Media attention and corporate risk-taking: Evidence from China

Using a dataset of 2678 publicly listed Chinese companies covering 2007 to 2019, we investigate the effect of media attention on corporate risk-taking. The findings reveal a significant positive correlation between media attention and corporate risk-taking with information asymmetry and quality of information disclosure acting as intermediaries. Further analysis indicates that media attention amplifies corporate risk-taking under certain circumstances, including analyst coverage, the percentage of shares held by major shareholders, board size, executive compensation, and independent directors or separation of the chairperson and CEO roles. Our study provides valuable insights for effectively addressing media-related challenges nationally and in corporations.