Can the Reform of the Commercial System Enhance the Resilience of Enterprises? Evidence Based on Quasi Natural Experiments

Abstract

Enterprise resilience refers to the capacity of businesses to effectively respond to crises and achieve sustainable development over the long term. It serves as a crucial assurance for businesses to attain high-quality growth. The current worry among policy makers and academia revolves around the impact of commercial system change on the resilience of firms. This article examines the reform of the commercial system as a “quasi natural experiment” by comparing manually collected data on the reform with data on Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2022. It thoroughly analyses the effects and mechanisms of the reform on corporate resilience. The research findings suggest that implementing reforms in the commercial system can improve the ability of firms to withstand and recover from challenges. This is primarily accomplished by decreasing limitations on obtaining funding, minimising expenses associated with institutional transactions, and strengthening the capacity for technological innovation. This conclusion remains strong and reliable even after conducting a series of experiments to ensure its robustness and addressing any potential issues related to endogeneity. Furthermore, the reformation of the commercial system has a more potent impact on bolstering the resilience of private firms, large-scale enterprises, highly competitive enterprises, and high-tech enterprises. The research findings of this article have significant implications for advancing the reform of the commercial system, strengthening enterprise resilience, and achieving high-quality development of firms.