【目录】《中国与世界经济》（China & World Economy）2021年第5期
China & World Economy / 1–27, Vol. 29, No. 5, 2021
Offshoring, Wages, and Skill Premiums: Firm-level Evidence from China
Liang Zhang, Bin Qiu, Xiaocong Xu, Shaoqin Sun
Abstract
Using detailed Chinese manufacturing firm production and trade data from 2000 to 2006, this study finds that offshoring significantly increases firms’ average wages. First, using the quasi-natural experiment of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, we investigate how a reduction in offshoring costs affects the manufacturing firm’s wages and find that a productivity effect and a job-relocation effect are two possible channels. Second, the dynamic decomposition of industry-level wages indicates that the within-firm effect is 0.547, accounting for 31.5 percent of the total variation. Finally, a Mincer-type regression shows that offshoring also increases within-firm skill premiums. Our findings have strong implications for the government related to framing appropriate industrial policies to raise wages and reduce income inequality.
China & World Economy / 28–56, Vol. 29, No. 5, 2021
Human Capital Expansion and Global Value Chain Upgrading: Firm-level Evidence from China
Lamei Wu, Guifu Chen, Shuijun Peng
Abstract
Firms actively participate in the production of the global value chain (GVC), which is an important driving force for economic development. Using a difference-in-difference method, our research shows that industries that are relatively more human-capital intensive experienced a larger GVC position upgrading after 2003 than they had in prior years. Second, mechanism analysis shows that human capital expansion increases firms’ GVC position not only through an imported intermediate input effect but also through an innovation effect. Third, this study shows that increases in the college-educated labor force have a heterogeneous effect on a firm’s GVC position across firms’ various characteristics. Human capital expansion has the largest positive effect on state-owned firms relative to foreign and domestic private firms. Human capital expansion has also significantly improved the GVC position of firms located in China’s eastern and central regions. The findings of this study indicate that it helps upgrading the GVC position of Chinese firms.
China & World Economy / 57–83, Vol. 29, No. 5, 2021
Does the Belt and Road Initiative Promote Bilateral Political Relations?
Yue Lu, Wei Gu, Ka Zeng
Abstract
This paper examines the role of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in enhancing political relations between China and its partner countries. We postulate that an international economic cooperation scheme such as the BRI may facilitate commercial exchanges and increase the participating countries’ economic gains. This should generate incentives for these countries to avoid political tensions that may jeopardize mutually beneficial economic exchanges, and to expand the constellation of domestic coalitions in support of cordial diplomatic and political relations. We test the effect of the BRI on bilateral political relations using data on political relations between China and 91 countries along the BRI route between 2006 and 2018. Treating the promulgation of the BRI in 2013 as a policy shock, our difference-in-difference analysis lends substantial support to our hypotheses. Further analyses of the underlying causal mechanisms suggest that the BRI bolsters political relations by strengthening economic ties with partner countries through trade and investment related to economic cooperation.
China & World Economy / 84–104, Vol. 29, No. 5, 2021
Intra-family Income Redistribution and Its Dynamic Changes among the Elderly in China: 2002–2018
Hanrui Jia, Peng Zhan
Abstract
This paper studies the impact of household income redistribution on income inequality among the elderly from 2002 to 2018. It defines shared income and measures how each family member’s contributions affect income inequality among the elderly. The study has three major findings. First, from 2013 to 2018, the role of household shared income in reducing income inequality among the elderly increased. Second, the proportion of shared income contributed by children was the highest overall, reaching 11.0 percent nationwide and even 17.9 percent in rural areas in 2018. The contribution of shared income to inequality was also higher among the rural elderly. Grandchildren under 16 largely received shared income from the elderly, and the income transferred by the male elderly to their wives was obvious. Third, changes in family structure narrowed the inequality gap among the elderly in the periods 2002–2013 and 2013–2018.
China & World Economy / 105–126, Vol. 29, No. 5, 2021
Did the Labor Contract Law Affect the Capital Deepening and Efficiency of Chinese Private Firms?
Jian Ding, Yixiao Zhou
Abstract
Since the implementation of the Labor Contract Law (LCL) in 2010, a significant increase in the capital/labor ratio, known as capital deepening, has occurred in private firms in China. However, the cause and impact of the capital deepening is still in question, as either technological change or a higher cost of labor might cause it. Using data from the Chinese Private Enterprise Survey in 2008 and 2012, two critical findings are reported in this study. First, pension coverage significantly affected the capital/labor ratio in private firms after 2010. Second, large private firms are able to generate higher total factor productivity after the implementation of the LCL because they can adjust their production function more easily than smaller competitors. These findings have policy implications for reforms in the Chinese labor market.
China & World Economy / 127–147, Vol. 29, No. 5, 2021
Quality of Life and Relative Household Energy Consumption in China
Xunpeng Shi, Tsun Se Cheong, Jian Yu, Xiaoguang Liu
Abstract
Increasing household energy consumption, mainly due to consumption upgrading, will create tough challenges for China if that country is to achieve peak carbon emissions in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060. However, this critical issue has not been explored comprehensively in the literature. Using China Family Panel Studies data and the distribution dynamics approach, this article is the first study to examine the relationship between quality of life (QOL) (proxied by consumption upgrading) and relative household energy consumption (RHEC). The results show that convergence clubs exist in all QOL groups for the RHEC, but they are more evident in the groups with lower middle and low QOL. This is encouraging because they suggest that an improvement in QOL does not necessarily lead to a higher level of energy consumption. The dataset was then divided into rural-urban and regional subgroups to further explore the impacts of these different characteristics on energy consumption. Significant disparities are found among the same QOL groups between urban and rural households and among different regions. The results derived from this study lead to pragmatic policy suggestions in areas including energy saving, emissions reduction, and particularly alleviation of inequality.
China & World Economy / 148–174, Vol. 29, No. 5, 2021
Housing Market Speculation and Firm Productivity: Evidence from China
Qianhui Yu, Yanying Chen, Feng Helen Liang
Abstract
An appreciation in the price of housing could generate speculation opportunities for enterprises. Many firms try to seize these opportunities for quick returns. This may harm their productivity. We use the real estate boom and the investment activities of Chinese manufacturing firms during 2006–2017 to examine the processes and the net effect of housing market speculation on firm productivity. We find that housing market speculation negatively affects firm productivity by crowding out investments in research and development and productive fixed assets, and the positive effect brought about by a strengthened balance sheet and better financing capacity is outweighed by the crowding-out effect. This negative impact is more evident in state-owned firms, but is mitigated in regions and periods with better business environments. Set in the overheated housing market in China, our study contributes to the existing literature by exploring how firms’ investments outside of their main business influence firm behavior and productivity.