IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0263018.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of different government subsidies on total-factor productivity: Evidence from private listed manufacturing enterprises in China

Author

Listed:
  • Dongmei Wang
  • Yangyang Sun

Abstract

Private enterprises play an increasingly important role in China. They can improve the total-factor productivity (TFP) and help transform and upgrade industrial structures. This study uses data for private listed manufacturing companies from 2009 to 2017 to examine the effects of different types of subsidies on TFP. We also analyze the heterogeneity and specific mechanism of subsidy effects. We find that R&D subsidies and production subsidies positively affect private enterprises’ TFP. Moreover, R&D subsidies and production subsidies lagged by one period can also significantly increase private enterprises’ TFP. In terms of industry, R&D subsidies have more obvious effects on technology-intensive industries, while production subsidies have more significant effects on labor-intensive and capital-intensive industries. In terms of scale, R&D subsidies’ effects on the TFP of medium-sized enterprises are the largest, while production subsidies have the greatest effect on small enterprises’ TFP. Government subsidies increase private enterprises’ TFP through two mechanisms: improving technological innovation capability and alleviating financing constraints. Our results suggest that governments should formulate different subsidy policies according to industry and enterprise scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Dongmei Wang & Yangyang Sun, 2022. "The effect of different government subsidies on total-factor productivity: Evidence from private listed manufacturing enterprises in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(1), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0263018
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263018
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263018&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0263018?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. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    2. Hua Shang & Teng Zhang & Puman Ouyang, 2018. "Credit Allocation and Firm Productivity Under Financial Imperfection: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(5), pages 992-1010, April.
    3. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    4. Li Li & Jean Chen & Hongli Gao & Li Xie, 2019. "The certification effect of government R&D subsidies on innovative entrepreneurial firms’ access to bank finance: evidence from China," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 241-259, January.
    5. Richard Harris & Shengyu Li, 2019. "Government assistance and total factor productivity: firm-level evidence from China," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 1-27, December.
    6. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    7. Ms. Marialuz Moreno Badia & Veerle Slootmaekers, 2009. "The Missing Link Between Financial Constraints and Productivity," IMF Working Papers 2009/072, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    9. Toni M. Whited & Guojun Wu, 2006. "Financial Constraints Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 531-559.
    10. John Moffat, 2014. "Regional Selective Assistance in Scotland: Does it make a difference to plant productivity?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(12), pages 2555-2571, September.
    11. Wang, Yanbo & Li, Jizhen & Furman, Jeffrey L., 2017. "Firm performance and state innovation funding: Evidence from China’s innofund program," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(6), pages 1142-1161.
    12. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    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. Yongmei Fang & Bo Guan & Guiying Yang, 2024. "From Banks or Venture Capitals? The Financing Choices of Chinese High-Tech Enterprises During the Start-Up Period," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, July.
    2. Song, Yingjie & Dong, Jie, 2024. "Executives’ green experience and corporate ESG performance: Do government subsidies matter?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PA).

    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. Guo, Shu & Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2023. "Green credit policy and total factor productivity: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Tan, Jianhua & Hua, Min & Chan, Kam C., 2024. "Do anticipated government environmental audits improve firm productivity? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    3. Xue, Qinyuan & Jin, Yifei & Zhang, Cheng, 2024. "ESG rating results and corporate total factor productivity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PA).
    4. Cheng, Zhonghua & Zhu, Yeman, 2024. "Does stock market liberalization increase company TFP? Evidence from the Shanghai-Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connect program in China," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(3).
    5. Yuan, Li & Rao, Siqi & Yang, Shenggang & Dai, Pengyi, 2023. "Does equity market openness increase productivity? the dual effects of Shanghai-Hong Kong stock Connect program in China," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Chen, Minjia & Guariglia, Alessandra, 2013. "Internal financial constraints and firm productivity in China: Do liquidity and export behavior make a difference?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 1123-1140.
    7. Bennett, Benjamin & Stulz, René & Wang, Zexi, 2020. "Does the stock market make firms more productive?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(2), pages 281-306.
    8. Mueller, Holger & Giroud, Xavier, 2015. "Capital and Labor Reallocation within Firms," CEPR Discussion Papers 10360, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Li, Mingyang & Jin, Man & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2022. "Do subsidies increase firm productivity? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 303(1), pages 388-400.
    10. Yan, Bing & Zhang, Yu & Shen, Yanzhi & Han, Jian, 2018. "Productivity, financial constraints and outward foreign direct investment: Firm-level evidence," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 47-64.
    11. Zhang, Dongyang & Liu, Deqiang, 2017. "Determinants of the capital structure of Chinese non-listed enterprises: Is TFP efficient?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 179-202.
    12. Saira Qasim & Marian Rizov & Xufei Zhang, 2021. "Financial constraints and the export decision of Pakistani firms," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 4557-4573, July.
    13. Nuri Ersahin, 2018. "Creditor Rights, Technology Adoption, and Productivity: Plant-Level Evidence," Working Papers 18-20, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    14. Yanhong Feng & Shuanglian Chen & Pierre Failler, 2020. "Productivity Effect Evaluation on Market-Type Environmental Regulation: A Case Study of SO 2 Emission Trading Pilot in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-27, October.
    15. Lin, Boqiang & Zhang, Aoxiang, 2024. "Impact of government subsidies on total factor productivity of energy storage enterprises under dual-carbon targets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    16. Laurens Cherchye & Bram De Rock & Annalisa Ferrando & Klaas Mulier & Marijn Verschelde, 2018. "Identifying Financial Constraints from Production Data," Working Papers ECARES 2018-31, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    17. Mulier, Klaas & Schoors, Koen & Merlevede, Bruno, 2016. "Investment-cash flow sensitivity and financial constraints: Evidence from unquoted European SMEs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 182-197.
    18. Ensar Yılmaz & Zeynep Kaplan, 2022. "Heterogeneity of market power: firm-level evidence," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 1207-1228, May.
    19. Giovanni Calice & Levent Kutlu & Ming Zeng, 2021. "Understanding US firm efficiency and its asset pricing implications," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 803-827, February.
    20. Massimo Colombo & Annalisa Croce & Samuele Murtinu, 2014. "Ownership structure, horizontal agency costs and the performance of high-tech entrepreneurial firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 265-282, February.

    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:pone00:0263018. 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.