Publications
- "Air Pollution Kills Competition: Evidence from ESports," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Volume 122, October 2023, 102886 (with Ye Yuan and Zenan Wu).
- "Heterogeneous Effects of Urban Transport Infrastructure on Population Distribution: The Role of Educational Access," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Volume 101, July 2023, 103902.
- "What You Import Matters for Productivity Growth: Experience from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Journal of Development Economics, Volume 152, September 2021, 102677 (with Larry D. Qiu, Hongsong Zhang, and Xiaoyu Dong). Media Coverage: VoxChina.
- "Land Financing and Economic Growth: Evidence from Chinese Counties," China Economic Review, August 2018, Vol.50: 218-239.
- "Government Intervention, Land Market, and Urban Development: Evidence from Chinese Cities," Economic Inquiry, January 2017, Vol.55(1): 115–136 (with Jipeng Zhang and Jianyong Fan).
- "Housing Models and Urbanization in China: Empirical Research from the Perspective of Land Supply (居住模式与中国城镇化——基于土地供给视角的经验研究)," Social Sciences in China (in Chinese, 中国社会科学), April 2015: 44-63 (with Jianyong Fan and Jipeng Zhang).
- "Local Government Debt, Land Market Institution and Regional Industrial Growth (地方债务, 土地市场与地区工业增长)," Economic Research Journal (in Chinese, 经济研究), January 2014: 41-55 (with Jianyong Fan). Online Appendix1, Appendix2
- "The Impact of Disaster Relief on Economic Growth: Evidence from China," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance-Issues and Practice, May 2013, Vol.38: 495-520 (with Xian Xu).
Working Papers
- "Neighboring Capital Imports and Non-Importer Productivity: Evidence from Geocoded Manufacturing Firms in China," revision requested from the Journal of Urban Economics, with Zhe Zhang, 2023.
- Abstract: This article examines the spillover effects of neighboring firms' imports on the productivity of non-importers. By analyzing geocoded manufacturing firms in China, we find that capital goods imports by neighboring firms within 10 km positively impact non-importer productivity; intermediate goods imports show no clear spillover. These results hold when using imports from distant firms as instruments. Spillovers from capital imports mainly come from neighbors in upstream and downstream industries, which indicate potential supply-chains effects. Learning effects from neighboring imported products are not significant. Quantitatively, neighboring capital imports raised non-importers' average productivity by 0.99% from 2000 to 2006, surpassing gains from their own R&D participation by more than sixfold. Overall, our findings demonstrate substantial societal benefits of capital imports for non-importers connected spatially.
- "International Sourcing Fragility and Production Disruption: Evidence from Chinese Export during COVID-19," with Larry D. Qiu and Hongsong Zhang, 2023.
- Abstract: The security of the global supply chain has been a growing concern throughout the world. This paper investigates how the fragility of international sourcing, that is, the probability of failure in international intermediate inputs sourcing, affects production and export performance. Based on a stylized model of international sourcing with shocks, we demonstrate that source complexity and source diversity are two key factors that determine international sourcing fragility. The probability of a disruption in international sourcing increases in the number of import dependent inputs used by the firm (source complexity) and decreases in the number of the firm's sourcing countries for these inputs (source diversity). Using comprehensive Customs data from China, we develop novel measures of import dependence of inputs, source complexity, and source diversity for HS6-digit export products. In the application, we find robust evidence that export of products with greater source complexity were more negatively affected by COVID-19 in 2020, while larger source diversity alleviated such impacts.
- "Quantifying Network Advantage: An Application to Global Trade Networks," 2023.
- Abstract: This study presents a unified framework for quantifying network advantage, i.e., the expected gains from a particular network position compared to another, using a discrete choice model with connection intensity. Network advantage arises from the uncertainty of realizing gains from connections, providing an economic foundation for various measures of network centrality. To incorporate indirect network gains, I impose a condition where the relative node values are equal to their relative gains from the network. Applying this framework to the geographic and multinational-production networks in global trade, I estimate the evolution of network uncertainty and demonstrate its impact on network gains and economic growth of trading economies, while keeping the network structure constant.
Selected Works in Progress
- "Keeping Up with the Joneses: FDI Entry and Local Firm Pollution Emissions," with Ye Yuan and Zhe Zhang, 2024.
- "Super Factory and Local New Firm Entry: What Are the Real Gifts of Foxconn? ," with Tao Tao and Hong Zhu, 2024.
- "Pandemic Awakens Health Risk Awareness: Evidence from Online Insurance Platform," with Ruo Jia, Ye Yuan, and Chang Zhang, 2024.
- "Production Function Estimation with Resource Misallocation," with Shigang Li, 2024.
- "Less Variety In, More Variety Out? The Role of Domestic Production Capability," with Shengyu Li and Hongsong Zhang, 2024.
- "Road Infrastructure, Inventory, and Markup," with Hongsong Zhang and Yating Jiang, 2021.