Regional migration and wage inequality in the West African economic and monetary union

We investigate the impact of intra-regional migration on wage inequality in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). We exploit unique data from a unified labour force household survey which covers natives and migrants in the seven economic capital cities of that region. We first estimate the counterfactual wage distributions of UEMOA migrants in absence of migration to evaluate the compositional effect of migration (i.e., when wages are treated as exogenous). We find that regional migration increases average wages by 1.8% and generates a decrease in inequality that ranges between −1.5% (for the Gini index) and −4.5% (for the interquartile ratio). This is essentially driven by a reduction in inequality between capital cities, while the effect of migration on within-capital cities inequality is heterogeneous across countries and remains small overall. Second, when accounting for possible general equilibrium effects of migration on stayers’ wages (i.e., when wages are treated as endogenous), we find similar to stronger effects on inequality, albeit with a smaller increase in the average wage.     

Interregional infrastructure,competition for capital,and local public expenditure policies: Evidence from China's high-speed rail network

Interregional infrastructure promotes market integration and enhances the mobility of capital, thereby intensifying fiscal competition among local governments. Exploiting the expansion of China's high-speed rail (HSR) network as plausibly exogenous shocks, this study examines how Interregional infrastructure affects the fiscal competition among local governments. We find that after connecting with the HSR network, city governments tend to dedicate a lower proportion of public spending to consumption goods, which benefit immobile households, and invest more in productive inputs, which attract mobile firms. We also find that the negative effect of HSR connection on the proportion of consumption goods is more pronounced in peripheral cities than core cities because periphery cities face a larger increase in capital mobility due to the core–periphery effects of trade integration induced by HSR. Our findings indicate that the behavioural responses of local governments should be accounted for when assessing the social welfare of interregional infrastructure.     

Effect of Digital Economy Development on Human Capital Structure

Based on the panel data on 276 prefectural-level cities from 2011 to 2018, this paper uses longitudinal fixed effects models, panel threshold effects and instrumental variables to explore the relationship between digital economy development and human capital structure advancement. In addition, this paper examines how the development of the digital economy is related to human capital levels. The results show that digital economy development significantly boosts human capital structure advancement, as well as low-level and high-level human capital. However, the effect of digital economy development on midlevel human capital is not statistically significant. In terms of heterogeneity, we find that digital economy development significantly promotes human capital structure advancement in eastern and central-western regions of China, as well as in core and peripheral cities. Effects on the various levels of human capital show significant differences. Furthermore, digital economy development has a positive effect on human capital structure when industrial structure advancement is low. Past a certain threshold, however, the effect reverses. This paper suggests that each region should accelerate the development of digital infrastructure, rationally promote industrial structure advancement and boost the effectiveness of human resources to achieve high-quality economic development.     

Are social,financial, and human capital value enhancing? Evidence from Taiwanese firms

This study examines the effects of social, financial, and human capital on the financial performance (i.e., Tobin's q) of Taiwanese firms in 2007. We find that social capital, as measured by total lending and borrowing among related-party transactions, has a positive effect on a firm's value. Human capital, such as employee productivity and research and development (R&D), also has significant positive effects on financial performance. In addition, a higher firm value is found to be associated with a better credit rating for the firm.     

Relationship between city size and firm productivity – A new interpretation using the Chinese experience

This paper contributes to the literature on the relationship between city size and firm productivity by focusing on agglomeration, selection (market competition), and sorting (presence of firms with diverse productivity) effects using Chinese firm-level data for 1998–2013. Contrary to the existing literature, our parametric regression estimates from nearly two million firms show that when the selection effect is controlled, productivity advantage in big cities is reversed. This outcome is explained through a quantile regression showing the existence of left-sided sorting (inefficient firms sort themselves to larger cities) in big cities which is not captured in existing empirical literature. We further find that (1) left-sided sorting is stronger in exporters than non-exporters; (2) is also generated mainly in enterprises with high asset-liability ratios; and (3) selection has a positive effect on firm productivity, suggesting that market competition is key in an explanation of the rapid growth of big cities in China.     

科技投入超效率测度的偏DEA分析与资本驱动的区域协调

现有科技活动效率研究存在异质性缺陷，导致无法深入分析引发效率差异的区域演进成因。应用超效率测度理论结合偏DEA视窗法，实证分析2010—2019年全国内地30个省（市）科技活动效率的动态演化进程，并从科技资本投入视角构建面板数据方程，考察不同资本类型驱动下我国科技投入效率空间溢出的直接效应与间接效应，同时，应用Moran′sI指数衡量各省（市）科技活动效率与空间集聚关联性。研究表明：近十年来我国科技活动效率整体呈现快速上升—趋势减缓—明显下降的发展态势，其中，东北地区效率饱和，投资冗余明显；华北地区效率偏低，高效率省（市）带动能力突出；华东和中南地区效率呈螺旋式上升，区域内省（市）组团差异明显；西北地区与西南地区效率偏高，但省（市）分化差异明显。从整体看，我国科技活动效率溢出能力显著，政府资本与企业资本对总效率溢出呈正向影响；外来资本对总效率溢出无明显影响，且资本效应的空间关联性不显著，绝大多数省市的科技活动效率提升处于资本弥补阶段，极少省市处于资本驱动状态。     

Public and private capital productivity in Russia: a non-parametric investigation

The productivity of public capital has been very popular research topic for US and other OECD countries, while studies using data from transitional countries are almost non-existent. In this paper, we analyze the productivity of public and private capital in Russia with parametric and non-parametric regression methods utilizing a unique regional level panel data from 2003 to 2007. More specifically, we assess public capital’s spillover effects, i.e., the productivity of public capital on private output, as well as the productivity of different capital ownership types on total output. We find that public capital has a clear positive effect on private output. However, our estimates and test statistics show that parametric methods are not able to grasp vast non-linearities and heterogeneity present among Russian regions, while the non-parametric approach can capture these important features of the data better. Furthermore, we find that multicollinearity is an important methodological problem which should be accounted for in analysis concerning capital data. Our results also suggest that the impact of public capital in Russia is heterogeneous in the sense that for some regions its contribution to private output is insignificant or even negative while it has a considerable positive role for most regions. Concerning the capital elasticities of total output, we find that public capital is less productive than private capital and roughly as productive as joint private-public capital.     

HOW DID EXCHANGE RATES AFFECT EMPLOYMENT IN U.S. CITIES?

We estimate the effects of exchange rate on U.S. employment, exploiting differences in industrial composition across major cities. We find that a 1% depreciation of export‐weighted real exchange rate has a positive 0.98% direct effect on manufacturing employment. Its indirect effect on local nonmanufacturing employment rises with the size of the local manufacturing sector, consistent with the hypothesis that there exists a local spillover from the tradable to the nontradable sector. In cities with heavy concentration of manufacturing employment, the indirect effect is statistically significant and about 60% as large as the direct effect measured by the number of jobs. (JEL F3, F1, J2)     

城市科技创新效率与网络结构特征——对国家级创新型城市的实证分析

以2003—2017年中国75个创新型城市面板数据为样本，首先，运用SBM超效率模型测度各城市科技创新效率；其次，基于修正引力模型测度城市间创新联系强度，运用社会网络分析法，从人才流动、资本流动和制度学习3个方面对创新型城市的网络结构及演变特征进行测度和分析；最后，利用考虑城市地理位置的地理加权回归（GWR）模型分析网络结构特征对科技创新效率的影响机制。结果发现：①科研基础设施和人才流动中心度对城市科技创新效率提升具有促进作用，而制度学习中心度、人才教育和产业结构为负向影响；②随着时间推移，城市人才流动中心度对科技创新效率提升具有积极促进作用且趋于强化，资本流动中心度从具有微弱的积极作用趋向于在不同城市呈现出激励和阻碍两种效应，制度学习中心度的负面影响亦趋于强化；③各城市创新网络结构对科技创新效率的影响在测度期前期差别较小，而在后期呈现出越发显著的空间差异性。     

Human capital, economic growth, and regional inequality in China

We show how regional growth patterns in China depend on regional differences in physical, human, and infrastructure capital as well as on differences in foreign direct investment (FDI) flows. We also evaluate the impact of market reforms, especially the reforms that followed Deng Xiaoping's “South Trip” in 1992 those that resulted from serious hardening of budget constraints of state enterprises around 1997. We find that FDI had a much larger effect on TFP growth before 1994 than after, and we attribute this to the encouragement of and increasing success of private and quasi-private enterprises. We find that human capital positively affects output and productivity growth in our cross-provincial study. Moreover, we find both direct and indirect effects of human capital on TFP growth. These impacts of education are more consistent than those found in cross-national studies. The direct effect is hypothesized to come from domestic innovation activities, while the indirect impact is a spillover effect of human capital on TFP growth. We conduct cost-benefit analysis of hypothetical investments in human capital and infrastructure. We find that, while investment in infrastructure generates higher returns in the developed, eastern regions than in the interior, investing in human capital generates slightly higher or comparable returns in the interior regions. We conclude that human capital investment in less-developed areas is justified on efficiency grounds and because it contributes to a reduction in regional inequality.     

产业经济视角的珠三角城市群内功能分工对制造业生产率影响

城市群内功能分工正逐渐成为促进我国经济高质量发展的新动能。从产业经济角度梳理城市功能分工对制造业生产率的影响机制,改进城市功能分工的测度方式,并依此对当前珠三角城市群内功能分工的效果进行判断。实证结果显示,城市功能分工对制造业生产率具有促进作用,进一步细分行业的研究发现,制造业总体、劳动密集型制造业、资本密集型制造业无论和哪种类型的生产性服务业搭配,均能体现出城市功能分工对制造业生产率的促进作用,同时,先进生产性服务业与各类型制造业搭配均能体现出城市功能分工对制造业生产率的促进作用。产业承载力、可持续发展水平的提升对综合城市功能分工效果具有促进作用,但是不同类型城市功能分工效果的发挥对各条件的依赖程度也有区别。因此,应按各类城市的特点促进珠三角城市群制造业生产率发展。     

城市科技创新效率与网络结构特征——对国家级创新型城市的实证分析

以2003—2017年中国75个创新型城市面板数据为样本，首先，运用SBM超效率模型测度各城市科技创新效率；其次，基于修正引力模型测度城市间创新联系强度，运用社会网络分析法，从人才流动、资本流动和制度学习3个方面对创新型城市的网络结构及演变特征进行测度和分析；最后，利用考虑城市地理位置的地理加权回归（GWR）模型分析网络结构特征对科技创新效率的影响机制。结果发现：①科研基础设施和人才流动中心度对城市科技创新效率提升具有促进作用，而制度学习中心度、人才教育和产业结构为负向影响；②随着时间推移，城市人才流动中心度对科技创新效率提升具有积极促进作用且趋于强化，资本流动中心度从具有微弱的积极作用趋向于在不同城市呈现出激励和阻碍两种效应，制度学习中心度的负面影响亦趋于强化；③各城市创新网络结构对科技创新效率的影响在测度期前期差别较小，而在后期呈现出越发显著的空间差异性。     

中国城市生产性服务业集聚模式选择的经济增长效应*——基于行业、地区与城市规模异质性的空间杜宾模型分析

本文基于新经济地理学的分析框架,利用2003-2012年中国285个地级及以上城市的统计数据,运用空间杜宾模型实证检验了中国城市生产性服务业模式选择的经济增长效应。结果显示,中国城市生产性服务业的专业化集聚、多样化集聚与经济增长都存在显著的空间相关性。生产性服务业集聚模式选择对经济增长的影响效应受到行业结构、地区差异和城市规模的约束：低端生产性服务业集聚的中小城市选择专业化集聚模式可以促进经济增长,而高端生产性服务业集聚的大城市和特大城市更适合选择多样化集聚模式。生产性服务业的多样化集聚模式在全国层面和区域层面（东部、中部、西部）都能够推动经济增长,而生产性服务业专业化集聚对中部地区的经济增长也能存在显著的正向影响,这得益于生产性服务业专业化集聚对经济增长的空间溢出效应。提升市场潜力和人力资本不仅对本地区经济增长具有显著的正向影响,而且对周边地区经济增长也存在明显的促进作用和空间溢出效应。     

中国农村税费改革的政策效果:基于双重差分模型的估计

本文运用我国7省591个县和县级市1999年至2002年的相关社会经济数据对农村税费改革的政策效果进行系统而严格的实证研究。我们利用税费改革分地区逐步推进的特征,借鉴“双重差分模型”的计量方法估计农村税费改革对农民收入增长所产生的政策影响。研究结果发现,农村税费改革的确对农民收入的增长率有相当大的正面影响,税费改革对样本期间农民纯收入增长的贡献高达40%以上,而且该影响有一定的持续性。这些基本结论能够通过一系列的稳健性检验。本文还对影响税费改革效果的因素进行了一些探讨。     

The effects of corruption on the human capital accumulation process: Evidence from Vietnam

This study aims to identify the effects of corruption on the human capital accumulation process in Vietnamese provinces/cities. I employ labour quality assessments of firms as a proxy for human capital and divide human capital accumulation into the following two processes: an educational process and a process through which educational outcomes and worker training transform into labour quality. The estimation results have some notable implications for the Vietnamese context. Corruption has both negative and positive effects on human capital. On the one hand, corruption reduces the positive effect of local government spending on educational achievements and worsens labour quality. On the other hand, the prevalence of corruption in provinces/cities increases the advantages of local schools in the competition to obtain funds from the central government; hence, corruption enhances educational achievements in those regions. The results of this study indicate that corruption adversely affects human capital overall.     

Capital Inflows and House Prices: Aggregate and Regional Evidence from China

Rising house prices in China have been of concern for investors and policymakers. Prices have risen substantially in the last decade, especially in large urban cities, and some economists have expressed concerns about the affordability of residential housing for young adults. This phenomenon becomes a major concern for policymakers, in terms of managing policies to balance the residential needs of individuals and the transition to a market economy. Theoretically, house prices ought to be linked to economic factors such as disposable income, availability of land to build and credit policy. However, it appears that traditional economic theories fail to appropriately explain house prices in China. We provide an explanation from the perspective of capital inflows into China. In terms of per capita remittances, China receives the highest inflow of foreign capital, and this may have a significant impact on risk adjusted returns in the Chinese market. To investigate this relationship, we use the vector error correction model to assess the impact of capital inflows on house prices. We find that capital inflows have a significant positive effect on house prices. The study makes important contributions to understanding the relationship between house prices and foreign remittances after controlling for other economic factors. China is a large economy. Because the impact of economic development in China has not been consistent across the country, we address the regional differences in the house price changes to capital inflows. Using regional data, we show that capital inflows have an asymmetric effect on the housing market across different provinces and cities of China. This has important implications for the development of economic policies in China that aim to provide fair access to residential housing for everyone. These findings are also relevant to investors in the housing market, whether investing for a personal residential home or as part of their diversified investment portfolio. It will also be informative to see how a reversal of capital inflows associated with tighter financing conditions in advanced countries will affect house prices in China.     

An adjustment cost model of social mobility

We analyze herein the effects of the human capital adjustment cost on social mobility. Such an adjustment cost is modeled as a rising marginal cost schedule for augmenting human capital. We use a general human capital technology, which disentangles the adjustment cost from the depreciation cost of the human capital. Missing credit markets prevent individuals from equalizing the initial differences in the human capital. We find that a higher adjustment cost for human capital acquisition slows down the social mobility and results in a persistent inequality across generations. On the other hand, a higher rate of human capital depreciation could increase mobility via a positive effect on new investment. The quantitative analysis of our model suggests that the human capital adjustment cost is nontrivial to account for the observed persistence of inequality and social mobility. In addition, we find that the government redistribution policy could account for the large observed variation in estimates of social mobility.     

EMPIRICAL IMPACT OF PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE ON THE JAPANESE ECONOMY*

We study the impact of public capital investment on individual sectors of the Japanese economy using time‐series data for the period of 1970–1998. We employ a production function approach and also estimate a dynamic VAR/ECM model. We find significant differences in the employment effects, output effects and private investment effects across sectors. Public capital investment has a positive effect on employment in the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE), manufacturing, construction and utilities sectors; on private investment in the FIRE, agriculture, transportation, trade and services sectors; and on output in the mining, FIRE, trade and manufacturing sectors.     

Labour market effects of public capital stock: evidence for the Spanish private sector

This paper provides a new rationale for the positive effect of public capital stock on employment and wages. We show that higher levels of public capital reduce wages along the wage equation and enhance employment due to the resulting larger elasticity of labour demand with respect to wages. The estimation of a structural model for the Spanish private sector reveals that this wage channel is empirically relevant. We use the estimated parameters to simulate the recent incidence of the ratio of public to private capital stock on the private sector economic performance. We find (i) sizeable effects on employment, capital stock and gross domestic product, and (ii) that the wage channel is particularly important for employment.     

Remittances and the human capital of children: New evidence from Kyrgyzstan during revolution and financial crisis, 2005–2009

We analyze the effect of the receipt of remittances on the education and health of children in Kyrgyzstan during a volatile period of their recent history, 2005–2009. The country experienced revolution in 2005 and the global financial crisis beginning in 2008. Both events impact human capital investment, and the changes vary by region of the country. We use fixed effects estimation and fixed effects, instrumental variables estimation to isolate the effects of remittances and other events on human capital. We find that boys aged 14–18 in remittances’ receiving households are less likely to be enrolled in school than other children. We also find that girls in remittances’ receiving households are more likely to be malnourished (thin). Both effects are relatively small. Remittances do not improve the human capital of children left behind. However, we do find an overall positive improvement in school enrollment among young children between 2005 and 2009 but a negative trend in enrollment among older boys and girls. Nutrition improves over time. Regional differences are apparent in these trends in nutrition and education.