A Study Of The Impact Of Implicit Government Guarantees On Total Factor Productivity Of State-owned Enterprises

China’s economy is moving toward high-quality development,and improving total factor productivity is key to achieving this goal.An increase in total factor productivity can solve the current problems of slowing GDP growth and the transition from old to new dynamics.However,for a long time,private enterprises have faced the dilemma of closed financing channels,while state-owned enterprises receive higher credit ratings and more credit resources due to the credibility advantage brought by implicit government guarantees.However,this unbalanced credit rating and resource allocation can lead to problems such as the expulsion of good money by bad money and the fragmentation and imbalance of credit resources,thus reducing overall economic efficiency and triggering systemic risks.Although SOEs enjoy various benefits such as government subsidies under the protection of the government,their total factor productivity rise is lacking,and there is a need to study how to improve their productivity to alleviate the current lack of prime mover and contribute to the vigorous growth of the economy.Therefore,it is important to study the changes of economic efficiency and total factor productivity of SOEs under the implicit government guarantee.This paper collects empirical data of Chinese A-share listed state-owned companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2009 to 2020,and conducts a regression study using unbalanced panel data to investigate how implicit government guarantees play a role in TFP from the perspective of corporate R&D innovation and financing constraints.The study concludes that:firstly,the implicit government guarantee significantly contributes to the improvement of TFP and the effect of "implicit government guarantee" on the total factor productivity of enterprises remains significant after robustness testing.Second,the effect of implicit government guarantees on firms’ TFP is achieved through R&D innovation and solving the dilemma of firms’ financing constraints.Third,the effect of implicit government guarantees on firms’ TFP is more prominent in more market-oriented regions and in firms with lower leverage.Finally,recommendations are made at several levels in terms of the government’s continued refinement of policy-making goals,financial market-oriented reforms,and for advancing how firms can survive and thrive in an increasingly sophisticated market.For the government: gradually withdraw intervention in the market and promote the improvement of market mechanisms;strengthen the financial independence of state-owned enterprises and mixed ownership reform;encourage financial institutions to grant loans to eligible private enterprises to alleviate financing difficulties;open up financing channels to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises;and implement precise policies,especially giving key support to strategic emerging industries and start-up industries.For enterprises,policy makers should keep abreast of changes in economic policies,grasp policy guidance,strengthen the hard power of enterprises,enhance the ability to survive and grow,and achieve a larger and stronger state-owned economy.As for financial institutions and the market,they should pay attention to the government’s support and influence on state-owned enterprises,adjust the unbalanced distribution of credit resources,assess corporate credit and reduce non-systematic risks of bank operations.