Bilateral Economies of Scope in International Trade
Yao Amber Li, Sichuang Xu, Stephen R. Yeaple, Tengyu Zhao, Jan 15,
2025
This paper presents evidence that firms’ export and import decisions within the same foreign market are complementary, due to bilateral economies of scope that allow substantial cost savings when engaging in both activities. By quantifying these savings through a structural model, we show that bilateral economies of scope significantly enhance firms’ participation in international trade and amplify the effects of trade liberalization, offering new insights for policymakers and researchers.
Digital Distractions with Peer Influence: The Impact of Mobile App Usage on Academic and Labor Market Outcomes
Panle Jia Barwick, Siyu Chen, Chao Fu, Teng Li, Jan 08,
2025
We present the first comprehensive evidence of how app usage affects academic performance and early career outcomes. App usage is contagious: a one standard deviation (around 3.5 hours per day) increase in roommates’ app usage raises an individual’s own app usage by 5.8%, with substantial heterogeneity across students. A one standard deviation increase in app usage reduces GPAs by 36.2% of a within-cohort-major standard deviation and lowers wages by 2.3%. The effect of roommates’ app usage is over half the size of an individual’s own usage effect. High-frequency GPS data reveal that high app usage crowds out time in study halls and increases late arrivals at and absences from lectures.
Firm-to-Firm Referrals
Jing Cai, Wei Lin, Adam Szeidl, Dec 25,
2024
Referring suppliers to clients reshaped the supplier-client network and improved business performance.
Industrial Policy: Lessons from Shipbuilding
Panle Jia Barwick, Myrto Kalouptsidi, Nahim Bin Zahur, Dec 18,
2024
The article discusses that although China's industrial policy (IP) in the shipbuilding industry significantly increased domestic shipbuilding production and global market share, it had limited effects on improving domestic welfare and led to inefficient allocation of resources.
Overpricing in Municipal Bond Markets and the Unintended Consequences of Regulatory Measures: Evidence from China
Laura Xiaolei Liu, Qiao Liu, Xiaoyu Liu, Ni Zhu, Dec 03,
2024
Chinese municipal bonds are considerably overpriced in the primary market, leading regulators to set a lower bound on the issuance yield spread. This paper investigates the underlying reasons for this overpricing and evaluates the effects of implementing restrictions on yield spreads. Our findings indicate that underwriters may inflate prices to receive undisclosed benefits from local governments, such as local treasury cash deposits. We further show that the lower bounds severely impede price discovery in the primary municipal bond market. Even bonds not restricted by the lower limit are priced at the reference spread, exacerbating overpricing of riskier bonds. Local governments exploit these fixed prices by increasing the bond issuance amount and extending bond maturity. Our findings suggest that regulatory interference in pricing can have unintended consequences for pricing efficiency and that attempts to rectify mispricing may result in even more severe mispricing.
Let a Small Bank Fail: Implicit Non-guarantee and Financial Contagion
Liyuan Liu, Xianshuang Wang, Zhen Zhou, Nov 27,
2024
The research findings indicate that after the failure of a small bank, regulatory authorities did not fully bail out all creditors as had been the norm, and this policy shift affected the funding costs and market confidence of banks with lower systemic importance (SU).
How House Prices Affected China’s Birth Rate Decline
Ziqian Liu, Yu Zhang, Nov 13,
2024
The article discusses how house prices have affected China's birth rate and explores the implications for the country's housing market and demographic future.
Government as Venture Capitalists in AI
Martin Beraja, Wenwei Peng, David Yang, Noam Yuchtman, Nov 06,
2024
This article discusses that government venture capital funds in China are more geographically dispersed than private venture capital, particularly in inland and less developed areas, and they are more inclined to invest in AI companies with weaker ex-ante productivity signals.