This paper examines the causal impact of financial market constraints on firm-level dis-
tortions, using the 2003 Job and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) as a quasi-natural experiment. The JGTRRA introduced differential dividend taxation, creating an exogenous shock to short-selling supply. We employ the framework by Hsieh e Klenow (2009), our analysis shows that firms exposed to increased short-selling pressure face adverse effects on credit access and financial stability. However, the negative short-selling shock induced by the JGTRRA led to a 18.01% reduction in capital wedge. These results provide new insights into the role of financial frictions in resource allocation and firm productivity.