Pub Date : 2024-05-06DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101751
Anqi Chen , Yongyou Li
Government commitment to early-life education intervention has contributed to human capital accumulation and economic growth in developing countries. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies, we investigate the effects of the primary school consolidation program on children’s cognitive development and behavioral performance. Using a cohort difference-in-differences model, we find that rural children who experienced school consolidation performed better in cognitive tests and had higher levels of openness of the Big Five personality traits, but lower levels of extraversion. Further analysis suggests that early-life education intervention generates long-term effects. Those who experienced school consolidation had higher educational attainment, better occupational fit, and more consistent independent learning, but difficulties in interpersonal interaction. Our findings imply that early-life education intervention should pay more attention to the cultivation of socio-emotional abilities.
{"title":"Long-term effects of early-life education intervention on children’s outcomes: Evidence from school consolidation in rural China","authors":"Anqi Chen , Yongyou Li","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101751","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101751","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Government commitment to early-life education intervention has contributed to human capital accumulation and economic growth in developing countries. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies, we investigate the effects of the primary school consolidation program on children’s cognitive development and behavioral performance. Using a cohort difference-in-differences model, we find that rural children who experienced school consolidation performed better in cognitive tests and had higher levels of openness of the Big Five personality traits, but lower levels of extraversion. Further analysis suggests that early-life education intervention generates long-term effects. Those who experienced school consolidation had higher educational attainment, better occupational fit, and more consistent independent learning, but difficulties in interpersonal interaction. Our findings imply that early-life education intervention should pay more attention to the cultivation of socio-emotional abilities.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140905656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper analyzes the relationship among temperature exposure, health inequality, and adaptive behavior in China, a country with diverse climate zones ranging from the cold, arid northwest to the warm, humid south. Utilizing follow-up survey data spanning from 2000 to 2015, this paper constructs a measure of health inequality at the community level. Our findings reveal that extremely cold or hot days increase the health inequality at the community level. Specifically, with each incremental rise in the day’s extreme temperature, the Gini coefficient of community health rises by 0.0032, which constitutes approximately 0.4% of the community average. Furthermore, vulnerable communities, which are characterized by low average income, education levels, per capita electricity consumption, and urbanization, are highly susceptible to the effects of extreme temperatures on health equality. From the perspective of adaptive behavior, residents in high-income communities exhibit elevated electricity consumption and engage in frequent preventive health check-ups during extreme temperature exposure. This phenomenon may exacerbate social polarization because well-resourced individuals and communities are better equipped to withstand the challenges posed by climate change and extreme weather events compared with impoverished ones. Addressing this disparity requires local managers to implement comprehensive policies and interventions that can enhance the adaptability of low-income communities, improve public health facilities, and promote social equity.
{"title":"Temperature exposure and health inequality","authors":"Xin Zhang , Fanglin Chen , Zhongfei Chen , Jie Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101748","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101748","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper analyzes the relationship among temperature exposure, health inequality, and adaptive behavior in China, a country with diverse climate zones ranging from the cold, arid northwest to the warm, humid south. Utilizing follow-up survey data spanning from 2000 to 2015, this paper constructs a measure of health inequality at the community level. Our findings reveal that extremely cold or hot days increase the health inequality at the community level. Specifically, with each incremental rise in the day’s extreme temperature, the Gini coefficient of community health rises by 0.0032, which constitutes approximately 0.4% of the community average. Furthermore, vulnerable communities, which are characterized by low average income, education levels, per capita electricity consumption, and urbanization, are highly susceptible to the effects of extreme temperatures on health equality. From the perspective of adaptive behavior, residents in high-income communities exhibit elevated electricity consumption and engage in frequent preventive health check-ups during extreme temperature exposure. This phenomenon may exacerbate social polarization because well-resourced individuals and communities are better equipped to withstand the challenges posed by climate change and extreme weather events compared with impoverished ones. Addressing this disparity requires local managers to implement comprehensive policies and interventions that can enhance the adaptability of low-income communities, improve public health facilities, and promote social equity.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140807546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-26DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101747
Ming-Hsuan Lee , Wei-Ling Lai
This study utilizes data from Taiwan’s “The Survey of Family Income and Expenditure” from 2011 to 2021 to examine the differences in expenditure patterns between single-person households and multi-person households. The aim is to understand the impact of being single and living alone on living expenses. The estimation results indicate that, after controlling for other variables, single-person households spend significantly more on “housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels”, amounting to NT$67,920 per capita higher than other families. Additionally, per capita expenditures related to maintaining the living environment and daily operations are also significantly higher for single-person households. This shows the higher fixed cost of living alone without sharing expenses with others. However, single-person households have the advantage of being able to concentrate their expenses more on themselves. Significant higher per capita expenditures on several “treating oneself well” items demonstrate the freedom that comes with single living. On the other hand, the comparison of income elasticities shows that the expenditures of single-person households fluctuate more significantly, indicating higher financial risks.
{"title":"Does being single bring freedom or burden? Examining the expenditure patterns of single-person households in Taiwan","authors":"Ming-Hsuan Lee , Wei-Ling Lai","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101747","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101747","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study utilizes data from Taiwan’s “The Survey of Family Income and Expenditure” from 2011 to 2021 to examine the differences in expenditure patterns between single-person households and multi-person households. The aim is to understand the impact of being single and living alone on living expenses. The estimation results indicate that, after controlling for other variables, single-person households spend significantly more on “housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels”, amounting to NT$67,920 per capita higher than other families. Additionally, per capita expenditures related to maintaining the living environment and daily operations are also significantly higher for single-person households. This shows the higher fixed cost of living alone without sharing expenses with others. However, single-person households have the advantage of being able to concentrate their expenses more on themselves. Significant higher per capita expenditures on several “treating oneself well” items demonstrate the freedom that comes with single living. On the other hand, the comparison of income elasticities shows that the expenditures of single-person households fluctuate more significantly, indicating higher financial risks.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140807545","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-23DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101746
Meishan Jiang, Jingrong Li, Yunsheng Mi
Farmers’ cooperatives serve as effective means of transforming smallholder farmers’ production methods in the process of agricultural modernization in developing countries. This paper aims to examine the credit effects of farmers’ cooperatives by employing a framework based on institutional finance theory. Based on the 2021 China Household Finance Survey data, an endogenous switching probit model is employed to explore the impact of cooperative membership on smallholder farmers’ access to credit. The research findings indicate the following: i) Farmers’ cooperatives possess information advantages, as financial institutions gain access to smallholder farmers’ information through the organized value chains of farmers’ cooperatives, leading to a direct reduction in transaction costs and an improvement in access to credit. ii) Farmers’ cooperatives can promote smallholder farmers’ agricultural investments, increase household income for smallholder farmers, enhance the liquidity of farmland, and further improve access to credit for smallholder farmers. Therefore, farmers’ cooperatives represent an inevitable trend in the agricultural modernization of developing countries. Rural financial institutions should alter their financial models and resolve adverse selection and moral hazard issues in the credit process through organizational approaches, thereby enhancing access to credit for smallholder farmers.
{"title":"Farmers’ cooperatives and smallholder farmers’ access to credit: Evidence from China","authors":"Meishan Jiang, Jingrong Li, Yunsheng Mi","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101746","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101746","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Farmers’ cooperatives serve as effective means of transforming smallholder farmers’ production methods in the process of agricultural modernization in developing countries. This paper aims to examine the credit effects of farmers’ cooperatives by employing a framework based on institutional finance theory. Based on the 2021 China Household Finance Survey data, an endogenous switching probit model is employed to explore the impact of cooperative membership on smallholder farmers’ access to credit. The research findings indicate the following: i) Farmers’ cooperatives possess information advantages, as financial institutions gain access to smallholder farmers’ information through the organized value chains of farmers’ cooperatives, leading to a direct reduction in transaction costs and an improvement in access to credit. ii) Farmers’ cooperatives can promote smallholder farmers’ agricultural investments, increase household income for smallholder farmers, enhance the liquidity of farmland, and further improve access to credit for smallholder farmers. Therefore, farmers’ cooperatives represent an inevitable trend in the agricultural modernization of developing countries. Rural financial institutions should alter their financial models and resolve adverse selection and moral hazard issues in the credit process through organizational approaches, thereby enhancing access to credit for smallholder farmers.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140780101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-18DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101745
Keqi Huang , Qiren Liu
We investigate the impacts of robot adoption (a representative form of artificial intelligence) on outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by firms in China. First, we construct a unique firm-level dataset of A-share listed firms and conduct empirical analysis by adopting a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) strategy. Second, we find that changes in robot adoption on both the extensive and intensive margins encourage firms to conduct more OFDIs. Specifically, robot adoption has positive effects on multidimensional categories of OFDI but has no significant impact on buying OFDI. Third, we explore the underlying mechanism to show that the rise in output and growth of total factor productivity (TFP) matter. Fourth, we conduct a series of empirical tests to check robustness and obtain consistent results. Finally, we analyze the heterogeneous effects and find that adoption firms with state-owned ownership or higher profit tend to send more OFDI projects, especially to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)-rich countries. Our findings elucidate the impact of robot adoption on OFDI at the firm level in developing and transition countries.
我们研究了采用机器人(人工智能的一种代表形式)对中国企业对外直接投资(OFDI)的影响。首先,我们构建了一个独特的公司层面的 A 股上市公司数据集,并采用交错差分(DID)策略进行实证分析。其次,我们发现机器人应用在广义边际和密集边际上的变化都会鼓励企业进行更多的对外直接投资。具体而言,机器人的采用对对外直接投资的多维类别有积极影响,但对购买型对外直接投资没有显著影响。第三,我们探索了内在机制,发现产出的增加和全要素生产率(TFP)的增长是重要因素。第四,我们进行了一系列实证检验来检验稳健性,并得到了一致的结果。最后,我们分析了异质性效应,发现采用国有产权或利润较高的企业倾向于派出更多的对外直接投资项目,尤其是向经济合作与发展组织(OECD)富裕国家派出项目。我们的研究结果阐明了采用机器人对发展中国家和转型期国家企业对外直接投资的影响。
{"title":"Artificial intelligence and outward foreign direct investment: Evidence from China","authors":"Keqi Huang , Qiren Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101745","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101745","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We investigate the impacts of robot adoption (a representative form of artificial intelligence) on outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by firms in China. First, we construct a unique firm-level dataset of A-share listed firms and conduct empirical analysis by adopting a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) strategy. Second, we find that changes in robot adoption on both the extensive and intensive margins encourage firms to conduct more OFDIs. Specifically, robot adoption has positive effects on multidimensional categories of OFDI but has no significant impact on buying OFDI. Third, we explore the underlying mechanism to show that the rise in output and growth of total factor productivity (TFP) matter. Fourth, we conduct a series of empirical tests to check robustness and obtain consistent results. Finally, we analyze the heterogeneous effects and find that adoption firms with state-owned ownership or higher profit tend to send more OFDI projects, especially to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)-rich countries. Our findings elucidate the impact of robot adoption on OFDI at the firm level in developing and transition countries.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140792839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-09DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101743
Seema Saini , Wasim Ahmad
The rapidly growing empirical studies find that reallocating physical and financial input across and within firms can be an essential productivity growth source. This paper examines the process of credit reallocation across Indian businesses by applying the methodology proposed by Davis & Haltiwanger (1992) for measuring job reallocation. Using the unique firm-level dataset for over 30 years, we find that substantial gross credit flows are masked by underlying net credit growth at any business cycle phase. Our results reveal that credit reallocation is intense, and the majority of credit reallocation occurs within a group of firms similar in size, governance, or industry. We also find that credit destruction is more volatile than credit creation, and excess reallocation fluctuates countercyclically over the business cycle. The findings suggest that heterogeneity in credit market dynamics is a prime source of credit reallocation evolution.
快速增长的实证研究发现,在企业之间和企业内部重新分配实物和资金投入可以成为生产力增长的重要来源。本文采用 Davis & Haltiwanger(1992 年)提出的工作再分配测量方法,研究了印度企业间的信贷再分配过程。通过使用 30 多年来独一无二的企业级数据集,我们发现在任何商业周期阶段,大量的信贷总流量都会被潜在的净信贷增长所掩盖。我们的研究结果表明,信贷重新配置非常频繁,而且大多数信贷重新配置发生在规模、治理或行业相似的企业群体中。我们还发现,信贷破坏比信贷创造更不稳定,超额再分配在商业周期中出现反周期波动。研究结果表明,信贷市场动态的异质性是信贷再分配演变的主要来源。
{"title":"Credit creation, credit destruction and credit reallocation: Firm-level evidence from India","authors":"Seema Saini , Wasim Ahmad","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101743","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101743","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The rapidly growing empirical studies find that reallocating physical and financial input across and within firms can be an essential productivity growth source. This paper examines the process of credit reallocation across Indian businesses by applying the methodology proposed by Davis & Haltiwanger (1992) for measuring job reallocation. Using the unique firm-level dataset for over 30 years, we find that substantial gross credit flows are masked by underlying net credit growth at any business cycle phase. Our results reveal that credit reallocation is intense, and the majority of credit reallocation occurs within a group of firms similar in size, governance, or industry. We also find that credit destruction is more volatile than credit creation, and excess reallocation fluctuates countercyclically over the business cycle. The findings suggest that heterogeneity in credit market dynamics is a prime source of credit reallocation evolution.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140604904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-08DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101744
Jing Fang , Fanjie Fu , Xiaoqian Zhang , Shujie Yao , Jinghua Ou
The uneven development of China can be reflected by the mismatch of labor and industry distributions (MLIS) in terms of spatial structure. Industries usually agglomerate in large cities where a strict household registration system causing high barriers with respect to population and labor entry. Infrastructures that reduce the cost of labor and technology mobility, as represented by high-speed rail (HSR), are possible improvement to regulate such distortions as the two agglomerated into opposite directions. This paper focuses on the impact of HSR on MLIS using a large panel dataset comprising 285 Chinese cities in 2000–2019. A difference-in-difference analysis is introduced to carried out empirical analyses. This paper finds that HSR can significantly mitigate the MLIS in prefecture level cities, but not in cities above prefecture level. The heterogeneous effects of HSR are then discussed with respect to industries and MLIS types. Further mechanism tests show that HSR’s mitigating effect on MLIS comes from the employment effect and the innovation effect. Finally, policy recommendations are provided on HSR investment to improve China's uneven development from the perspective of synergy labor and industry distributions.
{"title":"Impact of high-speed rail on the mismatch of labor and industry allocations: Evidence from Chinese cities in 2000-2019","authors":"Jing Fang , Fanjie Fu , Xiaoqian Zhang , Shujie Yao , Jinghua Ou","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101744","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101744","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The uneven development of China can be reflected by the mismatch of labor and industry distributions (MLIS) in terms of spatial structure. Industries usually agglomerate in large cities where a strict household registration system causing high barriers with respect to population and labor entry. Infrastructures that reduce the cost of labor and technology mobility, as represented by high-speed rail (HSR), are possible improvement to regulate such distortions as the two agglomerated into opposite directions. This paper focuses on the impact of HSR on MLIS using a large panel dataset comprising 285 Chinese cities in 2000–2019. A difference-in-difference analysis is introduced to carried out empirical analyses. This paper finds that HSR can significantly mitigate the MLIS in prefecture level cities, but not in cities above prefecture level. The heterogeneous effects of HSR are then discussed with respect to industries and MLIS types. Further mechanism tests show that HSR’s mitigating effect on MLIS comes from the employment effect and the innovation effect. Finally, policy recommendations are provided on HSR investment to improve China's uneven development from the perspective of synergy labor and industry distributions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140631644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-01DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101742
Lu Xu , Jing Jing , Chenyu Wu
In this study, we provide a new explanation for the position in global value chain (GVC)—the impact of financial development—and explore the mechanism from the perspective of research and development (R&D) intensity. Based on GVC and financial development theories, we construct a general equilibrium model and find that financial development promotes product quality by increasing a company’s R&D investment intensity, thus affecting the position in global value chain. The theoretical analysis is supported by empirical evidence based on a panel data from 32 countries between 1995 and 2018. Considering that many developing countries are still trapped in the position with low value added in GVC, our findings provide an important solution—launching financial reforms such as developing direct financing, improving financial market flexibility, and enhancing operational efficiency in the market.
{"title":"Impact of financial development on the position in global value chain: An analysis from the perspective of R&D intensity","authors":"Lu Xu , Jing Jing , Chenyu Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101742","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101742","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In this study, we provide a new explanation for the position in global value chain (GVC)—the impact of financial development—and explore the mechanism from the perspective of research and development (R&D) intensity. Based on GVC and financial development theories, we construct a general equilibrium model and find that financial development promotes product quality by increasing a company’s R&D investment intensity, thus affecting the position in global value chain. The theoretical analysis is supported by empirical evidence based on a panel data from 32 countries between 1995 and 2018. Considering that many developing countries are still trapped in the position with low value added in GVC, our findings provide an important solution—launching financial reforms such as developing direct financing, improving financial market flexibility, and enhancing operational efficiency in the market.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140542495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-30DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101741
Dandan Zhang , Chuliang Luo , Yiran Zi
The rapid development of information and communication technologies has brought about a marked change in work patterns, with teleworking emerging as a vital and complementary form of employment. The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 led to widespread social isolation, accelerating the adoption of teleworking. Following Dingel and Neiman (2020), we construct a teleworkability index for over 4539 employees and analyze the dynamic changes in their working status in China. Our findings suggest that business and technical workers are more likely to work remotely than essential labor workers. Highly educated female workers who live in the southeast of China show the advantage of working from home. Further regression estimation indicates that, throughout 2020, workers with a higher teleworkability index can better cope with adverse shocks from the pandemic with higher return-to-work rates and higher productivity. In contrast, those with a lower teleworkability index face challenges in job retention and suffer from higher unemployment rates and severe income losses. In addition, the teleworkability index is positively associated with mental health status. This study highlights the most vulnerable segment in the labor market, those with low teleworkability, should be well targeted by the social security system.
{"title":"Teleworkability and its heterogeneity in labor market shock","authors":"Dandan Zhang , Chuliang Luo , Yiran Zi","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101741","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101741","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The rapid development of information and communication technologies has brought about a marked change in work patterns, with teleworking emerging as a vital and complementary form of employment. The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 led to widespread social isolation, accelerating the adoption of teleworking. Following Dingel and Neiman (2020), we construct a teleworkability index for over 4539 employees and analyze the dynamic changes in their working status in China. Our findings suggest that business and technical workers are more likely to work remotely than essential labor workers. Highly educated female workers who live in the southeast of China show the advantage of working from home. Further regression estimation indicates that, throughout 2020, workers with a higher teleworkability index can better cope with adverse shocks from the pandemic with higher return-to-work rates and higher productivity. In contrast, those with a lower teleworkability index face challenges in job retention and suffer from higher unemployment rates and severe income losses. In addition, the teleworkability index is positively associated with mental health status. This study highlights the most vulnerable segment in the labor market, those with low teleworkability, should be well targeted by the social security system.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140403556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-30DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101740
Biswajit Maitra , Tafajul Hossain
The fiscal policy’s impact on the price level is theorized as the Fiscal Theory of Price Level (FTPL) and has been popularized since the 1980 s. Developing countries often face the problem of prolonged deficits in fiscal management and depend on public debt. Studies on the FTPL in these countries are pertinent but scarce. This paper explores the price level trajectory in the Indian economy for 1985–2019 on the premise of FTPL. Empirical assessment involves both fiscal variables (deficit, debt, public spending) and money supply. The results of the cointegrated vector autoregression model followed by an impulse response analysis reveal that fiscal deficit stimulates the price level, while public spending has a stabilizing impact. Public debt is rather inflationary, but its impact is not robust. Besides, the money supply amplifies the price level. In the price level trajectory, neither the fiscal dominance nor the monetary dominance, that is, indeterminacy, is ascertained. The proactive role of fiscal and monetary policies in the price level trajectory suggests that if the Reserve Bank of India’s stance on price-level stabilization is abreast, the fiscal authority might accomplish the appropriate strategy.
{"title":"Exploring price level trajectory in India: Does it validate the fiscal theory of price level?","authors":"Biswajit Maitra , Tafajul Hossain","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101740","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101740","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The fiscal policy’s impact on the price level is theorized as the Fiscal Theory of Price Level (FTPL) and has been popularized since the 1980 s. Developing countries often face the problem of prolonged deficits in fiscal management and depend on public debt. Studies on the FTPL in these countries are pertinent but scarce. This paper explores the price level trajectory in the Indian economy for 1985–2019 on the premise of FTPL. Empirical assessment involves both fiscal variables (deficit, debt, public spending) and money supply. The results of the cointegrated vector autoregression model followed by an impulse response analysis reveal that fiscal deficit stimulates the price level, while public spending has a stabilizing impact. Public debt is rather inflationary, but its impact is not robust. Besides, the money supply amplifies the price level. In the price level trajectory, neither the fiscal dominance nor the monetary dominance, that is, indeterminacy, is ascertained. The proactive role of fiscal and monetary policies in the price level trajectory suggests that if the Reserve Bank of India’s stance on price-level stabilization is abreast, the fiscal authority might accomplish the appropriate strategy.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140339660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}