From the Financial Crisis to the Real Economy: Using Firm-level Data to Identify Transmission Channels

Stijn Claessens, Hui Tong, Shang-Jin Wei

NBER Working Paper No. 17360
Issued in August 2011
NBER Program(s):   IFM

Using accounting data for 7722 non-financial firms in 42 countries, we examine how the 2007-2009 crisis affected firm performance and how various linkages propagated shocks across borders. We isolate and compare effects from changes in external financing conditions, domestic demand, and international trade on firms’ profits, sales and investment using both sectoral benchmarks and firm-specific sensitivities estimated prior to the crisis. We find that the crisis had a bigger negative impact on firms with greater sensitivity to demand and trade, particularly in countries more open to trade. Interestingly, financial openness appears to have made limited difference.

Published: Claessens, Stijn & Tong, Hui & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2012. "From the financial crisis to the real economy: Using firm-level data to identify transmission channels," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 375-387.

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Acknowledgments

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