China & World Economy最新文献

We use a highly disaggregated panel of macro data and minimum wages at the county level to investigate the processes behind minimum wage adjustments in China. Relying on random effects models, spatial econometrics techniques, and multilevel analyses, we document that a comparatively small number of economic variables – including the local price level and GDP per capita – are important determinants of minimum wage rates. Interactions between adjacent counties and counties of the same administrative type, and centralized mechanisms, particularly at the provincial level, also play an important role in explaining the variance in minimum wage rates across counties. Finally, we show that China's provinces are the key players for setting minimum wage rates and that, when they do so, they are not uniform in the way they weigh different economic variables.

This study examines how the foreign experience of local officials affects firms' exports in China. Using a matched sample from 2000 to 2012, we found that the foreign experience of municipal Party secretaries had a significant impact on the promotion of firms' exports, especially for private firms. This positive impact was more pronounced when officials went abroad at a younger age, stayed abroad for a longer period, returned to China for a longer time, and had greater promotion incentives. We found that officials' foreign experience helped to mitigate the negative impact of institutional distance and provided firms with better access to export subsidies, both of which could promote exporting. There was also a complementary effect when officials and executives both had foreign experience. Overall, our study provides some insights into the economic outcomes of officials' foreign experience and sheds light on the export performance of Chinese firms.

This paper quantifies the way in which the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) affects the restructuring of global value chains (GVCs). It incorporates an input– output structure into a general equilibrium model, highlighting important differences between intermediates and final goods. Using tariff reduction schedules for the RCEP agreement and Asian Development Bank Multi-Region Input–Output database, it evaluates the impact of the RCEP's tariff cuts on vertical specialization and the GVC position index of members. It shows that the RCEP significantly increased vertical specialization and the weighted average number of stages for members for primary factors of production and final consumption, which led to more complex and longer production chains. This was mainly due to the trade creation in intermediates imported from member countries and those outside it. This is an important finding, distinct from traditional trade models without an input–output structure.

The relationship between air pollution and charitable donations of companies has received little attention from academia. To make up for this defect, we use a regression discontinuity design based on the spatial discontinuity in air pollution created by China's winter heating policy in the north of Qinling Mountains–Huai River line to examine whether severe air pollution may cause polluting companies to make charitable donations. Our results consistently show that air pollution has a positive impact on the donations of polluting companies, regardless of whether the absolute donations, the relative donations, or the willingness to donate are used to measure donations. A series of robustness tests confirm that this relationship is causal. Furthermore, we find that under severe air pollution, the motivations of polluting companies to implement donation behaviors are to decrease the probability of environmental penalties, reduce environmental pollution costs, and decrease the extent to which air pollution affects company reputations.

This study examined the impact of inquiry letters on corporate tax aggressiveness based on the special inquiry system in Chinese stock exchanges. It found that the receipt of inquiry letters significantly inhibited tax aggressiveness. The channel through which inquiry letters worked involved a monitoring effect on related-party transactions. The disincentive effect of inquiry letters on corporate tax aggressiveness was mainly found in firms with overseas operations, low-quality of internal control, and weak tax enforcement. Examining the textual information in inquiry letters, the results show that more questions and the demand for a specific opinion from the auditor led to a greater disincentive effect. The level of detail in firms' reply letters weakened this disincentive effect. Finally, the disincentive effect of tax aggressiveness was more pronounced when inquiry letters pointed to tax-related issues.

This study investigated the effects of boarding at school on students’ prosocial behaviors in rural China using data from the National Children's Study of China. The instrumental variable (IV) approach was used to control for potential endogeneity, and the IVs were the proportion of boarding students in higher grades and the school area per student. The ordinary least squares and IV estimates showed that boarding students exhibited more prosocial behaviors, including compliance with rules, positive traits, and altruistic attitudes. These results were robust. Heterogeneity analyses suggested that students from low-income families, children who were not “left behind,” high-grade students, and female students were more likely to benefit from boarding. We found that these effects were primarily due to boarding students developing stronger feelings of trust and support from their peers and teachers and participating in more school-organized events and team activities.

This study employed a difference-in-differences design to assess the effect of market-based environmental regulation on green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE) in a quasi-natural experiment that investigated China's carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS). The empirical results show that ETS had a positive effect on GTFEE. A series of robustness tests revealed that the results were robust. Potential mechanisms through which ETS can improve GTFEE include the promotion of technological innovation and the upgrading of industrial structure. The positive effects varied in different cities and different regions – the result was pronounced in eastern China and developed cities, but it was insignificant in central and western areas and developing cities. This study confirms the satisfactory performance of China's ETS in improving GTFEE, and this is relevant for other emerging countries.

Drawing on Dutch disease theory, we assess how the recent housing boom has contributed to a decline in China's manufacturing exports. Using Chinese city and enterprise panel data from 2004 to 2013, our analysis reveals that Dutch disease indeed exists and that the housing price increase has played a very important role in affecting China's manufacturing exports through two key channels: resource movement effect and spending effect. Specifically, this paper found that: (i) the housing price increase hindered labor flowing into China's manufacturing industry (resource movement effect) and caused higher inflation (spending effect); (ii) the housing boom clearly impeded China's manufacturing exports, especially after the outbreak of the global economic crisis in 2008; (iii) the impacts of the housing price increase on China's manufacturing exports were heterogenous, and were more significant for labor-intensive manufacturing businesses, businesses that were foreign owned, less R&D intensive, or located in the central and western regions.

There has been ongoing interest in China's economic growth. What were the drivers of China's economic growth in past years? What policies were used to promote China's economic growth? Although different lenses may be used to understand and explain China's economic growth, this paper draws on historical, theoretical, and empirical perspectives to discuss the nexus between China's regional policies and economic growth. First, we review the evolution of China's regional policy and the policy's changing emphasis in different development stages, from balanced, unbalanced, and coordinated development to synergistic development. Then we construct a theoretical model to illustrate the impact of regional policy on the local economy and conduct an empirical examination with a case study of regional policy using regression discontinuity design. This paper analyzes the concept of regional policy and the underpinning logic of economic growth and presents practical approaches to formulate a better regional policy framework.