nep-cna New Economics Papers
on China
Issue of 2017‒02‒05
six papers chosen by
Zheng Fang
Ohio State University

  1. Social Networks and Mental Health Problems: Evidence from Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China By Meng, Xin; Xue, Sen
  2. Firm Response to Competitive Shocks: Evidence from China’s Minimum Wage Policy By Harald Hau; Yi Huang; Gewei Wang
  3. Innovation in Enterprises and Enterprises Characteristics: A Survey study in China By Xu, Yilan
  4. Factors influencing Chinese farmer demand for vegetable price insurance in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region By Guan, Xue; Ahrendsen, Bruce L.; Liu, Yumei
  5. China's post-coal growth By Ye Qi; Nicholas Stern; Tong Wu; Jiaqi Lu; Fergus Green
  6. The effect of institutional ownership on firm innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed firms By Rong, Zhao; Wu, Xiaokai; Boeing, Philipp

  1. By: Meng, Xin (Australian National University); Xue, Sen (Jinan University)
    Abstract: Over the past two decades, more than 160 million rural residents have migrated to cities in China. They are usually separated from their rural families and work in an unfamiliar, and sometimes hostile, city environment. This paper investigates to what extent city social networks alleviate mental health problems among these migrants. Using the longitudinal migrant survey from the Rural-to-Urban Migration in China (RUMiC) project, we find that larger social networks are significantly correlated with fewer mental health problems in both OLS and fixed effect estimates. To mitigate the endogeneity issue, we use past rainfall in the home county and the distance between home village and the closest transportation centre as the instrument variables for city social networks. The instrument variable estimates and fixed effect instrumental variable estimates suggest that an additional person in the city social networks of migrants reduces GHQ 12 by 0.12 to 0.16 Likert points. The results are robust for migrants who are less educated, who work long hours and who do not have access to social insurances in the city.
    Keywords: mental health, social networks, migration, China
    JEL: I12 I18 J61
    Date: 2017–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10481&r=cna
  2. By: Harald Hau (University of Geneva, Swiss Finance Institute, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), and CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)); Yi Huang (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies); Gewei Wang (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID))
    Abstract: The large regional variation of minimum wage changes in 2002-08 implies that Chinese manufacturing firms experienced competitive shocks as a function of firm location and their low-wage employment share. We find that minimum wage hikes accelerate the input substitution from labor to capital in low-wage firms, reduce employment growth, but also accelerate total factor productivity growth particularly among the less productive firms under private Chinese or foreign ownership, but not among state-owned enterprises. The heterogeneous firm response to labor cost shocks can be explained by differences in governance or management practice, but is difficult to reconcile with the idea that competitive pressure is a substitute for governance quality.
    Keywords: Firm productivity, capital investment, minimum wage policy
    JEL: D24 G31 J24 J31 O14
    Date: 2016–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp1647&r=cna
  3. By: Xu, Yilan
    Abstract: Innovation is one of the most important factors in production at enterprise level. Substantial studies have been deployed in this topic, but rare researches have been focused on the relation between innovation and the enterprise characteristics, especially the case in China. In this paper, the author analyzes the China Enterprise Survey 2012 established by the World Bank through logistic regressions, and concludes some interesting findings, such as that the R&D input in China showing negative relationship with the firm size, enterprises without internationally-recognized quality certifications or technologies licensed from a foreign-owned company are showing with more R&D input, etc. The results uncovered very practical implications to both enterprises in China and the government, which could guide them to make better decisions in terms of enterprises development and economy policies.
    Keywords: Innovation, China, Survey Data, Enterprises Characteristics, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea17:252847&r=cna
  4. By: Guan, Xue; Ahrendsen, Bruce L.; Liu, Yumei
    Abstract: The study investigates whether vegetable price index insurance could be applied to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region of China and identifies farmers’ interest in the insurance. Vegetable price index insurance is growing rapidly in China and was recently introduced in the Shanghai region. Although the BTH region is an important region for vegetable production and consumption, no such insurance is currently available in the region. Survey data from 450 farmers in the BTH region were collected during July-August 2016. Factors influencing farmer demand for vegetable price index insurance in the region are identified by estimating a probit model. Four categories of factors are considered: location, demographics (gender, age, education, and experience), farm characteristics (size, organization membership, yield, and net income), and risk cognition (market price sensitivity, other insurance purchased, price risk type and recent loss experience from low price). The results should assist the Chinese government structure and promote a vegetable price insurance that will be an effective method to maintain vegetable prices in the region and promote vegetable production by farmers.
    Keywords: insurance demand, price index insurance, vegetable price, probit model, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Demand and Price Analysis, G22, Q14,
    Date: 2017–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea17:252846&r=cna
  5. By: Ye Qi; Nicholas Stern; Tong Wu; Jiaqi Lu; Fergus Green
    Abstract: Slowing GDP growth, a structural shift away from heavy industry, and more proactive policies on air pollution and clean energy have caused China's coal use to peak. It seems that economic growth has decoupled from growth in coal consumption.
    Keywords: Climate-change mitigation; Energy efficiency; Energy supply and demand; Sustainability
    JEL: N0
    Date: 2016–07–25
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:67503&r=cna
  6. By: Rong, Zhao; Wu, Xiaokai; Boeing, Philipp
    Abstract: Monitoring by institutional investors can act as an important mechanism to promote firm innovation. By investigating Chinese listed firms' patenting between 2002 and 2011, we find that the presence of institutional investors enhances firm innovation. Consistent with the monitoring view, we further find that (1) the effect of institutional investors on firm patenting mainly comes from mutual funds; (2) the effect is more pronounced when market competition is more intense; (3) the effect exists among private- and minor state-owned enterprises, but not among major state-owned enterprises. The above findings are robust when innovation quality is examined.
    Keywords: Institutional investor,Firm innovation,Patenting,Mutual funds,China
    JEL: G20 G32 O31 O32 O33
    Date: 2017
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:17005&r=cna

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