IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecofin/v66y2023ics1062940823000347.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital finance and misallocation of resources among firms: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Jin, Laiqun
  • Dai, Jiaying
  • Jiang, Weijie
  • Cao, Kairui

Abstract

The resources misallocation among firms is serious in China, our calculation shows it has resulted in the total factor productivity (hereafter, TFP) loss of over 200% and has been gradually increasing in recent years, based on the firm-level data from National Tax Survey database from 2007 to 2016. This paper further investigates empirically the impact of digital finance on resources misallocation, by measuring resources misallocation with firm’s capital deviation and labor deviation, as well as measuring digital finance with the number of searches for fintech keywords on Baidu's webpage. Results suggest that digital finance can significantly mitigate resources misallocation among firms to improve the aggregate TFP by redistributing resources from over-resourced firms to under-resourced firms, although it cannot improve the TFP within a representative firm. The findings remain robust after addressing the endogeneity and using alterative variables of digital finance and value of labor output elasticity. Moreover, digital finance can rectify the credit-market discrimination, where its mitigating effect on resources misallocation prefers to non-state-owned firms and small and medium-sized firms. However, traditional finance, as measured by the number of offline bank branches, can also optimize resources allocation, but this effect is gradually diminishing and it also fails to rectify the credit discrimination.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecofin:v:66:y:2023:i:c:s1062940823000347
    DOI: 10.1016/j.najef.2023.101911
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062940823000347
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.najef.2023.101911?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yin, Zhichao & Gong, Xue & Guo, Peiyao & Wu, Tao, 2019. "What Drives Entrepreneurship in Digital Economy? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 66-73.
    2. Ziqiang Liu & Yihao Zhang & Hongyi Li, 2021. "Digital Inclusive Finance, Multidimensional Education, and Farmers’ Entrepreneurial Behavior," Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Hindawi, vol. 2021, pages 1-13, October.
    3. Maria Demertzis & Silvia Merler & Guntram B Wolff, 2018. "Capital Markets Union and the Fintech Opportunity," Journal of Financial Regulation, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 157-165.
    4. Valeriya Dinger & J‹Rgen Von Hagen, 2009. "Does Interbank Borrowing Reduce Bank Risk?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(2-3), pages 491-506, March.
    5. Loren Brandt & Trevor Tombe & Xiadong Zhu, 2013. "Factor Market Distortions Across Time, Space, and Sectors in China," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(1), pages 39-58, January.
    6. Beck, Thorsten & Klapper, Leora F. & Mendoza, Juan Carlos, 2010. "The typology of partial credit guarantee funds around the world," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 10-25, April.
    7. Kleibergen, Frank & Paap, Richard, 2006. "Generalized reduced rank tests using the singular value decomposition," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 97-126, July.
    8. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Enrico Moretti, 2019. "Housing Constraints and Spatial Misallocation," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 1-39, April.
    9. Degryse, Hans & Ongena, Steven, 2007. "The impact of competition on bank orientation," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 399-424, July.
    10. Lianying Yao & Xiaoli Yang, 2022. "Can digital finance boost SME innovation by easing financing constraints?: Evidence from Chinese GEM-listed companies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-20, March.
    11. Benjamin Moll, 2014. "Productivity Losses from Financial Frictions: Can Self-Financing Undo Capital Misallocation?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3186-3221, October.
    12. García-Herrero, Alicia & Gavilá, Sergio & Santabárbara, Daniel, 2009. "What explains the low profitability of Chinese banks?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 2080-2092, November.
    13. Daron Acemoglu, 2023. "Distorted Innovation: Does the Market Get the Direction of Technology Right?," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 113, pages 1-28, May.
    14. Alexander Monge-Naranjo & Juan M. Sánchez & Raül Santaeulàlia-Llopis, 2019. "Natural Resources and Global Misallocation," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 79-126, April.
    15. Thorsten Beck & Ross Levine & Alexey Levkov, 2010. "Big Bad Banks? The Winners and Losers from Bank Deregulation in the United States," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1637-1667, October.
    16. Song, Quanyun & Li, Jie & Wu, Yu & Yin, Zhichao, 2020. "Accessibility of financial services and household consumption in China: Evidence from micro data," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    17. 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.
    18. Bellucci, Andrea & Borisov, Alexander & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2013. "Do banks price discriminate spatially? Evidence from small business lending in local credit markets," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4183-4197.
    19. James H. Stock & Motohiro Yogo, 2002. "Testing for Weak Instruments in Linear IV Regression," NBER Technical Working Papers 0284, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Joel M. David & Venky Venkateswaran, 2019. "The Sources of Capital Misallocation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(7), pages 2531-2567, July.
    21. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Benjamin Moll, 2010. "Why Does Misallocation Persist?," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 189-206, January.
    22. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2008. "Policy Distortions and Aggregate Productivity with Heterogeneous Plants," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 11(4), pages 707-720, October.
    23. Wang, Jin, 2013. "The economic impact of Special Economic Zones: Evidence from Chinese municipalities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 133-147.
    24. Nambisan, Satish & Wright, Mike & Feldman, Maryann, 2019. "The digital transformation of innovation and entrepreneurship: Progress, challenges and key themes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    25. Wu, Yilin & Huang, Shilei, 2022. "The effects of digital finance and financial constraint on financial performance: Firm-level evidence from China's new energy enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    26. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Tian, Xuan & Xu, Yan, 2014. "Financial development and innovation: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 116-135.
    27. Zhanqiang Zhou & Yuehua Zhang & Zhongbao Yan, 2022. "Will Digital Financial Inclusion Increase Chinese Farmers’ Willingness to Adopt Agricultural Technology?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-21, September.
    28. Shang-Jin Wei & Zhuan Xie & Xiaobo Zhang, 2017. "From "Made in China" to "Innovated in China": Necessity, Prospect, and Challenges," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 49-70, Winter.
    29. Thorsten Beck & Vasso Ioannidou & Larissa Schäfer, 2018. "Foreigners vs. Natives: Bank Lending Technologies and Loan Pricing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(8), pages 3792-3820, August.
    30. Caggese, Andrea & Cuñat, Vicente & Metzger, Daniel, 2019. "Firing the wrong workers: Financing constraints and labor misallocation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(3), pages 589-607.
    31. Boot, Arnoud W A & Thakor, Anjan V & Udell, Gregory F, 1991. "Secured Lending and Default Risk: Equilibrium Analysis, Policy Implications and Empirical Results," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(406), pages 458-472, May.
    32. Yu Luo & Lianyun Zeng, 2020. "Digital financial capabilities and household entrepreneurship," Economic and Political Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 165-202, April.
    33. Mikaela Backman & Tina Wallin, 2018. "Access to banks and external capital acquisition: perceived innovation obstacles," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 61(1), pages 161-187, July.
    34. Qian Wang & Jinbao Yang & Yung‐ho Chiu & Tai‐Yu Lin, 2020. "The impact of digital finance on financial efficiency," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(7), pages 1225-1236, October.
    35. Sumit Agarwal & Yeow Hwee Chua, 2020. "FinTech and household finance: a review of the empirical literature," China Finance Review International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(4), pages 361-376, May.
    36. Chong, Terence Tai-Leung & Lu, Liping & Ongena, Steven, 2013. "Does banking competition alleviate or worsen credit constraints faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3412-3424.
    37. Li, Jie & Wu, Yu & Xiao, Jing Jian, 2020. "The impact of digital finance on household consumption: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 317-326.
    38. Hongmei Wen & Jingliang Yue & Jian Li & Xuedan Xiu & Shen Zhong, 2022. "Can digital finance reduce industrial pollution? New evidence from 260 cities in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(4), pages 1-22, April.
    39. Katz, Michael L & Shapiro, Carl, 1985. "Network Externalities, Competition, and Compatibility," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(3), pages 424-440, June.
    40. Chen, Yang & Yang, Shengping & Li, Quan, 2022. "How does the development of digital financial inclusion affect the total factor productivity of listed companies? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    41. Wu, Bangzheng & Yang, Weiguo, 2022. "Empirical test of the impact of the digital economy on China's employment structure," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    42. Laiqun Jin & Xiuyan Liu & Sam Hak Kan Tang, 2022. "High-technology zones, misallocation of resources among cities and aggregate productivity: evidence from China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(24), pages 2778-2794, May.
    43. Xiaobing Wang & Nick Weaver & Ning Xue, 2019. "Challenges for the Chinese economy in the new era of development," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 1-7, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xinshu Gong & Liyu Zhao, 2024. "Does Digital Inclusive Finance Help County Level Governance in the Five Provinces of Northwest China, from the Perspective of Economic Resilience?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-26, May.
    2. Xin Sheng & Wenya Chen & Decai Tang & Bright Obuobi, 2023. "Impact of Digital Finance on Manufacturing Technology Innovation: Fixed-Effects and Panel-Threshold Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-24, July.
    3. Jin, Laiqun & Cao, Kairui & Li, Jiaye & Xu, Qunfang, 2024. "Information infrastructure construction and optimization of resources allocation among firms: Evidence from “Broadband China” strategy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 36-53.
    4. Mao, Fengfu & Wang, Yuanfan & Zhu, Mengsi, 2023. "Digital financial inclusion, traditional finance system and household entrepreneurship," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. Lin, Baoguo & Dong, Xueqin, 2024. "Empirical Study on the Impact of Digital Finance on Commercial Credit Allocation in SMEs," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    6. Yang, Tongbin & Zhou, Bo, 2024. "Local FinTech development, industrial structure, and north-south economic disparity in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    7. Zhou, Tao & Li, Zhongfei & Bai, Hengrui & Du, Zhidi & Huang, Jinbo & Ding, Zengcai, 2024. "Does unconventional monetary policy improve credit support for the industry chain? The mechanism of trade credit," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 180-192.
    8. Bai, Hengrui & Wu, Yiming & Wang, Ruiqian, 2023. "Does digital financial inclusion lead to regional differences in trade credit financing?: A quasi-natural experiment," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1475-1489.
    9. Wang, Shuo & Li, Chengyou & Wang, Zeru & Sun, Guanglin, 2023. "Digital skills and household financial asset allocation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PC).
    10. Yang, Yang & Lin, Zibo & Xu, Zhaoyi & Liu, Shuwen, 2024. "The impact of digital finance on regional economic resilience," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    11. Wanying Rao & Pingfeng Liu, 2024. "Can Digital Innovation Improve Green Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Digital Patents of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-21, May.

    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. 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.
    2. Yidan Liang, 2023. "The effect of capital and labour distortion on innovation," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 1709-1737, June.
    3. Laiqun Jin & Changwei Mo & Bochao Zhang & Bing Yu, 2018. "What Is the Focus of Structural Reform in China?—Comparison of the Factor Misallocation Degree within the Manufacturing Industry with a Unified Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, November.
    4. Wu, Guiying Laura, 2018. "Capital misallocation in China: Financial frictions or policy distortions?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 203-223.
    5. Jiang, Tangyang & Cao, Chi & Lei, Leyuan & Hou, Jie & Yu, Yang & Jahanger, Atif, 2023. "Temporal and spatial patterns, efficiency losses and impact factors of energy mismatch in China under environmental constraints," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    6. Jin, Laiqun & Cao, Kairui & Li, Jiaye & Xu, Qunfang, 2024. "Information infrastructure construction and optimization of resources allocation among firms: Evidence from “Broadband China” strategy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 36-53.
    7. Gu, Shijun & Jia, Chengcheng, 2022. "Firm dynamics and SOE transformation during China’s Economic Reform," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    8. Deng, Jiapin & Liu, Qiao, 2024. "Good finance, bad finance, and resource misallocation: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    9. Yan, Linnan & Tu, Menger & Chagas, André L.S. & Tai, Lufeng, 2022. "The impact of high-speed railway on labor spatial misallocation—Based on spatial difference-in-differences analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 82-97.
    10. Zheng Li & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2018. "Fiscal Decentralization and Interregional Capital Misallocation: Evidence from China," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1816, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    11. Chen, Yihui & Li, Dongxu & Li, Ting, 2024. "Financial development and population growth: Evidence from bank concentration in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    12. Chen, Guowen & Herrera, Ana María & Lugauer, Steven, 2022. "Policy and misallocation: Evidence from Chinese firm-level data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    13. Li, Yutao & Zhang, Jinning & Lyu, Yanwei, 2023. "Does telecommunications infrastructure promote entrepreneurship in developing countries? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 106-119.
    14. Alam, M. Jahangir, 2020. "Capital misallocation: Cyclicality and sources," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    15. Daniel A. Dias & Carlos Robalo Marques & Christine Richmond, 2020. "A Tale of Two Sectors: Why is Misallocation Higher in Services than in Manufacturing?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(2), pages 361-393, June.
    16. Pablo D. Fajgelbaum & Edouard Schaal, 2020. "Optimal Transport Networks in Spatial Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1411-1452, July.
    17. Maurice J.G. Bun & Jasper Winter, 2022. "Capital and labor misallocation in the Netherlands," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 93-113, February.
    18. Neira, Julian, 2019. "Bankruptcy and cross-country differences in productivity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 359-381.
    19. Chen, Binkai & Lin, Justin Yifu, 2021. "Development strategy, resource misallocation and economic performance," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 612-634.
    20. Li, Xiaolu & Ma, Lin & Tang, Yang, 2024. "Migration and resource misallocation in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Digital finance; Resources misallocation; Scale and ownership discrimination; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy

    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:eee:ecofin:v:66:y:2023:i:c:s1062940823000347. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620163 .

    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.