Journal of Asian Economics最新文献

{"title":"Can overseas R&D improve domestic industry-university-research institutions’ cooperation?","authors":"Yunshi Cao,&nbsp;Meini Jiang,&nbsp;Jun Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101896","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101896","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Overseas R&amp;D has been linked to innovation performance. However, few papers integrate overseas R&amp;D with the domestic industry-university-research institutions cooperation (IUR cooperation) under a unified framework, concerning the interaction of open innovation and distinguishing different cooperation patterns. This study conducts an empirical investigation into how overseas R&amp;D activities influence the innovative outcomes of IUR collaborations, as well as the underlying mechanisms facilitating this impact. We discover that overseas R&amp;D significantly boosts the innovation performance of IUR cooperation, particularly for state-owned firms, firms based in the (sub-) provincial cities and under high market competition intensity. Additionally, optimizing firms’ structural features in the global innovation network (GIN) and improving the dynamic capabilities of the firms are two vital channels. Overall, our study provides decision-making reference on how to effectively coordinate domestic and foreign innovation activities for firms, and then achieve high-quality economic development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 101896"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143427965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Robot adoption and export sophistication: Firm-level evidence from China","authors":"Hongsheng Zhang ,&nbsp;Ziyi Chen ,&nbsp;Yueling Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101891","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101891","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the impact of robot adoption on the export sophistication of Chinese firms, utilizing the firm-level matching data from the Chinese Customs Trade Statistics and the Annual Survey of Industrial Firms between 2000 and 2013. We develop a firm-level export sophistication index based on Hausmann's index of a country's exporting productivity and employ several empirical strategies to identify the causal effect. The results indicate that a 1 % increase in the adoption of industrial robots can lead to a 0.020 % rise in a firm's export sophistication. The pro-growth effect is more pronounced for non-state-owned, labor-intensive, and large firms. In terms of the underlying mechanisms, we find robot adoption can lead to productivity growth and innovation enhancement and change the employment of labor, ultimately contributing to an improvement in firms' export sophistication.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"98 ","pages":"Article 101891"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143549437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The cost of biodiversity protection: National Key Ecological Functional Zone and labor demand in China","authors":"Ruipeng Tan ,&nbsp;Ke Hou ,&nbsp;Huaqing Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101895","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101895","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Protecting biodiversity represents a critical global concern. As one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, China is diligently advancing its commitment to biodiversity protection, with the designation of key ecological functional zones being a pivotal initiative. This policy protects biodiversity, but it may also bring some negative impacts. This paper adopts a staggered difference-in-differences strategy to explore the impact of the National Key Ecological Functional Zone (NKEFZ) policy on the county-level employment. The findings indicate that the policy significantly impedes the employment. Mechanism analysis reveals that the policy diminishes employment through curtailing industrial output and elevating labor costs. Further analysis suggests that the extent of this impediment is more pronounced in areas with higher levels of financial pressure, income, and investment. The result of policy optimization using machine learning indicates how this policy can be implemented in the future and measures the benefits if it is implemented under the optimal rule.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 101895"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143422376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of AI adoption on R&D productivity: Evidence from Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturing industry","authors":"Yifan Wu ,&nbsp;Yiming Yuan ,&nbsp;Xueyin Song","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101890","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101890","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The decline in R&amp;D productivity is a persistent and widespread phenomenon hindering long-term economic growth. With the boom of artificial intelligence (AI), especially the pervasive application of deep learning, AI is now able to participate in innovation, which is expected to help reverse the decreasing trend of R&amp;D productivity. Focusing on the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, one of the most active domains in AI-driven innovation, we take Chinese listed firms as an example to investigate the role of AI in drug discovery and the impact of AI adoption on new drug R&amp;D productivity. Our empirical results show that other things being equal, new drug output per billion yuan invested in R&amp;D averagely rises by 0.05–0.06, for each 1-unit increase in our AI-adoption index capturing the firm-level AI usage intensity. One of the mechanisms behind it, which we call “R&amp;D elitism”, positively associates new drug R&amp;D productivity with AI adoption through raising the share of core researchers (by 0.2 % on average in terms of educated staffs or 0.8 % on average in terms of experienced ones under the same condition as mentioned above) in the R&amp;D team. With the power of AI, marginal researchers are getting harder to retain and new drugs are hence getting easier to find.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 101890"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143422425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How artificial intelligence applications affect the total factor productivity of the service industry: Firm-level evidence from China","authors":"Xiaojun Wu,&nbsp;Yi Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101893","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101893","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Purpose&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;The 21st century has witnessed the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, bringing forth a new technological revolution worldwide. Artificial intelligence (AI), as cutting-edge general-purpose technology within the information technology (ICT) sector, is increasingly gaining influence and integrating much more closely with various industries. With the service economy becoming a critical component of national economies, the rapid development of AI presents new opportunities for enhancing the total factor productivity (TFP) of the service industry. In light of the convergence between the \"service economy\" and the \"digital economy\", this paper aims to assess the level of AI application in the service industry using firm-level data and explore the specific mechanisms through which AI impacts the TFP of the service industry from both theoretical and empirical perspectives.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Approach&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;Firstly, this paper conducts the theoretical modeling with the CES-type production function to analyze the empowering effect and structural effect of AI on service firms. Next, using the data of China A-share listed service companies between 2010 and 2020 as a sample, the study constructs an index to measure the level of AI application of service firms by textual analysis and calculates TFP of service firms. Empirically, the paper investigates the impact of AI application on TFP of service firms and examines its heterogeneous characteristics using a two-way fixed-effects model. In addition, this work explores the mediating role of R&amp;D investment and human capital in contributing to TFP.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Findings&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;The results show a positive relationship between the level of AI application in service firms and their TFP. Significantly, the impact of AI application on TFP promotion varies across different industries, firm sizes, and ownership. Heterogeneity tests reveal that modern service firms, small and medium-sized firms, and state-owned firms can achieve more significant TFP gains from AI implementation. Furthermore, the empirical model successfully passed both the endogeneity and the robustness tests. Mechanism analysis further shows that AI drives TFP improvements by boosting R&amp;D investment and optimizing human capital allocation within service firms.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Value&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;The paper contributes to the existing literature by examining the relationship between AI application and TFP in the service industry. The findings hold significant implications for policymakers and service firms, guiding their decisions on promoting the widespread adoption of AI in the service industry. Theoretically, this work systematically summarizes the mechanism through which AI influences the TFP of service firms. Empirically, it constructs an indicator of AI application levels in service firms using machine learning-based textual analysis, refining the measurement of AI application at the microlevel","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 101893"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143377514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does ease of doing business promote renewable energy development? Evidence from 162 economies","authors":"Tianjian Yang ,&nbsp;Peng Qian ,&nbsp;Tianyi Lei","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101889","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101889","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Clean energy development is a dual necessity for environmental security and sustainable economic development. Based on cross-country panel data from 162 countries and regions, the impact and heterogeneity of ease of doing business on renewable energy development is explored empirically. It is found that improved ease of doing business significantly contributes to the development of renewable energy, and the promotion effect is mainly found in countries with energy autarky countries and emerging market economies. The mechanism analysis shows that ease of doing business promotes the development of renewable energy by enhancing macroeconomic development. Further analysis reveals that the marginal effect of ease of doing business is magnified by the increase in carbon emissions. The findings in this paper provides evidence of market economy incentives for clean energy development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 101889"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143369860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enterprise digital transformation and investment efficiency: Empirical evidence from listed enterprises in China","authors":"Panting Guo ,&nbsp;Jiefeng Bi ,&nbsp;Mengnan Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101892","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2025.101892","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this paper, we examine the effect of digital transformation on investment efficiency using data from Chinese-listed enterprises from 2007 to 2021. We find that digital transformation significantly enhances investment efficiency by reducing information asymmetry between insiders and outsiders of enterprises and this effect is significant only for private enterprises. Through the application of unconditional quantile regression, we observe that the beneficial impact of digital transformation on investment efficiency tends to diminish as the efficiency improves, especially for private enterprises. Mechanism analysis suggests that digital transformation alleviates information asymmetry through two main channels: regulating earnings management to address underinvestment and mitigating excessive leverage to curb overinvestment. Ownership-based heterogeneity analysis confirms that these mechanisms at play vary across enterprise types, with significant effects observed exclusively in private enterprises. Our findings suggest that policy-makers and investors should leverage digital technology to reduce information asymmetry and improve efficiency.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"97 ","pages":"Article 101892"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143311211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Executives’ institutional reform experience, IP protection and R&D investment: Evidence from China's reform and opening up","authors":"Jieji Lai ,&nbsp;Bin Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101865","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101865","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Times create heroes, and heroes shape the times. When transitioning from a planned economy to a market economy(reform and opening up), what traits are developed during the early adult lives of senior executives, and how do these traits influence corporate innovation behavior? This paper examines the impact of executives' experiences with institutional reform on their innovation behavior, utilizing a sample of Non-SOE listed companies from 2009 to 2019. The results indicate that executives who encountered institutional reform during their early adult years significantly influence corporate R&amp;D investment. Furthermore, the level of intellectual property protection positively moderates this relationship. These conclusions remain robust after addressing endogeneity concerns and conducting robustness tests. Additional analyses reveal that the effect is more pronounced in corporations facing intense competition, lower economic policy uncertainty, and those within high-tech industries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 101865"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143144391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Time use among urban women in China at different income levels","authors":"Fenglian Du ,&nbsp;Yunxia Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101866","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101866","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper analyzes data from the 2017 Chinese Time Use Survey to explore changes in women’s time allocation among households. The findings reveal a stratification phenomenon in the time allocation of Chinese women, with women in households of varying income levels exhibiting different labor division characteristics. In low-income households, women spend on average 1.296 h less per day on paid work compared to men, but 2.439 h more on unpaid work, and 1.116 h less on leisure, indicating a tendency towards a traditional division of labor. In middle-income households, the gender gap in paid work time has significantly narrowed, yet women still spend on average 1.824 h more per day on unpaid work and 0.888 h less on leisure, bearing a more severe double burden of work and family responsibilities. In high-income households, the time allocation between genders is largely equal. As household income rises, the comparative advantage of spouses in household labor division becomes less influential. In middle-income families, women with greater bargaining power than their spouses spend more time on paid work. Gender equality awareness effectively promotes more equal time use between husbands and wives.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 101866"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143145731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Welfare and productivity of the Chinese regional economy under forced technology transfer in the post-intervention period of the Green Credit Policy","authors":"Eric Yan ,&nbsp;Luke Okafor ,&nbsp;Chi-Chur Chao","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101847","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101847","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Our study explores the interplay between state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and foreign enterprises under China’s Green Credit Policy. Using matrix completion method, we estimate welfare and productivity impacts, revealing differing trends in coastal and inland provinces. Forced technology transfer in coastal areas drives out foreign capital, while inland regions may experience production expansion. Despite this, our findings indicate an overall negative effect on productivity and welfare. This suggests that promoting the Green Credit Policy under nationalism may inadvertently impede China’s economic progress.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 101847"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143144388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}