Zombie firms and resource allocation: research trends and developments during the spread of COVID-19
We identify so-called “zombie firms,” which survive with banks’ and governments’ support despite performing poorly without the prospect of recovery, using firms’ financial data. We set the criteria of the zombie firms by arranging methodologies proposed by the existing studies. It mainly focuses on...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Applied Economics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15140326.2024.2410625 |
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| author | Kotone Yamada Yukio Minoura Jouchi Nakajima Tomoyuki Yagi |
| author_facet | Kotone Yamada Yukio Minoura Jouchi Nakajima Tomoyuki Yagi |
| author_sort | Kotone Yamada |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We identify so-called “zombie firms,” which survive with banks’ and governments’ support despite performing poorly without the prospect of recovery, using firms’ financial data. We set the criteria of the zombie firms by arranging methodologies proposed by the existing studies. It mainly focuses on Japan after the collapse of its bubble economy, European countries after the global financial crisis and the sovereign debt crises, China under debt expansion, and developed countries during the spread of COVID-19. The analysis shows that the number of zombie firms surged after the collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s in Japan. At least based on the currently available data in fiscal 2020 after the spread of COVID-19, we do not detect a problematic growth in the number of zombie firms as in the 1990s. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aae248c37ce84b2e9561cde9ef31e8c1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1514-0326 1667-6726 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Applied Economics |
| spelling | doaj-art-aae248c37ce84b2e9561cde9ef31e8c12025-02-06T08:35:26ZengTaylor & Francis GroupJournal of Applied Economics1514-03261667-67262025-12-0128110.1080/15140326.2024.2410625Zombie firms and resource allocation: research trends and developments during the spread of COVID-19Kotone Yamada0Yukio Minoura1Jouchi Nakajima2Tomoyuki Yagi3Research and Statistics Department, Bank of Japan, Tokyo, JapanResearch and Statistics Department, Bank of Japan, Tokyo, JapanInstitute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, JapanResearch and Statistics Department, Bank of Japan, Tokyo, JapanWe identify so-called “zombie firms,” which survive with banks’ and governments’ support despite performing poorly without the prospect of recovery, using firms’ financial data. We set the criteria of the zombie firms by arranging methodologies proposed by the existing studies. It mainly focuses on Japan after the collapse of its bubble economy, European countries after the global financial crisis and the sovereign debt crises, China under debt expansion, and developed countries during the spread of COVID-19. The analysis shows that the number of zombie firms surged after the collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s in Japan. At least based on the currently available data in fiscal 2020 after the spread of COVID-19, we do not detect a problematic growth in the number of zombie firms as in the 1990s.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15140326.2024.2410625Business dynamicsCOVID-19resource allocationzombie firms |
| spellingShingle | Kotone Yamada Yukio Minoura Jouchi Nakajima Tomoyuki Yagi Zombie firms and resource allocation: research trends and developments during the spread of COVID-19 Journal of Applied Economics Business dynamics COVID-19 resource allocation zombie firms |
| title | Zombie firms and resource allocation: research trends and developments during the spread of COVID-19 |
| title_full | Zombie firms and resource allocation: research trends and developments during the spread of COVID-19 |
| title_fullStr | Zombie firms and resource allocation: research trends and developments during the spread of COVID-19 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Zombie firms and resource allocation: research trends and developments during the spread of COVID-19 |
| title_short | Zombie firms and resource allocation: research trends and developments during the spread of COVID-19 |
| title_sort | zombie firms and resource allocation research trends and developments during the spread of covid 19 |
| topic | Business dynamics COVID-19 resource allocation zombie firms |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15140326.2024.2410625 |
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