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Fiscal stress and the formation of zombie firms: Evidence from China

Author

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  • Cai, Guowei
  • Zhang, Xuejiao
  • Yang, Hao

Abstract

We investigate the causality between government fiscal stress and the formation of zombie firms. We use the province-managing-county reform recently initiated in China to exogenously identify the change in financial pressures of local governments. Matching industrial firm data and county economic data from 1999 to 2013, we carry out difference-in-differences estimation and find that the possibility of zombie firms' formation significantly decreases after the reform. Specifically, the suppression effect is more pronounced in counties with low level of initial economic development, more debt stocks, poor financial situations, and high employment pressures. Further, the mechanism analysis shows that the reform improves firms' performance, such as productivity and profitability, through the decline of tax burden, which inhibits the formation of zombie firms. Our study contributes to a profound understanding of the causes of zombie firms in a large transition economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Cai, Guowei & Zhang, Xuejiao & Yang, Hao, 2022. "Fiscal stress and the formation of zombie firms: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:71:y:2022:i:c:s1043951x21001383
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2021.101720
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    Cited by:

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    2. Fei Peng & Shibiao Zhou & Tao Ding & Huaqing Wu, 2023. "Impact of fiscal expenditure stress on green transformation risk: evidence from China education authority reform," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 4565-4601, December.
    3. Xu Zhang & Tianchu Feng & Chengjun Wang & Chaozhu Li, 2023. "Local Fiscal Pressure and Public Health: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Luo, Yuwei & Mei, Dongzhou, 2023. "The shortage of safe assets and China's housing boom," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    5. Wei Shao & Ziqi Chen & Huaiyu Liu, 2022. "How do political connections affect the formation of zombie firms? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing listed enterprises," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 36(2), pages 17-31, November.
    6. Clément Imbert & Joan Monras & Marlon Seror & Yanos Zylberberg, 2023. "Floating Population: Migration With(Out) Family and the Spatial Distribution of Economic Activity," Working Paper Series 2023-26, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Zombie firms; Fiscal reform; Province-managing-county; Fiscal stress;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General
    • P27 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Performance and Prospects

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