The Impact of State Ownership on the Productivity of China’s Agri-food Firms

This study examines the effects of state ownership on the productivity distribution of different quantiles of China’s agri-food firms based on data from the Chinese Industrial Enterprises Database between 1998 and 2013. Using panel quantile regression, this study finds that the contribution of state ownership to productivity varies across different quantiles of the productivity distribution. State ownership inhibits total factor productivity (TFP) of firms with low-level productivity but has no effect on TFP for firms with medium- and high-level productivity. Regions play a moderating role on the state ownership-productivity link. Regional economic development alleviates the inhibition of state-owned capital on the TFP of firms with low- and high-level productivity.