IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0338612.html

Do government subsidies lead to TFP losses? A perspective on the formation of zombie firms

Author

Listed:
  • Ruying Chen
  • Danyu Liu
  • Lanyu Wu
  • Donghua Yu

Abstract

This study examines how government subsidies affect aggregate total factor productivity (TFP) through the formation of zombie firms in China. Using panel data of A-share listed firms from 2007 to 2022 and industry–province–year aggregates, we analyze both firm-level dynamics and aggregate productivity outcomes. The results show that subsidies reduce the exit probability of low-productivity firms and significantly increase the likelihood of zombie firm formation. Although the prevalence of zombie firms fluctuates over time, it remains a persistent challenge. At the aggregate level, subsidies exert a negative impact on TFP, with zombie firm prevalence serving as a key mediating channel. The mediating effect is particularly strong in industries with a higher share of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), whereas regional differences stem from distinct mechanisms: subsidies more strongly induce zombie formation in Central–Western China, while the productivity drag of zombies is larger in the more competitive Eastern region. These findings highlight the unintended productivity costs of subsidy policies and underscore the need for more targeted and efficiency-oriented intervention.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruying Chen & Danyu Liu & Lanyu Wu & Donghua Yu, 2025. "Do government subsidies lead to TFP losses? A perspective on the formation of zombie firms," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(12), pages 1-20, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0338612
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0338612
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0338612
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0338612&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0338612?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. Fogarty, James J. & Sagerer, Simon, 2016. "Exploration externalities and government subsidies: The return to government," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 78-86.
    2. Dimitris Skuras & Kostas Tsekouras & Efthalia Dimara & Dimitris Tzelepis, 2006. "The Effects of Regional Capital Subsidies on Productivity Growth: A Case Study of the Greek Food and Beverage Manufacturing Industry," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 355-381, May.
    3. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2009. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1403-1448.
    4. Edward Tower, 1986. "Industrial Policy In Less Developed Countries," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 4(1), pages 23-35, January.
    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. Geoffrey Barrows & Hélène Ollivier & Ariell Reshef, 2023. "Production Function Estimation with Multi-Destination Firms," CESifo Working Paper Series 10716, CESifo.
    2. Kuosmanen, Natalia & Valmari, Nelli, 2023. "Renewal of Companies Through Product Switching," ETLA Working Papers 104, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    3. Laiqun Jin & Xiuyan Liu & Sam Hak Kan Tang, 2021. "High-Technology Zones, Misallocation of Resources among Cities and Aggregate Productivity: Evidence from China," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 21-11, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    4. Sergio Ocampo & Juan Herreño, 2023. "The Macroeconomic Consequences of Subsistence Self-Employment," University of Western Ontario, Departmental Research Report Series 20231, University of Western Ontario, Department of Economics.
    5. Chaoran Chen, 2017. "Untitled Land, Occupational Choice, and Agricultural Productivity," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 91-121, October.
    6. Mike Waugh & David Lagakos & Doug Gollin, 2011. "The Agricultural Productivity Gap in Developing Countries," 2011 Meeting Papers 1397, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    7. Joel M. David & Venky Venkateswaran, 2019. "The Sources of Capital Misallocation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(7), pages 2531-2567, July.
    8. Battisti, Michele & Gatto, Massimo Del & Parmeter, Christopher F., 2022. "Skill-biased technical change and labor market inefficiency," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    9. Maya Eden, 2017. "Misallocation and the Distribution of Global Volatility," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(2), pages 592-622, February.
    10. Jin, Laiqun & Dai, Jiaying & Jiang, Weijie & Cao, Kairui, 2023. "Digital finance and misallocation of resources among firms: Evidence from China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    11. Matteo G. Richiardi & Luis Valenzuela, 2024. "Firm heterogeneity and the aggregate labour share," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 38(1), pages 66-101, March.
    12. Alam, M. Jahangir, 2020. "Capital misallocation: Cyclicality and sources," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    13. Akcigit, Ufuk & Alp, Harun & Diegmann, André & Serrano-Velarde, Nicolas, 2025. "Committing to grow: Employment targets and firm dynamics," IWH Discussion Papers 17/2023, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), revised 2025.
    14. Hassan, Tarek A. & Mertens, Thomas M. & Zhang, Tony, 2016. "Not so disconnected: Exchange rates and the capital stock," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(S1), pages 43-57.
    15. Torsten Heinrich & Jangho Yang & Shuanping Dai, 2020. "Growth, development, and structural change at the firm-level: The example of the PR China," Papers 2012.14503, arXiv.org.
    16. David Van Dijcke, 2022. "On the Non-Identification of Revenue Production Functions," Papers 2212.04620, arXiv.org, revised May 2024.
    17. Pablo D. Fajgelbaum & Edouard Schaal, 2020. "Optimal Transport Networks in Spatial Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1411-1452, July.
    18. Guangfan Sun & Xin Lin & Junyi Chen & Nuo Xu & Ping Xiong & Hanqi Li, 2023. "Cultural inclusion and corporate sustainability: evidence from food culture and corporate total factor productivity in China," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, December.
    19. Alberto Bagnai & Christian Alexander Mongeau Ospina, 2018. "Monetary integration vs. real disintegration: single currency and productivity divergence in the euro area," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 353-367, October.
    20. Amiti, Mary & Duprez, Cédric & Konings, Jozef & Van Reenen, John, 2024. "FDI and superstar spillovers: Evidence from firm-to-firm transactions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).

    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:pone00:0338612. 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.