Journal of Comparative Economics最新文献

This paper studies the effect of different ballot structures in proportional representation systems on the educational attainment of elected politicians as a proxy for their “ability”. By exploiting the Italian electoral reform that switched from open to blocked lists of candidates, the difference-in-differences analysis shows that the reform lowered the educational attainment of national politicians compared to the counterfactual (regional politicians). The dynamic impact of the reform is persistent over time, and it is robust to several concerns. The estimates account for the changes in the party system due to the “Clean hands” judicial inquiry against political corruption that began in 1992. The voters’ choice of better politicians than political parties seems to be the most likely mechanism behind the results.

This study examines the impact of access to local citizenship (i.e., the status of being local residents with hukou in the context of China) on internal migration by exploiting variations in the timing and intensity of exposure to a hukou reform across 283 Chinese cities. Using population censuses and data we collected on the adoption of the hukou reform, we find that improved access to hukou substantially increases migration. The impact is more pronounced for young and low- and medium-skilled workers. Moreover, the impact persists over the long term. The policy positively affects local labor market probably through increased domestic consumption from migrants who (are prepared to) obtain local hukou in destinations. These findings demonstrate the importance of lifting barriers to local citizenship for internal migration in China. Underlying mechanisms and competing hypotheses are also analyzed.

The Cool Water condition is a climatic configuration that combines periodically frosty winters with mildly warm summers under the ubiquitous accessibility of fresh water. Historically, it embodied opportunity endowments that weakened fertility pressures, resulting in household formation patterns that empowered women and reduced gender inequality. Reviewing the literature on the deep historic roots of gender inequality, this paper theorizes and provides evidence for a trajectory that (1) originates in the Cool Water climatic configuration, (2) leads to late female marriages in preindustrial times, and (3) eventually paves the way for various gender-egalitarian patterns of the present.

In this paper, we provide novel evidence on the adjustment of multinational enterprises (MNEs) to corrupt environments. We examine if the corruption barrier to entry is reduced by corruption experience (i.e., previous investment in a corrupt system) using a rich enterprise data set on Swedish manufacturers’ activities in the 1997–2015 period. A mixed logit model, which accounts for enterprise-specific market substitution patterns, is used to ensure the accuracy of estimates. Our findings show that a strong deterrent effect of corruption is counteracted by corruption experience, which implies that MNEs learn to adjust to reduce corruption entry costs. Multinational enterprises that acquire corruption experience gain a competitive advantage over other enterprises.

This paper estimates the labor market impacts of parenthood in China. We find that becoming a mother has negative impacts on women's labor outcomes. But the impacts appear to recover sooner than what has been found in other countries. A decomposition exercise suggests that parenthood plays a limited role in explaining the large gender inequality in China's labor market. We document a form of intergenerational arrangement that is prevalent among Chinese families: Upon the arrival of a child, grandmothers substantially reduce market labor supply and provide much of the childcare. Grandparents’ help with childcare likely plays an important role in alleviating the motherhood effect. Suggestive evidence indicates that in return, grandparents who help with childcare receive more intra-family transfers and report higher subjective wellbeing. We further show that the motherhood effect, though relatively small, has increased substantially over the past decades. The rising gender gap in the labor market, the declining state sector that historically provides more flexible accommodations for working mothers, and the abolishment of the one-child policy all suggest a rising burden of motherhood on labor market outcomes.

This paper investigates the effects of non-repayable enterprise grants on Hungarian SMEs, financed from the European Union’s Structural and Cohesion Funds between 2004–2014. Comparing firm- and worker level outcomes of successful and unsuccessful applicants, we find that subsidized firms increase their employment, sales, capital-to-labor ratio and labor productivity, but we find conflicting results for total factor productivity. The skill composition of workers is not affected by the grant, but wages increase, although only for skilled workers and especially managers. These results suggest that the program generates additional investment, but that investment leads to limited technology upgrading at best. According to our simple calculations, the cost of creating an additional job with this program was equivalent to 3 years average wage and each year’s grants contributed to aggregate SME labor productivity growth by 0.2-0.6 percentage points — with an annual cost often in excess of 1 percent of total SME value added.

This study measures the impact of the number of people who passed the Vietnamese imperial examinations (1075–1919) on the present-day quantity and quality of education in their home districts. Our analyses at the district and individual levels are based mainly on the data of successful imperial test takers, the 2009 population census, and 2009 National Entrance Exams to University test scores. We find a persistent legacy in educational attainment outcomes. Although there may be multiple channels that explain the long-term historical effects, a tradition of human capital investment and cultural elements are among the most important factors.

Using a national representative sample, the China Family Panel Studies, this paper explores the influences of clan culture, a hallmark of Chinese cultural history, on the prevalence of child labor in China. We find that clan culture significantly reduces the incidence of child labor and working hours of child laborer. The results exhibit strong boy bias, and are driven by boys rather than girls, which reflects the patrilineal nature of Chinese clan culture. Moreover, the impact is greater on boys from households with lower socioeconomic status, and in rural areas. Clan culture acts as a supplement to formal institutions: reduces the incidence of child labor through risk sharing and easing credit constraints, and helps form social norms to promote human capital investment. We also employ an instrument variable approach and carry out a series of robustness checks to further confirm the findings.