Abstract: Corporate leverage is endogenous in a specific economic operation mode and is an indicator of the current economic health. The government factor behind the corporate leverage issue deserves our attention. However, the mainstream researches often discuss leverage issues based on Western analytical paradigms, and have insufficient insight into China’s national conditions. In China, government factors are mostly institutional factors, which can affect corporate leverage from three aspects: one is the government-guided, investment-driven economic growth mode, this macro-mechanism can affect corporate leverage through the return-risk characteristics of investment projects; two is the governance method of the government and the state-owned economic entities, this micro-mechanism can affect corporate leverage through the corporate governance of both banks and enterprises; the third is the dual resource allocation structure created jointly by the macro and micro-mechanisms, this structure can affect corporate leverage through various costs or frictions in the loan market. Corporate leverage indicates the short-term stability and long-term growth capacity of the economy. The counter-cyclical corporate leverage can withstand crisis shocks but also can accumulate debt risks; the sustainability of the existing economic operation model is the“eye”of the leverage problem. The adjustment and control of corporate leverage should address both the symptoms and the root causes. Only by deepening reforms, optimizing the original model, promoting economic transformation, and combining the efficient market with a promising government can the“deleveraging in growth”be achieved.

Key words: enterprise leverage, government, formation mechanism, economic orientation, adjustment and control measures