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on China |
| By: | Mu, Ren; Zhang, Xiaobo |
| Abstract: | "An increasing literature examines the association between restricted fetal or early childhood growth and the incidence of diseases in adulthood. Little is known, however, about gender difference in this association. We assess the impact of nutritional deficiency in the early lives of survivors of the Chinese Great Famine in terms of health and economic welfare, paying special attention to gender differences. We found evidence of several significant negative impacts for female¾but not male¾survivors, and the gender differences are statistically significant. Furthermore, we show that the selection bias caused by differences in mortality plausibly explains more than two-thirds of the documented gender difference in the long-term health of famine survivors." from Author's Abstract |
| Keywords: | Famine, Fetal origins hypothesis, Gender difference, Health and nutrition, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:760&r=cna |
| By: | Mehrotra, Aaron (BOFIT); Kozluk , Tomasz (BOFIT) |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of Chinese monetary policy shocks on China’s major trading partners in East Asia by estimating structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) models for six economies in the region. We find that a monetary expansion in Mainland China leads to an increase in real GDP (temporary) and the price level (permanent) in a number of economies in our sample, most notably in Hong Kong and the Philippines. The impact could result from intertemporal substitution present in a general equilibrium framework which allows for positive domestic impacts of foreign monetary expansions. Our results emphasize the growing importance of China for its neighboring economies and the significance of Chinese shocks for the design of monetary policy in Asian economies. |
| Keywords: | monetary policy shocks; Asian production chain; SVAR; East Asia; China |
| JEL: | E52 F42 |
| Date: | 2008–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bofitp:2008_005&r=cna |
| By: | Sharif, Naubahar (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology); Huang, Can (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we undertake a comparative study of the performance of local and foreign competitors’ manufacturing firms in a FDI-recipient region—Guangdong Province, China—and analyzes the policy implications of the comparison for the advanced, FDI-outflow region—Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). By highlighting changes in productivity that vary with changes in manufacturing firm ownership, we reveal that domestic firms have been catching up with their foreign counterparts, including Hong Kong-based firms, though foreign firms have successfully strengthened their dominating position in Guangdong’s manufacturing industry. |
| Keywords: | Total Factor Productivity, Manufacturing Sectors, Asia, China, Guangdong, Hong Kong |
| JEL: | D24 L60 O47 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2008035&r=cna |
| By: | Sylvie Démurger (GATE, University of Lyon, CNRS, ENS-LSH, Centre Léon Bérard, France); Marc Gurgand (Paris School of Economics and Crest,France); Li Shi (School of Economics and Business, Beijing Normal University, China); Yu Ximing (School of Finance,Renmin University of China, Beijing, China) |
| Abstract: | In urban China, urban resident annual earnings are 1.3 times larger than long term rural migrant earnings as observed in a nationally representative sample in 2002. Using microsimulation, we decompose this difference into four sources, with particular attention to path dependence and statistical distribution of the estimated effects: (1) different allocation to sectors that pay different wages (sectoral effect); (2) hourly wage disparities across the two populations within sectors (wage effect); (3) different working times within sectors (hours effect); (4) different population structures (population effect). Although sector allocation is extremely contrasted, with very few migrants in the public sector and very few urban residents working as self-employed, the sectoral effect is not robust to the path followed for the decomposition. We show that the migrant population has a comparative advantage in the private sector: increasing its participation into the public sector does not necessarily improve its average earnings. The opposite holds for the urban residents. The second main finding is that population effect is significantly more important than wage or hours effects. This implies that the main source of disparity is pre-market (education opportunities) rather than on-market. |
| Keywords: | chinese labor market, discrimination, earnings differentials, migration |
| JEL: | J31 J71 O15 P23 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:0808&r=cna |
| By: | Ruan, Jianqing; Zhang, Xiaobo |
| Abstract: | "The traditional literature emphasizes the causal role of finance in promoting industrial growth. China's rapid industrialization over the past several decades, which has occurred in the absence of well-functioning financial markets, seems to defy the conventional wisdom. By studying a cashmere sweater cluster in China, this paper argues that rural industrial clustering, as a new business model, lowers the entry barriers of initial capital investment through the division of labor. Within these clusters, enterprises can often acquire trade credits from upstream or downstream firms and obtain informal financing from friends and relatives, and use these funds to mitigate constraints of working capital. These findings help explain China's rapid industrialization in the absence of an efficient financial market." from Author's Abstract |
| Keywords: | Industrialization, Cluster, Finance, Growth, industrial development, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:768&r=cna |
| By: | You, Liangzhi |
| Abstract: | "This paper examines differences in the spatial and temporal variations of rice yields in China and Brazil. Our analysis indicates that, in China, rice yields have converged over time and rice production has become increasingly homogeneous. In contrast, rice yields in Brazil have diverged over time, primarily due to variations in upland rice yields. Three hypothetical explanations may account for the different behaviors of rice yields in Brazil and China, namely: 1) differences in production systems (i.e. irrigated in China vs. upland in Brazil); 2) changes in rainfall patterns; and 3) bias in agricultural research and development (R&D) towards irrigated rice. Our empirical analysis supports the first two hypotheses by establishing that: 1) upland rice shows much more variation in yields compared to irrigated rice; and 2) changing rainfall patterns have primarily affected upland rice. We also provide evidence of the bias towards irrigated systems by looking at the patterns of varietal release." from Author's Abstract |
| Keywords: | Rice productivity, Spatial convergence, Technology spillover, Agricultural research, Research and development, |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:758&r=cna |
| By: | Zheng, Jianghuai; Hu, Zhining; Wang, Jialing |
| Abstract: | This paper firstly discusses why the economic growth in the Yangtze River Delta has been slowed down recently and suggests a need totransform the current input-based economic growth pattern into aninnovation-based one. Next, through our theoretical analysis, we find that the change of current economic growth pattern is just the innovative reallocationof production factors, and the new economic growth driven by innovation is mainly initiated by the transmutation of entrepreneurship. Finally, we test our belief with real-world evidence. It shows that the Delta has formed a mechanism in which entrepreneurship and human capital mutually promote each other. However, the interactive relationship between R&D expenditure and entrepreneurship has not been developed in general. In addition, excessive government interventions will do harm to the growth of entrepreneurs and economic development. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; innovation and economic growth pattern |
| JEL: | O31 |
| Date: | 2008–01–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:8919&r=cna |
| By: | ZHENG , Jianghuai; GAO, Yanyan; Hu, Xiaowen |
| Abstract: | Based on micro-firm data of development zones in Jiangsu Province along the Yangtze River, the effects of local factors special to development zones and of technology promotion on firm’s performance are tested, from which we try to illustrate the nature and dynamics of industrial clusters built on development zones. The results show that the primary reasons firms locate into development zones are not clustering benefits in general meaning brought by interactions among firms locally concentrated, but are the attraction of “policy rents” and the scale economy of infrastructure brought by government behaviors. Once located in the zone, the firm is doom to interact with local government as well as industry-related factors, and the clustering effects may emerge. Thus, the key to keep development zones’ competition sustainable, when governments’ bidding wars and policy adjustment fade away “policy rents” and scale economy of infrastructure, is to cultivate clustering effects. |
| Keywords: | Development Zones along Yangtze River; Firms’ Spatial Concentration; Industrial Clustering Effects; Technology Promotion; Policy Rents |
| JEL: | R53 R58 R30 R50 O53 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:8917&r=cna |