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Income Inequality among Old Chinese
Katja Hanewald, Ruo Jia, Zining Liu, Oct 16, 2019Using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) from 1991–2015, we decompose the income inequality among old Chinese and compare the income inequality between old households and young households. We develop an OLG model and a new empirical method to test how initial socioeconomic differences transmit to income inequality in the working years and then in old age. We find that the urban-rural gap and educational differences...
QR Code-Based Mobile Payments and Financial Inclusion
Thorsten Beck, Leonardo Gambacorta, Yiping Huang, Zhenhua Li, Han Qiu, Nov 09, 2022By means of a unique dataset of around half a million Chinese firms, we investigate the link between the use of a QR code-based mobile payment system and financial inclusion.
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...
Industrial Policy in China: Some Intended or Unintended Consequences?
Jing Cai, Ann E. Harrison, May 30, 2018We explore the consequences of a 2004 tax change in China that reduced the value-added tax (VAT) on equipment investment. While the goal was to encourage technology upgrades, we find little evidence that the reform achieved its intended results. Although firms shifted the composition of investment toward machinery, actual investment rates were unaffected. Firms replaced labor with machinery, leading employment to fall significantly in the treated provinces and sectors. Our results suggest that the primary impact of the policy was to induce labor-saving investment.
Verifying China’s COVID-19 Recovery Using the FRBSF China CAT
Remy Beauregard, John G. Fernald, Mark M. Spiegel, Dec 23, 2020Using the FRBSF China Cyclical Activity Tracker, we confirm the robustness of China’s recovery from the COVID-19 downturn. The FRBSF “China CAT” estimates that first quarter 2020 China GDP plunged 6.4 standard deviations below its detrended level a year earlier, but by the end of the third quarter, China economic activity had recovered to only 0.1 standard deviations below trend. As such, the FRBSF China CAT index validates the accuracy...
