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Did state-owned enterprises do better during COVID-19? Evidence from a survey of company executives in China

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  • Wu, Howei
  • Xu, Bin

Abstract

In a survey of 1,182 company executives in China, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) reported less business reductions under COVID-19. This paper examines if SOEs’ superior performance was resulted from government support rather than innate ability of coping with the pandemic. We construct a proxy for firm-level government support using firm's human resources (HR) action taken during the outbreak with firm's 2019 China revenue share as an instrument for the HR action variable. After controlling for the proxy for firm-level government support as well as other observed firm characteristics, we find SOEs in the sample performing significantly worse in the pandemic period.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, Howei & Xu, Bin, 2021. "Did state-owned enterprises do better during COVID-19? Evidence from a survey of company executives in China," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jebusi:v:115:y:2021:i:c:s0148619521000096
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconbus.2021.105991
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    Cited by:

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    3. Ziming Li & Xiangming Chen & Lei Wang, 2022. "A tale of two recoveries: uncovering the imbalance between state-driven production and private consumption in post-pandemic Wuhan, China [Evaluation of local leaders in China]," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 15(3), pages 725-746.
    4. Dian Perwitasari & Doddy Setiawan & An Nurrahmawati & Isna Putri Rahmawati, 2022. "Firm Performance during COVID-19 Pandemic: Does Ownership Identity Matter? Evidence from Indonesia," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, September.
    5. Kotcharin, Suntichai & Maneenop, Sakkakom & Jaroenjitrkam, Anutchanat, 2023. "The impact of government policy responses on airline stock return during the COVID-19 crisis," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    6. Deng, Nana & Wang, Bo & Qiu, Yueming & Liu, Jie & Shi, Han & Zhang, Bin & Wang, Zhaohua, 2022. "The discrepancies in the impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns on electricity consumption in China: Is the short-term pain worth it?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; State-owned enterprises; Firm characteristics; Survey data; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management
    • P31 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Socialist Enterprises and Their Transitions

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