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The Chinese Corporate Savings Puzzle: A Firm-Level Cross-Country Perspective

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Author Info

  • Tamim Bayoumi

    (International Monetary Fund)

  • Hui Tong

    (International Monetary Fund)

  • Shang-Jin Wei

    (Columbia University and Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research)

Abstract

China's high corporate savings rate is commonly claimed to be a key driver for the country's large current account surplus. The mainstream explanation for high corporate savings is a combination of windfall profits in state-owned firms, especially in resource sectors, and mis-governance of state-owned firms represented by their low dividend payout. The paper casts doubt on these views by comparing the savings of 1557 Chinese listed firms with those of 29330 listed firms from 51 other countries over 2002 to 2007. First, Chinese firms do not have a significantly higher savings rate than the global average because corporations in most countries have a high savings rate. The rising corporate savings rate is also consistent with a global trend. Second, there is no significant difference in the savings behavior and dividend patterns between Chinese majority state-owned and private listed firms, contrary to the received wisdom.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research in its series Working Papers with number 202012.

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Length: 33 pages
Date of creation: Aug 2012
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hkm:wpaper:202012

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References

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  1. Hui Tong & Shang-Jin Wei, 2010. "The Composition Matters: Capital Inflows and Liquidity Crunch during a Global Economic Crisis," Working Papers 172010, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research.
  2. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2001. "Disappearing dividends: changing firm characteristics or lower propensity to pay?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 3-43, April.
  3. Shang-Jin Wei & Xiaobo Zhang, 2009. "The Competitive Saving Motive: Evidence from Rising Sex Ratios and Savings Rates in China," NBER Working Papers 15093, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  4. Wurgler, Jeffrey, 2000. "Financial markets and the allocation of capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 187-214.
  5. Thomas W. Bates & Kathleen M. Kahle & René M. Stulz, 2009. "Why Do U.S. Firms Hold So Much More Cash than They Used To?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(5), pages 1985-2021, October.
  6. Art Durnev & Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung, 2004. "Value-Enhancing Capital Budgeting and Firm-specific Stock Return Variation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(1), pages 65-105, 02.
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Cited by:
  1. Dennis Tao Yang & Junsen Zhang & Shaojie Zhou, 2011. "Why Are Saving Rates So High in China?," NBER Chapters, in: Capitalizing China, pages 249-278 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  2. Rod Tyers & Ying Zhang, 2011. "Japan's Economic Recovery: Insights from Multi-Region Dynamics," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 11-13, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
  3. Dew, Ed & Martin, Jeremy & Giese, Julia & Zinna, Gabriele, 2011. "China's changing growth pattern," Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Bank of England, vol. 51(1), pages 49-56.
  4. Joseph Fan & Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung, 2011. "Capitalizing China," NBER Working Papers 17687, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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