China & World Economy最新文献

This article proposes a leadership theory of globalization to explain how economic globalization occurs and evolves, and why China wants to take a leading role in globalization. The theory posits that an economy equipped with advanced industrial technology, a substantial domestic market, and robust institutional capacity is more likely to take the lead in driving economic globalization. Technological advantages in high-tech industries position an economy favorably within the global value chains, maximizing its benefits from economic globalization. A large domestic market can entice other countries to agree to open their markets reciprocally. Institutional capacity enables governments to deter opposition to globalization from those disadvantaged by economic opening. This paper presents studies of historical cases of economic globalization and provides a three-stage model of globalization. It argues that China has been gaining on three fronts in recent decades and is therefore willing to promote economic globalization.

Global supply chain networks foster collaboration but accelerate cross-border risk transmission. This study investigates the effect of the 2011 East Japan earthquake on Chinese firms' import strategies. The findings reveal that the disruption led to a shift toward supply chain concentration, with firms reducing the diversification of import sources. There was a slight increase in the number of countries from which firms sourced imports but import shares became more concentrated, reflecting a reliance on fewer, centralized suppliers. Firms affected by the earthquake prioritized long-term partnerships and sought suppliers in regions with lower natural disaster risks, aiming to mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities and reduce switching costs. The findings also show that state-owned enterprises, private firms, and research and development-intensive firms were more inclined to centralize their import sources. This suggests that these firms, leveraging their larger scale, substantial resources, and robust risk management strategies, favored a more concentrated sourcing approach in order to better control their supply chains and ensure stability in the face of global disruptions.

This study examines the spillover effects of international film co-production using data on films released in the Chinese mainland from 2006 to 2018. The results indicate that local film producers can enhance their product performance by leveraging the expertise and practices of more sophisticated foreign firms during international co-productions. Heterogeneous effects were observed related to budget size, firm size, ownership structure, and cultural distance. These spillover effects can occur through two mechanisms: the demonstration effect (the adoption of more advanced technology) and the labor mobility effect (actors or directors upgrading their skills). An instrumental variable approach is employed to address endogeneity concerns. This study contributes to the spillover effects of international co-production, which has been neglected in the literature. Its empirical findings suggest that engaging in international co-production can potentially boost productivity for firms from developing countries. Host country governments may consider offering preferential policies to promote international co-production as an alternative to foreign direct investment (FDI), thereby fostering positive spillover effects.

This study investigates the effects of institutional investor cliques on stock price efficiency. Using a community network algorithm, it identifies cliques of institutional investors and finds that they significantly undermined stock price efficiency in China. The robustness of this finding is demonstrated through a range of methodologies, including the substitution of dependent variables, the alteration of estimation methods, the exclusion of data from extreme market periods, and the application of instrumental variables. The role of institutional investor cliques in diminishing market efficiency is attributed to market speculation. The detrimental effect of cliques on efficiency is exacerbated in environments characterized by low stock liquidity, poor information disclosure, and heightened panic among retail investors. However, regulatory interventions, such as inquiry letters, are shown to mitigate these effects and enhance market efficiency. These findings highlight the unexpected ways institutional investor cliques can influence emerging market economies and underscore the critical importance of effective regulation to safeguard market efficiency.

This study examines the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on China's export potential at the product level. Using country–product-level data from the Centre d'Etudes Prospectives d'Informations Internationales-Base pour l'Analyse du Commerce International (CEPII-BACI), which includes 5,049 product types across 196 economies from 2007 to 2022, it explores the trade effects of the BRI and its mechanisms from the perspective of global value chains. The results indicate that the BRI has increased China's product export potential significantly to participating countires. The BRI has had the greatest impact on capital goods and labor- and capital-intensive industries. The effect has been most pronounced in China's exports to Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Europe. The mechanism analysis reveals that the BRI has improved the division of labor in the global value chains for participating countries along the BRI, strengthened China's position in their output supply chains, and stimulated the growth of China's exports.

Addressing pollution caused by economic development, especially the overcapacity of polluting enterprises, is crucial for promoting sustainable economic growth. Targeted environmental policies are essential for strengthening environmental constraints on enterprises and enhancing the effectiveness of regulatory instruments. This study focused on the Environmental Credit Evaluation policy by examining its potential to improve capacity utilization and assessing its broader impact on heavily polluting enterprises. It constructed a time-varying difference-in-difference-in-differences model using panel data from 965 industrial enterprises from 2009 to 2019. The findings reveal that, in comparison with their non-heavily polluting counterparts, heavily polluting enterprises subject to the policy demonstrated significant improvements in capacity utilization. Heavily polluting enterprises that experienced a substantial increase in financing costs also exhibited a marked reduction in inefficient investment, without negatively affecting innovation investments or output.

Electrification is crucial for achieving global net zero emissions and reducing energy poverty, particularly in developing countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This study uses the difference-in-differences method to examine the BRI's impact on electrification levels in 118 countries from 2009 to 2020. Its findings indicate that the BRI increased electrification in BRI countries by approximately 1 percent compared with non-BRI countries. This increase was driven primarily by enhanced trade and investments, which facilitated imports of power equipment and supported China-backed power-plant projects. The BRI's impact was more pronounced in Maritime Silk Road countries, high-income nations, and those with favorable business environments. Although the BRI promoted both renewable and nonrenewable power equipment imports, it primarily favored nonrenewable infrastructure investments. Given China's expertise in clean energy, there remains untapped potential for the BRI to prioritize renewable energy integration, fostering a sustainable and low-carbon future.

The rapid development of digital industries such as artificial intelligence and big data has fundamentally transformed production, providing new opportunities for the diversification of firms. Drawing on data from the China Customs Database and the Annual Survey of Industrial Firms for 2003–2013, we employed a panel fixed effects model to examine the impact of digital industry agglomeration on firms' export product diversification. The findings revealed that, holding other conditions constant, a one-unit increase in digital industry agglomeration resulted in a significant 2.34 percent rise in export scope and a significant decrease by 0.58 percent in export concentration. Firms in digitally advanced cities and capital-intensive industries were more influenced by digital industry agglomeration in export diversification. Mechanism analysis reveals that digital industry agglomeration fostered export product diversification through innovation stimulation, information dissemination, and efficiency enhancement. Innovation was evidenced by increases in urban innovation indices and the emergence of new export products. Information dissemination boosted wholesale and retail sales, helping firms to expand export destinations. Efficiency enhancement was reflected in narrowing management efficiency gaps among firms.

Adolescence is a crucial period for character development and is particularly susceptible to parental influence due to the brain's malleability. This paper examines whether parenting styles can have a significant impact on adolescent misbehaviors such as disobedience and aggression. The results show that, in comparison with neglectful parenting – characterized by low levels of demandingness and responsiveness – authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles were associated with a significant reduction in behavioral issues among adolescents. The beneficial impact of authoritative parenting, marked by high demandingness and responsiveness, was particularly strong. In contrast, authoritarian parenting (high demandingness but low responsiveness) and permissive parenting (high responsiveness but low demandingness) were less effective in reducing behavioral issues. Our results remained robust after addressing potential issues of reverse causality, omitted variable bias, and selective sorting between teachers and students. The results also show that teachers and their interactions with parents played an important role in mitigating the adverse effects of neglectful parenting. Overall, our findings suggest that adopting parenting styles that strike a balance between discipline and care can strongly foster positive behaviors in adolescents.