A Bridge on Economic Issues between China and the World
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Expanding Access or Reshaping Markets? Evidence from Public–Private Partnership Health Insurance in China
Hui Ding, Xintong Wang, Xian Xu, May 26, 2026City-customized supplemental medical insurance (CCSMI) is a major insurance expansion initiative in China through public-private partnership. Although it expanded coverage for hundreds of millions of people, it also crowded out private insurance purchases at both the extensive and intensive margins. This suggests that enrollment growth alone overstates the true gains in risk protection, and calls for better PPP design and stronger coordination with existing insurance programs.
Why Lifting Birth Quotas Cannot Reverse Fertility Decline: Evidence from China's Universal Two-Child Policy
Hanming Fang, Chang Liu, Jul 29, 2026Drawing on nationally representative data from the 2017 China Fertility Survey and exploiting the eligibility variation created by China's Universal Two-Child (UTC) policy adopted in January 2016, we find that the policy increased births by only 0.023 per eligible woman in 2016–2017, driven almost exclusively by women who desired two or more children. County-level evidence from the 2020 population census data further shows that fertility in 2016–2020 rose primarily in places with higher average desired fertility, indicating that post-One Child Policy (OCP) China’s low fertility reflects declining demand for children rather than remaining policy constraints.
Equity Financing and Exports: Evidence from IPO Approvals in China
Robin Kaiji Gong, Yao Amber Li, Stephen Teng Sun, Shang-Jin Wei, Jun 03, 2026Access to public equity through IPOs enables Chinese exporters to expand into more foreign markets by financing the intangible investments and risk taking that bank credit alone cannot support, suggesting that well-functioning equity markets are a critical but overlooked ingredient for export-led growth in developing countries.
Contract Design and Insurance Take-up
Jing Cai, Apr 22, 2026Offering farmers a menu of insurance contracts instead of a single option significantly increases insurance take-up, by changing how farmers evaluate options within the contract menu.
Geographic Imbalances in Access to Credit: The Roles of Branch Networks, Synergies, and Market Power
Victor Aguirregabiria, Robert Clark, Hui Wang, Jun 10, 2026Concerns about unequal access to credit across regions have become central to policy debates in many economies. Financial integration does not necessarily guarantee that funds flow to areas where credit demand is highest. Instead, geographic frictions, local market power, and institutional constraints may generate persistent “credit deserts”—regions with limited access to external finance despite substantial demand for credit.
