"External Integration, Internal Liberalization, and Coastal Agglomeration", (Job market paper)
This paper introduces internal geography into the Melitz(2003) model to study how external and internal liberalizations affect the economic geography within a country. By dividing a country into a coastal region and an inland region, the model shows that trade leads the coastal region to have more than proportional share of industry, and causes firms in the coastal region to be larger and more productive than firms in the inland region. Both external and internal liberalizations encourage industry agglomeration in the coastal region. However, external trade liberalization leads to firm divergence, and internal liberalization leads to firm convergence, between coastal and inland regions. This allows me to test the relative importance of internal and external liberalization. Using Chinese data from 1998 to 2007, I find that manufacturing sector grew faster in the coastal region than in the inland region after the WTO accession in 2001. Firms also converged between coastal and inland regions, indicating that internal liberalization had stronger effects during this period.
This paper introduces internal geography into the Melitz(2003) model to study how external and internal liberalizations affect the economic geography within a country. By dividing a country into a coastal region and an inland region, the model shows that trade leads the coastal region to have more than proportional share of industry, and causes firms in the coastal region to be larger and more productive than firms in the inland region. Both external and internal liberalizations encourage industry agglomeration in the coastal region. However, external trade liberalization leads to firm divergence, and internal liberalization leads to firm convergence, between coastal and inland regions. This allows me to test the relative importance of internal and external liberalization. Using Chinese data from 1998 to 2007, I find that manufacturing sector grew faster in the coastal region than in the inland region after the WTO accession in 2001. Firms also converged between coastal and inland regions, indicating that internal liberalization had stronger effects during this period.
"The Ending of MFA/AFC and Its impacts on Textile and Apparel Industry in China, (Work in Progress)
The Multi-fiber Arrangement (MFA) is a quota system that restricted the Textile and Clothing (T&C) export from developing to developed countries. It ends on January 1, 2005. This paper use the ending of MFA as an natural experiment to study the effects of trade liberalization on industrial distribution within a country. Preliminary results show that export of products that faced quota before 2005 experienced a higher growth than the products that are quota free. However, the effects of trade liberalization are not uniformly distributed across region. Coast region saw a higher growth in quota products relative to non-quota products compared with the inland region. The results indicate that external trade liberalization disproportionally benefits the coastal region than the inland region.
The Multi-fiber Arrangement (MFA) is a quota system that restricted the Textile and Clothing (T&C) export from developing to developed countries. It ends on January 1, 2005. This paper use the ending of MFA as an natural experiment to study the effects of trade liberalization on industrial distribution within a country. Preliminary results show that export of products that faced quota before 2005 experienced a higher growth than the products that are quota free. However, the effects of trade liberalization are not uniformly distributed across region. Coast region saw a higher growth in quota products relative to non-quota products compared with the inland region. The results indicate that external trade liberalization disproportionally benefits the coastal region than the inland region.
"The Border Effect of China's East/non-east Divide"(Work in Progress, with Jenny Minier)
I document the large economic discontinuities across the east/non-east provincial borders in China. Using counties contiguous to the borders of 4 plains provinces, I find that manufacturing activities (output, employment, and export) increase abruptly from the west to the east of the borders. The counties in the east also have a lower share of agricultural population and a higher share of output by foreign firms. The economic discontinuities are larger for non-state sectors than for the state sector, and are stronger in non-mountain regions than in mountain regions. The large economic discontinuities are unlikely to be explained by geographic and cultural differences across the borders, and can be accounted for by the policy differences between east and non-east provinces. I find that openness level and index of market liberalization can account for a large part of the east/non-east divide.
I document the large economic discontinuities across the east/non-east provincial borders in China. Using counties contiguous to the borders of 4 plains provinces, I find that manufacturing activities (output, employment, and export) increase abruptly from the west to the east of the borders. The counties in the east also have a lower share of agricultural population and a higher share of output by foreign firms. The economic discontinuities are larger for non-state sectors than for the state sector, and are stronger in non-mountain regions than in mountain regions. The large economic discontinuities are unlikely to be explained by geographic and cultural differences across the borders, and can be accounted for by the policy differences between east and non-east provinces. I find that openness level and index of market liberalization can account for a large part of the east/non-east divide.
Boy Preference, Within Family Discrimination, and Gender Wage Differential in China (Joint with Chenxu Hu and Xiaozhou Ding. Work in Progress.)
When parents prefer boys to girls, they invest more on boys. The within-family discrimination leads men to have a higher level of human capital and wage than women. However, the effects of within-family discrimination are often intertwined with effects of social discrimination. In this paper, we model within-family discrimination to see its effect on Children's education and income level. We also propose a novel approach to identify the effects of within-family discrimination empirically.
When parents prefer boys to girls, they invest more on boys. The within-family discrimination leads men to have a higher level of human capital and wage than women. However, the effects of within-family discrimination are often intertwined with effects of social discrimination. In this paper, we model within-family discrimination to see its effect on Children's education and income level. We also propose a novel approach to identify the effects of within-family discrimination empirically.