Modern Economics & Management Forum

This study integrates corporate strategy selection and expense stickiness into a unified research framework, using A-share listed companies from 2019 to 2023 as a sample to empirically examine the relationship between corporate strategy and expense stickiness, as well as its underlying mechanisms. The empirical results indicate that the more aggressive the corporate strategy, the stronger the expense stickiness. Offensive strategies tend to exacerbate expense stickiness, while defensive strategies significantly mitigate it. Corporate strategies influence expense stickiness through adjustment costs and agency costs, which serve as mediating mechanisms in the relationship between competitive strategy and expense stickiness.