IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jfinan/v76y2021i5p2359-2407.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Misallocation of Finance

Author

Listed:
  • TONI M. WHITED
  • JAKE ZHAO

Abstract

We estimate real losses arising from the cross‐sectional misallocation of financial liabilities. Extending a production‐based framework of misallocation measurement to the liabilities side of the balance sheet and using manufacturing firm data from the United States and China, we find significant misallocation of debt and equity in China but not the United States. Reallocating liabilities of firms in China to mimic U.S. efficiency would produce gains of 51% to 69% in real value‐added, with only 17% to 21% stemming from inefficient debt‐equity combinations. For Chinese firms that are large or in developed cities, we estimate lower distortionary financing costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Toni M. Whited & Jake Zhao, 2021. "The Misallocation of Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(5), pages 2359-2407, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jfinan:v:76:y:2021:i:5:p:2359-2407
    DOI: 10.1111/jofi.13031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.13031
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jofi.13031?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guariglia, Alessandra & Liu, Xiaoxuan & Song, Lina, 2011. "Internal finance and growth: Microeconometric evidence on Chinese firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 79-94, September.
    2. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2008. "Policy Distortions and Aggregate Productivity with Heterogeneous Plants," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 11(4), pages 707-720, October.
    3. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    4. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2013. "Misallocation and productivity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(1), pages 1-10, January.
    6. Christian Broda & David E. Weinstein, 2006. "Globalization and the Gains From Variety," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(2), pages 541-585.
    7. Zheng Song & Kjetil Storesletten & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2011. "Growing Like China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(1), pages 196-233, February.
    8. Shaojin Li & Toni M. Whited & Yufeng Wu, 2016. "Collateral, Taxes, and Leverage," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(6), pages 1453-1500.
    9. Goldstein, Robert & Ju, Nengjiu & Leland, Hayne, 2001. "An EBIT-Based Model of Dynamic Capital Structure," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(4), pages 483-512, October.
    10. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    11. Morris A. Davis & Jonas D. M. Fisher & Toni M. Whited, 2014. "Macroeconomic Implications of Agglomeration," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(2), pages 731-764, March.
    12. Christopher A. Hennessy & Toni M. Whited, 2007. "How Costly Is External Financing? Evidence from a Structural Estimation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1705-1745, August.
    13. Rampini, Adriano A. & Viswanathan, S., 2013. "Collateral and capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 466-492.
    14. Eric Bartelsman & John Haltiwanger & Stefano Scarpetta, 2013. "Cross-Country Differences in Productivity: The Role of Allocation and Selection," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 305-334, February.
    15. Thomas F. Cooley & Vincenzo Quadrini, 2001. "Financial Markets and Firm Dynamics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1286-1310, December.
    16. Strebulaev, Ilya A. & Whited, Toni M., 2012. "Dynamic Models and Structural Estimation in Corporate Finance," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 6(1–2), pages 1-163, November.
    17. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    18. Mark Bils, 2017. "Misallocation or Mismeasurement?," 2017 Meeting Papers 715, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    19. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    20. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2009. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1403-1448.
    21. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    22. Daniel A. Ackerberg & Kevin Caves & Garth Frazer, 2015. "Identification Properties of Recent Production Function Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 2411-2451, November.
    23. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June.
    24. Fischer, Edwin O & Heinkel, Robert & Zechner, Josef, 1989. " Dynamic Capital Structure Choice: Theory and Tests," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(1), pages 19-40, March.
    25. Richard Blundell & Stephen Bond, 2000. "GMM Estimation with persistent panel data: an application to production functions," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 321-340.
    26. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    27. Xu Tian & Dan Lu & Yan Bai, 2016. "Do Financial Frictions Explain Chinese Firms’ Saving and Misallocation," 2016 Meeting Papers 998, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    28. Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1978. "On the Size Distribution of Business Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(2), pages 508-523, Autumn.
    29. Hyeok Jeong & Robert Townsend, 2007. "Sources of TFP growth: occupational choice and financial deepening," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 32(1), pages 179-221, July.
    30. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    31. Wu, Guiying Laura, 2018. "Capital misallocation in China: Financial frictions or policy distortions?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 203-223.
    32. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2014. "The Life Cycle of Plants in India and Mexico," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(3), pages 1035-1084.
    33. Hopenhayn, Hugo & Rogerson, Richard, 1993. "Job Turnover and Policy Evaluation: A General Equilibrium Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(5), pages 915-938, October.
    34. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Stulz, René M., 2010. "Seasoned equity offerings, market timing, and the corporate lifecycle," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 275-295, March.
    35. John Asker & Allan Collard-Wexler & Jan De Loecker, 2014. "Dynamic Inputs and Resource (Mis)Allocation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(5), pages 1013-1063.
    36. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    37. Amil Petrin & James Levinsohn, 2012. "Measuring aggregate productivity growth using plant-level data," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 43(4), pages 705-725, December.
    38. Chen, Kaiji & Song, Zheng, 2013. "Financial frictions on capital allocation: A transmission mechanism of TFP fluctuations," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(6), pages 683-703.
    39. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Benjamin Moll, 2010. "Why Does Misallocation Persist?," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 189-206, January.
    40. Chadwick Curtis, 2016. "Economic Reforms and the Evolution of China's Total Factor Productivity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 21, pages 225-245, July.
    41. João Ejarque, 2002. "Do Financial Market Imperfections Affect the Cyclicality of Employment?," Discussion Papers 02-10, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    42. Banerjee, Abhijit V. & Duflo, Esther, 2005. "Growth Theory through the Lens of Development Economics," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 473-552, Elsevier.
    43. Brandt, Loren & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes & Zhang, Yifan, 2014. "Challenges of working with the Chinese NBS firm-level data," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 339-352.
    44. Arthur Korteweg, 2010. "The Net Benefits to Leverage," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(6), pages 2137-2170, December.
    45. Santiago Bazdresch & R. Jay Kahn & Toni M. Whited, 2018. "Estimating and Testing Dynamic Corporate Finance Models," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(1), pages 322-361.
    46. Virgiliu Midrigan & Daniel Yi Xu, 2014. "Finance and Misallocation: Evidence from Plant-Level Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 422-458, February.
    47. Blouin, Jennifer & Core, John E. & Guay, Wayne, 2010. "Have the tax benefits of debt been overestimated?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 195-213, November.
    48. HARRY DeANGELO & RICHARD ROLL, 2015. "How Stable Are Corporate Capital Structures?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(1), pages 373-418, February.
    49. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lin, Tse-Chun & Liu, Jinyu & Ni, Xiaoran, 2022. "Foreign bank entry deregulation and stock market stability: Evidence from staggered regulatory changes," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 185-207.
    2. Davide Luparello, 2023. "Productivity, Inputs Misallocation, and the Financial Crisis," Papers 2306.08760, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2024.
    3. Francesco Manaresi & Nicola Pierri, 2018. "Credit supply and productivity growth," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1168, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Gianmarco Bet & Francesco Dainelli & Eugenio Fabrizi, 2023. "The financial health of a company and the risk of its default: Back to the future," Papers 2302.10140, arXiv.org.
    5. Ghinami, Francesca & Montresor, Sandro, 2023. "Tangible and intangible proximities in the access to Venture Capital: evidence from Italian innovative start-ups," SocArXiv hqrj7, Center for Open Science.
    6. Simone Lenzu & Francesco Manaresi, 2019. "Sources and implications of resource misallocation: new evidence from firm-level marginal products and user costs," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 485, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    7. van der Geest, Jesse, 2024. "Economic effects of tax avoidance and compliance," Other publications TiSEM aaca33bf-975d-4e21-9b5f-5, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Andrea L. Eisfeldt & Yu Shi, 2018. "Capital Reallocation," NBER Working Papers 25085, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Shuangjie Li & Huifang E & Liming Wang & Huidan Xue, 2023. "Factor Misallocation and Optimization in China’s Manufacturing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-21, February.
    10. Shuang Jin & Wei Wang & Zilong Zhang, 2023. "The Real Effects of Implicit Government Guarantee: Evidence from Chinese State-Owned Enterprise Defaults," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(6), pages 3650-3674, June.
    11. Francesco Manaresi & Nicola Pierri, 2018. "Credit supply and productivity growth," BIS Working Papers 711, Bank for International Settlements.
    12. David, Joel M. & Schmid, Lukas & Zeke, David, 2022. "Risk-adjusted capital allocation and misallocation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 684-705.
    13. Yaqing Han & Qiangqiang Wang & Yushui Li, 2023. "Does Financial Resource Misallocation Inhibit the Improvement of Green Development Efficiency? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-21, March.
    14. Francesco Manaresi & Mr. Nicola Pierri, 2019. "Credit Supply and Productivity Growth," IMF Working Papers 2019/107, International Monetary Fund.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Toni M. Whited & Jake Zhao, 2015. "Capital Structure Misallocation," Department of Economics Working Papers 15-05, Stony Brook University, Department of Economics.
    2. Lenzu, Simone & Manaresi, Francesco, 2018. "Do Marginal Products Differ from User Costs? Micro-Level Evidence from Italian Firms," Working Papers 276, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    3. Simone Lenzu & Francesco Manaresi, 2019. "Sources and implications of resource misallocation: new evidence from firm-level marginal products and user costs," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 485, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2017. "The Causes and Costs of Misallocation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 151-174, Summer.
    5. Chen, Minjia & Matousek, Roman, 2020. "Do productive firms get external finance? Evidence from Chinese listed manufacturing firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    6. Sylvain Catherine & Thomas Chaney & Zongbo Huang & David Sraer & David Thesmar, 2022. "Quantifying Reduced‐Form Evidence on Collateral Constraints," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(4), pages 2143-2181, August.
    7. Wu, Guiying Laura, 2018. "Capital misallocation in China: Financial frictions or policy distortions?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 203-223.
    8. Ek, Chanbora & Wu, Guiying Laura, 2018. "Investment-cash flow sensitivities and capital misallocation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 220-230.
    9. G. Jacob Blackwood & Lucia S. Foster & Cheryl A. Grim & John Haltiwanger & Zoltan Wolf, 2021. "Macro and Micro Dynamics of Productivity: From Devilish Details to Insights," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 142-172, July.
    10. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/5e3g19l1fn9thpq7ldd8kqr3vu is not listed on IDEAS
    11. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5e3g19l1fn9thpq7ldd8kqr3vu is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Bento, Pedro & Restuccia, Diego, 2021. "On average establishment size across sectors and countries," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 220-242.
    13. Di Nola, Alessandro, 2015. "Capital Misallocation during the Great Recession," MPRA Paper 68289, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Douglas Gollin & Christopher Udry, 2021. "Heterogeneity, Measurement Error, and Misallocation: Evidence from African Agriculture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(1), pages 1-80.
    15. Alpysbayeva, Dinara & Vanormelingen, Stijn, 2022. "Labor market rigidities and misallocation: Evidence from a natural experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    16. Jung Ho Choi, 2021. "Accrual Accounting and Resource Allocation: A General Equilibrium Analysis," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 1179-1219, September.
    17. Lucia S. Foster & Cheryl A. Grim & John Haltiwanger & Zoltan Wolf, 2017. "Macro and Micro Dynamics of Productivity: From Devilish Details to Insights," NBER Working Papers 23666, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Bin, Peng & Chen, Xiaolan & Fracasso, Andrea & Tomasi, Chiara, 2018. "Resource allocation and productivity across provinces in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 103-113.
    19. Neira, Julian, 2019. "Bankruptcy and cross-country differences in productivity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 359-381.
    20. Bena Jan & Ondko Peter & Vourvachaki Evangelia, 2011. "Productivity Gains from Services Liberalization in Europe," EERC Working Paper Series 11/15e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    21. Dean Corbae & Pablo D'Erasmo, 2017. "Reorganization or Liquidation: Bankruptcy Choice and Firm Dynamics," NBER Working Papers 23515, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Laiqun Jin & Changwei Mo & Bochao Zhang & Bing Yu, 2018. "What Is the Focus of Structural Reform in China?—Comparison of the Factor Misallocation Degree within the Manufacturing Industry with a Unified Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jfinan:v:76:y:2021:i:5:p:2359-2407. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/afaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.