IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chieco/v94y2025ipas1043951x25001889.html

How government fiscal decentralization shapes bank competition dynamics: City-level evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Chenzi
  • Si, Qinru
  • Wang, Xiaoyan
  • Li, Jinwei

Abstract

Fiscal decentralization has played an increasingly prominent role in driving China's economic growth, yet its influence on distortions in banking competition remains insufficiently examined. Drawing on data from 250 Chinese banks, we show that increased municipal government fiscal expenditure enhances local banks' market power, primarily by improving the performance of local firms, facilitating industrial upgrading, and driving digital advancements. This effect is especially pronounced for non-central state-owned banks with lower customer concentration and less capital-intensive operations in vibrant and central cities. Additionally, the effects of fiscal reform and the establishment of bankruptcy courts work in tandem to ensure bank market positions. Furthermore, while government expenditure may have a delayed but escalating impact on market power, the long-term influence of fiscal decentralization is more likely to shape banks' risk-weighted lending portfolios, even as improvements in bank efficiency may diminish over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Chenzi & Si, Qinru & Wang, Xiaoyan & Li, Jinwei, 2025. "How government fiscal decentralization shapes bank competition dynamics: City-level evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:94:y:2025:i:pa:s1043951x25001889
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102530
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X25001889
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102530?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pan, Kai & Cheng, Chengping & Kirikkaleli, Dervis & Genç, Sema Yılmaz, 2021. "Does financial risk and fiscal decentralization curb resources curse hypothesis in China? Analyzing the role of globalization," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Stijn Claessens & Luc Laeven, 2004. "What drives bank competition? Some international evidence," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, pages 563-592.
    3. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September.
    4. Zhao, Wensha & Guo, Qingbin, 2024. "Temporal and spatial heterogeneity of resource misallocation in Chinese banks and its influential factors," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Alice Y. Ouyang & Rui Li, 2021. "Fiscal decentralization and the default risk of Chinese local government debts," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 641-667, July.
    6. Louis S. Jacobson & Robert J. LaLonde & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1993. "Long-term earnings losses of high-seniority displaced workers," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 17(Nov), pages 2-20.
    7. Jing Jin & Chunli Shen & Qian Wang & Heng-fu Zou, 2012. "Decentralization in China," CEMA Working Papers 546, China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics.
    8. Justin Yifu Lin & Zhiqiang Liu, 2000. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth in China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(1), pages 1-21.
    9. Chong, Terence Tai-Leung & Lu, Liping & Ongena, Steven, 2013. "Does banking competition alleviate or worsen credit constraints faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3412-3424.
    10. Roy Bahl & Sally Wallace, 2007. "Intergovernmental Transfers: The Vertical Sharing Dimension," Springer Books, in: Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Bob Searle (ed.), Fiscal Equalization, chapter 0, pages 205-249, Springer.
    11. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Roberto Ezcurra, 2010. "Does decentralization matter for regional disparities? A cross-country analysis," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(5), pages 619-644, September.
    12. Haonan Chen & Xiaoyang Yang, 2024. "A Study of Spatial Spillovers from Fiscal Decentralization on the Efficiency of Green Economy—And the Moderating Role of Financial Decentralization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-21, July.
    13. Jin, Hehui & Qian, Yingyi & Weingast, Barry R., 2005. "Regional decentralization and fiscal incentives: Federalism, Chinese style," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1719-1742, September.
    14. Daniel Treisman, 2006. "Fiscal Decentralization, Governance, And Economic Performance: A Reconsideration," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 219-235, July.
    15. Zheng Li & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2024. "Fiscal decentralization and interregional Capital misallocation: evidence from China," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 56-89, January.
    16. Laeven, Luc & Levine, Ross, 2009. "Bank governance, regulation and risk taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 259-275, August.
    17. Song, Yang, 2013. "Rising Chinese regional income inequality: The role of fiscal decentralization," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 294-309.
    18. Shah, Anwar, 2005. "Fiscal decentralization and fiscal performance," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3786, The World Bank.
    19. Zhu, Jun & Zhu, Man & Yang, Zhiwei, 2024. "The financialization of local government debt in China and its risk transmission to commercial banks," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    20. Chunli Shen & Jing Jin & Heng-fu Zou, 2012. "Fiscal Decentralization in China: History, Impact, Challenges and Next Steps," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 13(1), pages 1-51, May.
    21. Weingast, Barry R., 2009. "Second generation fiscal federalism: The implications of fiscal incentives," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 279-293, May.
    22. Allen N. Berger & Leora F. Klapper & Rima Turk-Ariss, 2017. "Bank competition and financial stability," Chapters, in: Jacob A. Bikker & Laura Spierdijk (ed.), Handbook of Competition in Banking and Finance, chapter 10, pages 185-204, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    23. Degryse, Hans & Kim, Moshe & Ongena, Steven, 2009. "Microeconometrics of Banking Methods, Applications, and Results," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195340471.
    24. Zhang, Tao & Zou, Heng-fu, 1998. "Fiscal decentralization, public spending, and economic growth in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 221-240, February.
    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. Xiaodong Chen & Haoming Mi & Peng Zhou, 2024. "Whether to decentralize and how to decentralize? The optimal fiscal federalism in an endogenous growth model," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(29), pages 3499-3516, June.
    2. Antonio N. Bojanic, 2018. "The Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on Accountability, Economic Freedom, and Political and Civil Liberties in the Americas," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, February.
    3. Tristan Canare, 2021. "Decentralization and Development Outcomes: What Does the Empirical Literature Really Say?," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 237(2), pages 111-151, June.
    4. Qichun He & Meng Sun, 2018. "Does Fiscal Decentralization Increase the Investment Rate? Evidence from Chinese Panel Data," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 19(1), pages 75-101, May.
    5. Zhiguo Wang & Liang Ma, 2014. "Fiscal Decentralization in China: A Literature Review," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 15(1), pages 51-65, May.
    6. Brehm, Stefan, 2013. "Fiscal Incentives, Public Spending, and Productivity – County-Level Evidence from a Chinese Province," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 92-103.
    7. Yixin Chen & Bingyang Lyu & Guangrong Ma, 2024. "Revenue sharing, fiscal incentives, and economic growth: Evidence from China," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(1), pages 149-183, February.
    8. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Agnese Sacchi, 2017. "The Impact Of Fiscal Decentralization: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1095-1129, September.
    9. Yang, Zhou, 2016. "Tax reform, fiscal decentralization, and regional economic growth: New evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 520-528.
    10. Wang, Zhiguo & Ma, Liang, 2012. "New Development of Fiscal Decentralization in China," MPRA Paper 36918, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Antonio N. Bojanic, 2016. "Fiscal Decentralization, Economic Freedom, and Political and Civil Liberties in the Americas," Working Papers 1609, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    12. Anping Chen & Nicolaas Groenewold, 2013. "The national and regional effects of fiscal decentralisation in China," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 51(3), pages 731-760, December.
    13. Liangliang Liu, 2021. "Fiscal decentralization and the imbalance between consumption and investment in China," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 66(1), pages 1-17, February.
    14. Li, Lei & Luo, Changtuo, 2023. "Does administrative decentralization promote outward foreign direct investment and productivity? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    15. Yang, Xiaoliang & Barros, Lucy & Matthews, Kent & Meenagh, David, 2024. "The dynamics of redistribution, inequality and growth across China’s regions," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 613-637.
    16. Anping Chen & Nicolaas Groenewold, 2011. "Regional Equality and National Development in China: Is There a Trade‐Off?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 628-669, December.
    17. Chen, Yixin & Lyu, Bingyang & Niu, Mengqi, 2026. "Balancing efficiency and equity in fiscal decentralization: theory and evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    18. Pi-Han Tsai, 2016. "Fiscal incentives and political budget cycles in China," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(6), pages 1030-1073, December.
    19. Lv, Bingyang & Liu, Yongzheng & Li, Yan & Ding, Siying, 2018. "Fiscal incentives, competition, and investment in China," BOFIT Discussion Papers 20/2018, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    20. Gradstein, Mark, 2017. "Government decentralization as a commitment in non-democracies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 110-118.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    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:eee:chieco:v:94:y:2025:i:pa:s1043951x25001889. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chieco .

    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.