the integration work necessary after M\u0026amp;A. In the context of the overall low performance of M\u0026amp;A, companies should carefully choose projects that are favorable to enterprises in the process of M\u0026amp;A. Particularly, in the M\u0026amp;A valuation link, we observe a reduction in the M\u0026amp;A premium rate, easing of the pressure of post-merger and acquisition performance, and enhanced efficiency of M\u0026amp;A. Thirdly, as far as the securities analyst industry is concerned, the rules of the analyst industry should be established to enhance the ability of corporate information interpretation, alleviate the problems caused by information asymmetry, and form a perfect external supervision mechanism to effectively supervise the major shareholders' erosion of the interests of listed companies through mergers and acquisitions.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData Availability\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;All data in this paper are available through the authors.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors would like to thank all institutions and staff for their help on data cellection and suggestions on manuscript revision.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eZhong conceived the original study idea and developed the study design. Zhong and Fan collected the study materials. Zhong and Fan did the statistical analysis and interpretation. Zhong and Fan wrote the first draft of the text.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work was supported by the Jiangsu University Philosophy and Social Science Foundation Program(2023SJYB2339).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003cbr\u003eAll materials are publicly available from the survey conducted by CSMAR database, and informed consent was given on the first page of the survey. The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCorrespondence and requests for materials should be addressed to Qi\u0026rsquo;an Zhong.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eX.Liu, L.Wang, Y.Dai,Capital market liberalization and opportunistic insider sales: Evidence from China,Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money,82 ,101697.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intfin.2022.101697(2023).\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eX. Li, H. Li, X.Ge, D. 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Based on this quasi-natural experiment, our study applies the multi-period double-difference-in-differences (DID) method to examine the impact of capital market liberalization on corporate M\u0026A performance. We find that capital market liberalization effectively enhances corporate M\u0026A performance. Mechanism tests find that capital market liberalization enhances corporate M\u0026A performance by improving corporate stock liquidity, reducing agency costs and information asymmetry. The findings provide some empirical evidence for capital market liberalization and corporate M\u0026A decisions.","manuscriptTitle":"Capital Market Liberalization and Corporate M\u0026amp;A Performance: Evidence from the Land-Hong Kong Connect","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-06-04 15:32:13","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5470538/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d461c357-84b6-422d-9344-7c8e972a6532","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 4th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":49533690,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences"},{"id":49533691,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-06-04T15:32:13+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-06-04 15:32:13","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5470538","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5470538","identity":"rs-5470538","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}