Most Popular

Peer Effects, Political Competition, and Ecological Efficiency

Xudong Chen, Bihong Huang, Yantuan Yu, Jul 29, 2020

This study examines the impacts of political competition on eco-efficiency. We first develop a theoretical model in which local government officials compete against each other to maximize their own political score. We find that after an initial stage of decline, eco-efficiency eventually increases once environmental performance becomes a meaningful component of local government officials’ annual assessment. These theoretical predictions are corroborated...

Consumer-Financed Fiscal Stimulus Evidence from Digital Coupons in China

Jing Ding, Lei Jiang, Lucy Msall, Matthew J. Notowidigdo, Feb 05, 2025

In 2020, local governments in China began issuing digital coupons to stimulate spending in targeted categories such as restaurants and supermarkets. We find that the coupons caused large increases in spending of 3.1–3.3 yuan per yuan spent by the government. The large spending responses do not come from substitution away from non-targeted spending categories or from short-run intertemporal substitution. We conclude that digital coupons are a cost-effective way to provide targeted fiscal stimulus to specific sectors of the economy.

Social Media Engagement Increases Government Action, Decreases Pollution

Mark Buntaine, Michael Greenstone, Guojun He, Mengdi Liu, Shaoda Wang, Bing Zhang, Dec 14, 2022

In China, citizen participation in environmental governance via social media could significantly improve regulatory effort, leading to substantial environmental benefits.

Improving Regulation for Innovation: Evidence from China’s Pharmaceutical Industry

Ruixue Jia, Xiao Ma, Jianan Yang, Yiran Zhang, Mar 06, 2024

In 2015, China revamped its pharmaceutical regulations, drawing inspiration from the US, to accelerate drug approvals. Using data at the drug and firm levels during 2011–2021, this study reveals three key outcomes.

Government Deleveraging and Non-SOE Liquidity Squeeze: Evidence from Subnational Debt and Government Contractors

Jiayin Hu, Songrui Liu, Yang Yao, Zhu Zong, May 15, 2024

China's deleveraging policies have inadvertently exacerbated the financial liquidity pressure on non-state-owned enterprise (non-SOE) contractors, revealing the potential adverse impact of government fiscal consolidation on private enterprises.