Does RMB exchange rate regime reform decrease corporate risk-taking? Evidence from China

This paper investigates the impact of the RMB exchange rate regime reform on corporate risk- taking, utilizing Chinese non-financial firm-level data from 2000 to 2022. The results show that the RMB exchange rate regime reform helps decrease corporate risk-taking by decreasing the RMB exchange rate expectations uncertainty, enhancing capital allocation efficiency, and stabilizing the investor structure. These results remain robust to changing variable measurements and estimation methods, removing policy shocks and endogeneity concerns. Our findings highlight the significance of currency liberalization in stabilizing corporate risk attitudes and promoting the improvement of market efficiency.