The Social Construction of Economic Value——Evidence from Financial Markets, with a Discussion on Building a Valuation System with Chinese Characteristics

This paper analyzes how economic value is socially constructed with evidence from the financial markets. Economic value emerges from the interpretive and institutional practices of market actors. In the regime of financial capitalism led by the United States, the valuation norms and behavioral logics of listed firms have evolved toward serving the interests of financial capital. This shift has been reinforced by changes in corporate narratives:firms are increasingly conceived as "nexus of contracts" and as speculative or investment vehicles. Corporate value becomes fluid, easily manipulable, and institutionally ambiguous. The resulting valuation system, mediated through financial markets, reshapes corporate behavior and stakeholder incentives, producing broader socio-economic consequences-industrial stagnation, resource misallocation, unemployment, and inequality. The paper argues for the necessity of constructing corporate narratives and value standards aligned with China's developmental realities.