IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0293494.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local government debt and labor income share: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Yuanlin Wu
  • Cunzhi Tian
  • Lifang Li

Abstract

This study employs a CES production function to construct a theoretical model of labor income share and uses a two-way fixed effects model to test the causal effects of local government debt (LGD) on the labor income share of enterprises. Local government debt governance policies are utilized as exogenous shocks, and a DID (Difference-in-Differences) model is applied for endogeneity testing. The results have passed a series of robustness checks. The findings suggest that LGD decreases the share of firms’ labor income. The mechanism analysis suggests that LGD lowers the labor remuneration of residents, the employment of labor in enterprises, and the size of bank loans mainly; while raising the cost of using funds in enterprises. Moreover, this negative effect is more apparent in non-state-owned enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises, and enterprises with high financing constraints. This study presents new evidence on how the labor income share of enterprises is affected from the perspective by local governments in China. It has important implications for further deepening local government debt governance and achieving common prosperity.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuanlin Wu & Cunzhi Tian & Lifang Li, 2023. "Local government debt and labor income share: Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(10), pages 1-24, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0293494
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293494
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0293494
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0293494&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0293494?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alvarez-Cuadrado, Francisco & Long, Ngo Van & Poschke, Markus, 2018. "Capital-labor substitution, structural change and the labor income share," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 206-231.
    2. Viral V Acharya & Tim Eisert & Christian Eufinger & Christian Hirsch, 2018. "Real Effects of the Sovereign Debt Crisis in Europe: Evidence from Syndicated Loans," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(8), pages 2855-2896.
    3. Wang, Gang-Jin & Xie, Chi & Zhao, Longfeng & Jiang, Zhi-Qiang, 2018. "Volatility connectedness in the Chinese banking system: Do state-owned commercial banks contribute more?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 205-230.
    4. Yousha Liang & Kang Shi & Lisheng Wang & Juanyi Xu, 2017. "Local Government Debt and Firm Leverage: Evidence from China," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 12(2), pages 210-232, July.
    5. Haiyun Ma & Deshuai Hou, 2023. "Local Government Debt and Corporate Maturity Mismatch between Investment and Financing: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, April.
    6. Jing Ma & Qiuyun Zhao & Qing Li & Hao Yang, 2021. "Financial Constraints, Corporate Savings and Labor Income Share—Based on China’s Economic Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-32, December.
    7. Zhang, Man & Brookins, Oscar T. & Huang, Xiaowei, 2022. "The crowding out effect of central versus local government debt: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/75koqefued8i7pihbrl9u84p4u is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Xiaoqiu Wu, 2019. "Reform and evolution of finance in China: evidence from China’s reform and opening-up in the past 40 years," Economic and Political Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(4), pages 377-412, October.
    10. Cui, Guanghui & Zhang, Yi & Ma, Jingwen & Yao, Wenyun, 2023. "Does environmental regulation affect the labor income share of manufacturing enterprises? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    11. Wu, Fulong, 2022. "Land financialisation and the financing of urban development in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    12. Chih‐Hai Yang & Meng‐Wen Tsou, 2021. "Globalization and the labor share in China: Firm‐level evidence," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 89(1), pages 1-23, January.
    13. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/75koqefued8i7pihbrl9u84p4u is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Yu, Deshui & Huang, Difang & Chen, Li & Li, Luyang, 2023. "Forecasting dividend growth: The role of adjusted earnings yield," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    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. Shao, Wenbo & Chen, Yufan & Zhu, Huan, 2025. "Does the “Braking” of China's land finance facilitate economic “Shift Gears”? Evidence from investment decisions of real firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 223-237.
    2. Geng, Xin & Qian, Meijun, 2024. "Understanding the local government debt in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    3. Xiao, De & Yu, Fan & Guo, Chenhao, 2023. "The impact of China's pilot carbon ETS on the labor income share: Based on an empirical method of combining PSM with staggered DID," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    4. Shen, Zhihan & Zhang, Ruipeng & Li, Peigong, 2024. "Local government debt and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 985-1000.
    5. Yu, Siming & Kang, Wan & Wenjun, Liu & Wang, Deli & Zheng, Jieying & Dong, Boyan, 2024. "The crowding out effect of local government debt expansion: Insights from commercial credit financing," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 858-872.
    6. Cui, Chuantao & Yang, Yinhao & Gan, Huanhui & Dong, Jie, 2024. "Stepping forward with ease: Government debt governance as a catalyst for entrepreneurship," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PB).
    7. Yu, Fan & Zheng, Shilin & Zheng, Shuhong & Guo, Chenhao, 2024. "Does carbon ETS affect the distribution of labor's slice of the factor income pie? From the low carbon transition perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    8. Si, Deng-Kui & Li, Hong-Xue & Wu, Shilei & Zhou, Fuyou, 2024. "Does local government debt management affect cross-border M&As? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    9. Qiao, Junfeng & Lyu, Jinbo, 2025. "Unveiling the role of city commercial banks in influencing land financialization: Evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 467-481.
    10. Haiyun Ma & Deshuai Hou, 2023. "Local Government Debt and Corporate Maturity Mismatch between Investment and Financing: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, April.
    11. Mingyao Cao & Keyi Duan & Haslindar Ibrahim, 2023. "Local Government Debt and Its Impact on Corporate Underinvestment and ESG Performance: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-18, July.
    12. Xiong, Jiacai & Huang, Ling & Yang, Zelin & Wang, Xin, 2024. "The impact of local government debt on entrepreneurship: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment of local debt governance reform," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 501-519.
    13. Hai Xie & Weikun Zhang & Hanyuan Liang, 2023. "Can Local Government Debt Decrease the Pollution Emission of Enterprises?—Evidence from China’s Industrial Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, June.
    14. Kurz, Michael & Kleimeier, Stefanie, 2019. "Credit Supply: Are there negative spillovers from banks’ proprietary trading? (RM/19/005-revised-)," Research Memorandum 026, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    15. Barış Kaymak & Immo Schott, 2023. "Corporate Tax Cuts and the Decline in the Manufacturing Labor Share," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(6), pages 2371-2408, November.
    16. Paul, Saumik, 2019. "A Decline in Labor's Share with Capital Accumulation and Complementary Factor Inputs: An Application of the Morishima Elasticity of Substitution," IZA Discussion Papers 12219, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Vallés, Javier & Salas Fumás, Vicente & San Juan, Lucio, 2022. "Corporate economic profits in the euro area: The relevance of cost competitive advantage," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 569-585.
    18. Katalin Bodnár & Ludmila Fadejeva & Marco Hoeberichts & Mario Izquierdo Peinado & Christophe Jadeau & Eliana Viviano, 2017. "Credit shocks and the European labour market," Working Papers 1747, Banco de España.
    19. Hu, Xiaolu & Shi, Jing & Wang, Lafang & Yu, Jing, 2020. "Foreign ownership in Chinese credit ratings industry: Information revelation or certification?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    20. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2019_003 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Jens Hagendorff & Sonya Lim & Duc Duy Nguyen, 2023. "Lender Trust and Bank Loan Contracts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(3), pages 1758-1779, March.

    More about this item

    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:plo:pone00:0293494. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.