IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/epolit/v40y2023i1d10.1007_s40888-022-00292-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Government subsidies and total factor productivity of enterprises: a life cycle perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Yonghong Ma

    (Harbin Engineering University)

  • Huili Ni

    (Harbin Engineering University)

  • Xiaomeng Yang

    (Harbin Engineering University)

  • Lingkai Kong

    (Harbin Engineering University)

  • Chunmei Liu

    (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics)

Abstract

The relationship between government subsidies and the total factor productivity of enterprises has been a controversial issue. Recent literature has stressed that the lack of efficient institutional settings increases the tendency to rent-seeking and reduces the productivity performance of enterprises. Moreover, the productivity performances of enterprises vary with their life cycles. In this light, since increasing attention has been directed at the role of government subsidies recently, we have measured the impacts of government subsidies on the total factor productivity of enterprises by exploring the role of the rent-seeking activities and life cycle. Then, a 16-year panel dataset (1998–2013) was organized using enterprise data, which included enterprises whose annual main business income is not less than 5 million yuan from the Chinese equipment manufacturing industry. We found that government subsidies negatively affect the total factor productivity of enterprises and specifically those enterprises in the growth stage. Next, the intermediary analysis confirmed that government subsidies induce unproductive rent-seeking activities, rather than productive rent-seeking activities. Finally, the implications of government subsidy policies for supporting the total factor productivity of enterprises are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Yonghong Ma & Huili Ni & Xiaomeng Yang & Lingkai Kong & Chunmei Liu, 2023. "Government subsidies and total factor productivity of enterprises: a life cycle perspective," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(1), pages 153-188, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolit:v:40:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s40888-022-00292-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s40888-022-00292-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40888-022-00292-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40888-022-00292-6?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Papaioannou, Sotiris K., 2021. "European monetary integration, TFP and productivity convergence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    2. André Kurmann & Eric Sims, 2021. "Revisions in Utilization-Adjusted TFP and Robust Identification of News Shocks," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(2), pages 216-235, May.
    3. Yuan-pei Kuang & Jia-li Yang & Meseret-Chanie Abate, 2021. "Farmland transfer and agricultural economic growth nexus in China: agricultural TFP intermediary effect perspective," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(1), pages 184-201, April.
    4. David R. Gallagher & Katja Ignatieva & James McCulloch & Henk Berkman, 2015. "Industry concentration, excess returns and innovation in Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 55(2), pages 443-466, June.
    5. Alessandro Bellocchi & Edgar J. Sanchez Carrera & Giuseppe Travaglini, 2021. "What drives TFP long-run dynamics in five large European economies?," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(2), pages 569-595, July.
    6. Du, Weijian & Li, Mengjie & Wang, Faming, 2020. "Role of rent-seeking or technological progress in maintaining the monopoly power of energy enterprises: An empirical analysis based on micro-data from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    7. Eitan Goldman & Jörg Rocholl & Jongil So, 2009. "Do Politically Connected Boards Affect Firm Value?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(6), pages 2331-2360, June.
    8. Jonas Osei-Adu & Robert Aidoo & Simon Cudjoe Fialor & Stella Ama Ennin & Kingsley Osei & Bright Owusu Asante, 2021. "The role of improved technology to enhance Total Factor Productivity (TFP): The case of quality seed yam production in Ghana and Nigeria," African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 147-156, February.
    9. Sheng, Yu & Zhao, Shiji & Yang, Sansi, 2021. "Weather shocks, adaptation and agricultural TFP: A cross-region comparison of Australian Broadacre farms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    10. Jingxia Chai & Yu Hao & Haitao Wu & Yuemiao Yang, 2021. "Do constraints created by economic growth targets benefit sustainable development? Evidence from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 4188-4205, December.
    11. Wu, Ting & Yang, Shuwang & Tan, Jingjing, 2020. "Impacts of government R&D subsidies on venture capital and renewable energy investment -- an empirical study in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    12. Kong, Dongmin & Tao, Yunqing & Wang, Yanan, 2020. "China's anti-corruption campaign and firm productivity: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    13. Ge, Jiali & Fu, Yang & Xie, Rui & Liu, Yu & Mo, Wenyang, 2018. "The effect of GVC embeddedness on productivity improvement: From the perspective of R&D and government subsidy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 22-31.
    14. Krueger, Anne O, 1974. "The Political Economy of the Rent-Seeking Society," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(3), pages 291-303, June.
    15. Brandt, Loren & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes & Zhang, Yifan, 2012. "Creative accounting or creative destruction? Firm-level productivity growth in Chinese manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 339-351.
    16. Bin Li & Shuai Shi & Yating Zeng, 2020. "The Impact of Haze Pollution on Firm-Level TFP in China: Test of a Mediation Model of Labor Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-21, October.
    17. Rawat, Pankaj S. & Sharma, Seema, 2021. "TFP growth, technical efficiency and catch-up dynamics: Evidence from Indian manufacturing," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    18. Philippe Aghion & Xavier Jaravel, 2015. "Knowledge Spillovers, Innovation and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0(583), pages 533-573, March.
    19. Kristina Barauskaite & Anh Dinh Minh Nguyen, 2021. "Direct and network effects of idiosyncratic TFP shocks," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(6), pages 2765-2793, June.
    20. Bernini, Cristina & Cerqua, Augusto & Pellegrini, Guido, 2017. "Public subsidies, TFP and efficiency: A tale of complex relationships," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 751-767.
    21. Bardaka, Ioanna & Bournakis, Ioannis & Kaplanoglou, Georgia, 2021. "Total factor productivity (TFP) and fiscal consolidation: How harmful is austerity?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 908-922.
    22. Daniel Brou & Michele Ruta, 2013. "Rent-Seeking, Market Structure, and Growth," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 115(3), pages 878-901, July.
    23. Christine Ngoc Ngo & Charles R. McCann, 2019. "Rethinking rent seeking for technological change and development," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 721-740, April.
    24. Jia, Fei & Ma, Xiuying & Xu, Xiangyun & Xie, Lijuan, 2020. "The differential role of manufacturing and non-manufacturing TFP growth in economic growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 174-183.
    25. Yuan-pei Kuang & Jia-li Yang & Meseret-Chanie Abate, 2021. "Farmland transfer and agricultural economic growth nexus in China: agricultural TFP intermediary effect perspective," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(1), pages 184-201, April.
    26. Xiaoheng Zhang & Xu Tian, 2020. "Firm-Level TFP Growth in the Chinese Automobile Industry," Frontiers of Economics in China-Selected Publications from Chinese Universities, Higher Education Press, vol. 15(1), pages 103-123, March.
    27. Jürgen Antony & Torben Klarl & Erik E. Lehmann, 2017. "Productive and harmful entrepreneurship in a knowledge economy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 189-202, June.
    28. Qiang Li & Jing-Jing Guo & Wei Liu & Xiao-Guang Yue & Nelson Duarte & Carla Pereira, 2020. "How Knowledge Acquisition Diversity Affects Innovation Performance during the Technological Catch-Up in Emerging Economies: A Moderated Inverse U-Shape Relationship," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, January.
    29. Hamid Etemad, 2018. "Early strategic heritage: The carryover effect on entrepreneurial firm’s life cycle," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 441-455, December.
    30. Zhuang Xiong & Pengju Wang & Yu Zhao, 2020. "Re-Innovation from Failure, Institutional Environmental Differences, and Firm Performance: Evidence from China," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 22(53), pages 197-197, February.
    31. Ondřej Dvouletý & Ivana Blažková, 2019. "The Impact of Public Grants on Firm-Level Productivity: Findings from the Czech Food Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-24, January.
    32. Zhanhua Jia & Guofeng Gu, 2021. "Is Local Government Intervention Effective In Promoting The Tfp Of An Old Industrial Area? — A Spatial Econometric Analysis Of Northeast China," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 66(03), pages 933-951, June.
    33. Ciabuschi, Francesco & Dellestrand, Henrik & Kappen, Philip, 2012. "The good, the bad, and the ugly: Technology transfer competence, rent-seeking, and bargaining power," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 664-674.
    34. Feng, Qun & Shi, Xuejun & Zhang, Jianghua, 2019. "Influence of rent-seeking on safety supervision in Chinese construction: Based on a simulation technology," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 1-9.
    35. Sun, Kege & Wu, Libo, 2020. "Efficiency distortion of the power generation sector under the dual regulation of price and quantity in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    36. Sui Luo & Yu‐Fan Huang & Richard Startz, 2021. "Are Recoveries all the Same: GDP and TFP?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 83(5), pages 1111-1129, October.
    37. Chiau-Shi Yang & Jonchi Shyu, 2019. "Do institutional investor and group, firm and time effects matter in enterprise performance in the corporate life cycle?," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 1606473-160, January.
    38. Mai Huong Giang & Tran Dang Xuan & Bui Huy Trung & Mai Thanh Que, 2019. "Total Factor Productivity of Agricultural Firms in Vietnam and Its Relevant Determinants," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-12, January.
    39. Coad, Alex & Segarra, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2016. "Innovation and firm growth: Does firm age play a role?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 387-400.
    40. Tomasz Kijek & Anna Matras-Bolibok, 2019. "The relationship between TFP and innovation performance: evidence from EU regions," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 14(4), pages 695-709, December.
    41. Duan Haiyan & Kamran Ahmed & Marthin Nanere, 2021. "Life Cycle, Competitive Strategy, Continuous Innovation And Firm Performance," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 25(01), pages 1-23, January.
    42. Claudiu Tiberiu Albulescu & Serban Miclea & Eugenia Grecu, 2022. "Firm-level TFP convergence: an application to the German electricity and gas industry," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(9), pages 805-811, May.
    43. Bilal Ahmed & Minhas Akbar & Tanazza Sabahat & Saqib Ali & Ammar Hussain & Ahsan Akbar & Xie Hongming, 2020. "Does Firm Life Cycle Impact Corporate Investment Efficiency?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Tao, Zhang & Huang, Xiao Yue & Dang, Yi Jing & Qiao, Sen, 2022. "The impact of factor market distortions on profit sustainable growth of Chinese renewable energy enterprises: The moderating effect of environmental regulation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 1068-1080.
    2. Andrew Smith & Graham Brownlow, 2023. "Informal Institutions as Inhibitors of Rent-Seeking Entrepreneurship: Evidence From U.S. Legal History," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2323-2346, November.
    3. He, Wenjian & Chen, Xiaoyang & Liu, Zhiyong John, 2022. "Can anti-corruption help realize the “strong” Porter Hypothesis in China? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Tan Ngoc Vu & Duc Hong Vo & Michael McAleer, 2019. "Rent seeking for export licenses: Application to the Vietnam rice market," Documentos de Trabajo del ICAE 2019-13, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Instituto Complutense de Análisis Económico.
    5. Tang, Xuesong & Lin, Yan & Peng, Qing & Du, Jun & Chan, Kam C., 2016. "Politically connected directors and firm value: Evidence from forced resignations in China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 148-167.
    6. Lin, Benxi & Du, Ruiying & Dong, Zekuan & Jin, Shaosheng & Liu, Weipin, 2020. "The impact of foreign direct investment on the productivity of the Chinese forest products industry," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    7. Li, Zhen & Wu, Baijun & Wang, Danyang & Tang, Maogang, 2022. "Government mandatory energy-biased technological progress and enterprises' environmental performance: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment of cleaner production standards in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    8. Gul, Ferdinand A. & Munir, Sa'adiah & Zhang, Liang, 2016. "Ethnicity, politics and firm performance: Evidence from Malaysia," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 40(PA), pages 115-129.
    9. Nys, Emmanuelle & Tarazi, Amine & Trinugroho, Irwan, 2015. "Political connections, bank deposits, and formal deposit insurance," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 83-104.
    10. Matthew D. Mitchell, 2019. "Uncontestable favoritism," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 181(1), pages 167-190, October.
    11. Feng, Xunan & Johansson, Anders C. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2015. "Mixing business with politics: Political participation by entrepreneurs in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 220-235.
    12. Ji, Xiaoqing & Liu, Shuai & Lang, Jingyi, 2022. "Assessing the impact of officials' turnover on urban economic efficiency: From the perspective of political promotion incentive and power rent-seeking incentive," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    13. Dongmin Kong & Lu Shi, 2023. "Financial constraints and political catering disclosures of non‐state‐owned firms: Evidence from textual analysis," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(4), pages 4533-4563, December.
    14. Daniele Moschella & Federico Tamagni & Xiaodan Yu, 2019. "Persistent high-growth firms in China’s manufacturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 573-594, March.
    15. Ondřej Dvouletý & Stjepan Srhoj & Smaranda Pantea, 2021. "Public SME grants and firm performance in European Union: A systematic review of empirical evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 243-263, June.
    16. Emmanuelle Nys & Amine Tarazi & Irwan Trinugroho, 2013. "Political Connections, Bank Deposits, and Formal Deposit Insurance: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Working Papers hal-00916513, HAL.
    17. Hu, Shan & Yu, Yongze & Fei, Qingyu, 2023. "Social credit and patent quality: Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    18. Brzić, Barbara & Dabić, Marina & Kukura, Frane & Podobnik, Boris, 2021. "The effects of corruption and the fraction of private ownership on the productivity of telecommunication companies," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    19. Kostovetsky, Leonard, 2015. "Political capital and moral hazard," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 144-159.
    20. Xie, Rui & Zhang, Jiahuan & Tang, Chuan, 2023. "Political connection and water pollution: New evidence from Chinese listed firms," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Government subsidies; Total factor productivity; Rent-seeking; Life cycle;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

    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:spr:epolit:v:40:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s40888-022-00292-6. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.