Pub Date : 2025-08-27DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102538
Fanghao Chen , Ruichi Xiong , Shan Zhao
This paper measures the urban shape of Chinese prefecture-level cities and examines the impacts of its fragmentation on local innovation activity. Using a harmonized satellite nightlight dataset from 1999 to 2021, we delineate urban areas as polygons formed by adjacent bright grids at night. We decompose changes in a city's urban shape into two components: the dispersion of individual polygons, and the fragmentation characterized by the growing spatial separation between these polygons. Our empirical analysis reveals that deteriorating urban shape, which typically results in longer commutes for individuals to meet, is associated with fewer local patent grants, with urban fragmentation being the primary driver. Mechanism analysis reveals that intensified urban fragmentation disproportionately impedes collaborative innovation, primarily by elevating communication costs within inventor teams. These findings highlight the pivotal role of optimized urban spatial structures in fostering face-to-face interactions and knowledge spillovers essential for innovation ecosystems.
{"title":"Urban fragmentation and innovation collaboration: Evidence from China","authors":"Fanghao Chen , Ruichi Xiong , Shan Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102538","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102538","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper measures the urban shape of Chinese prefecture-level cities and examines the impacts of its fragmentation on local innovation activity. Using a harmonized satellite nightlight dataset from 1999 to 2021, we delineate urban areas as polygons formed by adjacent bright grids at night. We decompose changes in a city's urban shape into two components: the dispersion of individual polygons, and the fragmentation characterized by the growing spatial separation between these polygons. Our empirical analysis reveals that deteriorating urban shape, which typically results in longer commutes for individuals to meet, is associated with fewer local patent grants, with urban fragmentation being the primary driver. Mechanism analysis reveals that intensified urban fragmentation disproportionately impedes collaborative innovation, primarily by elevating communication costs within inventor teams. These findings highlight the pivotal role of optimized urban spatial structures in fostering face-to-face interactions and knowledge spillovers essential for innovation ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 102538"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144925678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-26DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102524
Hongye Sun, Gongjing Gao
The accelerating global adoption of intelligent automation (IA) technologies is fundamentally transforming economic structures and reshaping individual lifestyles. Despite intense debate regarding the societal impacts of IA, including both beneficial and adverse effects, empirical evidence on its net influence on multidimensional well-being outcomes remains scarce. Drawing on a nationally representative dataset from China (2018–2020), we employed multilevel probit models with instrumental variables to investigate how IA influences subjective well-being (SWB) and job satisfaction (JS), differentiating between standard and nonstandard employment contexts. Our findings revealed distinct nonlinear relationships: an inverted U-shaped pattern between IA and SWB, versus a U-shaped relationship between IA and JS, with turning points above the 35th and 80th percentiles of IA intensity distribution, respectively. These contrasting trajectories suggest that IA’s impacts vary considerably between consumption utility and production utility domains. The results demonstrate significant heterogeneity in the well-being effects of IA across different forms of employment. Specifically, within standard employment arrangements, IA exerts strong marginal diminishing effects on JS, though with an earlier turning point as IA intensity increases. Moreover, our counterfactual decomposition analysis verifies that IA contributes to narrowing the overall SWB and JS gaps between standard and nonstandard forms of employment by approximately 13% and 19%, respectively. Our mediation analysis identified three distinct transmission mechanisms — psychological factors, social interactions, and structural inequality — through which IA influences well-being, with mental exhaustion and actual inequality accounting for 38% and 30% of the total negative effect of IA on JS, respectively. These findings suggest that policy interventions would ensure balanced technological integration to maximize technology’s welfare benefits while mitigating its polarizing tendencies. This study provides important implications for understanding how technological transformation shapes human well-being across increasingly segmented global labor markets.
{"title":"The impact of intelligent automation on subjective well-being and job satisfaction: A comparison between standard and nonstandard employment","authors":"Hongye Sun, Gongjing Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102524","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102524","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The accelerating global adoption of intelligent automation (IA) technologies is fundamentally transforming economic structures and reshaping individual lifestyles. Despite intense debate regarding the societal impacts of IA, including both beneficial and adverse effects, empirical evidence on its net influence on multidimensional well-being outcomes remains scarce. Drawing on a nationally representative dataset from China (2018–2020), we employed multilevel probit models with instrumental variables to investigate how IA influences subjective well-being (SWB) and job satisfaction (JS), differentiating between standard and nonstandard employment contexts. Our findings revealed distinct nonlinear relationships: an inverted U-shaped pattern between IA and SWB, versus a U-shaped relationship between IA and JS, with turning points above the 35th and 80th percentiles of IA intensity distribution, respectively. These contrasting trajectories suggest that IA’s impacts vary considerably between consumption utility and production utility domains. The results demonstrate significant heterogeneity in the well-being effects of IA across different forms of employment. Specifically, within standard employment arrangements, IA exerts strong marginal diminishing effects on JS, though with an earlier turning point as IA intensity increases. Moreover, our counterfactual decomposition analysis verifies that IA contributes to narrowing the overall SWB and JS gaps between standard and nonstandard forms of employment by approximately 13% and 19%, respectively. Our mediation analysis identified three distinct transmission mechanisms — psychological factors, social interactions, and structural inequality — through which IA influences well-being, with mental exhaustion and actual inequality accounting for 38% and 30% of the total negative effect of IA on JS, respectively. These findings suggest that policy interventions would ensure balanced technological integration to maximize technology’s welfare benefits while mitigating its polarizing tendencies. This study provides important implications for understanding how technological transformation shapes human well-being across increasingly segmented global labor markets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 102524"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144921563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There are two competing perspectives regarding the nexus between robotics adoption and the cost of equity. One view posits that robotics adoption allows firms to cut more jobs when necessary, leading to decreases in the cost of equity, thanks to technological advances and improved efficiency. Another view, however, postulates that robotics adoption may disrupt workforce morale, prompting shareholders to demand higher returns to offset perceived operational risks, thereby increasing the cost of equity. To empirically examine these conflicting effects, this study analyzes data from Chinese publicly traded firms spanning 2006 to 2019. Leveraging industry-level metrics on robotics adoption from the International Federation of Robotics and a panel of Chinese listed firms, this study identifies a robust negative association between robotics adoption and the cost of equity. Mechanism analysis reveals that robotics impacts firms' cost of equity via two opposing channels: operating leverage and employee satisfaction, with the former dominating the latter. This research enriches a growing body of literature on automation technologies by offering solid evidence from Chinese firms and sheds light on how robotics adoption influences firms' cost of equity.
关于采用机器人技术与公平成本之间的关系，有两种相互竞争的观点。一种观点认为，由于技术的进步和效率的提高，采用机器人技术可以让企业在必要时裁减更多的工作岗位，从而降低股权成本。然而，另一种观点认为，采用机器人技术可能会破坏员工士气，促使股东要求更高的回报来抵消感知到的运营风险，从而增加股权成本。为了实证检验这些相互冲突的影响，本研究分析了2006年至2019年中国上市公司的数据。利用国际机器人联合会（International Federation of robotics）和一组中国上市公司关于机器人采用的行业指标，本研究发现机器人采用与股权成本之间存在强烈的负相关关系。机制分析表明，机器人技术通过经营杠杆和员工满意度两个相反的渠道影响企业股权成本，前者主导后者。本研究通过提供来自中国企业的确凿证据，丰富了越来越多关于自动化技术的文献，并揭示了机器人的采用如何影响企业的股权成本。
{"title":"Robots and cost of equity: Evidence from China","authors":"Chao He , Zhongsheng Zhou , Fangfang Jian , Yuhan Qiu","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102539","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102539","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There are two competing perspectives regarding the nexus between robotics adoption and the cost of equity. One view posits that robotics adoption allows firms to cut more jobs when necessary, leading to decreases in the cost of equity, thanks to technological advances and improved efficiency. Another view, however, postulates that robotics adoption may disrupt workforce morale, prompting shareholders to demand higher returns to offset perceived operational risks, thereby increasing the cost of equity. To empirically examine these conflicting effects, this study analyzes data from Chinese publicly traded firms spanning 2006 to 2019. Leveraging industry-level metrics on robotics adoption from the International Federation of Robotics and a panel of Chinese listed firms, this study identifies a robust negative association between robotics adoption and the cost of equity. Mechanism analysis reveals that robotics impacts firms' cost of equity via two opposing channels: operating leverage and employee satisfaction, with the former dominating the latter. This research enriches a growing body of literature on automation technologies by offering solid evidence from Chinese firms and sheds light on how robotics adoption influences firms' cost of equity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 102539"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144996359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-23DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102537
Zhouling Bai , Pan Zhang , Hongtao Yi
Though the goal-setting theory has attracted much attention, current research neglects how the principal-agent structure shapes agents' target-setting. This study estimates how principal-agent incentive arrangements affect target-setting from the micro-level perspective of local officials. Using a novel fuzzy regression discontinuity design, it shows that China's political selection system creates a significant downward discontinuity in city-level agents' political career advancement prospects at the 55-year-old age threshold, and city agents with weaker age-based career incentives set lower GDP growth targets than those with stronger ones. Moreover, this effect decreases when these agents are under increased pressure to curb environmental pollution. The subperiod analysis suggests that the strategic target-setting behavior of local agents evolves dynamically in response to changes in performance evaluation criteria. It contributes to the target-setting theory in principal-agent contexts, featuring a rigorous political promotion ladder and trade-offs associated with multiple tasks.
{"title":"Political career incentives and multitasking trade-off: Evidence from setting performance targets in Chinese cities","authors":"Zhouling Bai , Pan Zhang , Hongtao Yi","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102537","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102537","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Though the goal-setting theory has attracted much attention, current research neglects how the principal-agent structure shapes agents' target-setting. This study estimates how principal-agent incentive arrangements affect target-setting from the micro-level perspective of local officials. Using a novel fuzzy regression discontinuity design, it shows that China's political selection system creates a significant downward discontinuity in city-level agents' political career advancement prospects at the 55-year-old age threshold, and city agents with weaker age-based career incentives set lower GDP growth targets than those with stronger ones. Moreover, this effect decreases when these agents are under increased pressure to curb environmental pollution. The subperiod analysis suggests that the strategic target-setting behavior of local agents evolves dynamically in response to changes in performance evaluation criteria. It contributes to the target-setting theory in principal-agent contexts, featuring a rigorous political promotion ladder and trade-offs associated with multiple tasks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 102537"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144931821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-23DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102535
Chang Li , Wei Li , Yuhui Shao
This paper examines how global monetary policy shocks (MPS) transmitted through trade networks affect supply chain adaptation of Chinese firms. When exposed to higher supplier-side MPS, firms experience significantly higher separation rates and lower foreign entry rates. Our findings remain robust across a range of alternative MPS measures. In response, firms shift their sourcing from high-interest-rate countries to low-interest-rate countries, but they do not re-shore. We show that trade credit and price adjustment by suppliers are important for explaining the restructuring. The disruption is more likely driven by customer decisions. Moreover, heterogeneities show that firms with stricter credit constraints are more sensitive to MPS, while longer-duration supply chain relationships show greater resilience. The supply chain adaptation induced by MPS also leads to adverse real economic outcomes for imports, exports, and profitability.
{"title":"Global monetary policy shocks and the adaptation of supply chains","authors":"Chang Li , Wei Li , Yuhui Shao","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102535","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102535","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines how global monetary policy shocks (MPS) transmitted through trade networks affect supply chain adaptation of Chinese firms. When exposed to higher supplier-side MPS, firms experience significantly higher separation rates and lower foreign entry rates. Our findings remain robust across a range of alternative MPS measures. In response, firms shift their sourcing from high-interest-rate countries to low-interest-rate countries, but they do not re-shore. We show that trade credit and price adjustment by suppliers are important for explaining the restructuring. The disruption is more likely driven by customer decisions. Moreover, heterogeneities show that firms with stricter credit constraints are more sensitive to MPS, while longer-duration supply chain relationships show greater resilience. The supply chain adaptation induced by MPS also leads to adverse real economic outcomes for imports, exports, and profitability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 102535"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144921564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-22DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102521
Qing Liu , Wenlan Luo , Qiaoqin Xiong
This paper constructs high-frequency monetary policy shocks for China using intra-day government bond futures price changes around policy announcements. Exploiting the PBC’s unique announcement protocol (2017–2019), we isolate exogenous policy surprises and trace their dynamic effects. Policy surprises have transient impacts on interbank markets but induce persistent adjustments in broader financial markets and real outcomes, indicating transmission through a signaling channel. Further decomposition reveals a crucial asymmetry: pure policy shocks and policy stance changes are persistently contractionary while shocks conveying the central bank’s information are modestly expansionary. Our findings show that overall policy impact reflects competing signals and provide a framework for identifying central bank communication’s dual role in signaling both policy stance and economic outlook in emerging markets with evolving price-based regimes.
{"title":"Monetary policy in China: High-frequency shocks and the signaling effects","authors":"Qing Liu , Wenlan Luo , Qiaoqin Xiong","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102521","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102521","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper constructs high-frequency monetary policy shocks for China using intra-day government bond futures price changes around policy announcements. Exploiting the PBC’s unique announcement protocol (2017–2019), we isolate exogenous policy surprises and trace their dynamic effects. Policy surprises have transient impacts on interbank markets but induce persistent adjustments in broader financial markets and real outcomes, indicating transmission through a signaling channel. Further decomposition reveals a crucial asymmetry: pure policy shocks and policy stance changes are persistently contractionary while shocks conveying the central bank’s information are modestly expansionary. Our findings show that overall policy impact reflects competing signals and provide a framework for identifying central bank communication’s dual role in signaling both policy stance and economic outlook in emerging markets with evolving price-based regimes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 102521"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144906922","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-21DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102534
Hongli Chu , Ivan Y. Sun , Jianxiong Wang
The recent major judicial reforms in China involve implementing a judge quota and personnel management system. To date, little is known about the impact of the reforms. Using over 14 million Chinese court judgments data from 2014 to 2018, this article evaluates the connections between qualified judges and labor specialization and judicial efficiency and quality. This study found that the judge quota reform in China has improved judicial efficiency and quality due mainly to the personnel classification management system rather than the reappointed judges. By introducing task-specific returns to specialization in the judicial system, the personnel classification management system has allowed judges to concentrate on their adjudicative tasks instead of administrative and secretarial duties and thereby improving judicial performance. Institution design plays an important role in optimizing resource allocation and improving efficiency. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.
{"title":"Excellent human capital or institution? Evidence from judicial reform of the judge quota system in China","authors":"Hongli Chu , Ivan Y. Sun , Jianxiong Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102534","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102534","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The recent major judicial reforms in China involve implementing a judge quota and personnel management system. To date, little is known about the impact of the reforms. Using over 14 million Chinese court judgments data from 2014 to 2018, this article evaluates the connections between qualified judges and labor specialization and judicial efficiency and quality. This study found that the judge quota reform in China has improved judicial efficiency and quality due mainly to the personnel classification management system rather than the reappointed judges. By introducing task-specific returns to specialization in the judicial system, the personnel classification management system has allowed judges to concentrate on their adjudicative tasks instead of administrative and secretarial duties and thereby improving judicial performance. Institution design plays an important role in optimizing resource allocation and improving efficiency. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 102534"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144902374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-13DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102528
Cynthia Bansak , Eva Dziadula , Sophie Xuefei Wang
This study documents increased life expectancy among elderly parents in China whose adult children were exposed to the “Later, Longer, Fewer” (LLF) family planning campaign in the 1970s. We leverage the variation in policy exposure at the province, urban, and birth-cohort level to understand the extent to which the LLF campaign has affected social networks and intergenerational support for elderly parents. The plausible channels that may impact life expectancy are living arrangements, visits, and financial transfers. Using the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we identify adults of childbearing age who were exposed to the LLF campaign and whose fertility was reduced. We find that greater LLF exposure increases the likelihood of the wife’s parents co-residing in her household. The increase in elderly support, however, is largely manifested through more visits and financial transfers from their sons’ families, which is unsurprising in a patrilineal society. Most gains are driven by rural households.
{"title":"The effect of family size on intergenerational support for elderly parents and their life expectancy: Evidence from China’s “Later, Longer, Fewer” campaign","authors":"Cynthia Bansak , Eva Dziadula , Sophie Xuefei Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102528","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102528","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study documents increased life expectancy among elderly parents in China whose adult children were exposed to the “Later, Longer, Fewer” (LLF) family planning campaign in the 1970s. We leverage the variation in policy exposure at the province, urban, and birth-cohort level to understand the extent to which the LLF campaign has affected social networks and intergenerational support for elderly parents. The plausible channels that may impact life expectancy are living arrangements, visits, and financial transfers. Using the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we identify adults of childbearing age who were exposed to the LLF campaign and whose fertility was reduced. We find that greater LLF exposure increases the likelihood of the wife’s parents co-residing in her household. The increase in elderly support, however, is largely manifested through more visits and financial transfers from their sons’ families, which is unsurprising in a patrilineal society. Most gains are driven by rural households.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 102528"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144858099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-12DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102536
Xiaodong Zheng , Jingru Ren , Yanran Zhou
Socio-emotional skills are essential for entrepreneurial behavior and firm performance, yet little is known about how entrepreneurial traits are associated with major life events such as migration. This study investigates the relationship between internal migration experience (IME) and the locus of control (LOC) among entrepreneurs, a psychological trait with significant implications for various life and organizational outcomes. We first develop a theoretical framework to explore how migration may relate to entrepreneurs' LOC. Using nationally representative datasets from China, we compare entrepreneurs with IME who returned to their hometowns with those who have never migrated. The results show robust evidence that returnees exhibit stronger internal LOC than non-migrants, partially explaining the positive link between migration and entrepreneurial behaviors. This observed relationship is more pronounced among those who migrated earlier in life and appears weaker among individuals with prolonged migration durations. The positive association is also more evident among male entrepreneurs, those born after 1980, members of the ethnic majority, and entrepreneurs from smaller cities. Mechanism analysis further suggests that while IME is linked to health deterioration and weakened origin-based social networks, it is also associated with gains in work experience, managerial skills, cultural assimilation, and socioeconomic improvement, which contribute to strengthening internal control beliefs. Our findings underscore the relevance of internal migration for entrepreneurial behavior, particularly through the lens of socio-emotional skills, and suggest the importance of migration policies for inclusive urban development.
{"title":"Through trials and hardships: Internal migration and locus of control among Chinese entrepreneurs","authors":"Xiaodong Zheng , Jingru Ren , Yanran Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102536","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102536","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Socio-emotional skills are essential for entrepreneurial behavior and firm performance, yet little is known about how entrepreneurial traits are associated with major life events such as migration. This study investigates the relationship between internal migration experience (IME) and the locus of control (LOC) among entrepreneurs, a psychological trait with significant implications for various life and organizational outcomes. We first develop a theoretical framework to explore how migration may relate to entrepreneurs' LOC. Using nationally representative datasets from China, we compare entrepreneurs with IME who returned to their hometowns with those who have never migrated. The results show robust evidence that returnees exhibit stronger internal LOC than non-migrants, partially explaining the positive link between migration and entrepreneurial behaviors. This observed relationship is more pronounced among those who migrated earlier in life and appears weaker among individuals with prolonged migration durations. The positive association is also more evident among male entrepreneurs, those born after 1980, members of the ethnic majority, and entrepreneurs from smaller cities. Mechanism analysis further suggests that while IME is linked to health deterioration and weakened origin-based social networks, it is also associated with gains in work experience, managerial skills, cultural assimilation, and socioeconomic improvement, which contribute to strengthening internal control beliefs. Our findings underscore the relevance of internal migration for entrepreneurial behavior, particularly through the lens of socio-emotional skills, and suggest the importance of migration policies for inclusive urban development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 102536"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144879656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-11DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102503
Zhewei Zhang , Zhiwei Xu , Fangxing Zhou
The aim of this paper is to quantitatively evaluate the consequences of capital account liberalization on China’s real economy and capital allocations when economic uncertainty surges. We construct a heterogeneous-agent open economy dynamic general equilibrium model featuring financially constrained households and multiple types of saving instruments, including housing assets and foreign assets. Capital account liberalization offers China’s domestic households more options for purchasing foreign assets as an alternative saving instrument, enhancing consumption-smoothing capacities and mitigating the crowding-out effect of the housing sector on the real economy. The quantitative analysis further indicates that in the short run, the reduced investment demand for housing assets caused by financial liberalization leads to more capital being allocated to the domestic real sector, and in the long run, a trade-off exists between smoothing consumption and promoting output. When uncertainty increases, capital account liberalization can improve social welfare and facilitate capital flows from the housing sector to the real sector.
{"title":"Financial liberalization and capital allocation in China","authors":"Zhewei Zhang , Zhiwei Xu , Fangxing Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102503","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102503","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The aim of this paper is to quantitatively evaluate the consequences of capital account liberalization on China’s real economy and capital allocations when economic uncertainty surges. We construct a heterogeneous-agent open economy dynamic general equilibrium model featuring financially constrained households and multiple types of saving instruments, including housing assets and foreign assets. Capital account liberalization offers China’s domestic households more options for purchasing foreign assets as an alternative saving instrument, enhancing consumption-smoothing capacities and mitigating the crowding-out effect of the housing sector on the real economy. The quantitative analysis further indicates that in the short run, the reduced investment demand for housing assets caused by financial liberalization leads to more capital being allocated to the domestic real sector, and in the long run, a trade-off exists between smoothing consumption and promoting output. When uncertainty increases, capital account liberalization can improve social welfare and facilitate capital flows from the housing sector to the real sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 102503"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144829906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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