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How Did the US-China Trade War Affect American Communities?

Michael E. Waugh, Apr 22, 2020

The US-China trade war—the unprecedented tit-for-tat increase in tariffs by the US and China—provided a unique laboratory to study and understand how changes in trade policy can redistribute the gains from trade. I argue that the trade war induced concentrated losses in consumption and employment for American communities most exposed to Chinese retaliatory tariffs.

The Impact of Migration Controls on Urban Fiscal Policies and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital in China

Holger Sieg, Chamna Yoon, Jipeng Zhang, Oct 07, 2020

The study explores the impact of migration controls on urban fiscal policies and the intergenerational transmission of human capital accumulation in China. It shows that migrants provide large positive fiscal externalities to major cities. The study evaluates the feasibility and effectiveness of alternative migration policies that offer the potential of decreasing inequality within China, while at the same time promoting growth via increasing the aggregate level of human capital in the economy.

Special Deals from Special Investors: The Rise of State-Connected Private Owners in China

Chong-En Bai, Chang-Tai Hsieh, Michael Zheng Song, Xin Wang, Feb 10, 2021

We document a hierarchy of private owners connected to the state through equity investment and a rapid expansion of this hierarchy over the past two decades. We build a model to show how the effects of a special deal from a state investor can be transmitted and amplified through the hierarchy. Our estimation suggests that the expansion in the span of state-connected private owners may have increased aggregate output of the private sector by 4.2% a year between 2000 and 2019.

Clean Air as an Experience Good in Urban China

Matthew E. Kahn, Weizeng Sun, Siqi Zheng, Oct 14, 2020

If clean air is a valued experience good, then the short-term reduction in pollution in the spring of 2020 due to the COVID-19 shutdown could have persistent medium-term effects on reducing urban pollution levels as cities adopt new “blue sky” regulations to maintain recent pollution progress. Using data from 144 cities in China, we find that the largest experience good effect should take place for cities featuring a high pollution-sensitive population and where air quality has sharply improved during the pandemic. The residents...

Exporting like China: The Determinants of Trade Status

Russell Cooper, Guan Gong, Guanliang Hu, Ping Yan, Feb 03, 2021

We study the export decision of Chinese manufacturing firms, both public and privately owned enterprises. In 2019, China’s exports of goods accounted for 13% of goods exported in the world and around 20% of China’s GDP. The importance of understanding the determinants of trade patterns in China goes beyond its national borders. Observed export decisions contradict the prediction of the standard trade model...