Yin Sisi, Shen Zuyi, Gao Yunshu
Business School, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
School of Economics, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
PLoS One. 2024 Sep 16;19(9):e0304129. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304129. eCollection 2024.
This study examines the potential negative effects of city-county mergers on firm-level total factor productivity (TFP). A theoretical framework is established to explain how city-county mergers could lead to higher institutional and non-institutional costs, thus influencing government decision-making and resource allocation. As a result, firms operating in the economy will absorb these costs and adjust their behavior accordingly. By employing Chinese firm-level data in a difference-in-differences approach, this study finds a statistically significant negative effect of transitioning county-level cities into municipal districts (TCD) on firm-level productivity. Additionally, this study identifies the financial situation of reformed governments and the internal environment of firms as two mechanisms through which the TCD reform influences firm-level productivity.
本研究考察了市县合并对企业层面全要素生产率（TFP）的潜在负面影响。建立了一个理论框架来解释市县合并如何导致更高的制度性和非制度性成本，从而影响政府决策和资源配置。结果，经济中的企业将承担这些成本并相应调整其行为。通过采用双重差分法利用中国企业层面的数据，本研究发现将县级市转变为市辖区（TCD）对企业层面的生产率有统计学上显著的负面影响。此外，本研究确定了改革后政府的财政状况和企业的内部环境是TCD改革影响企业层面生产率的两个机制。
