Dan Xie

Abstract: We provide the first empirical evidence on how digital trade facilitation reforms translate into concrete changes in port operations. Using China's Single Window reform, which streamlined customs clearance procedures, we exploit the staggered rollout across ports between 2014 and 2017. We combine AIS data on container ship movements with event study methods to identify causal effects. Effects on total carried tonnage are positive but lack statistical significance. However, decomposition analysis reveals that Single Window implementation operates through a specific channel—increasing port calls by approximately 10%—while leaving vessel loading conditions, ship size, and port processing times unchanged. To understand how ports accommodate this greater activity, we examine heterogeneity across vessel and terminal characteristics. Impacts concentrate among smaller vessels and less congested terminals, while larger vessels and capacity-constrained facilities show no response. These findings demonstrate that administrative efficiency improvements generate increases in maritime activity through extensive rather than intensive margins, with ports accommodating increased trade demand primarily through higher vessel frequency.

Presented at:  Leuven–Louvain Trade Workshop, UCD internal seminar, Globalization, Shipping and Trade Workshop PSE, ETSG Milan, ADB ERDI seminar (virtual), Göttinger Workshop, STEP Paris, PTW Bangkok, APTS Tokyo.

Abstract: Real manufacturing output increased rapidly in China from 1998 to 2012 while sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution emissions grew at a much lower rate. To understand this general pattern across countries, I focus on the contributions of environmental policy and trade liberalization, among other factors linked to China's economic development. Combining firm-level data on pollution, production and trade and using China’s entry into the World Trade Organization and the 11th Five-Year Plan as policy shocks, difference-in-differences analyses show that these policies jointly reduced firm-level pollution intensity. The counterfactual analysis based on a quantitative model reveals that environmental regulations play a major role in reducing aggregate pollution, and the implicit pollution tax faced by firms grew substantially over the period. In addition, tariff cuts due to trade liberalization reduce variable costs of trade and allow firms to abate pollution more.

Presented at: FIW Vienna (2024), University of Luxembourg (2023), ETSG (2023), PSE-CEPR Policy Forum (poster 2023), JIE Summer School (2023), CESifo Area Conference on Global Economy (poster 2023), Doctorissimes (2023), RES (2023), EEA-ESEM (2022), SAEe (2022), GEP/CEPR Postgraduate Conference (2022), OECD (2022), Warwick PhD Conference (2022), QMUL PhD Workshop (2022), ASPEC PhD Conference (2022), NERD PhD Conference (2022).