Policy Burden of State-Owned Enterprises and Efficiency of Credit Resource Allocation: Evidence from China

Abstract

This article selects A-share state-owned listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2007 to 2018 as samples and uses OLS together with intermediary effect tests to study the impact of state-owned enterprise’ (SOEs) policy burdens on credit resources and their allocation efficiency. The research finds that the heavier the policy burden SOEs assume, the more credit resources they obtained. However, they are also more likely to make inefficient investments after obtaining the credit resources, and these credit resources have a negative effect on the value of the SOEs which bear the policy burden. These negative impacts are more significant in SOEs with low degree of marketization in the region, low level of government control, and low information transparency. The path analysis elaborates that the policy burden of SOEs reduces the efficiency of resource allocation by increasing management agency costs and reducing financing constraints. The conclusions enrich the understanding of the consequences of policy burdens under the background of Chinese system, further broaden the analytical framework of the efficiency of credit resource allocation, and unveil the importance of relevant government departments that can optimize the efficiency of credit resource allocation.