Research
Research
Working Papers
Working Papers
Reshaping Partition into Partnership: Forced Diversity and Development in Rural China (Job market paper) [PDF]
Reshaping Partition into Partnership: Forced Diversity and Development in Rural China (Job market paper) [PDF]
Abstract: What is the impact of ethnic diversity on cooperation and development? This paper provides micro-level evidence from Communist China's rural forced integration campaign during the 1950s-1980s, which brought together farmers from diverse ethnic backgrounds to live and work collectively in agriculture and public goods projects. Using a regression discontinuity design, the findings reveal that institutional context shapes the effects of ethnic diversity on cooperation and development. During the campaign, forced ethnic diversity had a negative impact on interethnic marriage rates and GDP per capita. However, after the campaign ended, these effects shifted to positive. In the long run, the experience of ethnic diversity due to the forced integration campaign led to increased voluntary participation in interethnic farmer cooperatives, which grew larger and more efficient in production. The positive effects are attributed to strengthened interethnic networks and reduced inequality in human capital accumulation. Marketization, as a key institutional change, played a crucial role in transforming the impact of ethnic diversity from negative to positive. This paper highlights the importance of institutions in shaping the effects of ethnic diversity.
Abstract: What is the impact of ethnic diversity on cooperation and development? This paper provides micro-level evidence from Communist China's rural forced integration campaign during the 1950s-1980s, which brought together farmers from diverse ethnic backgrounds to live and work collectively in agriculture and public goods projects. Using a regression discontinuity design, the findings reveal that institutional context shapes the effects of ethnic diversity on cooperation and development. During the campaign, forced ethnic diversity had a negative impact on interethnic marriage rates and GDP per capita. However, after the campaign ended, these effects shifted to positive. In the long run, the experience of ethnic diversity due to the forced integration campaign led to increased voluntary participation in interethnic farmer cooperatives, which grew larger and more efficient in production. The positive effects are attributed to strengthened interethnic networks and reduced inequality in human capital accumulation. Marketization, as a key institutional change, played a crucial role in transforming the impact of ethnic diversity from negative to positive. This paper highlights the importance of institutions in shaping the effects of ethnic diversity.
Abstract: This paper investigates how the inclusion of women in higher education affects men's gender attitudes and generates spillover effects through male students, improving the human capital accumulation of a broader female population. We examine a coeducation reform at Peking University in 1920, which admitted female students into universities for the first time in China. To measure spillovers, we focus on the indirect effect through male students and compare female educational outcomes in the home counties of first-exposed and last-non-exposed male graduates. Our quasi-experimental analyses show that there is 11.4 percentage points higher probability of having female university students in the exposed counties compared with non-exposed counties. The main mechanism is the spread of more progressive gender norms through the personal networks of male students, reflected by the positive shift in male students' gender attitudes and the increase in university enrollment predominantly among female students from the same clan. Our findings highlight the importance of exposure to gender diversity in altering gender attitudes and demonstrate how personal networks amplify the diffusion of these changes. However, the spillover did not benefit the mass schooling of girls, as female enrollment in primary schools was unaffected, which suggests potential disparities among women.
Abstract: This paper investigates how the inclusion of women in higher education affects men's gender attitudes and generates spillover effects through male students, improving the human capital accumulation of a broader female population. We examine a coeducation reform at Peking University in 1920, which admitted female students into universities for the first time in China. To measure spillovers, we focus on the indirect effect through male students and compare female educational outcomes in the home counties of first-exposed and last-non-exposed male graduates. Our quasi-experimental analyses show that there is 11.4 percentage points higher probability of having female university students in the exposed counties compared with non-exposed counties. The main mechanism is the spread of more progressive gender norms through the personal networks of male students, reflected by the positive shift in male students' gender attitudes and the increase in university enrollment predominantly among female students from the same clan. Our findings highlight the importance of exposure to gender diversity in altering gender attitudes and demonstrate how personal networks amplify the diffusion of these changes. However, the spillover did not benefit the mass schooling of girls, as female enrollment in primary schools was unaffected, which suggests potential disparities among women.
Place-based Policy, Vertical Competiton, and Resource Misallocation: Evidence from China's Special Economic Zones
Place-based Policy, Vertical Competiton, and Resource Misallocation: Evidence from China's Special Economic Zones
Abstract: This study examines whether place-based policies lead to resource misallocation owing to vertical competition between jurisdictions. Using the staggered introduction of special economic zones (SEZs) across China and microlevel land parcel data from 2007 to 2019, we showed that the establishment of SEZs by upper-level prefectural governments led to a 16% (17%) increase (decrease) in industrial land supply (prices) in lower-level counties. The strategic reallocation of land resources by lower-level governments to reduce the resulting pressure to attract investment drove this effect, which was exacerbated by increased fiscal pressures or weaker coordination. Furthermore, the strategic response of lower-level counties led to efficiency losses in the long run. These findings highlight the importance of implementing coordination mechanisms in place-based policies.
Abstract: This study examines whether place-based policies lead to resource misallocation owing to vertical competition between jurisdictions. Using the staggered introduction of special economic zones (SEZs) across China and microlevel land parcel data from 2007 to 2019, we showed that the establishment of SEZs by upper-level prefectural governments led to a 16% (17%) increase (decrease) in industrial land supply (prices) in lower-level counties. The strategic reallocation of land resources by lower-level governments to reduce the resulting pressure to attract investment drove this effect, which was exacerbated by increased fiscal pressures or weaker coordination. Furthermore, the strategic response of lower-level counties led to efficiency losses in the long run. These findings highlight the importance of implementing coordination mechanisms in place-based policies.
Fiscal Pressure and the Market Structure of Government-controlled Factors: Evidence from China's Urban Land Market
Fiscal Pressure and the Market Structure of Government-controlled Factors: Evidence from China's Urban Land Market
(with Kai Liu, Jidong Yang), Revise and Resubmit, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy. [new draft coming soon]
(with Kai Liu, Jidong Yang), Revise and Resubmit, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy. [new draft coming soon]
Abstract: This study examines a causal relationship between fiscal pressure and the market structure of government-controlled factors of production, by exploiting a city-level panel dataset on urban land transactions in China from 2007 to 2014. We find that, in the face of higher fiscal pressure, local governments tend to transfer land in larger parcels, leading to a higher degree of concentration of urban land markets and housing developers. This kind of concentration, in turn, will lead to not only higher and more stable housing prices but also fewer public goods partially provided by housing developers. This study has implications for countries where the government controls certain types of production factors, such as land or natural resources.
Abstract: This study examines a causal relationship between fiscal pressure and the market structure of government-controlled factors of production, by exploiting a city-level panel dataset on urban land transactions in China from 2007 to 2014. We find that, in the face of higher fiscal pressure, local governments tend to transfer land in larger parcels, leading to a higher degree of concentration of urban land markets and housing developers. This kind of concentration, in turn, will lead to not only higher and more stable housing prices but also fewer public goods partially provided by housing developers. This study has implications for countries where the government controls certain types of production factors, such as land or natural resources.
Publications
Publications
Abstract: This study investigates the impact of the current United States (US)–China trade war on resource allocation, using monthly city-level panel data relating to the transfer of local government-controlled land from 2017 to 2019. The results show that the trade war significantly changed local governments' economic development strategies. As the trade war progressed, Chinese local governments shifted their attention to boosting the development of high-tech industries by substantially increasing the proportion of land supply for these industries. After the trade war, for every 1% increase in the US exports as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), land supply to high-tech industries increased by 0.25%. This effect is more prevalent in cities with more fiscal resources, a younger secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Municipal Committee, lower levels of public nationalism, and a larger share of foreign enterprises among exporters. These results are consistent with our assumption that the pressure generated by the US–China trade war has significantly increased the potential returns for local governments in terms of developing high-tech industries.
Abstract: This study investigates the impact of the current United States (US)–China trade war on resource allocation, using monthly city-level panel data relating to the transfer of local government-controlled land from 2017 to 2019. The results show that the trade war significantly changed local governments' economic development strategies. As the trade war progressed, Chinese local governments shifted their attention to boosting the development of high-tech industries by substantially increasing the proportion of land supply for these industries. After the trade war, for every 1% increase in the US exports as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), land supply to high-tech industries increased by 0.25%. This effect is more prevalent in cities with more fiscal resources, a younger secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Municipal Committee, lower levels of public nationalism, and a larger share of foreign enterprises among exporters. These results are consistent with our assumption that the pressure generated by the US–China trade war has significantly increased the potential returns for local governments in terms of developing high-tech industries.
Selected Working in Progress
Selected Working in Progress
The Environmental Effect of Place-based Policies: Evidence from China's Special Economic Zones (with Jingyan Yang)
The Environmental Effect of Place-based Policies: Evidence from China's Special Economic Zones (with Jingyan Yang)