Market structure and performance: An empirical study of the Chinese solar cell industry

Based on an analysis of 9 solar cell enterprises from 2008 to 2014, this paper examined the Chinese solar cell industry's market structure and performance. The empirical results reveal that China's photovoltaic (PV) cell market supports the X-efficiency structure hypothesis and that enterprises with higher levels of production technology and management earn higher profits. However, market concentration, market share, and scale efficiency are not significantly related to corporate performance. In addition, reasonable and effective control of the debt-to-assets ratio of such enterprises is conducive to revenue improvement. Based on these conclusions, this paper offers suggestions on how to improve the performance of the PV cell industry from the perspectives of enterprise and government. The research results have substantial significance for the promotion of enterprise reform and the optimization of industrial resource allocation.