Does Easing Access to Financing Matter for Firm Performance?

Title：Does Easing Access to Financing Matter for Firm Performance?
Speaker：Sushanta Kumar Mallick  (Professor, Queen Mary, University of London)
Host：LUO Danglun (Professor, Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen University) 
Date and Time：January 13rd, 2020 (9:00-10:30 a.m.)
Location：S.T. WU Conference Room, Lingnan Hall 
Language：English
 
 
Abstract:  
Research shows that financial reforms stimulate aggregate productivity. However, the literature overlooks the links among access to financing, firm-level productivity, and exporting performance. We fill this gap using a rich dataset of 11,612 Indian firms over the period 1988-2014 to study how a unique financial policy intervention affects firm performance. We document a significant effect of capital-account liberalization through the lens of an export-oriented policy initiative on firms’ productivity and consequently on their exporting activity. Finally, we find that the benefits of the policy change are more pronounced for financially vulnerable firms in terms of debt dependence and liquidity.