{"title":"Paving the Way towards Green Development: Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on Electrification in Participating Countries","authors":"Mao Zhou, Jiahui Wu, Xia Wang, Chang Liu","doi":"10.1111/cwe.12566","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12566","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Electrification is crucial for achieving global net zero emissions and reducing energy poverty, particularly in developing countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This study uses the difference-in-differences method to examine the BRI's impact on electrification levels in 118 countries from 2009 to 2020. Its findings indicate that the BRI increased electrification in BRI countries by approximately 1 percent compared with non-BRI countries. This increase was driven primarily by enhanced trade and investments, which facilitated imports of power equipment and supported China-backed power-plant projects. The BRI's impact was more pronounced in Maritime Silk Road countries, high-income nations, and those with favorable business environments. Although the BRI promoted both renewable and nonrenewable power equipment imports, it primarily favored nonrenewable infrastructure investments. Given China's expertise in clean energy, there remains untapped potential for the BRI to prioritize renewable energy integration, fostering a sustainable and low-carbon future.</p>","PeriodicalId":51603,"journal":{"name":"China & World Economy","volume":"33 1","pages":"36-63"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143119354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Digital Industry Agglomeration and Export Product Diversification: Evidence from Chinese Firms","authors":"Jinyong Zhan, Xinrui Wang, Qian Li, Jiazhang Zhao","doi":"10.1111/cwe.12567","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12567","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The rapid development of digital industries such as artificial intelligence and big data has fundamentally transformed production, providing new opportunities for the diversification of firms. Drawing on data from the China Customs Database and the Annual Survey of Industrial Firms for 2003–2013, we employed a panel fixed effects model to examine the impact of digital industry agglomeration on firms' export product diversification. The findings revealed that, holding other conditions constant, a one-unit increase in digital industry agglomeration resulted in a significant 2.34 percent rise in export scope and a significant decrease by 0.58 percent in export concentration. Firms in digitally advanced cities and capital-intensive industries were more influenced by digital industry agglomeration in export diversification. Mechanism analysis reveals that digital industry agglomeration fostered export product diversification through innovation stimulation, information dissemination, and efficiency enhancement. Innovation was evidenced by increases in urban innovation indices and the emergence of new export products. Information dissemination boosted wholesale and retail sales, helping firms to expand export destinations. Efficiency enhancement was reflected in narrowing management efficiency gaps among firms.</p>","PeriodicalId":51603,"journal":{"name":"China & World Economy","volume":"33 1","pages":"64-100"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143119346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Parenting Styles and Adolescent Misbehavior","authors":"Guansheng Wu, Yaqin Su","doi":"10.1111/cwe.12559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12559","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Adolescence is a crucial period for character development and is particularly susceptible to parental influence due to the brain's malleability. This paper examines whether parenting styles can have a significant impact on adolescent misbehaviors such as disobedience and aggression. The results show that, in comparison with neglectful parenting – characterized by low levels of demandingness and responsiveness – authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles were associated with a significant reduction in behavioral issues among adolescents. The beneficial impact of authoritative parenting, marked by high demandingness and responsiveness, was particularly strong. In contrast, authoritarian parenting (high demandingness but low responsiveness) and permissive parenting (high responsiveness but low demandingness) were less effective in reducing behavioral issues. Our results remained robust after addressing potential issues of reverse causality, omitted variable bias, and selective sorting between teachers and students. The results also show that teachers and their interactions with parents played an important role in mitigating the adverse effects of neglectful parenting. Overall, our findings suggest that adopting parenting styles that strike a balance between discipline and care can strongly foster positive behaviors in adolescents.</p>","PeriodicalId":51603,"journal":{"name":"China & World Economy","volume":"32 6","pages":"98-127"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142707856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does the China Railway Express Promote Equitable Regional Development? Evidence from Manufacturing Relocation","authors":"An Pan, Wenna Zhang, Yige Du, Xunpeng Shi","doi":"10.1111/cwe.12560","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12560","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The China Railway Express (CRE) has improved regional economic integration with external markets and has reshaped regional development by encouraging the relocation of manufacturing activities (“manufacturing transfer”). We analyzed data from 284 prefecture-level cities in China to evaluate the impact of the CRE on regional manufacturing relocation, using a staggered difference-in-differences model with entropy balancing. We found that the launch of the CRE significantly stimulated the relocation of manufacturing industries to node cities – key hubs for transportation and logistics within the CRE network – especially in the central, western, and northeastern regions. Specifically, the CRE significantly increased manufacturing dynamism, firm profitability, openness, and foreign investment in node cities, which attracted more manufacturing industries to relocate in this area. Higher levels of infrastructure development moderated the CRE's effect. Further analysis showed that significant moderating effects of infrastructure development occurred only in the western region. Overall, our conclusions provide useful insights into how to promote equitable regional development through manufacturing development in China.</p>","PeriodicalId":51603,"journal":{"name":"China & World Economy","volume":"32 6","pages":"128-159"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142707861","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cross-border E-commerce Reform and Entrepreneurial Activity in Urban Services – Evidence from Chinese Service Industry Enterprise Registration Data","authors":"Xin Gao, Shuo Kong","doi":"10.1111/cwe.12563","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12563","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) significantly stimulates foreign trade development and the flow of goods and services. This study, using Chinese city-level data and a multiperiod difference-in-differences model based on CBEC comprehensive pilot zones, explores the impact of CBEC reform on urban service industry entrepreneurship. The results show that CBEC reform increased entrepreneurial activity, and this is confirmed by robustness tests. The mechanisms driving this effect include the attraction of foreign direct investment, improved information infrastructure, and talent development. Regional analysis reveals stronger effects in central, western, and noncoastal cities, and industry analysis highlights public and consumer services. Spatial heterogeneity shows that the reform's impact diminished with distance from pilot zones, with potential inhibitory effects in remote areas. This study demonstrates how CBEC reform can stimulate entrepreneurship and foster economic growth.</p>","PeriodicalId":51603,"journal":{"name":"China & World Economy","volume":"32 6","pages":"217-258"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142707857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Long-term Effect of Export Expansion on Human Capital","authors":"Jintao Fu","doi":"10.1111/cwe.12556","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12556","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper illustrates how trade liberalization during an individual's early life can affect long-term health and cognitive outcomes 15 years later (i.e., in adolescence). China's accession to the World Trade Organization has brought significant economic benefits but has also given rise to some environmental concerns. Exploiting variations in each prefecture's exposure to trade shock and trade-induced pollution shock, this study constructed a shift-share instrument variable model. The trade shocks in early life improved health and cognitive outcomes significantly during adolescence while trade-induced pollution shock had the opposite effect, decreasing these two outcomes. These impacts were more pronounced among households with low economic status. Further investigation provided evidence for several underlying mechanisms, such as improved health and education resources and reduced SO<sub>2</sub> emissions by firms. This study provides useful insights into how to evaluate the long-term effects of trade liberalization on human capital in terms of economic benefits and environmental costs in China.</p>","PeriodicalId":51603,"journal":{"name":"China & World Economy","volume":"32 6","pages":"1-34"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142707863","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neighborhood Awareness and Stock Return Synchronicity: Evidence from Satellite Nighttime Light Data","authors":"Chen Meng, Haibing Shu","doi":"10.1111/cwe.12562","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12562","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper examines the impact on stock return synchronicity of information provided by people who neighbor firms. Neighboring people have inherent advantages in acquiring and interpreting information. We employed novel satellite nighttime light data as a proxy for information held by neighboring people. Our analyses confirmed that brighter nighttime light was related to greater and better-quality information production. Using a sample of 18,963 firm–year observations over the 2000–2013 period, we found that information from nearby people facilitated the incorporation of firm-specific information into stock prices, resulting in lower stock return synchronicity. The results were robust when using the slope as an instrumental variable and were supported by various sensitivity checks. The effect of nighttime light intensity was more pronounced for firms operating across multiple geographic regions or diverse industries, those situated near more parks and shopping malls, and those with fewer institutional investors and less media coverage.</p>","PeriodicalId":51603,"journal":{"name":"China & World Economy","volume":"32 6","pages":"187-216"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142707859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intellectual Property Policy and County Economic Growth: A Quasi-natural Experiment from the Intellectual Property Powering County Project","authors":"Changlin Yu, Bing Shen","doi":"10.1111/cwe.12557","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12557","url":null,"abstract":"<p>As fundamental economic units, county economies play a crucial role in China's national economic system. However, it remains unclear whether intellectual property rights policies at the county level can promote economic growth. We used a quasi-natural experiment from the Intellectual Property Powering County Project (“the Project”) to measure their impact on county economic growth from 2009 to 2020, applying a multi-period difference-in-differences method. County economic growth indicators were measured using Enhanced Vegetation Index-calibrated nighttime light data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite. The findings demonstrated that the Project promoted economic growth significantly by incentivizing innovation, attracting high-tech and new-tech enterprises, and fostering brand creation. The Project also exhibited significant heterogeneity across districts and counties, along with spillover effects on economic growth in surrounding counties within approximately 80 kilometers.</p>","PeriodicalId":51603,"journal":{"name":"China & World Economy","volume":"32 6","pages":"35-67"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142707919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Belt and Road Initiative and Its Unjustified Discontents","authors":"Pompeo Della Posta, Qian Liu","doi":"10.1111/cwe.12561","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.12561","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We argue that Western media advance two main interpretations of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The first suggests that the BRI is primarily motivated by China's geopolitical ambitions. The second contends that the initiative creates “debt traps” for developing countries, hiding the true size of the debt while aiming at the seizure of the infrastructure it builds. We challenge both claims by reviewing critically the existing literature on the BRI. We posit that rather than geopolitical, China's primary motivation has been to promote the development of its western provinces, transforming landlocked areas into land linked ones. Moreover, most of the existing literature neglects the fact that the need for infrastructure development across various continents is well documented by respective regional banks. The dominant “debt trap” narrative is also refuted by several scholars, together with the hypothesis of “asset seizure” and other related critiques. The article concludes that, if anything, geopolitical motivations (particularly tensions between the US and China) are at the root of the negative narrative surrounding the BRI, rather than at the origin of the BRI itself.</p>","PeriodicalId":51603,"journal":{"name":"China & World Economy","volume":"32 6","pages":"160-186"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142707860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}