Legal unification, financial regulatory intensity, and the enhancement of economic performance in the Greater Bay Area

Chunzi Shao, Xiaoxin Chen, Rui Liu and Jiaxin Li

International Review of Economics & Finance, 2025, vol. 103, issue C

Abstract: Based on data from listed companies in the Greater Bay Area from 2011 to 2023, this paper extensively explores the relationship and underlying mechanisms among legal unification, the intensity of financial regulation, and economic performance in the Greater Bay Area. The study demonstrates a significant positive correlation between legal unification and the region's economic performance, indicating that as the legal system becomes more coordinated and unified, the economic performance of the Greater Bay Area improves substantially. However, this relationship exhibits notable heterogeneity across firms of different sizes, with large enterprises benefiting more from legal unification, while small enterprises experience a lesser impact. Further analysis reveals that the intensity of financial regulation plays a significant moderating role between legal unification and economic performance. Specifically, in large enterprises, stronger financial regulation further enhances the positive effect of legal unification on economic performance, whereas in small enterprises, this moderating effect is relatively limited. The study also finds that legal unification indirectly boosts economic performance by promoting greater market integration, suggesting that market integration is a crucial pathway through which legal unification enhances economic outcomes. Overall, this research highlights the pivotal roles of legal unification and financial regulation in driving the high-quality economic development of the Greater Bay Area and offers empirical evidence to inform policymakers in optimizing regional legal frameworks and financial regulatory policies.

Keywords: Legal unification; Financial regulation intensity; Enhancement of economic performance in the Greater Bay Area; Market integration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056025006100
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:reveco:v:103:y:2025:i:c:s1059056025006100

DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2025.104447

Access Statistics for this article

International Review of Economics & Finance is currently edited by H. Beladi and C. Chen

More articles in International Review of Economics & Finance from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().