Most Popular

Trade Policy Uncertainty and Firm Innovation

Qing Liu, Hong Ma, May 12, 2021

This study proposes a novel channel through which trade liberalization may induce innovation through the reduction of trade policy uncertainties (TPU) in destination markets. To verify this link, we utilize the significant reduction of TPU engendered by China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 as a quasi-natural experiment. We find that reduction in TPU significantly encourages firms' patent applications and that firms' innovation responses to TPU reduction vary by productivity, ownership, exporting status, and the irreversibility of investment.

Peer Effects, Political Competition, and Ecological Efficiency

Xudong Chen, Bihong Huang, Yantuan Yu, Jul 29, 2020

This study examines the impacts of political competition on eco-efficiency. We first develop a theoretical model in which local government officials compete against each other to maximize their own political score. We find that after an initial stage of decline, eco-efficiency eventually increases once environmental performance becomes a meaningful component of local government officials’ annual assessment. These theoretical predictions are corroborated...

Brain Drain to the State Sector: Job Preferences and Outcomes for China’s College Graduates

Hongbin Li, Lingsheng Meng, Yanyan Xiong, Sinclair Cook, Feb 28, 2024

Despite private enterprises dominating China’s labor market, college-educated workers are still highly concentrated in the state sector. Using data from the Chinese College Student Survey, we find that 64% of students in the sample expressed a strong preference for state-sector employment.

Competitive Effects of China’s Listing Suspensions

Frank Packer, Mark M. Spiegel, Oct 28, 2020

China’s suspensions of initial public offerings (IPOs) provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the competitive effects of IPO activity on listed firms, as existing studies are challenged by the influence of market conditions on IPO timing. We evaluate the stock returns of listed firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges over the three most recent suspensions. We confirm adverse effects on listed firms from IPOs, both from direct competition and from the creation of close asset substitutes. We also find that weaker firms are more exposed to the adverse effects of IPO listings.

Outward FDI and Domestic Input Distortions: Evidence from Chinese Firms

Cheng Chen, Wei Tian, Miaojie Yu, Sep 08, 2021

A recent study shows that domestic input distortions faced by private firms in China have generated extra incentives for those firms to invest and produce abroad. This finding helps explain an astonishing increase in China’s outward foreign direct investment (FDI) flows since the financial crisis.