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Zombie-Lending in the United States: Prevalence versus Relevance

Author

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  • Maximilian Göbel
  • Nuno Tavares

Abstract

Extraordinary fiscal and monetary interventions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have revived concerns about zombie prevalence in advanced economies. The literature has al- ready linked this phenomenon - observed over the course of the last two decades - to impeding the performance of healthy firms in Japan and Europe. To make the case for the United States, we analyze banks' and capital markets' zombie-lending practices on the basis of a sample of publicly listed U.S. companies. Our results suggest that zombie prevalence and zombie-lending per se are not a defining characteristic of the U.S. economy. Nevertheless, we find evidence for negative spillovers of zombie-lending on productivity, capital-growth, and employment-growth of non-zombies as well as on overall business dynamism. It is predominantly the class of healthy small- and medium-sized companies that is sensitive to zombie-lending activities, with financial constraints further amplifying these effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Maximilian Göbel & Nuno Tavares, 2022. "Zombie-Lending in the United States: Prevalence versus Relevance," Working Papers REM 2022/0231, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    • Handle: RePEc:ise:remwps:wp02312022
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    zombie lending; business dynamism; bank credit; non-viable firms; productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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