In this paper, we use the multi-stage network slacks-based measure model under uncertainty to evaluate the performance of Taiwanese financial holding companies (FHCs) from 2007 to 2012. We conceptualize the value creation process to be a two-stage framework, as the profitability and the marketability stages with a serial-linkage relationship, in order to solicit more information from the value creation process of FHCs. Under this framework, the profitability stage can be further divided into banking, insurance, and securities profitability sub-stages. In addition, we further extend the proposed model mentioned above to not only incorporate the NPLs as the undesirable output in the banking profitability stage but also use the fuzzy set approach to process its uncertainty. Results indicate that the discriminatory ability of our model is higher when we simplify the variables in the model specification. We also find that all Taiwanese FHCs in that particular period were “inefficient performers”, which is mainly attributed to the weak profitability performance, especially in banking service. We postulate that the global financial crisis, the US subprime crisis in particular, had a negative effect on the value creation performance of Taiwanese FHCs; however, they gradually recovered and improved their performance after the crisis.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance on audit pricing and examine how linguistic impression management in annual reports reshapes this relationship. Specifically, it explores the role of abnormal positive tone as a mechanism that either facilitates or suppresses the transmission of ESG signals into audit fees across auditors of differing quality. Design/methodology/approach: Using a panel data set of 3,386 nonfinancial Chinese listed firms from 2010 to 2022, this study integrates textual analysis with econometric modeling to quantify abnormal positive tone and assess its interaction with ESG performance. The analysis uses a dual-path framework to disentangle substantive risk-mitigation signals from symbolic rhetorical manipulation. To ensure robustness, this study incorporates alternative ESG measures, lagged variables, propensity score matching and Heckman two-stage models. Findings: Results reveal that ESG performance significantly reduces audit fees exclusively for firms audited by high-quality auditors, suggesting that these auditors effectively translate ESG credentials into lower risk assessments. In contrast, this relationship is absent among lower-quality auditors. Crucially, this study identifies a significant suppression effect among the lower-quality auditors: while superior ESG performance reduces inherent risk, it simultaneously induces abnormal positive tone, where the upward pricing pressure from identified narrative risks offsets the risk-mitigating benefits of ESG performance. This internal conflict between substantive signals and rhetorical noise leads to pricing paralysis, where the fee-reduction benefits of ESG are effectively neutralized. Conversely, high-quality auditors exhibit governance-deterrence, filtering out narrative noise to achieve superior audit pricing efficiency. Originality/value: This study contributes to the audit pricing literature by introducing narrative tone as a behavioral channel through which ESG performance shapes auditors’ judgments. It integrates impression management theory with audit quality and reputation frameworks, offering a nuanced understanding of how linguistic cues influence risk perception. Methodologically, it advances research on nonfinancial conduct by operationalizing narrative tone as a measurable indicator of disclosure risk, highlighting that audit quality is the fundamental determinant of whether ESG performance is priced as a reliable signal or dismissed as rhetorical noise.

Implemented the Belt and Road Initiative as a quasi-natural experiment, this article examines the impact of the Belt and Road initiative on the trade credit supply of Chinese enterprises using the DID method. Based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2017, the study finds that the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative has reduced the level of trade credit supply for Chinese enterprises. Further research finds that the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative has significantly reduced the trade credit supply level of private enterprises and large enterprises. The test based on industrial heterogeneity shows that the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative has strongly reduced the level of trade credit supply in the manufacturing industry and emerging industries. The economic consequences test presents that the Belt and Road initiative is capable to effectively alleviate the crowding-out effect of the trade credit supply on corporate investment. This article provides a timely feedback on the economic effects of the Belt and Road initiative, meanwhile serves as a supplement and further development of the product quality assurance theory by trade credit.