中国经济评论Pub Date : 2025-05-20DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102446
Lu Lin , Yuanhao He
{"title":"Place-based policies and gendered human capital formation: Evidence and mechanisms","authors":"Lu Lin , Yuanhao He","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102446","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102446","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Place-based policies have been found to promote local human capital investment. However, their benefits are unevenly distributed between genders. Based on a cohort difference-in-difference-in-differences design, we identify the gendered effects of place-based policies on local human capital formation. Exposure to Special Economic Zones (SEZs) upgradings significantly reduces the gender gap in higher education access. Mechanism analysis shows that improved female labor market outcomes led by SEZ spillovers to the local non-knowledge-intensive service (non-KIBS) sector, instead of labor market changes within SEZs, drive this effect. Increased family income accounts for a small part of the effect. We find no evidence for channels through shifts in gender norms. The effects are more pronounced in rural families, technology-oriented SEZs, and less developed regions. Our findings highlight the importance of developing the female-intensive service sector and shifting social norms in place-based policy designs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102446"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144138750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
中国经济评论Pub Date : 2025-05-15DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102441
Cheng Peng , Yawen Qiao , Hai Long , Yaxing Wang
{"title":"Assessing economic resilience in a manufacturing-based region through industrial restructuring with environmental thresholds: An updating framework","authors":"Cheng Peng , Yawen Qiao , Hai Long , Yaxing Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102441","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102441","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Short run economic recovery from external shocks has been extensively discussed; however, the contribution of industrial reshaping strategies to economic resilience for coping with slow-burning shocks has not been adequately investigated. Examining data from 41 cities in China's Yangtze River Economic Zone during 2011–2020, this study develops a theoretical framework to investigate how industrial restructuring facilitated regional economic recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis in the long run. The updating framework shows that industrial reshaping may robustly promote regional economic resilience in the restructuring process, and that both technology- and innovation-based strategies are more significant and promoted in developed regions. Environmental governance has a positive mediating effect on the relationship when local environmental intensity is beyond the threshold value; otherwise, it has a negative effect. This study provides crucial reference values for the government to adopt an appropriate strategy to aid regional economic recovery from external shocks at different resilience stages, particularly in the restructuring process.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102441"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144084652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
中国经济评论Pub Date : 2025-05-13DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102442
Jiahui Chen , Jinchuan Shi , Zheng Wang , Shirong Zeng , Zhuo Zhou
{"title":"The power of wings: How air connections fuel cross-regional collaboration in China?","authors":"Jiahui Chen , Jinchuan Shi , Zheng Wang , Shirong Zeng , Zhuo Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102442","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102442","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>How does physical connectedness stimulate knowledge cocreation? This paper sheds new light on this question by focusing on China, one of the largest countries and innovation powerhouses in the world. Exploiting variation in air connectivity across time and space, we find that the introduction of non-stop air connections between cities boosts collaborative innovation, especially for long-distance city pairs. This improvement goes with reducing costs of face-to-face interactions, hence promoting knowledge flows. Further analysis shows that the disparity of within-city-pair innovative capability shrinks following direct air connections. The effects on co-innovation are more pronounced for collaborations: (1) between mega-and small cities, (2) involving at least one cost-sensitive enterprise participant, and (3) across corporate group boundaries among enterprise innovators.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102442"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144088957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
中国经济评论Pub Date : 2025-05-13DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102444
Xinyu Liu , Songze Li , Jikun Huang , Han Xiao
{"title":"Transforming consumption: How E-commerce reshape online shopping behavior and household spending","authors":"Xinyu Liu , Songze Li , Jikun Huang , Han Xiao","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102444","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102444","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The high savings, low consumption dilemma among Chinese rural households remains a persistent development challenge. Emerging digital e-commerce adoption may recalibrate this imbalance. This study presents the first systematic examination of how <em>Rural E-commerce Demonstration Counties</em> (REDC) program influences rural household consumption patterns, leveraging data from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) spanning 2013 to 2021 combined with geospatial Points of Interest (POI) data sourced from navigation platforms. Our staggered difference-in-differences estimates reveal that the REDC program increased rural households' online shopping participation rate by 1.9 percentage points on the extensive margin. At the intensive margin, the program expands consumption options without reducing offline consumption. The mechanism analysis indicates that government investment in logistics serves as the primary channel for the increase in online shopping, accompanied by a concomitant increase in local labor supply that could be associated with more opportunities in logistics. Furthermore, we verify the digital inclusive function of e-commerce through heterogeneity analysis and find that households with limited resources benefit more from the REDC program. Our findings advance understanding of how targeted e-commerce policies reshape households' consumption patterns, offering developing countries actionable insights for designing digital inclusion programs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102444"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144099262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
中国经济评论Pub Date : 2025-05-10DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102439
Mingyue Wang , Tianshi Sun , Xiuyan Liu
{"title":"Peace or menace? Robots and social conflict","authors":"Mingyue Wang , Tianshi Sun , Xiuyan Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102439","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102439","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent decades, China has experienced technological changes, primarily in the form of industrial robots. There is growing fear that the use of robots will threaten human society. Do robots threaten peace and stability in human society? To answer this question, this study explored the direct link between robot exposure and social stability. We exploited China's unique social conflict data to discuss the impact of its robot exposure rate on social conflict. We also provided micro-level intermediate mechanisms using individual micro-survey data. We found that robot use significantly reduces the likelihood of social conflict. Further, the social conflict reduction effect of robots occurs mainly through the reduction of work stress and improvement of workers' work sentiments. Simultaneously, we found that, in general, the use of robots did not cause mass unemployment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102439"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144123551","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
中国经济评论Pub Date : 2025-05-08DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102425
Beibei Hu , Qiao Luan , Kai Wang , Linke Zhu
{"title":"The cross-border spillover effect of U.S. government subsidies on firms' innovation: Evidence from the Sino-US supply chain","authors":"Beibei Hu , Qiao Luan , Kai Wang , Linke Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102425","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102425","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study systematically assessed the cross-border spillover effects of U.S. government subsidies on the Sino-US supply chain using a multi-period difference-in-differences approach. Our findings indicate that the U.S. government's subsidy policies had an overall positive effect on the innovation of related Chinese firms throughout the supply chain. However, these policies had a significant negative impact on the innovation performance of Chinese suppliers to U.S. subsidized firms, while positively affecting the innovation performance of Chinese customers and competitors. Additionally, we found that the U.S. government's subsidy policy has facilitated the reestablishment of the U.S. industrial chain, indirectly promoting the development of production advantages for downstream firms in China. This has compelled the Chinese government to increase subsidies for related competitive industries as well.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102425"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143941976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
中国经济评论Pub Date : 2025-05-08DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102424
Geng Huang , Xi Lin , Ling-Yun He
{"title":"Export destinations and pollution reduction: Theory and evidence from Chinese enterprises","authors":"Geng Huang , Xi Lin , Ling-Yun He","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102424","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102424","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Much of existing analyses exploring connection between trade and environmental results often adopts a simplistic classification, dividing trade into exports and imports. This approach tends to overlook the complex variety of trading partners involved. However, in light of ongoing global crises and the shifting dynamics of international trade, existing theories require refinement to more effectively predict how trade with different partners impacts the environment. To investigate how export markets impact emission levels, we develop a microeconomic theoretical framework and then proceed with an empirical analysis using data from Chinese enterprises. Our results suggest that environmental impact of exports varies based upon the destination country. Exporting to both high-tech and low-tech nations contributes to decrease of emission intensity, and effect is more significant when enterprises engage in trade with high-tech countries. Additionally, while the expansion of production scale post-export can drive an increase in total emissions, this effect is mitigated by improvements in productivity and rising abatement costs. As a result, the overall emissions from firms show little variation, regardless of whether their exports are directed to high-tech or low-tech nations. This study thus provides valuable policy insights for China's open economy development amid multiple crises.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102424"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143937037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
中国经济评论Pub Date : 2025-05-08DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102427
Qingquan Liang, Weihong Zeng, Lan Yi
{"title":"Examining the wage gap between public and non-public sector in China: Insights from a robust quantile selection model","authors":"Qingquan Liang, Weihong Zeng, Lan Yi","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102427","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102427","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the wage gap between public and non-public sectors, which constitute a key component of overall wage inequality in China. While quantile models are traditionally employed to analyze such wage gaps, their conventional implementations face methodological challenges, particularly in addressing endogeneity issues stemming from restrictive assumptions. Our empirical analysis of China's sectoral wage gap reveals that these conventional models fail to satisfy model specification tests, primarily due to bias introduced by residual terms in regression coefficient predictions. To address these limitations, we employ a robust quantile selection model that mitigates the restrictive assumptions. The results demonstrate a significant public sector wage premium—approximately 25 % on average—with the disparity being most pronounced among low quantiles. The analysis also reveals that previous models' prediction systematically underestimated public sector wage spillovers, and in some cases, mistakenly concluded that public sector wages were lower than those in the non-public sector. A detailed decomposition indicates that observable characteristics can explain over 80 % of the total wage gap in 2018. In comparison, the more extensive implementation of market-oriented reforms in state-owned enterprises corresponds to a reduced wage premium and unexplained portion. Finally, factor analysis identifies returns to human capital, demographic composition changes, and risk preferences emerge as key drivers, while the impact of industrial restructuring appears negligible.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102427"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143937038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
中国经济评论Pub Date : 2025-05-06DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102430
Sophie Xuefei Wang
{"title":"Long-term consequences of fertility on elderly labor supply","authors":"Sophie Xuefei Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102430","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102430","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent decades, the Chinese demographic structure has been shaped by two major trends: population aging and declining fertility. This study examines the long-term impact of fertility on China's elderly labor supply. The use of instrumental variable methods with data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study dataset shows that having more children reduces labor supply among the elderly, especially for disadvantaged elderly, including females, those residing in rural regions, and those with low levels of education. The negative effect mainly impacts the extensive margin of labor supply rather than the intensive margin. This study excludes co-residence with adult children and taking care of grandchildren as potential factors contributing to the negative impact on the elderly's labor supply. The rise in net transfers from children, as the number of children increases, may explain the observed negative effect. This relation between fertility and elderly labor supply has significant policy implications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102430"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143929137","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
中国经济评论Pub Date : 2025-05-06DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102426
Yuexuan Gong , Haiping Xue , Tao Chen
{"title":"Income inequality and shadow education in China: From the perspective of social stratification","authors":"Yuexuan Gong , Haiping Xue , Tao Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102426","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102426","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using data from the China Institute for Educational Finance Research-Household Survey and China Household Finance Survey in 2015 and 2017, we examine the relationship between income inequality and expenditures on shadow education. Our results suggest that greater income inequality constrains shadow education expenditure. However, this effect is only significant among the lower social class. Mechanism analysis reveals that income inequality may influence shadow education expenditure through educational expectations, perceptions of fair opportunities, credit constraints, and social networks. Our conclusion reveals increased inequality in access to shadow education stemming from income inequality. The government should thus optimize policies for the distribution of secondary and tertiary education to reduce income inequality and encourage low-income families to value their children's education. This conclusion would help bridge the gap in access to education resources and outcomes among students with different income levels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48285,"journal":{"name":"中国经济评论","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 102426"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143937035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}