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Ownership and Productivity in Vertically Integrated Firms in China
Loren Brandt, Feitao Jiang, Yao Luo, Yingjun Su, May 27, 2020This paper studies differences in the internal configuration and productivity in vertically integrated steel facilities in China using equipment-level information on inputs and output for each of the main stages in the value chain. At the facility level, we do not find statistically significant differences in productivity by ownership. This conceals important differences in the value chain: private firms outperform in pig iron...
Gender-Targeted Job Ads: Patterns, Impacts, and Mechanisms
Peter Kuhn, Kailing Shen, Feb 27, 2019Gender-targeted job ads are common in many emerging economies. Using data from jobboards—which differ substantially in terms of culture, size, and user groups targeted—our empirical evidence suggests that policies that target workers’ application decisions may be at least as important as policies that target employers’ screening decisions, if not more.
Unequal School Enrollment Rights and Increased Inequality: The Case of Shanghai
Muyang Zhang, Jie Chen, Jan 03, 2018In Shanghai, housing entitlements with enrollment access to a good public primary school is associated with a 0.1-0.35 percentage point lower annual rental yield. This rental yield gap is the opportunity cost of securing such housing, which is within the affordability range of most middle-income families in Shanghai. This implies that, should there be no credit constraint for homeownership, children from middle-income families should have a higher likelihood of accessing better public education. We find, however, that the enrollment rights between homeowners and renters, together with the credit constraint to own a home, actually lowers the chance of children from middle-income families of attending better public schools relative to those children from families with high initial wealth. This resulting reduced intergeneration mobility exacerbates the social inequality in China.
China’s Growing Presence in Tax Havens: Implications for Policy and Research
Chris Clayton, Antonio Coppola, Amanda Dos Santos, Matteo Maggiori, Jesse Schreger, Jul 12, 2023Chinese firms are increasingly utilizing tax havens like the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and the British Virgin Islands to raise large sums of capital from foreign investors, accounting for over 60% of total offshore equities by 2020.
Going Bankrupt in China
Bo Li, Jacopo Ponticelli, Aug 26, 2020We use a new case-level dataset to document a set of stylized facts on bankruptcy in China and study how the introduction of specialized courts across Chinese cities affected insolvency resolution and the local economy. We find that specialized courts hire better-trained judges and are 35% faster at dealing with bankruptcy cases than civil courts within the same city. We also find evidence that their introduction benefited the local economy by fostering firm entry, increasing average capital productivity, and favoring the reallocation of employment out of "zombie" firm–intensive sectors.
