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The Zombification of the Economy? Assessing the Effectiveness of French Government Support during Covid-19 Lockdown

Author

Listed:
  • Mattia Guerini
  • Lionel Nesta
  • Xavier Ragot
  • Stefano Schiavo

Abstract

This paper evaluates the risk of zombification of the French economy during the sanitary crisis, as a result of the unconditional financial support provided to firms by public authorities. We develop a simple theoretical framework based on a partial-equilibrium model to simulate the liquidity and solvency stress faced by a large panel of French firms and assess the impact of government support measures. Simulation results suggest that those policies helped healthy but illiquid firms to withstand the shock caused by the pandemic. Moreover, the analysis finds no evidence of a “zombification effect”, as government support has not disproportionately benefited less productive companies.

Suggested Citation

  • Mattia Guerini & Lionel Nesta & Xavier Ragot & Stefano Schiavo, 2022. "The Zombification of the Economy? Assessing the Effectiveness of French Government Support during Covid-19 Lockdown," CESifo Working Paper Series 9850, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9850
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    1. Viral V. Acharya & Matteo Crosignani & Tim Eisert & Christian Eufinger, 2020. "Zombie Credit and (Dis-)Inflation: Evidence from Europe," NBER Working Papers 27158, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Storz, Manuela & Koetter, Michael & Setzer, Ralph & Westphal, Andreas, 2017. "Do we want these two to tango? On zombie firms and stressed banks in Europe," Working Paper Series 2104, European Central Bank.
    3. Caselli, Mauro & Nesta, Lionel & Schiavo, Stefano, 2021. "Imports and labour market imperfections: Firm-level evidence from France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    4. Müge Adalet McGowan & Dan Andrews & Valentine Millot & Thorsten BeckManaging Editor, 2018. "The walking dead? Zombie firms and productivity performance in OECD countries," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 33(96), pages 685-736.
    5. Ryan Banerjee & Boris Hofmann, 2022. "Corporate zombies: anatomy and life cycle," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 37(112), pages 757-803.
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    7. Helmersson, Tobias & Mingarelli, Luca & Mosk, Benjamin & Pietsch, Allegra & Ravanetti, Beatrice & Shakir, Tamarah & Wendelborn, Jonas, 2021. "Corporate zombification: post-pandemic risks in the euro area," Financial Stability Review, European Central Bank, vol. 1.
    8. Tommaso Ferraresi & Leonardo Ghezzi & Fabio Vanni & Alessandro Caiani & Mattia Guerini & Francesco Lamperti & Severin Reissl & Giorgio Fagiolo & Mauro Napoletano & Andrea Roventini, 2021. "On the Economic and Health Impact of the COVID-19 Shock on Italian Regions: A Value Chain Approach," GREDEG Working Papers 2021-18, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
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    10. Amil Petrin & James Levinsohn, 2012. "Measuring aggregate productivity growth using plant-level data," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 43(4), pages 705-725, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Enrico Turco & Davide Bazzana & Massimiliano Rizzati & Emanuele Ciola & Sergio Vergalli, 2022. "Energy price shocks and stabilization policies in a multi-agent macroeconomic model for the Euro Area," Working Papers 2022.25, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    2. Turco, Enrico & Bazzana, Davide & Rizzati, Massimiliano & Ciola, Emanuele & Vergalli, Sergio, 2023. "Energy price shocks and stabilization policies in the MATRIX model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    3. Lily Davies & Mark Kattenberg & Benedikt Vogt, 2023. "Predicting Firm Exits with Machine Learning: Implications for Selection into COVID-19 Support and Productivity Growth," CPB Discussion Paper 444, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Covid-19; zombie firms; job-retention; schemes; microsimulation; policy evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General

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