Understanding TFP growth in inland regions of China: an empirical study of the effects of three factors

In this paper, we empirically examine the potential effects of international openness, domestic coastal-inland market integration, and human capital accumulation on TFP growth in inland provinces in China. By using a nonlinear technique as our main regression approach as well as an extended GMM method as robustness checks, we show that human capital accumulation plays an important role in promoting TFP growth in the inland provinces. Our results support the argument that the most important contribution of human capital to income growth lies not in its static, direct effect as an accumulable factor in the production function, but in its dynamic role in promoting TFP growth. Our regression results also provide evidence for the positive roles international openness and domestic coastal-inland market integration play in promoting TFP growth in inland provinces in China.     

劳动收入份额的地区差异实证研究——来自中国省级面板数据的证据

劳动收入份额很大程度上决定了收入差距,采用了中国21个省的省级面板数据进行了实证分析,结果表明,劳动收入份额既显著影响了收入差距,又通过GDP、人力资本、开放度等因素影响了收入差距,并且东中西部呈现出显著的差异性。这一结论可为制定缩小收入差距的政策提供了新的视角。     

Country-level Determinants of Intra-industry Trade （liT） between China and Sri Lanka

This study is based on country level determinants of liT between China and Sri Lanka. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data in this study. Determinants of IIT from Sri Lanka to China do not depend upon economic growth rate, per capita income and size of GDP. However, variables like index of openness, size of the economy, per capita income, size of GDP, factor endowment, foreign direct investments have positive impact on IIT from Sri Lanka to China. Economic growth rate, index of openness, size of the economy, factor endowment, foreign direct investments were found to be positively related with intensity of IIT from China to Sri Lanka.     

Human capital and income inequality in India: is there a non-linear and asymmetric relationship?

The article attempts to provide empirical evidence on the relationship between human capital and income inequality in India in a non-linear and asymmetric framework. To capture both long-run and short-run asymmetries, we have employed the non-linear autoregressive distributed lag approach using the relevant data from 1970 to 2016. Findings of the article suggest that education expansion acts as a major factor in reducing prevailing high income inequality, that is an increase in average years of schooling results in more equal distribution of income. In contrast, high economic growth, inflation and trade openness create unequal distribution of income. The asymmetric causality test results indicate that there is unidirectional causality running from female human capital, economic growth and inflation to income inequality. From a policy perspective, we suggest that education expansion should be used as a powerful tool to mitigate income inequality by emphasizing the quality of education. At the same time, policies geared towards social benefits, inclusive education, training for unskilled workers and price stability should be encouraged to attain fair income distribution in India.     

Trade openness,internet finance development and banking sector development in China

This paper investigates the impact of trade openness on Internet finance development in China. Using a unique panel data set for 29 Chinese provinces, we find that trade openness has a positive impact on Internet finance development and is a leading indicator of Internet finance development. Further analyses show that higher trade openness is associated with faster Internet finance development in wealthier provinces. Moreover, we investigate the effect of Internet finance development on the banking sector development. The empirical results suggest that Internet finance development has a positive effect on the banking sector size and efficiency.     

Measuring the size of the shadow economy in 30 provinces of China over 1995–2016: The MIMIC approach

Applying the multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) approach, the present paper measured the size of the shadow economies in China's provinces over 1995–2016. The results show that the average size of the shadow economy in 30 provinces of China increased from 13.55% in 1995 to 14.39% in 2009, and then decreased to 12.30% in 2016. There are obvious variations in the size of the shadow economies in different districts of China. The average size of the shadow economy is lowest in provinces in the eastern district and highest in the western district. In addition, the causes and consequences of the shadow economies in China's provinces have also been analysed using the MIMIC approach, and the results show that tax burden, complexity of the tax system, intensity of regulation, unemployment, employment in the agricultural sector and economic openness have significant positive effects on China's shadow economy, while the ratio of direct taxes to indirect taxes, fiscal autonomy and income levels have significant negative effects on China's shadow economy. Using the growth rate of energy consumption as the benchmark indicator, the MIMIC analysis shows that the shadow economy has significant positive effects on the development of the official economy and income inequality while having a significant negative effect on the labour participation rate.     

出口开放、地区市场规模和经济增长

报酬递增是跨国或区域经济增长发散的重要动因,而市场范围的大小则决定了报酬递增的程度。本文的实证研究发现,地区市场规模和出口开放程度显著地影响了1970—2000年各省区人均收入的增长速度;在地区差距的形成和演进过程中,国外和地区市场是相互替代的,而一旦控制了市场规模因素,各个省区即呈现明显的收敛趋势。本文根据地理特征构造工具变量,有效地控制了变量的内生性问题。     

Income distribution dynamics of urban residents: The case of China (1995–2004)

Using a 1995–2004 panel data of Chinese urban residents, we investigate the dynamics of income distribution in cities. According to Kernel estimates of the relative income distribution of Chinese cities, we find that: (1) the national across-city distribution of per capita GDP exhibits an apparent unique-peak distribution in 1995 and an “emerging multiple-peak” one in 2004; (2) for prefecture-level cities, income distribution has evolved to an “apparent multiple-peak” distribution from a unique-peak one; (3) the income distribution of county-level cities maintains a unique-peak curve; (4) most of the income dynamics of urban residents originates from prefecture-and-higher-level cities. We sample three representative provinces and study the urban income dynamics respectively. The analysis suggests that within a single province, urban income distribution evolves from unique-peak to twin-peak curve; while among provinces, income convergence is evident for urban residents. In addition, we measure the incidence of poverty in cities based on our income dynamics analysis, and find that the ratios of people living below absolute poverty line have been decreasing at cities of all levels.     

制度变迁、地方政府行为与城乡收入差距 ——来自中国省级面板数据的经验证据

本文采用1997-2009年面板数据的变截距及变系数模型,利用控制地区经济开放程度、产业结构变迁、城市化率等因素,对中国30个省市的制度变迁、地方政府支出决策与城乡收入差距之间的关系进行实证分析。结果显示：就全国而言,制度变迁、地方政府对经济活动的干预和地方政府投资性支出均与城乡收入差距呈正相关,而地方政府保障性支出则与城乡收入差距呈负相关;就地区而言,大部分地区在市场化过程中的制度变迁、地方政府投资性支出扩大了城乡收入差距,而半数以上的地区其政府支出规模及其内部保障性支出对城乡收入差距的缩小则有一定促进作用,但不同地区其影响呈现一定的差异性。其政策含义在于,我国在推进市场化进程的同时还要兼顾公平与效率,加强地方政府对收入不平等的调节作用,完善地方财政支出结构特别是社会保障体系,以此来缩小城乡收入差距。     

劳动地理集中、产业空间与地区收入差距

本文基于新经济地理学模型,采用中国1990年、2000年和2007年的普查数据计算了31个省市的劳动集中度,并以此解释产业空间和地区收入差距的发展变化.文章发现:(1)人力资本集中是产业集聚形成的重要因素,人力资本集中度上升会提高地区的收入水平;(2)各省市的人力资本分布不均衡并有可能导致地区收入差距的进一步扩大.本文认为,人力资本存量差异是地区收入差距拉大的重要原因,促进劳动力充分流动、加快推进城市化建设是有效的应对之策.     

Money matters: an axiomatic theory of the endowment effect

We develop a framework that allows us to state precisely the relationship between leading concepts of the theoretical and empirical research on reference-dependent preferences, namely the status quo bias, the endowment effect and the willingness to accept (WTA)/willingness to pay (WTP) gap. We show that a monetary version of the status quo bias is a necessary condition for the WTA/WTP gap, and show how to factor out the part of the gap due to income effects from the part of the gap due to the endowment effect. As a byproduct, we show that reference-dependent phenomena are generated by reference-independent factors, i.e., an underlying reference-independent preference relation the properties of which are discussed at length.     

Factors affecting agricultural land transfer-in in China: a semiparametric analysis

We use interview survey data collected randomly from 2677 farm households in nine provinces of China to understand the role of demographic, economic, land, and village characteristics on agricultural land transfer-in by farmers. Results show that variables such as borrowing from informal sources, household labour availability, percentage of total income from agricultural sources, and the household with village cadre have significant positive effects on land transfer-in. Low economic development and low transportation network availability in a county reduces land transfer-in. We also find that two variables (land holding and land idling) should be entered into the model nonparametrically. Land holding and land idling have U- and L-shaped impacts on land transfer-in, respectively. Land transfer-in has endowment equilibrium and provides Chinese households more opportunities to earn agricultural income, thereby reducing rural poverty.     

我国初次分配中的两极分化及成因

本文基于我国1978—2002年间居民在初次分配中的要素所得,采用核密度函数估计各省区的收入分布,加总得到全国的收入分布,进而考察我国初次分配中的收入分布演进。主要发现是,我国收入分布不断向右平移,逐渐呈现双峰分布,这直观地刻画了我国要素收入快速增长以及在初次分配中就呈现两极分化的现状;两极分化主要是由劳动贡献这个分配标准在产业间的差异造成的,要素贡献的其他差异对我国收入分布的扭曲程度为2%—15%。这些发现意味着,缓解、消除两极分化在于校正、消除经济体现有的一些扭曲及其对收入分配标准的影响,健全现行收入分配制度的运行环境。     

How Does Fiscal Consolidation Impact on Income Inequality?

In this paper, we assess the impact of fiscal consolidation on income inequality. Using a panel of 18 industrialized countries from 1978 to 2009, we find that income inequality significantly rises during periods of fiscal consolidation. In addition, while fiscal policy that is driven by spending cuts seems to be detrimental for income distribution, tax hikes seem to have an equalizing effect. We also show that the size of the fiscal consolidation program (in percentage of GDP) has an impact on income inequality. In particular, when consolidation plans represent a small share of GDP, the income gap widens, suggesting that the burden associated with the effort affects disproportionately households at the bottom of the income distribution. Considering the linkages between banking crises and fiscal consolidation, we find that the effect on the income gap is amplified when fiscal adjustments take place after the resolution of such financial turmoil. Similarly, fiscal consolidation programs combined with inflation are likely to increase inequality and the effects of fiscal adjustments on inequality are amplified during periods of relatively low growth. Our results also provide support for a non‐linear relationship between inequality and income and corroborate the idea that trade can promote a more equal distribution of income.     

Trade and income at different stages of economic development

Recent research has found a strong positive effect of international trade on real income. We propose that this relationship may vary with the level of economic development. Using the instrument variable threshold regressions approach proposed by Caner and Hansen (2004), we find evidence that trade openness contributes to uneven development. Greater trade openness tends to have beneficial effects on real income for more industrialized countries. For less developed countries, however, trade openness appears to influence real income in a significantly negative way. The findings imply that greater international trade and integration may foster inequality of nations and hence contribute to more diverging economies.     

贸易开放对城镇居民收入及分配的影响

本文运用2002年中国家庭住户收入调查数据,检验了贸易开放对收入水平和收入分配的影响。研究发现贸易开放对收入水平具有显著并稳健的正向效应。本文进一步验证了贸易开放对收入分配的影响,结果显示:总体来看,贸易开放对高技能劳动力的影响大于对低技能劳动力的影响;贸易开放对外资企业职工收入的影响大于对其他企业类型职工收入的影响;贸易开放对资本报酬者的影响大于对劳动报酬者的影响。因此,在某种意义上说,中国国内的收入不平等在很大程度上是由于开放程度不均衡,一些地区和居民被排除在开放利益之外造成的。     

Nonlinearity between Trade Openness and Economic Development

This paper utilizes the instrumental variable threshold regressions approach to reassess the trade–development link. It finds evidence that trade openness contributes to uneven development. Greater trade openness tends to have beneficial effects on real development of high‐income countries. For low‐income ones, however, trade openness appears to influence real income in a significant and negative way. The data also reveal that greater trade openness has a positive effect on capital accumulation, productivity growth, and financial development in high‐income countries, but a negative impact in low‐income ones.     

Income Heterogeneity in the Voluntary Provision of Dynamic Public Goods

This paper explores the effect of income inequality on the voluntary contributions to a dynamic public good. We find that income heterogeneity has a significant impact both on contributions and welfare. The results show that the often observed decay of cooperation does not carry over to the asymmetric environment considered in this study. Our results also suggest that subjects in each income class make different contribution amounts in an absolute sense and give the same percentage of their income. Moreover, we find that contributions of individuals with the same endowment are sensitive to how heterogeneous the environment is.     

对外开放与TFP增长：基于中国省际面板数据的经验研究

本文运用DEA的方法，先测算出1986--2003年各省域经济的技术效率、技术进步和TFP增长，然后实证研究人力资本、国际进出口及FDI对三者的影响。结果表明，人力资本和出口对技术效率的提高有正向作用，进口负向影响技术效率，FDI的影响不显著。出口对技术进步和TFP增长有轻微的负向影响，进口对二者具有小幅度的正向促进作用；而人力资本、FDI对技术进步和TFP增长的正向影响要大于进口。综合来看，对外开放能够促进TFP的增长，但是其影响只有人力资本正向效果的十分之一。     

The curse and blessing of fixed specific factors in small-open economies

This paper investigates how a country's specific-factor endowment affects its long-run economic performance. We build an open-economy version of the two-sector neoclassical growth model in which we introduce fixed industry-specific inputs in both activities. We show that differences in input shares between sectors can contribute to explain why nations that seem to have similar factor endowments can show very different income levels. In particular, under (productivity-adjusted) factor-price equalization, larger amounts of factors specific to the industry with a lower (larger) labor share lead the economy to enjoy larger (smaller) long-run income levels. The model can also account for overtaking episodes between countries along their development paths.