A Study on the Impact of Short Sale Trading Systems on External Financing Constraints for Enterprises
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54691/448jtd75Keywords:
Short Selling Mechanism; Financing Constraints; Difference-in-Differences Method; Information Asymmetry; Corporate Governance.Abstract
Addressing the financing difficulties of enterprises has always been a crucial objective in optimizing China's capital market system. As a fundamental trading rule in the securities market, the effect of short selling on financing constraints is subject to two opposing views in academia: the " deterioration theory" and the "improvement theory". This paper uses non-financial listed companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets from 2010 to 2022as the observation sample, employing a multi-period difference-in-differences model and a mediation effect test to systematically evaluate the policy effects of the short selling system. Empirical results show that the introduction of the short selling mechanism significantly exacerbates the financing constraints of enterprises, a conclusion that remains robust even after dealing with potential endogeneity biases. Mechanism testing confirms that the short selling system works through two paths: compressing information asymmetry and optimizing internal governance structure. However, negative signaling effects dominate , outweighing the positive contribution of information improvement. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the aggravating effect of short selling is more pronounced among private enterprises, groups with low information transparency, and those already facing significant financing pressure, exhibiting distinct structural differences.
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