Abstract: | This paper distinguishes between different forms of government intervention upon a firm, including the firm’s tax burden, sales to the government and state shares. We investigate how these types of government intervention affect micro‐financial development. With evidence from China, we confirm that the micro‐financial development is promoted by the firm’s tax burden and sales to the government but constrained by the firm’s state shares. The findings remain robust to the endogeneity issue. The findings offer applications for government policies or a firm’s financing strategies. |