This article discusses that the judicial centralization reform gradually implemented in China since 2014 has enhanced the independence of the judicial system, limited the intervention of local governments, and reduced court biases in favor of local governments.
In rural China, the son preference paradoxically reduces the likelihood of early mother-child separation for girls, while boys are more prone to such separation.
Relying on a large dataset on cash withdrawals of over 165 million bank cards from China, we find a higher ratio of cash withdrawals late at night is associated with criminal activity.
Amid debates around state-led urbanization in developing countries, we analyze the causes and consequences of China’s skyscraper boom. We find that local governments often subsidize these projects through discounted land prices, motivated by political incentives. However, we find that such subsidies offer minimal long-term benefits, largely due to a mismatch with local conditions.
China shifted its controversial one-child policy (1979–2015) to a two-child policy in 2016. We take advantage of the unexpected timing of this policy change and the heterogeneities in the pre-change environment to investigate labor market discrimination against expected family responsibilities.