Destination-Specific Export Expansions and Their Impact on Education and Long-Term Outcomes in China

This article discusses that export expansions to wealthy countries significantly increased high school enrollment rates in specific regions and among certain groups in China, but this impact did not translate into an increased prevalence of higher education. Instead, it had long-term effects on employment and fertility outcomes for the affected cohorts.

The Externalities of ESG Disclosure

This article discusses that China's mandatory Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure policies have led firms to increase their donations for poverty alleviation, yet paradoxically have also resulted in higher pollution levels, thereby highlighting the potential environmental negative externalities that can arise from the government's mild steering of corporate behavior through disclosure mandates.

Input-Trade Liberalization, Female Skill Intensity, and Fertility in China

The interplay between trade liberalization and demographic behavior illuminates the challenges of reconciling career and family. This paper examines how gender-specific trade liberalization influences fertility, leveraging a Bartik-style shift-share instrumental variable strategy that incorporates female skill intensity into input tariff exposure. We find that input-trade liberalization significantly reduces fertility, particularly among highly educated women, private sector employees, and first-time mothers—groups experiencing the steepest career-family trade-offs. Mechanism analysis shows that enhanced labor market prospects raise the opportunity cost of childbearing, delaying or reducing family formation. These findings underscore the socioeconomic implications of trade policy for demographic trends.

Industrial Policy: Lessons from Shipbuilding

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.

Cooperative Culture and the Birth of Modern Enterprises in China