Policy-oriented restart of supply and demand after COVID-19: firm-level evidence for China

Purpose - China is the only major economy in the world that has achieved positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2020. The paper aims to explore the effect of China's public policy restarting supply and consumption after coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Design/methodology/approach - Affected by the epidemic, global economic growth slowed down. Using the stock price data of Chinese A-share listed company, combining natural experiment and event study method, the paper examines the policy effects of work resumption and consumer vouchers. Findings - Compared with demand capacity, the work resumption has a more significant role in promoting the supply industry. Issuing consumer vouchers can effectively promote local demand recovery, and the effect is mainly concentrated in the industries involved in consumption vouchers. At the same time, public management capacity and the income level of residents play an important role in restarting supply and demand. Practical implications - Understanding China's public policies and effects are of positive significance to the restoration of economic development in other countries. Originality/value - The study contributes to knowledge by empirically examining the effect of China's public policies against the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper also expands the scope of policy-oriented research based on the perspective of supply and demand capacity building.