IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joevec/v32y2022i1d10.1007_s00191-021-00754-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public cash and modes of firm exit

Author

Listed:
  • Jaka Cepec

    (University of Ljubljana)

  • Peter Grajzl

    (Lee University
    CESifo)

  • Barbara Mörec

    (University of Ljubljana)

Abstract

We investigate the importance of public cash for modes of firm exit. Drawing on data from Slovenia, we assemble a firm-level panel that combines comprehensive records on public-sector cash transactions to businesses with exit and other information on more than 59,000 Slovenian firms. We then estimate a series of cause-specific, discrete-time linear survival models while addressing endogeneity concerns. As hypothesized, received public cash exerts a robustly negative effect on the prospects of liquidation bankruptcy and voluntary liquidation, but not involuntary liquidation. We do not find robust evidence of an average effect of public cash on the likelihood of reorganization bankruptcy or firm merger or split-up, although estimates of dose response functions reveal important heterogeneity of effects by treatment intensity. Cash originating with different public-sector entities is fully fungible. Our analysis offers novel insights into the role of the public sector for firm dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaka Cepec & Peter Grajzl & Barbara Mörec, 2022. "Public cash and modes of firm exit," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 247-298, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joevec:v:32:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s00191-021-00754-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s00191-021-00754-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00191-021-00754-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00191-021-00754-3?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. Girma, Sourafel & Gorg, Holger & Strobl, Eric, 2007. "The effects of government grants on plant survival: A micro-econometric analysis," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 701-720, August.
    2. Martha A. Schary, 1991. "The Probability of Exit," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 22(3), pages 339-353, Autumn.
    3. Patrick Musso & Stefano Schiavo, 2008. "The impact of financial constraints on firm survival and growth," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 135-149, April.
    4. Yuji Honjo & Masatoshi Kato, 2019. "Correction to: Do initial financial conditions determine the exit routes of start-up firms?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 1149-1149, July.
    5. Levin, Laurence, 1998. "Are assets fungible?: Testing the behavioral theory of life-cycle savings," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 59-83, July.
    6. Jesse M. Shapiro, 2013. "Fungibility and Consumer Choice: Evidence from Commodity Price Shocks," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(4), pages 1449-1498.
    7. Youngjune Kim & Jisang Yu & Dustin L Pendell, 2020. "Effects of crop insurance on farm disinvestment and exit decisions [Effects of differing farm policies on farm structure and dynamics]," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 47(1), pages 324-347.
    8. Heim, Sven & Hüschelrath, Kai & Schmidt-Dengler, Philipp & Strazzeri, Maurizio, 2017. "The impact of state aid on the survival and financial viability of aided firms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 193-214.
    9. Helmut Farbmacher & Harald Tauchmann, 2023. "Linear fixed-effects estimation with nonrepeated outcomes," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(8), pages 635-654, September.
    10. Emily Oster, 2019. "Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 187-204, April.
    11. Robert Kelly & Eoin Brien & Rebecca Stuart, 2015. "A long-run survival analysis of corporate liquidations in Ireland," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 671-683, March.
    12. Bernd Ebersberger, 2011. "Public funding for innovation and the exit of firms," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 519-543, August.
    13. Cepec, Jaka & Grajzl, Peter & Zajc, Katarina, 2017. "Do liquidation trustee characteristics matter for firm liquidation outcomes? Evidence from Slovenia," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 591-609.
    14. Claudio Ferraz & Frederico Finan & Dimitri Szerman, 2015. "Procuring Firm Growth: The Effects of Government Purchases on Firm Dynamics," NBER Working Papers 21219, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Caudill, Steven B, 1988. "An Advantage of the Linear Probability Model over Probit or Logit," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 50(4), pages 425-427, November.
    16. J. Kornai & E. Maskin & G. Roland, 2004. "Understanding the Soft Budget Constraint," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 11.
    17. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    18. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    19. William Greene, 2004. "The behaviour of the maximum likelihood estimator of limited dependent variable models in the presence of fixed effects," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 7(1), pages 98-119, June.
    20. Wennberg, Karl & Wiklund, Johan & DeTienne, Dawn R. & Cardon, Melissa S., 2010. "Reconceptualizing entrepreneurial exit: Divergent exit routes and their drivers," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 361-375, July.
    21. Thomas F. Cooley & Vincenzo Quadrini, 2001. "Financial Markets and Firm Dynamics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1286-1310, December.
    22. Andrea Caggese & Vicente Cunat, 2013. "Financing Constraints, Firm Dynamics, Export Decisions, and Aggregate Productivity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(1), pages 177-193, January.
    23. Ilona Sergant & Patrick Cayseele, 2019. "Financial Constraints: State Aid to the Rescue? Empirical Evidence from Belgian Firm-Level Data," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 33-67, March.
    24. Alex Coad, 2018. "Firm age: a survey," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 13-43, January.
    25. Anderson, G. J., 1987. "Prediction tests in limited dependent variable models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 253-261.
    26. Ron Jarmin, 1999. "Government Technical Assistance Programs* And Plant Survival: The Role Of Plant Ownership Type," Working Papers 99-2, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    27. Miguel Manjón-Antolín & Josep-Maria Arauzo-Carod, 2008. "Firm survival: methods and evidence," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 1-24, March.
    28. repec:bla:jindec:v:46:y:1998:i:4:p:453-88 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Johannes Abeler & Felix Marklein, 2017. "Fungibility, Labels, and Consumption," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 99-127.
    30. Sustersic, Janez, 2009. "Endogenous gradualism and the Slovenian puzzle," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 265-274, June.
    31. Dietmar Harhoff & Konrad Stahl & Michaerl Woywode, 1998. "Legal Form, Growth and Exit of West German Firms—Empirical Results for Manufacturing, Construction, Trade and Service Industries," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 453-488, December.
    32. Ashish Arora & Anand Nandkumar, 2011. "Cash-Out or Flameout! Opportunity Cost and Entrepreneurial Strategy: Theory, and Evidence from the Information Security Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(10), pages 1844-1860, October.
    33. Elena Cefis & Orietta Marsili, 2011. "Born to flip. Exit decisions of entrepreneurial firms in high-tech and low-tech industries," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 473-498, August.
    34. Sofie Balcaen & Sophie Manigart & Hubert Ooghe, 2011. "From distress to exit: determinants of the time to exit," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 407-446, August.
    35. Masatoshi Kato & Yuji Honjo, 2015. "Entrepreneurial human capital and the survival of new firms in high- and low-tech sectors," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 925-957, November.
    36. Alex Coad & Masatoshi Kato, 2021. "Growth paths and routes to exit: 'shadow of death' effects for new firms in Japan," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1145-1173, October.
    37. Yuji Honjo & Masatoshi Kato, 2019. "Do initial financial conditions determine the exit routes of start-up firms?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 1119-1147, July.
    38. Alex Coad & Masatoshi Kato, 0. "Growth paths and routes to exit: 'shadow of death' effects for new firms in Japan," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-29.
    39. Matija Rojec & Janez Sustersic & Bostjan Vasle & Marijana Bednas & Slavica Jurancic, 2004. "The rise and decline of gradualism in Slovenia," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 459-482.
    40. Anders Aslund & Simeon Djankov (ed.), 2014. "The Great Rebirth: Lessons from the Victory of Capitalism over Communism," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 6970, April.
    41. North,Douglass C. & Wallis,John Joseph & Weingast,Barry R., 2013. "Violence and Social Orders," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107646995.
    42. Dhaliwal, Dan & Judd, J. Scott & Serfling, Matthew & Shaikh, Sarah, 2016. "Customer concentration risk and the cost of equity capital," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 23-48.
    43. Mojmir Mrak, 2004. "Mrak, M., Rojec, M., Silva-Jáuregui, C. (eds.): Slovenia: From Yugoslavia to the European Union," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 11(3), pages 269-272, December.
    44. Giovanni Cerulli, 2015. "ctreatreg: Command for fitting dose–response models under exogenous and endogenous treatment," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 15(4), pages 1019-1045, December.
    45. Mario Cleves & William W. Gould & Roberto G. Gutierrez & Yulia Marchenko, 2010. "An Introduction to Survival Analysis Using Stata," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, edition 3, number saus3, March.
    46. Cepec, Jaka & Grajzl, Peter, 2019. "Measuring the effectiveness of bankruptcy institutions: filtering failures in Slovenian financial reorganizations," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 553-567, June.
    47. Girma, Sourafel & Gorg, Holger & Strobl, Eric, 2007. "The effect of government grants on plant level productivity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 439-444, March.
    48. Xu, Hongkang & Dao, Mai, 2020. "Government contracts and trade credit," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    49. Colin Wren, 2002. "Evaluating the effect of soft business support upon small firm performance," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(2), pages 334-365, April.
    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. Peter Grajzl & Jaka Cepec & Barbara Mörec, 2023. "Weaned off public money: The effect of discontinued reception of public cash on firm outcomes," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(1), pages 41-76, February.

    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. Masatoshi Kato & Koichiro Onishi & Yuji Honjo, 2022. "Does patenting always help new firm survival? Understanding heterogeneity among exit routes," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 449-475, August.
    2. Alex Coad & Masatoshi Kato, 2021. "Growth paths and routes to exit: 'shadow of death' effects for new firms in Japan," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1145-1173, October.
    3. HONJO, Yuji & IWAKI, Yunosuke & KATO, Masatoshi, 2024. "Outside or inside the firm? The impact of debt financing on the exit routes of start-up firms," TDB-CAREE Discussion Paper Series E-2023-02, Teikoku Databank Center for Advanced Empirical Research on Enterprise and Economy, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    4. Peter Grajzl & Jaka Cepec & Barbara Mörec, 2023. "Weaned off public money: The effect of discontinued reception of public cash on firm outcomes," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(1), pages 41-76, February.
    5. Bernd Ebersberger, 2011. "Public funding for innovation and the exit of firms," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 519-543, August.
    6. Cefis, Elena & Coad, Alex & Lucini-Paioni, Alessandro, 2023. "Landmarks as lighthouses: firms' innovation and modes of exit during the business cycle," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(8).
    7. Masatoshi Kato & Yuji Honjo, 2015. "Entrepreneurial human capital and the survival of new firms in high- and low-tech sectors," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 925-957, November.
    8. XU Peng, 2021. "Population Aging and Small Business Exits," Discussion papers 21091, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    9. Yuji Honjo & Masatoshi Kato, 2019. "Do initial financial conditions determine the exit routes of start-up firms?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 1119-1147, July.
    10. Jaka Cepec & Peter Grajzl, 0. "Management turnover, ownership change, and post-bankruptcy failure of small businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-27.
    11. Sofie Balcaen & Sophie Manigart & Jozefien Buyze & Hubert Ooghe, 2012. "Firm exit after distress: differentiating between bankruptcy, voluntary liquidation and M&A," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 949-975, November.
    12. Jaka Cepec & Peter Grajzl, 2021. "Management turnover, ownership change, and post-bankruptcy failure of small businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 555-581, June.
    13. Baumöhl, Eduard & Iwasaki, Ichiro & Kočenda, Evžen, 2019. "Institutions and determinants of firm survival in European emerging markets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 431-453.
    14. Joern H. Block & Christian O. Fisch & Mirjam van Praag, 2017. "The Schumpeterian entrepreneur: a review of the empirical evidence on the antecedents, behaviour and consequences of innovative entrepreneurship," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 61-95, January.
    15. Cefis, Elena & Bartoloni, Eleonora & Bonati, Marco, 2020. "Show me how to live: Firms' financial conditions and innovation during the crisis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 63-81.
    16. Chong Yu & Masatoshi Kato, 2024. "Does user entrepreneurship matter for start-up financing? Evidence from Japan," Discussion Paper Series 275, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University.
    17. Zhang, Dongyang & Zhuge, Liqun & Freeman, Richard B., 2020. "Firm dynamics of hi-tech start-ups: Does innovation matter?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    18. Baumöhl, Eduard & Iwasaki, Ichiro & Kočenda, Evžen, 2020. "Firm survival in new EU member states," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(1).
    19. Alessia Pisoni & Emanuele Aversa & Alberto Onetti, 2021. "The Role of Failure in the Entrepreneurial Process: A Systematic Literature Review," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 16(1), pages 1-53, August.
    20. Peter Grajzl & Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl & Katarina Zajc, 2016. "Inside post-socialist courts: the determinants of adjudicatory outcomes in Slovenian commercial disputes," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 85-115, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public-sector cash; Firm exit; Bankruptcy; Non-bankruptcy exit; Firm dynamics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • P12 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Enterprises
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law

    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:spr:joevec:v:32:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s00191-021-00754-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.