{"title":"International comparison of the impact of digital transformation on employment","authors":"Jing You , Xiangyu Xu , Deng Liao , Chen Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101820","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101820","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Theoretical analysis in this paper examines the impact of digital transformation on employment and its transmission mechanisms. It proposes that regional characteristics, such as market size, industry structure, and labor structure, are important factors influencing the employment effect of digital transformation. Empirically, this paper analyzes the employment effect of digital transformation using economic panel data from 68 countries spanning the years 2013–2019 and finds that: 1) In terms of employment, digital transformation is dominated by the substitution effect. In terms of wages, digital transformation presents wage-rising effects. 2) Large market size and advanced industry structure significantly mitigate the employment substitution effect and enhance the wage-rising effect. 3) The skillization of labor structure has no significant impact on the employment substitution effect of digital transformation, but it significantly enhances the wage-raising effect. 4) Developing countries experience a more pronounced employment substitution effect from digital transformation, while developed countries witness a more prominent wage-increasing effect. The robustness of these results has been confirmed after introducing a one-period lag in the explanatory variables and utilizing instrumental variables. These findings of this paper offer valuable insights for achieving a balance between equity and efficiency in the context of digital transformation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101820"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142553409","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":"Food inflation and monetary policy in emerging economies","authors":"Janesh Sami , Keshmeer Makun","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101817","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101817","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rising inflationary pressure has been linked with supply-side disruptions and rising energy and food prices against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine crisis. This paper investigates the role of monetary policy in stabilizing food inflation in emerging economies (India, China, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa). We also investigate the causal linkage between monetary policy and food inflation using frequency domain-based Granger causality and find strong feedback causal effects between food inflation and monetary policy changes. Our results are robust to different estimation methodologies, possible asymmetry, and alternative model specifications, which include climate change. While oil prices, world food prices, and exchange rates have heterogeneous effects on domestic food inflation, a contractionary monetary policy stance leads to a decline in domestic food inflation in all countries. Thus, we provide strong evidence that well-coordinated macroeconomic policies in emerging economies are essential for stabilizing food inflation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101817"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142533791","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":"Labour rights protection and export expansion: Evidence from SA8000 certification","authors":"Yuping Deng, Jinxiao Yang, Jiamei Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101816","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101816","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Protecting labour rights is an important approach to shaping the new advantages of trade competition and achieving high-quality development of China’s export trade. This paper considers SA8000 certification as the criterion for labour rights protection and manually collects information from firms certified by the National Certification and Accreditation Administration of China. Next, we investigate the effects of SA8000 certification on firm exports. The results show that SA8000 certification significantly expands the export scale while improving export quality. The mechanism analysis shows that the improvement effects are achieved in three ways: reducing operating costs, improving social reputation and increasing labour efficiency. Moreover, the positive effects of SA8000 certification are more profound for resource-intensive firms, non-state-owned firms and large firms. Our study provides an important reference for safeguarding labour rights and reconstructing new competitive advantages in exports.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101816"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142422212","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}
Changming Wang , Hongwei Liao , Lei Zhu , Leihua He
{"title":"The haze reduction effect in china under the digital economy","authors":"Changming Wang , Hongwei Liao , Lei Zhu , Leihua He","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101819","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101819","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Haze pollution is becoming increasingly serious as it endangers human health and pressurizes economic development. This study incorporates the digital economy and haze pollution management into a unified research framework, and uses the panel data of 285 cities in China from 2011 to 2020 to precisely identify the haze reduction effect of the digital economy, governance mechanisms, and the non-linear and spatial spillover characteristics of the haze reduction effect in China. The findings demonstrate that: First, the digital economy can significantly reduce haze pollution, and this conclusion still holds after considering endogeneity and other robustness tests. Second, the digital economy can inhibit haze pollution by promoting industrial upgrading and improving total factor energy efficiency, and there is a chain mechanism of “industrial green transformation → total factor energy efficiency” and “factor market distortion → total factor energy efficiency.” However, the haze reduction mechanism of digital economy is heterogeneous to cities with different levels of economic development. Independent transmission mechanism plays a complete intermediary role in cities with low level of economic development, while it plays a partial intermediary role in cities with high level of economic development. Chain transmission mechanism only has an impact on cities with high level of economic development. Third, there is an evident threshold effect on the digital economy, and its haze reduction effect has N-type non-linear characteristics. Meanwhile, Digital economy has threshold effect on the mechanism of restraining haze pollution through total factor energy efficiency, industrial green transformation and factor market distortion. With the development of total factor energy efficiency, industrial green transformation and the reduction of factor market distortion, the haze reduction effect of digital economy can produce a qualitative leap. Fourth, Haze pollution in the spatial, temporal, and spatial dimensions has spillover and warning effects, and the haze reduction effect of digital economy shows strong positive externalities. Therefore, the digital economy should be actively developed, and industrial green transformation and factor market reform should be promoted to curb haze pollution by promoting industrial upgrading, improving energy efficiency and strengthening regional joint prevention and control mechanisms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101819"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142422122","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}
Yixuan Yin , Chenyue Luo , Jing Yang , Panyu Chen , LI Chunding
{"title":"Possible development path for agricultural economic and trade cooperation in FTAAP: A numerical simulation","authors":"Yixuan Yin , Chenyue Luo , Jing Yang , Panyu Chen , LI Chunding","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101818","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101818","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Exploring the path of developing agricultural economy and trade cooperation in the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) is of great practical significance for deepening economic integration in the Asia Pacific region and strengthening regional agricultural development. This paper proposes three feasible paths based on RCEP, CPTPP, and the integration of RCEP and CPTPP to establish FTAAP. Moreover, a dynamic computable general equilibrium model of global trade is used to simulate the macroeconomic effects and the agricultural effects represented by China in forming FTAAP under these three paths. The research results show that six common policy nodes will promote macroeconomic growth in participating countries, and the effects of the in-depth implementation of RCEP and CPTPP will be greater than those of the initial implementation. Due to the broader base of participating economies and the higher level of openness, establishing FTAAP under Path 3 will yield greater macroeconomic effects and agricultural effects. Therefore, the path based on the integration of RCEP and CPTPP is an optimal selection for economic and trade cooperation of agriculture in FTAAP. All parties should actively overcome the obstacles to forming FTAAP and provide a stable internal and external industrial development environment for regional agricultural economic and trade cooperation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101818"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142422213","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":"Smart city construction and quality upgrading of export products: Evidence from China","authors":"Linhui Yu, Oujing Miao, Xuepeng Tang","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101813","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101813","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Smart cities, as an advanced form of urban development in the digital age, are likely to profoundly affect the operations of local businesses. This paper analyzes the impact of smart city construction on the quality of firms’ export products by exploiting a quasi-natural experiment based on a smart city pilot policy in China and employing the staggered difference-in-differences (DID) method. Our empirical results reveal that the implementation of the policy significantly improves the export product quality of local firms, and this finding remains quite robust after a series of sensitivity tests. Mechanism analysis shows that the improvement of innovation efficiency and the reduction of transaction costs are two effective channels through which smart city construction enhances export product quality. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the policy effects are more prominent in high-tech industries, cities with high administrative levels, the eastern and central regions, non-state-owned firms, and general trade firms, which enjoy greater policy dividends than their counterparts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101813"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142356914","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 does digital technology affect export in services?","authors":"Nan Kong , Bingjie Wang , Yan Zhang , Nianli Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101814","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101814","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Based on the comprehensive measures of digital technology and cross-country services trade database, our study empirically examines the impacts of digital technology on export in services. We find that digital technology significantly promotes services export. However, the impact varies in different modes of supply. Digital technology significantly promotes service export in the mode of cross border delivery, consumption abroad, and commercial presence rather than the mode of the natural person movement. Heterogeneous analysis shows that the trade impact of digital technology is more pronounced in developed countries and the countries with higher levels of digital openness. Based on both the empirical analysis and the case studies, three main channels of the enhancement of tradability, the function of digital platforms, and innovation of new trade models are discussed for the influencing mechanisms of digital technology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101814"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142422214","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 affects international industrial transfer — Evidence from industrial robot application","authors":"Hongyuan Zhang , Yibing Ding , Jing Niu , Samuel Jung","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101815","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101815","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The development of high technology represented by artificial intelligence is an essential driver of international industrial transfer. Using country-industry-level industrial robot data and value-added trade data from 2002 to 2018, this paper empirically examines the impact and mechanism of artificial intelligence on the international industrial transfer undertaken by a country (region). The study shows that the application of artificial intelligence can significantly enhance the international industrial transfer undertaken by a country (region). Further analysis shows that artificial intelligence positively affects international industry transfer through two channels: Improving the quality of labor force and promoting the level technological innovation. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that, first, from the economic development degree perspective, artificial intelligence's role in promoting developing economies is more substantial than that in developed economies. Second, the financial crisis has weakened the impact of artificial intelligence on international industrial transfer from the perspective of time division,especially in developing economies. Third, from the perspective of industry heterogeneity, artificial intelligence has significantly promoted the transfer of medium-low and medium-high technology industries. The research in this paper extends the analysis of the effect of artificial intelligence. It provides realistic insights for optimizing the strategic layout of the robotics industry, achieving industrial structure upgrading, optimizing resource allocation efficiency, and grasping the opportunities of global industrial chain restructuring.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101815"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142356915","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":"Exploring the effect of digital transformation on firm resilience: Evidence from China","authors":"Yaozhi Xu, Liling Xu, Yaxin Shen, Zhigang Fan","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101812","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101812","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Digital transformation has become a new driving force for the high-quality development of China's economy, and is also an important pivot point to safeguard the development of enterprises and promote the recovery of industries in an uncertain environment. In this paper, we apply textual analysis to measure the digital transformation index using the data of listed companies in China and explore the impact of digital transformation on corporate resilience. The results, which are based on a robustness test and endogeneity test, lead to the conclusion that digital transformation can have a significantly positive impact on enterprise resilience. Mechanism analysis finds that enterprise green innovation and total factor productivity (TFP) are important channels through which digital transformation significantly affects a firm’s resilience. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that the effect is more pronounced among state-owned enterprises (SOE), non-high-tech enterprises, labor-intensive enterprises and technology-intensive enterprises. These findings will help guide policies that promote digital transformation in order to resist the negative effects of external shocks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101812"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142328079","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":"Impact of city size on self-employment behavior: Evidence from Chinese migrants","authors":"Haoyu Hu , Wei Wang , Ge Xin , Fangjin Ye","doi":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101802","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.asieco.2024.101802","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Self-employment is an important approach for migrants to gain a foothold in cities and improve their economic and social welfare. This study investigates the relationship between city size and migrants’ self-employment behavior using data from the 2011–2018 CMDS and macro-statistical sources. We find that in the Chinese context, larger cities correlate with an increased likelihood of migrants engaging in self-employment. These results persist under various methodological checks, including alternative estimation methods, sample screening techniques, and addressing concerns about endogeneity. Market potential and diversified agglomeration emerge as important channels through which larger cities encourage migrants’ decisions to pursue self-employment. Moreover, the positive impact of larger cities is more pronounced among rural-to-urban migrants and own-account workers compared to urban-to-urban migrants and employers. This paper provides insights into high-quality development and migrant management strategies in large cities in China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47583,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian Economics","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101802"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142311648","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}