Analysis of the impact of macro policies and enterprise factors on the efficiency of small and medium-sized CHINESE enterprises

Small and medium-sized enterprises have always been the main force of economic development in our country, carrying its financing difficulties and expensive problems have been much concerned. This dissertation aims to study the factors affecting the financing of SMEs and focuses on the perspective of macro policies and enterprises themselves. Based on this, this dissertation uses the panel data of listed companies in China's SME Board and GEM Board from 2009 to 2022. First, using factor analysis method, this dissertation constructs a comprehensive index of corporate efficiency by using 7 financial indexes, such as debt and owner's equity, debt-to-interest ratio and profitability. Secondly, it examines the influence of macro-policies (tax incentives and fiscal subsidies) and enterprises' own factors on the efficiency of SMEs. By using the intermediary effect model, this dissertation further analyzes financing constraints and enterprise innovation level as the mechanisms by which macro policies affect the efficiency of SMEs and analyzes the heterogeneity of enterprise efficiency according to the nature of enterprise ownership, degree of industry competition and enterprise scale. The empirical results show that macro policies (tax incentives and government subsidies) have a positive effect on the efficiency of SMEs. Corporate factors, including corporate scale, ownership concentration, market-to-book ratio and establishment years, have a positive effect on corporate efficiency, while market-to-book ratio has a negative effect on corporate efficiency. This paper finds that macro-policies (tax incentives and government subsidies) affect the efficiency of enterprises through two mechanisms: easing financing constraints and improving the innovation level of enterprises. In addition, for enterprises with low industry competition, the preferential tax policies are more obvious. No matter for the nature or size of enterprises, tax incentives and government subsidies have no significant effect on the financing of enterprises. These findings emphasize the key role of macro policies and corporate factors in improving the efficiency of small and medium-sized enterprises. It provides an important reference for relevant decision-makers to formulate more effective policy measures to support the financing needs of small and medium-sized enterprises and promote their sustainable development.