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Capital Regulations, Bank Risk-Taking, and Monetary Policy in China

Xiaoming Li, Zheng Liu, Yuchao Peng, Zhiwei Xu, Nov 18, 2020

China implemented Basel III in 2013 and tightened bank capital regulations. Empirical evidence shows that the new regulations significantly reduced bank risk-taking following monetary policy easing. To meet the tightened capital requirements, banks respond to a balance-sheet expansion by raising the share of lending to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that are perceived as low-risk borrowers under government...

Book Synopsis New Cycle or Old (Guaranteed) Bubble?

Ning Zhu, Oct 04, 2017

It seems necessary that one gains some deeper understanding of the sources of China’s phenomenal economic growth. Apart from all well-founded extant explanations, my recent book Guaranteed Bubble argues for another important yet previously overlooked source: the guarantees provided by the Chinese government.

Rural Property Rights and Agricultural Productivity

A. V. Chari, Elaine M. Liu, Shing-Yi Wang, Yongxiang Wang, Jan 17, 2018

The Rural Land Contracting Law (RLCL), announced in 2003, is a landmark law for agricultural households in rural China. It provides new legal protections for leasing agricultural land. In theory, increasing free market exchanges of land should improve agricultural productivity by facilitating the movement of land towards the most productive users. We find that the property rights reform led to a 10 percent increase in land rental activity among rural households, a redistribution of land towards more productive farmers, and a 7 percent increase in the aggregate productivity of land. We also observe an increased responsiveness of land allocation across crops to changes in crop prices.

Industrial Land Discount in China: A Public Finance Perspective

Zhiguo He, Scott Nelson, Yang Su, Anthony Lee Zhang, Fudong Zhang, Jul 25, 2022

Local governments, which serve as monopolistic land sellers in China, face a trade-off when deciding to supply residential land versus industrial land. This trade-off is determined by the different time profiles of revenues from industrial and residential land sales, local governments’ financial constraints, and the extent of local governments’ tax revenue sharing with other levels of government.

Trade Liberalization and the Performance of China’s Manufacturing Sector

Loren Brandt, Johannes Van Biesebroeck, Luhang Wang, Yifan Zhang, Dec 27, 2017

China’s entry into WTO resulted in a significant reduction in tariffs on imported manufactured goods into China. We examine the effects of market liberalization on firm and industry performance. Tariff cuts on outputs and intermediates had highly complementary effects on productivity, and explain in upwards of forty per cent of the productivity gains between 1998-2007. The effects on mark-ups were largely offsetting, however lower tariffs on inputs helped to provide additional resources for productivity-enhancing investments.