Yiwei Li

Using a unique dataset on land-use in China, we find that the presence of parks and green areas within a 1-km radius of firms’ geographic locations is positively associated with the number of green patents filed and their future citations. Our path analysis shows that firms surrounded by green spaces are more likely to appoint CEOs and directors with environmental expertise and exhibit a greater strategic emphasis on innovation in corporate disclosures, both of which contribute to enhanced green innovation. The relation between green space coverage and green innovation is stronger for firms operating in highly competitive markets, with weaker pioneering innovation capabilities, higher business diversification, greater public environmental attention, and lower corporate social responsibility performance. Together, these findings highlight the positive role of urban green spaces as a micro-geographic factor in corporate sustainability and green innovation, consistent with biophilia theory, which posits that integrating natural elements into working environments is positively associated with emotional well-being and supports higher-order creative outcomes.

Insider trading has long been scrutinized in corporate law, finance, and business ethics, yet whether politicians trade on insider information—and if so, whether this breaches their fiduciary duty—remains unsettled. Drawing on the perspectives of social contract theory and virtue ethics, this study examines the ethical implications of U.S. senators exploiting nonpublic, bill-related information for personal gain. We analyze a comprehensive dataset of senators’ equity trades from 2014 to 2021, matched with legislative bill data classified using natural language processing to identify key legislative milestones: introduction, engrossment, enrollment, and enactment. Our findings reveal that trades executed just prior to critical legislative events yield significant abnormal returns. We also document patterns consistent with stealth trading, in which senators sequentially trade leading up to legislative decisions. Furthermore, senators with greater legislative influence realize higher abnormal returns, highlighting the financial benefits of privileged information. To address these ethical concerns, we propose a “contingent freedom” framework, restricting senators’ trading during critical legislative periods. This approach aims to balance ethical integrity and individual financial autonomy by mitigating conflicts of interest.