Government Assistance: A Growing, Underdisclosed Financing Source
研究发现政府援助与公司未来杠杆率降低相关，且只有直接援助（如现金补助）有此效果，但多数援助及义务未按新会计准则披露。
SYNOPSIS We examine whether, and to what extent, government economic assistance is associated with future firm leverage. We use novel data from public records to provide evidence on a distinct impact of government assistance on firm capital structure. Using a two-stage selection model and entropy balancing, we find that both the receipt and magnitude of government assistance are strongly associated with lower future measures of leverage. Further, we find only direct government assistance, such as cash grants, but not tax relief or loans is negatively associated with firm leverage. Also, we show government assistance often creates corporate obligations, but commonly, neither the assistance nor the obligations are disclosed under the new Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Standard ASU 2021-10 that mandates disclosure of government assistance. JEL Classifications: H81; M41; M48.