Can Bank Competition Promote the Export of Small and Micro Enterprises—Based on the Perspective of Offering Fuel in Snowy Weather

Abstract

Based on the China Micro and Small Enterprise Survey (CMES) and the financial license of the China Bank and Insurance Regulatory Commission, this paper theoretically and empirically analyzes the influence of bank competition on the export of small and micro enterprises and its mechanisms. This study finds that bank competition can promote the export tendency of small and micro enterprises and increase their export volume. This conclusion is still valid after the robustness test and endogenous treatment. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that strengthening bank competition can promote the export of enterprises with higher financing constraints and enterprises with lower productivity, highlighting the function of offering fuel in snowy weather. Higher financial literacy of enterprise organizers can improve the role of bank competition in promoting the export of small and micro enterprises. The heterogeneity analysis shows that bank competition plays a stronger role in the export of enterprises in the eastern and western regions, large-scale enterprises, and enterprises in industrial parks. Therefore, it is of great significance to reasonably strengthen the competition of the bank industry, carry out financial knowledge education among enterprises, and speed up the establishment of industrial parks to promote the export of small and micro enterprises, and ensure steady economic growth.