Global oil price uncertainty and excessive corporate debt in China

• Published in: Energy economics 2022-11, Vol.115, p.106378, Article 106378
• Main Authors: Ren, Xiaohang, Qin, Jianing, Jin, Chenglu, Yan, Cheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Excessive debt; Financing constraints; Moderating effect; Oil price uncertainty; Product-market demand
• ISSN: 0140-9883; 1873-6181
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106378

Oil price uncertainty has widely influenced the economic development of the world. This study explores the influence of oil price uncertainty on the excessive debt behavior of Chinese listed companies during 2010–2019. Our results show that a global oil price uncertainty can significantly reduce excessive corporate debt, and the impact is predominant among small, non-state-owned, non-high-tech, or non-energy firms. Results also show that oil price uncertainty acts from both demand and supply channels. In particular, at the demand level higher product-market demand can weaken the impact of oil price uncertainty, while at the supply level higher financing constraints can enhance the impact of oil price uncertainty. Our findings are robust to a range of tests. Under the construction of the market-oriented system, enterprises should establish differentiated financing decisions for different businesses to deal with oil price fluctuations, and financial institutions also need to pay more attention to the excessive debt phenomenon of different types of corporate under the uncertain oil price. •We explore the impact of oil price uncertainty (OPU) on corporate excessive debt (EXDA) in China.•Our findings show that OPU significantly reduces EXDA.•The impact of OPU on EXDA varies according to ownership type and industry type.•Product-market demand and financing constraints are the mechanisms that OPU affects EXDA.