Study on the Financing Efficiency of SMEs under the Epidemic Situation of COVID-19 Based on DEA-Malmquist Model

Abstract

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) play significant roles in the development of the Chinese Economy Nowadays. However, SMEs still face many financing difficulties. Moreover, the explosion of the COVID-19 epidemic makes their living environment worse. Based on this, firstly, we collect the panel data from the first half of 2018 to the first half of 2020 of 1531 SMEs; Second, use the DEA-Malmquist model to calculate the financing efficiency of those SMEs; Then, analyze the influence of the COVID-19 epidemic situation on the finance for SMEs according to various industries. It can be revealed that the financing efficiency of SMEs tends to down on the whole. Among them, the financing efficiency of the industries like wholesale-retail trade, the manufacturing industry declined the most. From the perspective of the internal construction of the financing efficiency, the scale efficiency tends to be stable, which shows the good effect of the policy of supporting the loan; The decrease in the pure technical efficiency is the main reason behind the decrease in the financing efficiency. Finally, this paper puts forward suggestions to enhance the financing of SMEs considering the influence of the COVID-19 epidemic situation.