Economic Cycle Fluctuation and Private Enterprises’ Asset-light Operation

Abstract

Abstract: Under the background of China’s economic slowdown, it is worth paying attention to whether private enterprises choose asset-light operation to break through development bottlenecks. Based on the above consideration, this paper selects A-share listed private enterprises in China’s capital market from 2011 to 2021 as research samples, and tests the impact of economic cycle fluctuation on private enterprises’ asset-light operation and its action mechanism and corresponding context characteristics empirically. The findings are as follows. (1) There is a significant negative correlation between economic cycle fluctuation and private enterprises’ asset-light operation. In other words, when the economic cycle is downward, private enterprises are more likely to choose asset-light operation. (2)The mechanism test shows that downward economic cycle promotes private enterprises’ asset-light operation by reducing their fixed asset investment and increasing their marketing and R&D investment. (3) Situational analysis shows that the promoting effect of downward economic cycle on private enterprises’ asset-light operation intensifies when financial distress, performance pressure or product market competition is higher. This research enriches literature on economic cycle and asset-light operation, and has some enlightenment for private enterprises to choose their asset operation mode.

Key words: asset-light operation, economic cycle fluctuation, financial distress, performance pressure, product market competition

Wang Haoran, Zhou Zejiang. Economic Cycle Fluctuation and Private Enterprises’ Asset-light Operation[J]. Management Review, 2024, 36(10): 226-237.

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