IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_9850.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp9850.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ricardo J. Caballero & Takeo Hoshi & Anil K. Kashyap, 2008. "Zombie Lending and Depressed Restructuring in Japan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1943-1977, December.
    2. Jan De Loecker & Frederic Warzynski, 2012. "Markups and Firm-Level Export Status," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2437-2471, October.
    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. Buera, Francisco & Fattal Jaef, Roberto & Hopenhayn, Hugo & Neumeyer, Pablo Andrés & Shin, Yongseok, 2021. "The Economic Ripple Effects of COVID-19," CEPR Discussion Papers 16071, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Constantino Hevia & Andy Neumeyer, 2020. "A perfect storm: COVID-19 in emerging economies," Vox eBook Chapters, in: Simeon Djankov & Ugo Panizza (ed.), COVID-19 in Developing Economies, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 25-37, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    6. 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.
    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. Meriküll, Jaanika & Paulus, Alari, 2024. "Were jobs saved at the cost of productivity in the COVID-19 crisis?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Kozeniauskas, Nicholas & Moreira, Pedro & Santos, Cezar, 2022. "On the cleansing effect of recessions and government policy: Evidence from Covid-19," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    10. Martin, Philippe & Cros, Mathieu & Epaulard, Anne, 2021. "Will Schumpeter Catch Covid-19?," CEPR Discussion Papers 15834, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. David Baqaee & Emmanuel Farhi, 2022. "Supply and Demand in Disaggregated Keynesian Economies with an Application to the COVID-19 Crisis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(5), pages 1397-1436, May.
    12. Viral V. Acharya & Matteo Crosignani & Tim Eisert & Christian Eufinger, 2024. "Zombie Credit and (Dis‐)Inflation: Evidence from Europe," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(3), pages 1883-1929, June.
    13. Fabiano Schivardi & Enrico Sette & Guido Tabellini, 2020. "Identifying the Real Effects of Zombie Lending," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(3), pages 569-592.
    14. Lucia Foster & Cheryl Grim & John Haltiwanger, 2016. "Reallocation in the Great Recession: Cleansing or Not?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 293-331.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. 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.
    18. repec:imf:imfdps:2022/002 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Daniel A. Ackerberg & Kevin Caves & Garth Frazer, 2015. "Identification Properties of Recent Production Function Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 2411-2451, November.
    20. 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.
    21. Luc Laeven & Glenn Schepens & Isabel Schnabel, 2020. "Zombification in Europe in times of pandemic," ECONtribute Policy Brief Series 011, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    22. 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.
    23. 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.
    24. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2009. "On estimating firm-level production functions using proxy variables to control for unobservables," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(3), pages 112-114, September.
    25. Alexander W. Bartik & Marianne Bertrand & Zoe Cullen & Edward L. Glaeser & Michael Luca & Christopher Stanton, 2020. "The impact of COVID-19 on small business outcomes and expectations," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(30), pages 17656-17666, July.
    26. Sedláček, Petr, 2020. "Lost generations of firms and aggregate labor market dynamics," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 16-31.
    27. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas & Şebnem Kalemli-Özcan & Veronika Penciakova & Nick Sander, 2021. "COVID-19 and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A 2021 "Time Bomb"?," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 111, pages 282-286, May.
    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. 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.

    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. Maximilian Gobel & Nuno Tavares, 2022. "Zombie-Lending in the United States -- Prevalence versus Relevance," Papers 2201.10524, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2022.
    2. Caselli, Mauro & Schiavo, Stefano & Nesta, Lionel, 2018. "Markups and markdowns," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 104-107.
    3. Jasmine Mondolo, 2022. "Product and labour market imperfections in the Italian manufacturing sector: a firm-level analysis," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(3), pages 813-838, October.
    4. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4v3ds3it5k8isrrec0qlf7bt4m is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4v3ds3it5k8isrrec0qlf7bt4m is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Viral V. Acharya & Matteo Crosignani & Tim Eisert & Christian Eufinger, 2024. "Zombie Credit and (Dis‐)Inflation: Evidence from Europe," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 79(3), pages 1883-1929, June.
    7. Diana Bonfim & Geraldo Cerqueiro & Hans Degryse & Steven Ongena, 2023. "On-Site Inspecting Zombie Lending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(5), pages 2547-2567, May.
    8. Özlem Dursun-de Neef, H. & Schandlbauer, Alexander, 2021. "COVID-19 and lending responses of European banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    9. Mondolo, Jasmine, 2021. "Macroeconomic dynamics and the role of market power. The case of Italy," MPRA Paper 110172, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 05 Oct 2021.
    10. Mauro Caselli & Jasmine Mondolo & Stefano Schiavo, 2023. "Labour market power and the quest for an optimal minimum wage: evidence from Italy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(15), pages 1713-1727, March.
    11. Alexander S. Kritikos & Alexander Schiersch & Caroline Stiel, 2022. "The productivity shock in business services," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1273-1299, October.
    12. Jasmine Mondolo, 2021. "Macroeconomic dynamics and the role of market power. The case of Italy," DEM Working Papers 2021/17, Department of Economics and Management.
    13. Caselli, Mauro & Nesta, Lionel & Schiavo, Stefano, 2021. "Imports and labour market imperfections: Firm-level evidence from France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    14. Marco Cucculelli & Riccardo Cappelli & Jasmine Mondolo, 2024. "Does market power drive business model innovation? Evidence from Italian family manufacturing firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 447-475, June.
    15. Mertens, Matthias, 2019. "Micro-mechanisms behind declining labour shares: Market power, production processes, and global competition," IWH-CompNet Discussion Papers 3/2019, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    16. Saini, Seema & Ahmad, Wasim & Uddin, Gazi Salah, 2024. "Do recessions induce Schumpeterian creative destruction? Micro Evidence from India," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    17. Norbert Ernst & Michael Sigmund, 2023. "Are zombie firms really contagious? (Norbert Ernst, Michael Sigmund)," Working Papers 245, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
    18. Álvarez, Laura & García-Posada, Miguel & Mayordomo, Sergio, 2023. "Distressed firms, zombie firms and zombie lending: A taxonomy," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    19. Ioannis Bournakis & Mike Tsionas, 2024. "A Non‐parametric Estimation of Productivity with Idiosyncratic and Aggregate Shocks: The Role of Research and Development (R&D) and Corporate Tax," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 86(3), pages 641-671, June.
    20. Nick Jacob & Giordano Mion, 2024. "On the productivity advantage of cities," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(5), pages 679-705.
    21. Axel Demenet & Quynh Hoang, 2018. "How important are management practices for the productivity of small and medium enterprises?," WIDER Working Paper Series 69, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    22. Yang Yang, 2018. "Transport Infrastructure, City Productivity Growth and Sectoral Reallocation: Evidence from China," IMF Working Papers 2018/276, International Monetary Fund.

    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

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ces:ceswps:_9850. 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: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.html .

    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.