Derivative Complexity and the Stock Price Crash Risk: Evidence from China
This study investigates whether and how the complexity of derivative use influences the stock price crash risk in China’s capital market, a critical question given the growing use of derivatives in emerging economies where governance structures and disclosure standards vary widely. While prior resea...
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| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Financial Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/13/2/94 |
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| author | Willa Li Yuki Gong Yuge Zhang Frank Li |
| author_facet | Willa Li Yuki Gong Yuge Zhang Frank Li |
| author_sort | Willa Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study investigates whether and how the complexity of derivative use influences the stock price crash risk in China’s capital market, a critical question given the growing use of derivatives in emerging economies where governance structures and disclosure standards vary widely. While prior research has examined the binary effects of derivative usage, limited attention has been paid to the multidimensional complexity of such instruments and its informational consequences. Using a novel hand-collected dataset of annual reports from Chinese A-share-listed firms between 2010 and 2023, we develop and implement new indicators that capture both the economic complexity (diversity and scale) and accounting complexity (reporting dispersion and fair-value hierarchy) of derivative use. Our analysis shows that higher complexity is associated with a significantly lower likelihood of stock price crashes. This effect is especially pronounced in non-state-owned firms and those with weaker internal-control systems, suggesting that derivative complexity can enhance information transparency and serve as a substitute for other governance mechanisms. These findings challenge the conventional view that complexity necessarily increases opacity and highlight the importance of disclosure quality and institutional context in shaping the market consequences of financial innovation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cef1f830d4fa4b39bbe8143ca07c525d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2227-7072 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Financial Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-cef1f830d4fa4b39bbe8143ca07c525d2025-08-20T02:21:12ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Financial Studies2227-70722025-06-011329410.3390/ijfs13020094Derivative Complexity and the Stock Price Crash Risk: Evidence from ChinaWilla Li0Yuki Gong1Yuge Zhang2Frank Li3College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USACollege of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USACollege of Economics, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, ChinaCollege of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USAThis study investigates whether and how the complexity of derivative use influences the stock price crash risk in China’s capital market, a critical question given the growing use of derivatives in emerging economies where governance structures and disclosure standards vary widely. While prior research has examined the binary effects of derivative usage, limited attention has been paid to the multidimensional complexity of such instruments and its informational consequences. Using a novel hand-collected dataset of annual reports from Chinese A-share-listed firms between 2010 and 2023, we develop and implement new indicators that capture both the economic complexity (diversity and scale) and accounting complexity (reporting dispersion and fair-value hierarchy) of derivative use. Our analysis shows that higher complexity is associated with a significantly lower likelihood of stock price crashes. This effect is especially pronounced in non-state-owned firms and those with weaker internal-control systems, suggesting that derivative complexity can enhance information transparency and serve as a substitute for other governance mechanisms. These findings challenge the conventional view that complexity necessarily increases opacity and highlight the importance of disclosure quality and institutional context in shaping the market consequences of financial innovation.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/13/2/94derivativeseconomic complexityaccounting complexitycrash risk of stock priceemerging markets |
| spellingShingle | Willa Li Yuki Gong Yuge Zhang Frank Li Derivative Complexity and the Stock Price Crash Risk: Evidence from China International Journal of Financial Studies derivatives economic complexity accounting complexity crash risk of stock price emerging markets |
| title | Derivative Complexity and the Stock Price Crash Risk: Evidence from China |
| title_full | Derivative Complexity and the Stock Price Crash Risk: Evidence from China |
| title_fullStr | Derivative Complexity and the Stock Price Crash Risk: Evidence from China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Derivative Complexity and the Stock Price Crash Risk: Evidence from China |
| title_short | Derivative Complexity and the Stock Price Crash Risk: Evidence from China |
| title_sort | derivative complexity and the stock price crash risk evidence from china |
| topic | derivatives economic complexity accounting complexity crash risk of stock price emerging markets |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/13/2/94 |
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