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| Labor Costs and Financing Constraints of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises |
| LIU Xiaoguang, LIU Jiatong
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National Academy of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of China;
PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University |
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Abstract For a long time, low labor costs have been the cornerstone of the international competitiveness of Chinese enterprises, especially labor-intensive manufacturing enterprises. In recent years, with the aging of China's population structure, the slowdown of rural labor force migration, the implementation of the new “Labor Contract Law”, and the improvement of the minimum wage standard, labor costs in China have increased rapidly. Consequently, there is great pressure on the production costs of Chinese enterprises, and the cost advantage of these enterprises is gradually diminishing. Studies in the literature focus more on the impact of labor costs on enterprise cost advantage and innovation incentive and less on the impact of labor costs on enterprise financing constraints. However, we find that in the context of rapidly increasing labor costs, due to information asymmetry, there may be overreaction and discrimination in the credit market. This is especially true for labor-intensive enterprises, which are subject to the “screening effect” of bank credit, leading to more severe financing constraints. These labor-intensive enterprises are facing the “double pressure” of rising production costs and tightening financing constraints, which makes it more difficult for them to transform and upgrade.
Based on the credit rationing theory, we use the survey data of Chinese enterprises provided by the World Bank to examine the impact of labor costs on corporate financing constraints. In terms of specific research methods, we do not study financing constraints based on whether enterprises obtain bank loans. Instead, based on the credit rationing theory, we examine whether enterprises need and apply for bank loans and the availability of such loans, identify the enterprises that are subject to credit rationing, and distinguish between two types of credit rationing: enterprise self-credit rationing and bank credit rationing. Under this framework, we use the ratio of labor costs to total cost and the ratio of labor costs to enterprise sales volume as proxy indicators of labor costs to systematically investigate the various effects of labor costs on the credit decisions of banks and enterprises.
The main findings of this paper can be summarized in three points. First, an increase in labor costs significantly increases the probability of enterprises being constrained by credit rationing, which indicates that bank credit has an adverse “screening effect” on enterprises with higher labor costs. Meanwhile, the increase in labor costs reduces the credit demand of enterprises, which reflects the social capital allocation effect in the transformation brought about by rising costs. Second, the rise in labor costs has a significant positive effect on the probability of enterprises being constrained by both self-credit rationing and bank credit rationing. Therefore, increased labor costs not only subject enterprises to higher credit rationing from banks, but also to higher self-credit rationing, thus inducing a double “screening effect.” Third, mechanism analysis shows that labor costs affect enterprise credit rationing through information asymmetry. Higher financial development and a higher level of marketization and state ownership of enterprises can significantly alleviate the adverse impacts of labor costs on credit constraints.
The results of this study have some theoretical value in terms of extending the relationship between labor costs and corporate financing constraints, more accurately identifying the credit rationing status of enterprises, and, hopefully, promoting research in related fields. When faced with a rapid rise in labor costs, labor-intensive industries are not only directly affected by rising costs, but are also subject to credit constraints from both banks and themselves. Therefore, the results of this study help us better understand the transformation dilemma faced by China's labor-intensive enterprises.
This study provides new policy implications for deepening financial supply-side structural reforms and solving the financing problems of enterprises. The enterprises themselves need to consciously accelerate their transformation and upgrade to avoid the serious “double pressure” of rising production costs and tightening financing constraints. In terms of credit policies, the current solutions to the financing problems of enterprises should be improved accordingly. With regard to the financial market environment, by comprehensively deepening financial supply-side structural reforms, we can further improve the degree of financial development and the level of marketization in various regions, reduce the adverse impact of labor costs on enterprise credit constraints, and help labor-intensive enterprises break out of the current transformation dilemma.
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Received: 31 January 2019
Published: 02 October 2020
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